Today is the 30th anniversary of the Funk on the Green #1 afternoon outdoor concert, held at the Oakland Stadium on Saturday, August 4th, 1979.
Not only was I there, but it was my first show working as a "Bluecoat", who were the security personnel for the concert's promoter, Bill Graham Presents.
I had expressed an interest in being a Bluecoat a month earlier while working as an employee of BASS Tickets, after helping the Bluecoats, with assistance from the Oakland Police Department, to break up a counterfeit ticket ring working out of L.A. that had scalpers selling counterfeit concert tickets printed on Bass ticket stock, at a freeway exit on highway 880, just outside of the Oakland Coliseum complex.
So there I was, working my first BGP show as a Bluecoat, and what a show it was!
This was an amazing lineup comprised of the top funk and soul acts at that time, during a period in music history that saw a radical mixture of genres on the radio that included punk, metal, pop, country, disco and funk.
The groups performing that funky day were as follows;
Not only was I there, but it was my first show working as a "Bluecoat", who were the security personnel for the concert's promoter, Bill Graham Presents.
I had expressed an interest in being a Bluecoat a month earlier while working as an employee of BASS Tickets, after helping the Bluecoats, with assistance from the Oakland Police Department, to break up a counterfeit ticket ring working out of L.A. that had scalpers selling counterfeit concert tickets printed on Bass ticket stock, at a freeway exit on highway 880, just outside of the Oakland Coliseum complex.
So there I was, working my first BGP show as a Bluecoat, and what a show it was!
This was an amazing lineup comprised of the top funk and soul acts at that time, during a period in music history that saw a radical mixture of genres on the radio that included punk, metal, pop, country, disco and funk.
The groups performing that funky day were as follows;
Parliament-Funkadelic 
Bootsy's (Collins) Rubber Band
Brides of Funkenstein
The Barkays
Sister Sledge
Confunkshun
ParletAnd as if that wasn't enough for one day, they needed Bluecoats to volunteer to go over and work the Grateful Dead show at the Oakland Auditorium by Lake Merritt that night.
Of course I said yes, which started an amazing 13 year run of working Dead shows, all the way up until 1992, when I retired as a Bluecoat after that year's Bammies at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
Grateful Dead
"What a long strange trip it's been!"
Here is a playlist featuring some of the artists that played at the Funk on the Green #1, on Saturday August 4, 1979.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Mick
Funk on the Green #1 - Aug. 4, 1979
1 comment:
I was there!
Sorry I don't know how to posts images on here. Click the link to see my merorabillias.
http://myfunk.ning.com/photo/album/show?id=2467876%3AAlbum%3A79826
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