Exactly
who WERE The Amazing Pink Things?
We were a 2-man,
2-woman comedy cabaret act that started performing in Seattle
in 1985. By the time we called it quits in 1991, we'd had 2 different
baritones (originally Bob Kaiser, replaced by Bob Overman), 7
altos (in this order: Shawn Tordahl, Jayne Muirhead, Mimi MacLeod,
Sandi Miller, Harrye Hayward, Maureen McKenna, Brenda Sonnier,
Tricia Meier), one tenor (me, Dana Countryman), and one soprano
(Tami Martin.)
I was the leader, musical director
and chief songwriter. My (non-romantic) business partner was
Tami Martin, who handled the lighting cues, choreography and
continued the wild costumes that Bob Kaiser had originally designed.
We toured mainly on the West
Coast, appearing in clubs, theatres and cabarets, including long
runs in San Francisco (CA), Los Angeles (CA), Portland (OR),
Ashland (OR), Anchorage (AK), as well as in our home base of
Seattle (WA). We had a manager in New York City, who basically
did nothing for us, except bring us to New York City, where we
also performed.
We sang live to a pre-recorded
tape, that I recorded 99% of all the parts for (keyboards, guitars,
bass, drums, misc.), and we lugged our "band" -- our
faithful OTARI 2-track tape recorder through airports all over
the country.
.
Click here for a photo run-down of all the group's past members.
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Highlights of our glorious career
were:
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A 9-month run at Seattle's THE
CABARET IN PIONEER SQUARE, where we regularly had lines around
the block for our shows.
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Quitting our day jobs, and heading
off to California, where we performed for a year.
-
Appearing twice on THE LATE
SHOW (with Arsenio Hall) at Fox/Paramount in Hollywood.
-
Palling around with TV and movie stars
Judd Hirsch and Clevon Little.
-
Eating pizza with Fred Willard
in between tapings of A&E's THE GOODTIME CAFE in San Francisco.
-
Spotting celebrities in our
audiences --- people like Freda Payne, Eric Roberts, Margaret
Whiting, Dave Frishberg, Weird Al Yankoviwc and Doctor Demento...
and again, Clevon Little, who seemed to show up at our shows
all over the place, including L.A., San Francisco and NYC...
-
Opening for country songstress
Crystal Gayle at an outdoor concert at he Mondavi Winery in Napa,
California.
-
Getting recognized in public
places, while out of costume, even!
-
Appearing on radio's DINNER
AT SARDI'S - hosted by Arlene Francis. Spotting Bert Parks in
the audience. Standing at the bar with Jerzy Kozinski.
-
Meeting our audiences after
our shows, and making great friends all over the country.
-
Appearing on many, many radio
shows in many cities, where we usually sang our a capella version
of the "Hallejujah Chorus" -- THE HAL AND LULU CHORUS!
-
Getting out of our contract
with the previously-mentioned NYC manager.
-
Having the best audiences in
the country, in believe it or not, Anchorage, Alaska!
-
And for me, the real highlight
was meeting Tricia, who was our final (and eleventh!) member
of the group, who eventually agreed to marry me! (Silly girl!)
Many years later, she's still hanging in there with me!
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Read some of
our press quotes HERE
Read some of
our newspaper reviews HERE
.
Yes! The Pink Things' CD is still available! Click
here.
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Sing along! VOCAL SCORES to "The Hal and Lulu
Chorus" can be
ordered in full notation for choir or vocal group in SATB format.
One set includes 4 complete copies of the score = $12 (postpaid
in the USA.)
Only sold in sets of 4.
Paypal to dana@danacountryman.com
Think Pink!
Questions?:
Write to:
Dana Countryman
Former Head Pink Thing
dana@danacountryman.com
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Visit Dana Countryman's Web Page of Happiness
You are Pink Pal Number 
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