Howdy, howdy, howdy! This is where you can talk back to me… tell me what you thought, tell me what you’d change, or tell me where we might have met at some point in the past. Talk about any subject you want, or just say howdy. I want to hear it all. Keep it suitable for ‘mixed audiences’ though, please — no worse than a PG rating — and we’ll talk. I’m looking forward to it.
Steve: I’m not sure if we’ve ever met, but we should have a hundred times… Your story and mine are almost the same and you and I were in exactly the same place at the same time. I was in basic at Lackland in May 77 and was stationed at Lackland as a Marksmanship / Combat Arms Insturctor. In 1983 I was the TIB / 35th Worldwide Talent Show artist / graphics / set designer and well remember the 83 show at Tyndall and then going back to work up TIB at Lackland. Tom, Lynda, T.A. Borrows, and 18 hour days and no food or sleep… (I never did understand what Tom had against food, and when he would lets us eat he only wanted to stop the bus at McDonalds)… Anyway, I went on to work with the Thunderbirds and was selected into that AF Art Collection, so I find it amazing that we’re both artists in the same place at the same time, so I wanted to say hello. Enjoyed reading the website. Best wishes.
Hey Steve,
Don’t know if you will remember me but I was stationed with you at Ramstein almost the entire time you were there (Jun85-Jun89). I remember you and Beth and “babysitting” your little dog. Jac Hutson told me about this site and I just wanted to tell you I really enjoyed looking at everything. You are so talented. I still have the cute babies picture that you did for us and have gotten so many comments about it over the years. I can still name most of the people in it and remember most of the stories behind their pictures. I have spoken to quite a few people from the old days and that is one of the first things we always say “remember that picture Steve drew”. Well just wanted to say hi.
Take Care,
Tina / HT
Ach! I can’t believe it! You left a comment here on December 2nd, and we only found it — caught in the software’s spam filters — a couple of days ago, on February 7th! Oh Lordy, I apologize! Computers are so stupid!
Of course I remember you! That’s your bared behind that I drew in that “Cute Babies” drawing (in honor of that notorious occasion when you reputedly mooned that East German border guard). The hottest blonde air traffic control crew chief in the business. Lordy, it seems like a hundred years ago. Heck, it almost seems like FICTION.
Well, it’s so good to hear from you. I’m sorry you had to wait so long to hear back from ME. If you wanna’ connect via more reliable means, give me a buzz at steve.stipp@gmail.com, and we’ll catch up.
Steve
Well hello Steve!
It’s Carol Whitfield, TIB OS ‘84 I can’t tell you how surprised and pleased I was to get an email with your site information and pictures from the TIB 1984 tour! It was sent to me by our 2nd replacement drummer Anthony Gregory. I’m not sure if you knew; however, William “Still Bill” Heath and I got married in 1987. We were cracking up at all the pictures…of course William looks great in all of them, he is incredibly photogenic; but man I was really quite photo-challenged!!!!!
It was a wonderful trip down memory lane. Your words really took me back to one of the most enjoyable times I have ever experienced!
Thanks for all the great photos!
Hey Steve,
How are you doin’ these days? Don’t know if you remember me, I was in Combat Control with you at McChord AFB. I lived just across the hall from you in the old “Castle” building. I’m an artist and musician as well, and we spent a good amount of time jamming together with our guitars. I believe I even still have a recording of us both working on a song of mine. You were playing a twelve-string guitar at the time. Don’t ask me how someone can finger-pick a 12 string guitar, but you managed to. Unlike you, I loved Combat Control and only left the team because, well, lets be polite, she had red hair and didn’t share in my commitment to the team. Enough said. Look, drop me a line when you get a chance, would love to catch up. Hope all is well.
HOLY CRAP! Carl Lynn! It’s OUTSTANDING hearing from you again! (I see this comment section took almost 2 days to post YOUR comment too… it did the same to me for the posting right below this one).
I just shot you an email. We have got some SERIOUS catching up to do. (You’re in my book, you know)
Wow! One of the guys from ‘back then.’
Who’da thunk it…
Oh, and a little follow-up for anyone who’s interested in the full 1,400-photo ‘Tops in Blue’ archive (now on-line, with captions, name tags, and Googlemap location ‘pins’) — just click on the link below, which will take you to a quick 14-photo ‘Prologue,’ and from there, on to the full 6-month staging, touring and Superbowl halftime photo-diary.
http://picasaweb.google.com/steve.stipp/PrologueTopsInBlue1984WorldTourPhotos#
P.S. – don’t even THINK about sitting through the entire thing in one sitting. It’s the whole tour kit-and-kaboodle… and as everybody knows, you have to take a full kaboodle in small bite-sized morsels.
Hey Steve,
My God I can’t believe I’ve found you!!!!! How the heck have you been? If you don’t remember me, we were in the Air Force together up at Mc Chord AFB. I was in Combat Control, and lived across the hallway from you in the dorm.
I’m an artist and musician as well. Still have on of your drawings as a matter of fact. I remember you always played piano in the Airmans club on base and we spent alot of time jamming on our guitars together. Still have the recordings we made. Look would be great to hear from you! My home # is 916-549-9060 or you can just drop me an email at blueave@yahoo.com. If you call the house and a hot chick answers the phone, that’s my wife Patsy, she knows who you are. Got to run, hope you have a great day. Talk to you soon,
Carlton
How do I go about getting copies of videos from like World Wide Competition during the late 70’s and early 80’s. I enjoyed trying out but only made to worldwide like twice but would love to have copies if possible or even pictures. Thanks
Howdy Huey!
Good question! And being borderline computer-illiterate, I’m probably not the best source to ask. I’ve got video of MY Worldwide solo act, only because in ‘84 they gave me a copy on-site following the competition in Charleston (I didn’t post it on this website though, not only because of how horrible the make-up on my face looked — they were filming it for TV, they said — but because of how horrendous the sound quality was… tinny and choked-down musical sounds coming from me, and a constant audio buzz throughout). But…
(a) I know Tops in Blue has its own website (although I haven’t checked it in years… I’m about to though, because I’m in the process of scanning all 1400 of my staging and tour pictures, and want to see if their site could handle — or link to another site that COULD handle — that many scans), (b) there’s another site (mentioned below in an earlier comment) called http://www.tibpriors.org, which has a pretty vast archive of submitted photos from all eras, (c) I’ve found a BUNCH of Tops in Blue videos on YouTube, from individual performances to segments of shows (in fact, that’s where I found the videos that are included on THIS site). So if you know how to navigate YouTube, there’s a lot of stuff there. And finally, (d) I know you USED to be able to contact Tops in Blue directly, and request a copy of any given show that they might have in their archive. That’s where I got my video of our tour performance in Kalkar, Germany. So, those are what *I* would check.
Hope that helps.
I also competed in ‘79 and ‘80 (made it to Worldwide in ‘80 — at Travis AFB in California), but didn’t compete because of stipulations inflicted by the MAC Talent directors leading up to it… long story). Were you in any of those?
Let me know how your search goes…
Steve
Hey Steve, I think you need to fix the link to “Writings” on your TALK TO ME page. It looks fine on other pages. By the way… love your stories.
DANG! You’re right! What the heck happened THERE?
Thank-you for pointing that out. I’ll jump right on it.
Steve
Whew… that’s better.
Do you remember us from Key Biscayne? Jim, me, the five kids=Noreen, James, Michael, Matthew and Patrick. I came across some drawings you left here in Massapequa many years ago and thought you might like to have them. I googled your name and came up with ths site. Let me know if you want the drawings (I think they are great!) and I will send them—
Best wishes —-
Peg Jones
Remember you? Most definitely. Noreen was the first big crush of my life. And somewhere, buried in my weary old repertoire of music, is a song that I wrote to her.
I remember how cool it was that Noreen’s dad was the principal of the high school that my idol Billy Joel attended, and how fun it was introducing our cats to each other (thank God they were both wrapped in towels). I also remember showing up at your Massapequa home, unannounced, during my first big solo roadtrip up the east coast, the summer of 1976, and how gracious you all were to invite me in. So yes, most definitely, I remember you all, and quite fondly.
How great to hear from you again! I hope everyone’s doing well.
As for the ancient artwork… while I’d be curious to see it again, you certainly don’t need to go to any exhaustive lengths to get it to me. If you’d like, drop me an email at steve85@earthlink.net, and we’ll work out addresses and whatnot. And thank-you so much for your consideration.
Hopefully I’ll see you soon in my e-Mailbox…
Steve
Hey Steve,
I’ve enjoyed your blog and am looking forward to the day you get that book finished and published. Your songs are awesome, too. Of course I’ve only told you that a million times. Find yourself an agent and get going. No more slow mo, hop to it. With all the talent you have, you should already be the richest man in the world. It would be great to hear from you again.
Paula
Wow! Is this the real Paula Abdul? Cool… although I hate to tell ya’, American Idol’s been much better since you left and Ellen DeGeneris took over.
But seriously, folks…
Good to hear from you again, Paula. Long time no connect. The writing’s slowed down quite a bit though, since my current job has me working a schedule identical to my wife’s, so I’m NEVER ALONE. And I’ve gots t’ have dang-near total isolation for me to do any productive writing. Working on it, though… honest.
Drop me a line at steve85@earthlink.net some time…
Steve
Howdy Steve! It’s your niece, Shannon. Sam was just showing me your website and all your cool drawings. Pretty dang cool. After seeing all this I was curious if you’d be available to draw up a logo thingy for Curtis and me for our new business. Let me know what ya think! Hope you and Beth are doing well!
Hey there, Shannon! Good hearing from you.
Unfortunately, as mentioned on this site’s “Artwork” page, I pretty much walked away from the drawing table about 20 years ago once that ‘Big Project’ was finally done. My old colored pen and pencil sets have long since been disposed of, and, to tell you the truth, I think I’d be hard-put to even find a number 2 pencil around here any more. But if I DID, I could probably diddle up a couple of ‘concept sketches’ maybe, but that’d be all. Somebody else would have to render a finished product for you, I’m afraid. These days, if they’ve got any computer skills at all, it would probably be best to do it digitally anyway.
If you’re still interested, drop me a line at steve85@earthlink.net, and I’ll see what can be done.
Keep in touch…
Steve
Hiya Steve, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip through your website (and your mind, I suppose). Keep posting as much stuff as you can dig up, or generate new, and I’ll keep coming back. Your talents only have the boundaries that you impose. I miss playing with you and TIB, but lightning never strikes the same place twice. As you stated, I’d do it all again tomorrow, but probably a little slower. I would like a copy of those 1400 photographs, someday…
Later, John
(your friend Spud)
Just tell me how, dude. I’d LOVE to scan-and-post all 1,400 of ‘em (I always felt guilty about how no one in the cast ever got to keep any of them at the end of the tour). Do you know of any site(s) that could handle the data-load of 1,400 200-dpi scanned photos? I kinda’ got the impression that Tops in Blue’s site(s) would choke on that much of an upload.
In the meantime… been staying in touch with anyone else from the ‘84 tour? I’d like to get ‘em ALL looking.
Keep in touch. Try me at steve85@earthlink.net (my Googlemail account seems to have gridlocked itself with rapidfire ‘autosaves’, to where I just can’t use it any more).
Great hearing from you again…
Steve
P.S. – You think Facebook could handle that many photos?
Hello,
I never realized you were so well traveled. Delighted that you are keeping those fingers nimble. Looking forward to hearing your songs again and sharing them with my daughters.
Peace,
dove
P.S. Not to put too fine a point on the matter, but most of the artists I know prefer to sell their work “privately” so as to gain more financial profit. Should I go with cd baby or do you have alternate means?
CD Baby is pretty much my only sales outlet, at present. And even that was a begrudging concession. At the time I was recording its 12 tracks, my sole intention was to produce a high-quality collection of my favorite originals just for ME, and maybe a dozen other curious folks. Sales were not even under consideration. That’s why I chose to do all the vocals myself. If I would have known that the staggeringly generous benefactor who paid for the thing was going to insist on “going public” with it, I would have hired a better lead vocalist. But it came out alright, I think, and it’s kinda’ cool seeing a thousand copies of it… even if most of them are still in my living room.
In the meantime, I get the impression that I might know you, “dove.” If so, by what other name might you be known? Drop me a line at steve.stipp@gmail.com, if you’d rather.
And thank-you so much for your interest…
Steve
(a.k.a.- “GreatHairy Silverback”)
Steve
I want to link your website to the Combat Control School Heritage Foundation website. You are doing great work in many communications fields. I want to read all of your work, but it will take time.
Thirty years ago, shortly after I retired from CCT (in 1977), I recall seeing a drawing titled “Knight Drop”. It featured a combat controller (knight) in full armor, sitting on his steed, on the ramp of a C-130. The knight was holding a jousting lance with a small triangular flat at the top. Both the knight and the horse had a “I don’t wanna go” expression.
The drawing – as I recall it – was done in a style much like yours. Have you ever seen it?
Keep up the good work.
Gene Adcock, CMSgt, USAF (CCT) Retired
Chief Adcock;
First of all, I’m honored to hear from you. It looks like you retired the same year I stumbled into this whole thing. And your name actually sounds familiar. Chief Howell was the NCOIC of the McChord Team at the time I was there. Perhaps, through him, was where I heard you mentioned.
Secondly, I’d be proud to be linked to the CCS Heritage Foundation. That would be awesome. But…
“Be advised,” as they say… the book (or collection of vignettes) that I’ve been SLOWLY assembling, is, at present, only about 2/3 complete. And the 1/3 that I have yet to get to deals mostly with my efforts to get OUT of CCT (entirely on account of my unsuitability for the job). So, if that’s not a deterrent for you, I accept most gratefully, and thank you for your interest. Who’da thunk it?
And thirdly, I’m afraid I don’t recall having ever seen the drawing you mentioned, and I know that *I* didn’t draw it. But it sounds really cool. I did a rough sketch once of a fully decked-out CCT stud-muffin swinging through the jungle like Tarzan, and I’ve got an ancient PRE-sketch I did (never fleshed out) for a “We Want You” kind of poster, staring right down the barrel of a GAU-5. But (aside from some portraits — and an Elvis montage I did for Dick Brawley) that’s about it for CCT-related artwork.
I wish I had more photos to include in the book.
In the meantime, please keep in touch, if you’re interested (at steve.stipp@gmail.com), and I’ll look for the Foundation’s website myself.
Thanks for dropping the note…
Steve
(“Delta-Fox”)
Steve
TOPS IN BLUE is still in business. If you go to http://www.tibpriors.org, you may find priors from the ‘84 tour.
Yes, I know. I’ve got it on my list of Favorites.
Now if I could figure out where I could post all 1,400 of the photos I took as the tour photographer, I’d scan and ship ‘em all there.
Think http://www.tibpriors.org could handle that many?
Steve
My daughter told me about your new website. I’m still exploring right now but it looks great. I would love to buy your book when you publish.
Oh, and on a side note Quig was still at McChord when I got there. I’ve lost track of him so I have no idea what he is doing these days.
Btw, if your ever in the Pope/Bragg area and want to get back on the ‘mike’ for old times sake, just let me know. There are usually around 8 or so missions a week that you would be welcomed to come out and watch/clear.
You, sir, are ON! And to think that we just passed through there last October (a wedding in Gatlinburg). Dang it! Next time, though… next time I’ll show you what 33 years out of the ‘physicality business’ looks like (and it ain’t pretty). I will BE there.
Thank-you so much for the offer… and I’ll see you then.
Steve
The invite is out anytime. We live on the west side of R-5311 in the Pinehurst area, and we have two spare bedrooms to boot! Jessica would love to meet you as well. Depending on the timing you can see anything from Brigade level air drops, local tactical trainers to LZ ops. We look forward to seeing you and your wife whenever the opportunity comes up.