Posts: 221 From: Euless,TX USA Registered: Mar 2003
posted 09-29-2004 05:02 PM
Anyone know who all the members of Max Q, the all-astronaut band, are?
sts205cdr Member
Posts: 649 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Jun 2001
posted 09-29-2004 06:40 PM
The player list changes, and has included Carl Walz, Susan Helms, Chris Hadfield, and others in the past.
Above, the astronaut band Max-Q performs: (from left to right) Dan Burbank, NASA engineer Max Kelldof, Steve Robinson, and Ken Cockrell (Jim Wetherbee was on drums).
Rob Joyner Member
Posts: 1308 From: GA, USA Registered: Jan 2004
posted 09-29-2004 07:07 PM
When I met the Max Q band at KSC in Nov. 2001, I got the chance to talk with Jim Wetherbee. It seems that the line up changes because of work schedules. All members have been or are still active astronauts. Wetherbee said that he is the only original member. 2004 marks the 21st year the band has been around!
Steve Smith Member
Posts: 503 From: Wichita, Kansas, USA Registered: Mar 2002
posted 09-29-2004 08:18 PM
At the June 21,2003 AHOF Installation at Cape Kennedy, members were Maj USAF Greg H. Johnson and Dr. Tracy Caldwell, both unflown Group 17; Cdr (USCG) Dan Burbank from STS 106; Col (CAF) Chris Hadfield from STS 74, and 100; and Capt USN Jim Wetherbee from STS-32, 52, 63, 86, and 113.
As posted above, the makeup changes.
randy Member
Posts: 2176 From: West Jordan, Utah USA Registered: Dec 1999
posted 10-01-2004 01:46 AM
When I was at the AHOF ceremony on Nov. 2001, the following were members of Max Q: Dan Burbank, Ken Cockerell, Jim Wetherbee and David Kelldof.
Max Q Member
Posts: 399 From: Whyalla South Australia Registered: Mar 2007
posted 10-19-2007 02:47 AM
I stumbled upon this thread whilst searching for something else and it reminds me of a question from times gone by:
Where can I get some of their music?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-19-2007 03:02 AM
Recently, the band has included: Chris Hadfield, Drew Feustel, Stephen Robinson, Chris Ferguson, Tracy Caldwell, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Ricky Arnold and Greg H. "Box" Johnson.
Other band members have included: Hoot Gibson, Ken Cockrell, Dan Burbank, Carl Walz, Jim Wetherbee, Susan Helms and Pierre Thuot.
(David Kelldof, identified by Randy above, is a NASA/KSC engineer that stood in for a regular Max Q member for that specific event.)
With regard to obtaining their music, the only commercial recording of which I am aware was a tape cassette ("Mach 25") sold through NASA visitor centers in 1994, which included various parody songs inspired by spaceflight and their original song, "Another Saturday Night" ("Another sunrise, another sunset, another orbit, another day out of this world / I got devotion, I got emotion, I got the universe / Now all I need is my girl.")
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-19-2007 10:46 AM
I've done a bit more digging and to clarify, the tape I mentioned was not of Max Q, but by a group called Mach 25. From a 1995 sci.space.shuttle usenet posting:
Mike Cahill is the author/producer of a cassette album of 11 comedy songs about the Space Program. The group is called Mach 25 and the album is entitled "25 Times the Speed of Sound." One of the songs Mike wrote ("Another Saturday Night") was recorded by Max Q and is included on the album.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-23-2009 03:43 PM
Michael Cassutt has authored the definitive article on the history of the Max Q band in the March 2009 issue of Air & Space Magazine.
It's a scene as familiar to Americans as a Friday night kickoff in September or a Fourth of July parade. The dance hall goes dark...a guitar chord twangs...the stage lights go up...and the band begins to play.
The songs are familiar, since most of them go back 30 or 40 years. "Take It Easy" by the Eagles. The Doobie Brothers' "Listen to the Music." Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love."
The group on stage, in Hawaiian shirts and baggy shorts, looks like a typical middle-aged cover band. But Max Q is anything but typical. Its members are active-duty astronauts.
The online version of the article includes a rare recording of the band's very first gig in June 1987. The members then were Robert "Hoot" Gibson on guitar, George "Pinky" Nelson on vocals, Jim Wetherbee on drums, and Brewster Shaw on rhythm guitar.
With the induction this May of Nelson and Wetherbee, all of the original members of Max Q (including Steve Hawley, who joined soon after the first gig on keyboard) will be enshrined in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame!
OV-105 Member
Posts: 816 From: Ridgecrest, CA Registered: Sep 2000
posted 01-25-2009 12:58 PM
Max-Q another great band that will never be in the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame.
kr4mula Member
Posts: 642 From: Cinci, OH Registered: Mar 2006
posted 01-26-2009 01:20 PM
Now that's an interesting thought. I wonder if the Rock Hall of Fame would at least have some interest in doing an exhibit on something a little broader, like rock music and the space program, or the sort of cultural comparisons/contrasts, along with a something on Max Q. Hmm, anyone have friends in Cleveland?
Mr Meek Member
Posts: 353 From: Chattanooga, TN Registered: Dec 2007
posted 01-26-2009 01:46 PM
I'd love to sit in with them. Hmm, I wonder if they'd play my wedding reception.
Rob Joyner Member
Posts: 1308 From: GA, USA Registered: Jan 2004
posted 01-26-2009 05:00 PM
quote:Originally posted by OV-105: Max-Q another great band that will never be in the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame.
You got that right! We'll have colonies on Mars before the Max Q gets in the R&R Hall of Fame!
astro-nut Member
Posts: 946 From: Washington, IL Registered: Jan 2006
posted 01-26-2009 07:39 PM
If Max-Q ever released an album, I would definitely buy one to listen to them and to have one for my collection.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-04-2009 05:52 PM
quote:Originally posted by Robert Pearlman: ...all of the original members of Max Q (including Steve Hawley, who joined soon after the first gig on keyboard) will be enshrined in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame!
And in case you haven't already heard, the 'original five' surprised everyone by performing together at the gala honoring this year's inductees!
Fortunately, I had my pocket video camera with me and although the video quality is not great (be sure to watch in 'HQ') the sound is better than I expected.
posted 09-29-2004 05:02 PM
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