Strange but true: Jon Huntsman dropped out of high school to join a band called 'Wizard'

[Scuba]

Oh those wild and crazy Mormons....



http://www.nationalmemo.com/article/strange-true-jon-huntsman-dropped-out-high-school-join-band-called-wizard


..snip..

The last time that Jon Huntsman ran in a presidential race, he wasn't vying to be leader of the free world; he was running for class president of Highland High School in Salt Lake City. Huntsman lost the election and took it hard; as a result, he dropped out of school to pursue his dream of becoming a rock-and-roll star.

Huntsman grew his hair out and became the keyboardist of progressive rock band.

"In my late teens you wouldn't have recognized me," Huntsman told University of South Carolina graduates when he gave the commencement address there last May. "My hair was Rod Stewart shaggy. I wouldn't wear anything but superskinny jeans. I ended up leaving high school a bit short of graduation to play with a band called Wizard. I thought it was my ticket to fame."

Huntsman and Wizard got their start playing youth-oriented "stomps" sponsored by the Mormon Church. Playing behind the "Zion Curtain" -- the term used by Salt Lake City musicians to describe the church's strict censorship -- was a challenge. Wizard could only play in bars with the permission of the police, wearing signs identifying them as under the drinking age.

..end..

[Brother Buzz]

1. I wonder if a tweet where I admit how much I like Captain Beefheart...

will make the followers skyrocket even more! - Jon Huntsman, Aug 2011

[tridim]

2. I'm thinking about dropping out of adulthood to start a band.

And no, I don't play behind any religiously imposed barriers. How freaking lame is that?

[LiberalArkie]

3. I think this makes him better suited for the job than any other of the Republicans.

[mainer]

4. He talked about it on the David Letterman show -- and he played the piano!

Huntsman showed Letterman a photo of his rock band days. What a hoot. He tried making it as a musician for a year, realized he'd never be successful at it, and went back to school. The highlight of the Letterman segment was when Huntsman joined Paul Shaffer's band for a tune and took to the keyboard. He really rocked!

[Erose999]

8. So we've got Huntsman on the keys and Huckleberry Hound on the bass... who plays the skins? I mean

if they're all never gonna be POTUS they might as well start a jazz trio.

[NoGOPZone]

5. Fortunately, the inifintely more talented Roy Wood thought of it first.

[DesertRat]

6. He was delusional if he thought he'd become a rock-and-roll star

"Wizard's bass player Eric Malmquist explained to NPR how "we'd play Eric Clapton's 'Cocaine.' But instead of singing 'cocaine,' which you probably wouldn't do in church, we'd change the word to 'propane.'"

[Erose999]

7. I think the actual name of the band was "Wyzzrd". And they were a Def Leppard tribute band.

Huntsman played the part of bassist Rick Savage, calling himself Slick Ravage.

But tragedy struck when Def Leppard's drummer lost his arm in a car accident. Wyzzrd's drummer couldn't play with only one arm and they couldn't find a one armed drummer to replace him with. So they spiraled downward from being a tribute band to just being a cover band. They had been doing well playing the ladies night at the American Legion, but now Wyzzrd were relegated to weddings and high school reunions. Things got worse when musical taste shifted away from cock rock to Grunge and the gigs dried up completely. Disillusioned with the music business, Huntsman started a career as a solo artist but became addicted to prescription antibiotics and non-alcoholic beer.

But he cleaned up, and found Jesus Christ (and umm... Joseph Smith and the Latter Day Saints). When an angel showed him a series of Golden Plates in a dream, he knew that he would one day be President of the United States.

True story...

[Iggo]

9. Highland High?

Isn't that Beavis and Butthead's school?