'Rumble' Memories

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers' Rumble. [July 9 - August 9]

A written submission courtesy of Chuck Harrell, a San-Francisco-based Emmy® Award winning video professional with over 15 years experience in broadcast television and corporate video production. A native of North Carolina, Chuck was kind enough to share some of his thoughts about Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers, music documentaries, and his memories about playing Rumble at East Carolina University's college radio station, WZMB. 

"Wow, I loved Tommy Conwell in college!  I used to play his record on the East Carolina University campus station, WZMB -- Rumble, the national debut record with "I'm Not Your Man."

I'm originally from North Carolina, I grew up in Mount Olive (very small town) so you had to drive to get to see a decent band. Once I became aware of Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers, I'd have driven a long way to get to see him live. I really thought they were a good band and "Rumble" a solid debut.

Tommy was one of those guys I always expected would blow up and be HUGE, but it just didn't happen for some reason. Some of his songs tie me directly to an ex-girlfriend, it's funny how certain music gets assigned significance to people, places and time. But I thought his big label debut was great!

I played at least three songs consistently off that record every shift I worked. And those three songs came by request; it wasn't just me playing them for my own enjoyment. We had a rotation clock to follow, so that proved -- to me, anyway -- that the listeners really loved them. 

Again, I sure did think Tommy and the Rumblers would have gotten big one day, but I guess there are far more stories of "near success" vs. "real success" in the music industry. Far too many great bands lose that brass ring right when they almost have it in their hands, sadly.

The rockumentary is great...you got to fulfill sort of a dream of mine, doing a documentary about something that you're passionate about -- that's just awesome! Good for you, no matter what grade you got, you got to do something which is really important, which is to document a bit of music history."

Tommy Conwell Rockumentary | Links, Special Thanks

Thanks to everyone who shared images, videos, audio, stories and overall kind words and encouragement for the master's thesis capstone project, "Tommy Conwell: A Rockumentary."

DJ Caterina received an A+ from her professor, a Philly local media press mention, and walked the University of Texas-Dallas stage with a master's degree in Emerging Media and Communications on May 19, 2012.

= Thesis Capstone Videos =

May 1 – Introduction

May 2 – Beginnings

May 7 – Signing Tommy’s Guitar

June 15 – Performance, Part I

June 20 – Performance, Part II

| DJ CATERINA WOULD LIKE TO THANK | 

• My friends and family (and boyfriend!) for their patience; listening to countless hours of Tommy Conwell’s music in my home and in my car and hearing me talk about the project for over a year. 
• Nora Kelly (Executive Editor, The Review, University of Delaware, Class of 2012) for a copy of the Young Rumblers' first concert review from the 1984 school newspaper.
• University of Delaware's college radio station 91.3 FM WVUD for donating  tracks from their audio archives.
• Dallyn Pavey with In the Pocket.
• Dan Kropp, for his major assistance in my research — he knows what he did!
• Joe Reynolds and Chris Tamase for their encouragement, enthusiasm — and tapes!
• Marc Pelletier for his encouragement and creating the original and now-defunct (but still the best!) Tommy Conwell tribute web page.
• Mike Vanduser for The Zippers archival images and music video, "Evolution." (And Timothy Gager for more cool Zippers' images.)
• John Hennessy for his permission to use one of his classic early 1990s-era Tommy Conwell videos from Walsh's - some of my favorite videos ever.
• The YouTube community.
• Johnny Z for his assistance at the New Hope In the Pocket gig.
• Creative professional Carol Welker for the Audio Rumble logo.
• The music scene in the 1980s, Wilmington, Delaware on Facebook for posting the vintage Rockett 88 video.

This rockumentary is dedicated to the late Sandy Kinden and anyone who ever traveled to see their favorite Philadelphia-Delaware-New Jersey bands up and down the east coast in the 80s and 90s.  

Thank you, Tommy!

tommyconwellstore.com

Tommy Conwell Documentary "Philebrity" Mention

Today's article from Philadelphia arts culture blog, Philebrity, on Audio Rumble's Tommy Conwell Rockumentary:

Upcoming Tommy Conwell Documentary Reveals… Lots Of Awesomely Hilarious Tommy Conwell Footage

As we speak, UT-Dallas Emerging Media and Communication grad student DJ Caterina is probably hunkered down in front of a Final Cut Pro rig somewhere, splicing together footage for Audio Rumble: Tommy Conwell, a rockumentary about one of Philly’s most beloved ’80s rock heroes. There’s lots of stuff to look at on that main link, but we found this and smiled pretty wide:

Wildwood Girls couldn’t have been too far from the action on this day.

Update: Philebrity re-branded their content sometime in the 2010s. Link to article no longer exists. ☹

Audio Rumble Presents | A Tommy Conwell Rockumentary | Beginnings

This is the second installment in Audio Rumble's Tommy Conwell rockumentary.

UT-Dallas Emerging Media and Communication grad student DJ Caterina creates a rockumentary on Philadelphia guitar player, Tommy Conwell. This film is a curation of videos, songs and performances (documentary-style) and features an exclusive interview with Tommy Conwell about his musical influences, his role as a performer, old interviews and exclusive video and audio footage.

This is the official submission of a capstone project for completion of the Masters of Arts (MA) in Emerging Media and Communication degree at the University of Texas at Dallas.

All material within used for educational purposes only and is protected by individual copyright.

Audio Rumble Presents | A Tommy Conwell Rockumentary | Intro

This is the first installment in Audio Rumble's Tommy Conwell rockumentary.

UT-Dallas Emerging Media and Communication grad student DJ Caterina creates a rockumentary on Philadelphia guitar player, Tommy Conwell. This film is a curation of Tommy Conwell videos, songs and performances (documentary-style) and features an exclusive interview with Tommy Conwell about his musical influences, his role as a performer, old interviews and exclusive video and audio footage.

This is the official submission of a capstone project for completion of the Masters of Arts (MA) in Emerging Media and Communication degree at the University of Texas at Dallas.

All material within used for educational purposes only and is protected by individual copyright.

Charlie Gracie Documentary - "Fabulous"

Tommy Conwell appears in this clip for the Charlie Gracie documentary entitled, "Fabulous."

The Charlie Gracie documentary "Fabulous" chronicles the life and career of rock and roll pioneer and guitar virtuoso Charlie Gracie. Charlie knocked Elvis from the top of the charts with his #1 monster hit "Butterfly." He went on a world tour and appeared frequently on television programs including Ed Sullivan. He influenced some of the greatest rock icons of all time including: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Van Morrison and Graham Nash. The film features interviews with: Graham Nash, Andy Williams, Peter Noone, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, The Dovells, Danny and The Juniors, Bill Haleys Comets, Jerry Blavat, Paul Moore, Tommy Conwell, Soul Survivor and several other music industry notables.

Documentary DVD available at: www.characterdrivenfilms.com.
(Update: Link no longer available as of 2020.)