The jobs rockers had BEFORE getting a guitar and starting to be famous

Guess it's time then to mention the late Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive, who was apparently a notoriously cantankerous employee who often gave the punters static about their unhip music choices.

 

See page 1...

 

Oops...how the hell did I miss that?!?

Ah well, it's wild and crazy enough to post twice!

 

Definitely worth a double post... especially as it's one of the few incidences of photographic evidence existing!

 

The Cramps worked at a record store in Sacramento.

 

Jerry Garcia delivered Newspapers.

 

Rod Stewart was a gravedigger, for a time.

IIRC, Axl Rose was a manager at Tower Records & Slash worked at the store he managed, briefly.

 

Waylon Jennings was a DJ.

 

Steven McRobbie (Steven Pastel) Of Glasgow Indy band The Pastels worked in the music dept of a Glasgow bookshop.

 

Before Zappa got a guitar and got famous...he was a drummer!

 

John Cipollina worked in his father's real estate office. Only straight job he ever had, and he wasn't much good at it, spending most of his time rolling joints behind his desk. Good thing the guitar career worked out!

 

Same with Keith Richards. Other than selling an ice cream cone to Mick Jagger, he never once held a straight job.

 

Here's an honorable mention: Lou Reed went from college to Pickwick Records and the Velvets, then worked as a typist for his father's firm on Long Island for a year or two, then re-entered the music industry as a solo artist.

 

Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart sold Vaccum Cleaners door to door and also managed a shoe store.

Frank Zappa designed and wrote Greeting Cards.

 

Elvis was a computer operator, used to be a thing. He didn't program. Kris turned down the assignment and left the service.

 

He cut lawns or did basic home repair something or other, as a young teenager. He never had a job after 15 or 16 or whatever it was.

 

You can add John Prine to this list.

 

Jimmy Buffett was a Nashville correspondent for Billboard magazine, writing record and concert reviews. One of his biggest scoops was that Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were breaking up.

 

Bruce Springsteen - musician. Never worked a day in his life.

 

Sheryl Crow was a music teacher at Kellison Elementary School in Fenton, Mo. after she graduated from college.

 

Chrissie also wrote reviews of bands and their albums as I recall.

 

Both she and Bob Geldof did short stints as pop music journalists before rocking full-time.

 

British rock legend Mike Pender (guitarist, co-founder of The Searchers) worked as a salesman at a music instruments store before performing and recording on a full-time basis with The Searchers.

 

Bryan Ferry was a host at a five star restaurant. Here he is preparing to seat two people.

Bryan Ferry - Wikipedia

 

Though it probably is a liberal use of "job", lots of musicians did music writing before playing music: Steve Albini, Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo (he also did sound for a local club, Maxwells), Lenny Kaye, Morrissey.

Albini was a photo retoucher (he may have also done silkscreening or some other printing related work).

Tom Scholz of Boston worked for Polaroid, on an instant motion picture film project (that never made it).

Wayne Coyne worked at Long John Silvers for a long time. Daniel Johnston worked at McDonalds for a long time.

One of the Undertones guys was also a milkman.

Stevie Nicks was a cleaning lady.