The Supergrover/For Squirrels Tribute!

The community at The Sixty One is one like I've never experienced.

Aldark, 61'er and supergrover's brother explains, "In early May, Supergrover and I sat outside a log cabin in Tennessee with our oldest kids playing in the driveway and discussed a little that his pains may be cancer. I had thought it, but really didn't want to think about it; only Supergrover really knew what he felt. A couple of week later, which seems an eternity ago we had the first visit with the oncologist after some level of confirmation of cancer."

supergrover posted some very sad news right after that to his 'About Me' section of his profile. "Well, it appears I have cancer, so the doctor tells me yesterday. Spot on my liver and a spot on my lower left 'omentum'. I have no clue what the future holds, but I'm pissed and heartbroken for my 2 1/2 year old son and 7 month old daughter."

Soon after, fuzzy blue-faced supergrover avatars were adopted all over the site by listeners and artists posted well wishes, crazy pictures, including photos of cookies, and jokes on his wall on a daily basis. Aldark told me. "Those that have followed his status on thesixtyone have seen some of Supergrover's progress via his "About Me" on the profile page. I take lunch to SuperG or have met him for lunch prior to each chemotherapy session he has."

Aldark talks about supergrover's treatment. "Honestly, I'm surprised they let me back in. We have a good time during such a dreary time and you would have thought we offended someone by now. Supergrover, from my viewpoint, has taken this in stride. We sit during sessions and talk about the teenage girl, the young newly wed, and even the pregnant woman all going through treatment and Supergrover wonders how he can be pissed at having cancer. Well, he can be, but he's handling it fantastically."

supergrover posted to his wall, "You guys... you got me choked up... I'm looking at some avatars and realized there are some that have snuck bits of me in there. You guys are too much. It is so appreciated that a little turd like me can be worthy of your encouragement. I don't know what to say."

Meanwhile, Glenn Case, was taking requests for cover songs, as a way of saying thank you to people that had been bumping his songs a lot. Supergrover left on Glenn's wall on June 3rd, 2008.

"If you know any For Squirrels tune, it would most certainly be this one (Mighty K.C.). You can hear some similarity in your 'rough' voice and that of Jack Vigliatura. They were involved in a terrible van crash that killed the vocalist (Jack V) and the bass player (Bill White). So, listen to how tragically ironic the lyrics are to this tune. (Actually, many tunes)."

For example, here is a sampling of the Mighty K.C. lyrics.

And by the grace of God go I
Into the great unknown
Things are gonna change in our favor
And if we gather, if we fall
Over the great unknown
Things are gonna change in our favor

So, Glenn listened to the material and he liked it a lot. After much consideration, he decided to cover Mighty K.C. "SuperG was right too. I COULD hear a similiarity between Jack's voice and my own. Friends have noticed it too," said Glenn.

For Squirrels put out two albums before two founding members of the band and their tour manager died in a car accident on September 8th, 1995, 13 years ago today. Their ages? 23, 23 and 21. "That's when it hit me: something like this could happen to ANYONE," said Glenn. I started thinking about the life I've been able to live, and the songs I've had a chance to write since I was 21. The material I was writing at that age wasn't NEARLY as good as what this band was already creating. I can't even imagine how great they COULD have been with time."

For Squirrels, ASCAP Christmas Party, 1994. Photo by R. Capak

Glenn was inspired to launch a double tribute... A tribute to Supergrover and to For Squirrels, a band that didn't really get much of a chance because key band members died at such a young age. "What REALLY made things hit home for me was when I realized that Jack would have only been a few months older than me if he would have survived the crash," said Glenn. "It didn't seem fair that more people hadn't heard of them. My thought was 'Let's see if we can change that a little.'"

The surviving members from the original line-up of For Squirrels are guitarist Travis Tooke and drummer Jack Griego. Glenn contacted Travis in July. Travis gave his approval on the project. "You have my blessing and I'm touched by your passion for your friend and our F.S. music. I'll stay in touch as best I can, and would love to play a small part in your tribute project."

Glenn says, "Supergrover is a great guy that has been given some news that is not so great. I thought it would be neat to do something nice for him. Through supergrover's treatment, he has managed to keep a sense of humor. ("Another visit, another three hours hooked to a pole. Hmm, shoulda been a stripper! I could have been getting paid for this!") To me, SuperG has always come across as a person with a magnificent sense of humor, both before and after his diagnosis was known." Glenn ads, "It really sucks when bad things happen to good people. Unfortunately, it does happen from time to time, and I figured the LEAST we could do as musicians was to try to brighten Supergrover's day a little. I hope we are doing just that by covering songs from his 'favorite band that no one has heard of', and maybe we can get a few more people to hear about them too!"

The two albums For Squirrels albums are 'Baypath Road' and 'Example'. There are 10 songs on each album, and the idea was to get artists from The Sixty One to cover every song from both albums Tracks for the For Supergrover tribute will be uploaded Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Several very popular and talented bands are involved in the 20 tracks that will be uploaded in the next two months.

"I'm really looking forward to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the next seven weeks or so," said Glenn. "It has been hard for me to keep this a secret with the quality covers I've been hearing, but I think it's going to be worth it."

Glenn added, "I'd like to extend a special thank you to Batface89, and all of the musicians that have stepped up to be a part of this. This would not be a reality if it wasn't for all of your involvement. Thank you so much for banding together to make this happen. You guys rule!"

Who are these musicians who are have recorded songs for the project? We're keeping it a secret until the song is uploaded to add to the fun. Once all 20 songs are up, there has been discussion of creating a purchasable version of the songs with all proceeds going towards cancer research.

And how about supergrover? Aldark says "Discussions about surgery are coming in a few weeks and where to go from there will follow. I've seen the progression of what appears to be successful treatment when Supergrover is rolling around on the ground with our oldest kids. This is something that hasn't happened a lot since early in 2008 when the pain was too much that a foot kick to the gut would hurt for ever."

"Good signs, good signs.", Aldark adds.

Keep an eye out for the music and tunebox all of your friends and subscribers!

Super Grover Gallery

We've hit 100 Grovertars! 7/2/08

If you're just visiting Max Bumps and you are fairly new to The Sixty One, you may wonder what the Grover avatars are all about. Our friend and fellow tune bumper, supergrover, recently found out that he has cancer and will be starting chemo soon. Many listeners and artists at The Sixty One have included a Grover into their avatar, very creatively might I add, to show their support for supergrover. We are with you supergrover! Be strong.

If you don't see your avatar, email it to batface89.

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Bagel Bites

Keep On Keepin' On

As I enter my eighth month here at the sixty one I am noticing quite a few things. It was apparent a few months ago that a camaraderie was being formed when many of the users that are involved with the site changed their avatars to little gerbils (or was it hamster?) during a period of user confusion. I admit to feeling as if I was being experimented on and even jokingly brought this up here. Now I am seeing this camaraderie blossom into something more meaningful. I know that this has been brought up elsewhere and that all of the pictures are shown on the Max Bumps site but I would like to say that I am truly proud of the way the community has embraced supergrover and his battle with cancer. In the midst of all the changes the site has gone through and the few who make it difficult to want to stay at the site I find that this involvement and support of supergrover is an amazing reason to stay. Why wouldn't you want to be around such good people? Supergrover, I can admit that I do not know you well and that my contributions and efforts pale in comparison to others but I would like to say that each time I log on to the site I think of you and wish you and your family the best. Your humor has always made me laugh and I know it will be the thing that gets you through this trying time. Keep on laughing and keep on keepin' on.

More From the Underrated Vault

Hammer No More The Fingers

I find it very hard to believe that this song hasn't gotten more attention. It has all the elements that should make for a home page song. A lesser known band with a great hook and good vocals.

The Buddyrevelles

Here is a band that has had some good success on the 61 with a track that got left behind. I don't know who the hell Rodney is and I don't dream of men much but I think I get this song.

Bidding on Revives
This is a relatively new (last hour or so as I am writing this) feature on the site. Already there are a few tracks that have bids over 7000 points. I am curious to see how this plays out as it was very difficult to get a revive before though the purchase price may make it down right impossible for some people. All that being said I would like to dare someone to bid all of their points on a revive. Race to Zero not so difficult style.

Bon Sportage
That's all that I have for now. I am hoping to post more often now that I am out of class and find myself with a little more free time. If you have any thoughts on new features (bites) let me know and I would be happy to give em a go.
Later

Get to Know a Fellow 61'er: Supergrover

We've redesigned the 'Get to Know a Fellow 61'er' to probe deeper into the psyche of your comrade in bumps. Fun, eh. If you've already filled one out and would like to do it again, please do! Just email your results to Batface89.

1. Your User Name:
   supergrover
   
   
2. When did you join T61?
   
   Sometime around Thanksgiving of 2007.
   
3. What is your current avatar and why did you choose it?
   
   Why it's Super Grover! It's a stylized version created by my canukkistan compadre, myktoronto.
   
4. What part of the world are you in?
   
   Ohio. South of Columbus, north of Cincinnati.
   
5. What type of work do you do that allows you so much time on a computer? Do you bump at work? Have you ever been reprimanded for excessive bandwidth usage? :-)
   
   I create databases and software for contractors, various needs. Time in the home area, time in DC, San Antonio, Phoenix, Albuquerque. I do bump at work. The group I sit in is, logically, outside the firewall so the streaming isn't as stringent as
   it might be otherwise.
   
   
6. How would you describe your bumping personality? Are you a player? In it for the music? Has your style changed since the site changes?
   
   Definitely a mixed style. I'll bump any song I like. Period. First bumps are (almost only) songs that I like, not normally a consideration of whether it'll do big or not. (You can tell if you look at my stats) I tried guessing which might do what early after I noticed an influx of Second Life folk and thought I'd try to profit from their tendencies. It didn't do well.
   My style has certainly changed since the changes. I used to max bump songs that I really thought would do well (band of horses, for example), but now I'll do two or three to start and then a couple later to keep it on the activity page. This new 'groupie' thing may influence that activity a bit. We will see.
   
   Definitely in it for the music. If the music were all geetar and a microphone with no production, I'd not stick around. (Apologies to some artists who are that style who I happen to think are pretty good)
   
   
7. Got any good strategy you would like to share with newbies or do you think new users should have to figure it out for themselves?
   
   I did do a write up on someone's wall once. Look for it. It's good! (here it is, mathmanmrt, page 8). I think the strategy has been slightly evolving away from that. Plus I've been busy with work and appointments that my points aren't reflecting like they used.
   
   
8. The 61 hitting Diggs Home page... good or bad? Discuss.
   
   It was a bit buggy that day, but Sam and James got things back in tune. Good thing. Good thing. Gives me more walls to snark on.

Here are some great questions stolen from Pandora (hey, they had great questions... thanks for finding them d!) and a few originals.

1. What is the first album you ever bought?
   
   Wow. I actually remember buying it.
   
   It was TOTO : TOTO. I think it was around 1979 or 1980. Man, that is still a good album. I actually "listened" to it by digging through YouTube a few weeks ago and found most of the songs on video from some live show in Germany whaaaay back then.
   
   My first real album that I owned was Jefferson Airplane 'Ride the Tiger'. My mother bought it for me on christmas.
   
   My first EVER album was Tommy the Tuba... a kids album of some sort.
   
   
2. How has your music taste matured since you were a teenager?
   
   Shiiit. When I was a kid, I knew how to ROCK baby! Player. Badfinger. Styx. Yes. Then I grew to understand what corporate rock was. Grew disenchanted with the whole thing. Didn't know about college rock, so it was top 40 or WTUE. Sucked.
   
   Then I found The Clash on a faint radio station from a kinda local college. Started listening to that station and found the Ramones and NY Dolls and other interesting stuff. Still never invested myself enough to do concerts or anything until the late 80's when great music came out... you know... RATT, Riot, YNT. god it sucked. Hell, I started listening to talk radio.
   REM and the like came out and drew me back in a bit.
   Grunge reinvigorated it for me for a while... but nothing got me back to enjoying sitting at a radio all day. Then I found thesixtyone.com on a throwaway thread on bannination. Been mclovin it ever since. (I really went years without being concerned about what was on the radio)
   
   
3. Do you think that the way a song changes with repeated listening is in any way related to where that piece of music might fit into the spectrum that goes from entertainment to art?
   
   Yes. There are some songs that I can listen to over and over and the influence varies depending upon the mood I'm in.
   
   REM, 10kManiacs, STP. Sometimes you wanna dance. Sometimes you wanna sit back and stare at the ceiling. Sometimes you want to kick a chair over. I think many good artists have songs that can do all of that.
   
   
4. Have you ever heard something that completely failed to interest you on the first listen, which later ended up being a very important piece of music to you?
   
   Yes. There is one on thesixtyone. September 29th's 'But'. The first time I heard it, I almost turned my nose at it. (I've told her this, so I hope it's not a secret) I couldn't get past her voice at first. But boy, the first time I heard the lyrics I fell in love with it. Deeply. It's a fantastic song on many levels. I've also been able to recognize her voice as an instrument itself, although her singing is non-traditional it is a very wondrous tool. For so long I wondered why nobody else bumped her except flapjacksyrup and batsceba and she was stuck on a low level. Dammit, I wanted her to upload soemthing new for the wake. I must've sent out 100+ tuneboxes that day. It helped. Woohoo for me.
   
   Have you ever listened to a song so much that you got sick of it? What's going on there?
   My high school buds would kill me: Led Zeppelin. just smoked out on it. I was that guy with the Chevelle SS going down the strip with Kashmir playing as loud as I could take. What a twit.
   
5. Do you think that the way a song changes with repeated listening is in any way related to where that piece of music might fit into the spectrum that goes from entertainment to art?
   
   No. Anybody who says otherwise is a pretentious git.
   
   (I'm stealing back a couple of the questions)
   14. Current Favorite Artist on t61: easy: Band of Horses. Lots of artists I really love on there, but this is an easy answer.
   
   
6. Artist you most wish would upload music: non-t61?
   
   Don't care. Whoever gets here, I'll listen.
   
   T61 artist? Keith Warren. The bits he has are magnificent. Curious to see what range of style he has.
   
7. Who is the listener you'd most like meet in person?
   
   Oh, clearly this person : (new window).
   
8. Anything else to say:
   
   Yes. Very much. I want so greatly to thank all those who have offered me their support in these last couple of weeks. It's going to be a trying time, I'm sure, but I'm keeping optomistic thanks to some personal success stories that were tuneboxed to me and the jokes and all the kind wishes.
   
   I'm really quite overwhelmed (who's cutting onions in here?) by the sudden influx of grovertars / supportatars that have popped up as my first chemo approaches. It's hilarious and emotional all at once. Thanks to all who've done it and to bryank who, I believe, was the first. Jeesh, even a couple artists have done it... Glenn Case, bitwise, Evil Seagulls, Room Nineteen, alluswe. (I shouldn't list for fear of missing one...)
   
   
9. Found for me by some elvis impersonator: