Jeff Grubb & Joe Manganiello's Goldfinger
Plus Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash
I saw several examples of the intersection between rock music and tabletop roleplaying games this week that I’d like to share with you…
First up, there were several music references in this RPG Ramblings Podcast interview with writer/designer/former TSR team member Jeff Grubb:
(17:56) Jeff Grubb says that TSR turned down being involved in the movie ET. This is why we don’t actually see any D&D products in the ET scene where the kids are playing an RPG. I wrote about this scene in a previous newsletter because you can hear “People Who Died” by the Jim Carroll Band in the background of that scene.
(35:30) Jeff Grubb talks about his world building where he named cities after songs/bands including an “Emerson on Lake Palmer.”
(1:12:28) Host Jeff Jones compares how some music fans only love the songs they grew up while others search out new music to how some gamers play the same games while others seek out new games to try. Jeff Grubb then says that Postmodern Jukebox is to music like what the OSR is to gaming.
Beware of This Heart of Gold
Next, I got a kick out of this article from The List about Joe Manganiello It covers his love of D&D, which has been well-documented elsewhere. But it also mentions that he is a talented singer and used to be a roadie in a rock band called Goldfinger. So, I pulled out the following RPG gems in honor of Joe’s career in the music industry:
Appendix LP Classics from 1972
Lastly, I visited several record stores last week while on vacation, and I was able to upgrade two classic 1972 albums (my previous copies of each both skipped!) that feature fantasy RPG relevant themes:
Demons and Wizards by Uriah Heep - with fantastic cover artwork by Roger Dean and an album title worthy of an RPG supplement, this record has Appendix LP lyrics in songs like “The Wizard,” “Rainbow Demon,” and “Circle of Hands” (based on an actual seance that band members attended).
Argus by Wishbone Ash - the album cover has a helmeted warrior (looking like Darth Vader) with a spear, while the record has RPG-appropriate song titles like “The King Will Come,” “Warrior,” and “Throw Down the Sword.” I love the twin lead guitars with harmonies whose influence you can later hear in bands like Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden.
Lots of classic albums came out in 1972. I chose that year for an episode of the Contrarians where we were tasked with coming up with a list of only five albums to listen to for the rest of our lives, with the caveat that they all must be from the same year.
And if you will indulge me one more Contrarians plug, you can see me talk about my favorite EPs starting at 17:01 in the following new video: