Foot in mouth: How John Curley offended a big rock band

Last weekend was one of those typical charity auctions
97.3 KIRO FM host John Curley works as an auctioneer.
During a break in the action, it didn’t take him long to
offend the evening’s entertainment.

Curley says he didn’t know who the band was, until he saw
the set list. Among the songs: “Joy to the World,” “Mama
Told Me Not To Come,” and “Shambala.”

“And I’m like ‘Oh my god! That’s every song from my
past!'”

The band was Three Dog Night, chart toppers from the 60’s
and 70’s. But rather than compliment them, it was mere
moments before Curley managed to offend them.

“I said ‘I saw your set list. Does it make you feel sad
that you just had to keep playing the same songs over and
over again?'”

Rather than tell Curley off, the musician told him the
hard truth about why the band is still going after all
these years.

“He said ‘There’s people that work in an office every
single day and do the exact same thing over and over,
staple stuff and collate and stuff like that.'”

While Curley insisted making art is different than making
copies, the guy contended it wasn’t.

“We want these movie stars and musicians and stuff not to
age but at the same time we don’t want them to keep doing
the same exact thing. I always find it kind of sad when
it’s like ‘for a limited time only’ whatever group it is
playing the Emerald Queen Casino,” Curley says.

Curley admits he tried sucking up to the guy and making
things better by giving him some mumbo-jumbo about
sentimentality and all that.

“He’s right, because if they got up there and said ‘Here’s
something from our new album,’ people would be heading for
the doors. And these songs and these albums mean something
to everybody that listens to it.”

While Curley isn’t sure if he made things any better, he
at least showed a tiny bit of restraint, (tiny being the
operative word.) “I didn’t ask him ‘Why are you giving
wine to a bullfrog?'”