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An Above-Average Bond
Fans' Devotion To Band Forges Long Friendship
The Washington Post - Washington, D.C.
Author: Avis Thomas-Lester
Date: Mar 23, 2003
Copyright The Washington Post Company Mar 23, 2003 They met 14 years ago at an Average White Band concert at Carter Baron Amphitheater -- the paralegal and volunteer basketball coach from Bowie and the salesman and rock band bass guitarist from Winchester. Since then, they have forged a deep and abiding friendship based on, well, partying to AWB music. They live 120 miles apart, but they get together regularly to eat a little food, drink a little beer, talk a little sports and share all the latest information and memorabilia about their favorite band. They have attended dozens of concerts together, following the '70s rhythm and blues band from Blues Alley in downtown Washington to Pier One in Baltimore. They have rung in New Year's Eve with members of the band and are fixtures at every concert. Together, they have amassed two of what they believe to be the largest collections of AWB memorabilia in the area, including everything from guitar picks used by original members Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre to rare, live recordings and band-autographed replicas of the flag of Scotland, the homeland of the band's founders. "I think anymore when they come to town, AWB unpacks their stuff then looks for us," said Kelly Dorsey, 40, of Winchester. "We haven't really missed a show together locally since we met at a concert in 1989. The friendship grew from there." Indeed, Dorsey, the father of two sons, and Timothy Nixon, 40, the father of a son and daughter, are recognized by the band. At a Valentine's Day concert at the Birchmere nightclub in Alexandria, band members greeted Nixon by name during a meet-and-greet after the show. Dorsey and Nixon, who each took one of their children to the show, shook hands and chatted with band members like they were old friends. "We see these guys at every concert," McIntyre, the band's rhythm guitarist, said of the twosome. The crowd also included fan David Ramey, 38, of Capitol Heights, who took his wife, Lisa, to see the band for their Valentine's Day celebration. Ramey, who works for FedEx Corp., showed off a three- inch tattoo on his right calf with AWB's legendary logo of the woman's nude derriere in the center of his wife's initials. "I bet they've never seen their logo on a tattoo on anybody!" Ramey said. "I bled for this group!" From the moment the band took the stage with a musical tribute to legendary saxophone player Maceo Parker called "Oh, Maceo," from their newest CD, Face to Face, until the show ended with an Isley Brothers remake of "Work to Do," fans clogged the dance floor. Love songs "A Love of Your Own" and "Cloudy" sent lovers into deep clenches. The '70s anthem "Pick Up the Pieces" brought ear- splitting screams as sax man Fred Vidgor, known as Freddie V, thrilled the crowd with vein-swelling riffs that brought him to his knees and sent fans through the roof. "We love coming to D.C.," McIntyre said in an interview. "They are the best fans in the world." After the show, McIntyre presented Alicia Nixon, 4, who already knows the lyrics to many of AWB's songs, with his guitar pick. AWB drummer Brian Dunne gave Tyler Dorsey, 12, a budding bass guitarist, an autographed drumstick. Nixon, a paralegal for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Dorsey, who lives in a rural area outside Winchester, were sitting next to each other at an AWB concert at Carter Baron in 1989 when the band took to the stage for the first time since breaking up in the early '80s. The crowd was expecting AWB to break out the hits from the early 1970s, such as "If I Ever Lose this Heaven," "Cloudy" and, perhaps their most famous tune, "Pick Up the Pieces," which, according to Dorsey, "rests eternally forever at the zenith of '70s pop culture." Instead, the band, which included several new members, tried some new songs. "It got pretty ugly," Nixon said. "The crowd was not happy. There was almost a riot in there." "They ended up playing some of the classic stuff," Dorsey said. "And things got better, but people really want to hear the old songs when they go see these guys." They have attended almost every local AWB show since then. Each outing is perfectly choreographed: They arrive at each venue hours early, staking out a table near the bandstand or stage. They carefully choose a spot near the stage from which "to get the maximum satisfaction from the performance," Nixon said. "Hey-ayyy!" Nixon shouted at the Birchmere show Feb. 15, leaning back and pumping his arms in a unique dance described by one friend as "his two-fisted funk salute" as the band broke into "I'm the One," one of their fans' favorites. Nearby, Dorsey sang and clapped. "There it is!" he yelled as McIntyre hit the first strains of "If I Ever Lose This Heaven." Nearby, Alvin Pierce, 40-something, of Baltimore, danced along. Pierce is among a group of friends that Nixon and Dorsey have met during their sojourns to AWB concerts. "We see each other at all of the concerts," said Pierce, a personal clothier and image consultant. Before the concert, the three huddled over beers and discussed the newest AWB release in record stores, a DVD titled "Tonight: The Average White Band in Concert," recorded at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. They also reminisced about the first time they heard the band. Nixon was a student at Banneker Jr. High School when a friend played him "Pick Up the Pieces" after school one day. "It was off the hook," Nixon said. "And I've been hooked ever since." Dorsey was on vacation with his family in Nag's Head, N.C., when he heard the cut playing on AM radio as he lay floating in the hotel pool. "I was only about 14. I just loving that song and not being able to believe how good it sounded. I remember for the rest of my vacation waiting for the next time it would play on the radio." Pierce was a student at the University of Maryland when a friend turned him on to AWB. "I went right out to get the album," he said. "To my surprise, they were a bunch of white guys. I couldn't believe it!" AWB stormed onto the rhythm and blues scene in the early '70s at a time when R&B ruled urban radio. Their brand of blue-eyed soul took the United States by storm, and their popularity soared. AWB music was a staple on television, in clubs and on the radio, along with such bands as Parliament, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Commodores, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan and the Isley Brothers. The band had seven consecutive gold or platinum albums in the 1970s and were popular on the R&B concert circuit, delighting often majority-black audiences with their deep Scottish brogue and soulful sound. It has been more than 25 years since AWB scored a hit record, but that doesn't matter to the band's local fans. Most of their shows sell out when they travel to the Washington area, one of their favorite stops, band members said. The sold-out shows over the Valentine's Day weekend came as a foot of snow was predicted and the country had been put on heightened alert for terrorist attacks. "There just isn't anybody out there like them," said Nixon, who has erected an AWB "shrine on the subterranean level" of his Bowie home, including a framed giant Scottish flag autographed by AWB members, framed concert T-shirts and a host of posters, pictures and memorabilia. On a recent Saturday, Nixon and Dorsey showed off their collections in Nixon's basement. There were Dorsey's albums, each in perfect condition, lined up in order from "Show Your Hand," in 1973, which wasn't originally released in the United States, to an autographed copy of the band's Grammy-nominated "White Album," to the newest CD, "Face to Face." There were copies of Nixon's ticket stubs to the various concerts and pictures of him with members of the band. There were T-shirts and cups and magazine covers and framed posters traded with other AWB fans or purchased at shows or on E-bay. "I've given him the basement," said Karla Nixon, whose first dance with her husband was to AWB's classic slow song "A Love of Your Own." "He can do whatever he wants down there. He listens to his music so loud, we've hooked a strobe light to the doorbell so we can know if someone is coming. Otherwise, he wouldn't hear it. He listens to them all the time." Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.