What is the one item no rock ‘n’ roll band will ever be caught without?
What keeps the rock rolling when things start falling apart?
From taping down cables to patching broke drum heads and sticks, to hanging banners, to you name it! The saviour of many a rock ‘n’ roll show has been –– “duct tape”.
People often wonder how mankind got by before the advent of the technology which has made home computers, palm pilots and pocket cell phones all a part of daily life.
Decidedly more low-tech than those items, but certainly as equally indispensable in today’s world, is this weird little product –– “duct tape.”
My wife Julie teases me all the time, because my answer for nearly everything that needs fixing around the house is...you got it... “duct tape.”
A while back, I decided to do a salute to this handy, dandy lifesaving product and interviewed a cross section of folks from various locales on ways they used this handy little product in day to day life.
“When his Uncle Pauly brought my grandson a plastic electric guitar for his birthday, the first thing I had to do was put a piece of duct tape over the speaker, because the noise it made was deafening,” laughed “Nana Debbie” Nieto of Merrillville. “With the duct tape on the speaker, he could still hear the music just fine, but I was not losing my mind.”
“I had guests visiting and my toilet started running,” related 28-year-old Highland native Dave Grove. “The floater arm and ball would never reach the correct height in the tank, so I folded three paper towels into a 3-inch square and wrapped that with duct tape. I stuck the waterproof pad to the plastic ball at the end of the floater arm. Problem solved!”
The stories gathered were many and the locales varied –– from sporting events, to hunting camps, to the Florida Everglades, where people who handle alligators use it to tape the reptiles’ powerful jaws shut.
“I used it in the Everglades on a little 12-foot aluminum boat, to stop a couple of tiny holes that were in the bottom,” said 56-year-old Jerry Mathey of Marengo, Illinois. Mathey has used the tape’s waterproofing applications at home too, by taping the backside of his bathroom clock to protect mechanisms from rusting due to steam and moisture.
Oddly enough, the origins of duct tape can be found in the battlefields of World War II. It made its debut in 1942 and was designed as a means of waterproofing artillery boxes in the field.
It was also adapted to emergency medical use and saved lives in tight battle conditions when used as makeshift bandages. Soldiers soon discovered what the rest of the world would soon know, that this sticky new product was extremely versatile – for patching uniform tears, temporarily fixing broken field gear, and covering vulnerable ports on weapons when in water.
After the war, the tape was introduced into the consumer market, which instantly embraced this all-purpose tool.
Though initially used to patch holes in air ducts when it first came out, the name, “duct tape,” is largely misleading today.
One the few things duct tape is NOT recommended for is repairing heat ducts. The advisory comes from both the tape manufacturers and from heating and cooling professionals.
“Duct tape will melt. It’s fine to use on cold air return ducts and supply lines, but never use it on heat ducts,” explained heating and cooling specialist, Marty Edmaiston, guitarist with Shuddup & Drive and co-owner of Eddy’s Appliance in Lake Station, IN.
“Those ducts get quite hot and the tape will melt away,” Edmaiston continued. “You get a vapor when that happens. You also get suction in your heat ducts which interferes with the heat flow. For heating ducts, always use metal (aluminum) tape.”
The general consenses on this amazing silver miracle product is that duct tape is a “must have” in homes, work shops, vehicles, musician’s gig bags, tool boxes, and most other places where “quick fix” solutions are often needed. Its uses are as broad as one’s imagination...
“I use duct tape to muffle my cymbals and my drums in recording studio situations,” revealed percussionist/drummer Jeff Brown, the Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Valparaiso University and band leader of the Jeff Brown Trio.
“Duct tape is great for holding drum kits and amp cabinets together,” said 49-year-old music promoter Jerry Parsley of Hammond. More than one musician recalled patching speaker cones with layers of duct tape in order to finish gigs.
Duct tape can also be an invaluable show biz aid...
“I’ve used duct tape to give myself cleavage in musical productions while in high school,” confessed 28-year-old Munster singer Tina Dohl of local band, X-Girlfriend. “I’d just tape 'the girls' up high and tight. It works quite well, but boy does it hurts when it comes off. Gives new meaning to the phrase ‘suffering for one’s art’.”
Country musician, Jimmy Henrich of Michigan City, credits duct tape for getting him to an important gig. “I used duct tape to fix a brake line on my old truck,” he said. The same roll of tape saved him a second time when used to patch a bad radiator hose.
“I use duct tape as a lint brush for my suits and clothes,” said 35-year-old Bank Calumet V.P. Doug Clapp of Portage. Chicago Blues singer Deb Seitz of Lockport, Illinois, said her teenage son has discovered that duct tape is a great way to hold up his oversized pants.
Clothing contributes greatly to duct tape sales, as a lot of teens are accenting their wardrobes with the many tape colors now offered to consumers by manufacturers like the Duck Tape brand.
“We’ve got 19 colors of tape available, including several florescent colors and even camouflage colors,” explained Duck Tape publicist Heather Sefick. Though punk rockers stick primarily to the traditional silver/gray tape, teen pop fans seem to be crazy for hot colors like “Atomic Yellow,” “Funky Flamingo” and “Blaze Orange.”
Customizing clothes with duct tape is so popular, that the Duck Tape brand now sponsors a nationwide contest – “Stuck On Prom” – where teen couples competed for a $5,000 scholarship by attending their high school prom in gowns and tuxedos made of...yep... duct tape!
A few Midwest teens in particular took up the manufacturer’s annual challenge. Two Highland High School couples took the duct tape fashion route in 2003 and one Valparaiso High School student (Sarah S.) went so far as to submit her 2003 experience on the Duck Tape website’s “Prom Stories” guest book.
“When we decided to enter, we kept it secret. We were worried that everyone would laugh and we would be run out of the prom. What happened was the exact opposite,” wrote Sarah S. in her online entry. “All night long we had people taking pictures of us, asking questions, and one friend even seemed jealous of all the attention I was getting. All night, all eyes were on us... I felt like the Bell at the ball. I will never forget the feeling. It was definitely worth it!”
This upcoming school year, the contest will enter its fifth year. Contest rules, regulations and applications are found at the Duck Tape web site: www.DuckTape.com
The site also features photo submissions and entry letters from kids who participated in the zany competition in past years.
Hey! Do you want to be in total fashion this Fall? Do not look to Halston, Versace, McCartney or Dior... Instead, run down to the local Wal-Mart, where Duck Tape’s rainbow of colors are carried. Soon you will be the talk of the town!
Tom Lounges spins Region Rock on his Night Rock radio Show every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on X-ROCK 103.9 |
||||||||
|
Web
Design By: All Rights Reserved © Hungry Mind Design 2005 |
||||||||
