I saw the movie Sid & Nancy. It was a pretty good movie. It didn't really make me a punk rock fan. But anything that's new, as long as it's good I enjoy it.
George ThorogoodI mean, you could have said Elvis Presley was new wave when it happened. I heard Willy DeVille and Tom Petty and to me they were new wave really because they were new.
George ThorogoodI'm a big Marty Robbins fan. I love Marty Robbins. Of course, everybody does. That's not such a big shock.
George ThorogoodWhen people come to the show they think we are a legendary band because they hear us on Classic Rock radio all the time. It is psychological. That's okay - I'm down with that.
George ThorogoodMy parents taught me what life is about, so I grew up the type they warned me about.
George ThorogoodAfter the Ed Sullivan Show, Feb. 9, 1964, at approx. 8:04pm [laughs], after that moment every album, every guitar, evey set of drums that was ever sold ... 10% should have gone right into their pocket!
George ThorogoodI am more of a rock guy than I am a blues guy. People get the idea that I am a dyed in the wool blues cat, but I rock out when I do my show you know that.
George ThorogoodEvery time the guys were knocked out by my guitar playing and the girls were knocked out by the type of songs I did. That set us apart from the average blues band.
George ThorogoodEvery time you go in and make a record it is like a calling card, not so people can come and hear you live or are interested in your catalog.
George ThorogoodAnything that's new wave is new. As far as punk rock goes, I've never really been exposed to any.
George ThorogoodNot to this extent but from day one I had an awful lot of confidence when I got started.
George ThorogoodLed Zeppelin, they still rule the airwaves. I hear Zeppelin every day, and they've been around since '69. So the people who grew up with that still listen to that, and now their children listen to it.
George ThorogoodThe [2012 covers album] 2120 [South Michigan Ave.] was different. We covered a lot of classics there. But most of the time when we did it I always prided myself on digging up obscure songs that no one knew of.
George Thorogood[European audiences differ from American] they talk different. The ones in Holland speak Dutch. The ones in Switzerland speak Swiss. That's the only difference.
George ThorogoodWhatever title you want to lay on me is fine. I am still working; you know what I'm saying?
George ThorogoodRock music is stronger than sports. That's why. Rock rules. Around the world, who's more famous: Willie Mays or Paul McCartney?
George ThorogoodI hate categories. Hank Williams is a great artist, period. Bob Dylan is a great artist, so is Marty Robbins. They just classify these people and put them in categories so they can sell the thing easier.
George ThorogoodThere are now grandmothers and grandfathers coming to see us because they are of that age, they grew up in the '50s and '60s and they bring their sons and their daughters to hear the songs they heard when they were young.
George ThorogoodMost of the time when we do a tune, Bad Blake, it's a tune no one's heard of to begin with.
George ThorogoodI'm more of a rhythmic player. My soloing is pretty much limited to playing slide guitar.
George ThorogoodI know I'm not going to sing like Aretha Franklin or Elvis Presley or any of those people.
George ThorogoodAs you get older the odds are against you that you are still going to be on the planet.
George ThorogoodThis music has been around since before the beard on Moses. I happed to do it very well and I happen to have a lot of groovy songs that I know people are going to dig. I know more about it than you do.
George ThorogoodOn the day I was born, the nurses gathered around, to gaze in wide wonder at the joy they had found.
George ThorogoodHow would you define [Bob] Dylan? You can't. That's a true artist. How about Ray Charles? Can you classify Ray Charles? No, you can't. He's just great, period.
George ThorogoodYou can't rely on luck. I've had some stages in my career where I've said we're going to wing it, and we've always ended up in trouble.
George ThorogoodI figured if you want to get to where John Hammond is or Billy Gibbons is or Peter Wolf is, you have to start listening to the same stuff they did, and learn from that, and that's what I did.
George ThorogoodI said if you want to be Keith Richards, you've got to listen to Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. Then I thought, "What did Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry listen to?" I said, "They listened to Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters." Well who'd they listen to? They listened to Robert Johnson. I said, "Ok, we'll start with that."
George ThorogoodLook at Gleason in The Honeymooners. He was humorous but the way he lived wasn't really humorous. He was a bus driver. Who wants to be a bus driver? He didn't have any money and he was not famous. But despite that, the show is humorous.
George ThorogoodMy father had a couple of Mitch Miller records and a Spike Jones record, and that was it. My older brother had two or three Elvis Presley singles, and that was about it. The rest of it I did on my own.
George ThorogoodRadio is paid by advertising. They decide what songs to play that'll keep people listening. And that's what promoters and the Classic Rock people do.
George ThorogoodRounder Records decided to call the album Move It On Over, much to my chagrin but they knew what they were doing. It took off and to this day I can't figure out why.
George ThorogoodPain I keep to myself; my music is for entertainment purposes and I always have that in mind.
George ThorogoodI drink alone. Yeah, with nobody else. You know when I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself.
George ThorogoodI make a rich woman beg, I'll make a good woman steal. I'll make an old woman blush, and make a young woman squeal.
George ThorogoodI love Hank Williams. Who doesn't love Hank Williams? So my choices are not that surprising.
George Thorogood