I've been wanting to introduce you to one of my favorite neighbors for a while now. I've known him going on 20 years, and he's yet to run out of cool stories. He goes by Sander Nelson, but he's better known as Sandy, aka Mr. Teen Beat. He's truly one of my favorite people, there's just nobody else like the guy. . We should all take a tip from his example and be a little less like everyone else. His house is not neat, but it's not just sloppy either. It's packed full of experiments/projects/thoughts entered into but nowhere near finished. It's a lot like his personality, it seems difficult for his brain to NOT make a connection that can be made. One thought always leads to a sidetrack which births twenty more before the stream of consciousness once again (usually but not always) bounces into a connection back to the original thought then... "OH! YES! THAT'S WHAT I WAS WANTING TO TELL YOU ERIK" It doesn't matter in the least to me which thought track we end up going with, it's never something without value. There's a bit of genius in there, but not the sort that the average passer by will key into, I think to lots of folks he's a too different for them to give a few moments consideration before making a snap judgement and turning their attention elsewhere. Which is a shame because he really loves people and I get the impression he's probably lonely overall.
He has a wooden leg, a motorcycle accident stopped his career abruptly. He did make some records here and there after the accident but nothing took. He occaionally plays the keyboard around town at different spots. Once when I first met him I saw him sit in for a song (wipeout) on a big stage at Sunset Park. Can't remember the blues band that was playing, but it was opening for BB King (
) Sandy got an ovation, promptly removed the leg and waved it around.
Over the last 15 years, he's dug a network of tunnels and caves under his house (all by hand, dirt removed a bucket at a time and put in the trash or built into "landscaping" hills in the back yard). The tunnels and yard are decorated with the darndest things. For instance- a plastic alligator who's mouth opens via a string and pully when you step on a bridge over a little stream. One tunnel comes up into the livingroom floor. He draws air (dusty air) cooled by being underground up into the house with a fan.
The best bit that Sander has added to my & a few other folks' lives is his pirate radio station, KPOOP AM 1590, the "Tower of Low Power." He plays a lot of big band, ragtime, jugbands, country, old radio dramas, interviews with neighborhood children, surf, 50's & 60's hits, anything funny or wierd, some garage (and he almost always says "this garage rock number is for Erik the boat lift guy, who likes to listen to garage music in his garage.") He has a love/hate relationship with the station though. It takes a lot of his time, hardly anyone knows about it, and he's nervous to publicise it's existence. He does have tons of tapes now that he edits together & lets run- for years it was all live, you'd wait five minutes for him to find the record he was looking for, he'd be yelling at the mic telling a story from across the room. He's always throwing some key part of the electronics that's giving him trouble out into the desert or the lake. Then the guy who runs the local ham radio/mom & pop electronics shop here in town comes to his door and asks what's up, how come no station this week? Sander gives him the story, tells him he's done with it for good, finally made up his mind, then the guy fixes his set up and Sander feels obligated to operate the station until the next thing breaks.
I ran into him last night & he told me about a kid who put a little interview up on youtube, and "do you ever go to this youtube place Erik?" (He wants nothing whatever to do with computers). So I figure this is as good a time as any to introduce him. For the camera he stays more or less on topic without veering off track much which is sort of a shame, but it's all I have to give you. The top video is his first hit "teen beat" providing the soundtrack to some old pin-ups someone put together. The lower video is the interview.
He has a wooden leg, a motorcycle accident stopped his career abruptly. He did make some records here and there after the accident but nothing took. He occaionally plays the keyboard around town at different spots. Once when I first met him I saw him sit in for a song (wipeout) on a big stage at Sunset Park. Can't remember the blues band that was playing, but it was opening for BB King (
) Sandy got an ovation, promptly removed the leg and waved it around. Over the last 15 years, he's dug a network of tunnels and caves under his house (all by hand, dirt removed a bucket at a time and put in the trash or built into "landscaping" hills in the back yard). The tunnels and yard are decorated with the darndest things. For instance- a plastic alligator who's mouth opens via a string and pully when you step on a bridge over a little stream. One tunnel comes up into the livingroom floor. He draws air (dusty air) cooled by being underground up into the house with a fan.
The best bit that Sander has added to my & a few other folks' lives is his pirate radio station, KPOOP AM 1590, the "Tower of Low Power." He plays a lot of big band, ragtime, jugbands, country, old radio dramas, interviews with neighborhood children, surf, 50's & 60's hits, anything funny or wierd, some garage (and he almost always says "this garage rock number is for Erik the boat lift guy, who likes to listen to garage music in his garage.") He has a love/hate relationship with the station though. It takes a lot of his time, hardly anyone knows about it, and he's nervous to publicise it's existence. He does have tons of tapes now that he edits together & lets run- for years it was all live, you'd wait five minutes for him to find the record he was looking for, he'd be yelling at the mic telling a story from across the room. He's always throwing some key part of the electronics that's giving him trouble out into the desert or the lake. Then the guy who runs the local ham radio/mom & pop electronics shop here in town comes to his door and asks what's up, how come no station this week? Sander gives him the story, tells him he's done with it for good, finally made up his mind, then the guy fixes his set up and Sander feels obligated to operate the station until the next thing breaks.
I ran into him last night & he told me about a kid who put a little interview up on youtube, and "do you ever go to this youtube place Erik?" (He wants nothing whatever to do with computers). So I figure this is as good a time as any to introduce him. For the camera he stays more or less on topic without veering off track much which is sort of a shame, but it's all I have to give you. The top video is his first hit "teen beat" providing the soundtrack to some old pin-ups someone put together. The lower video is the interview.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
philipfry:
Cool!! He sounds like a blast to hang out with...
guitargeek:
I hold you in high regard, E. Someday we'll meet...