Posters, which were placed strategically on the walls of the American Legion Post 280 in East Pasadena on Oct. 22 during the 39th Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah queen tryouts, said it all: “Our beloved friend Snotty Scotty has left the building.”
John Scott Finnell, better known as the titular lead vocalist of local rock cover band Snotty Scotty and the Hankies, succumbed to lung cancer Oct. 16. The posters invited people to “celebrate and remember” Finnell during an upcoming open jam and potluck at the Old Towne Pub in Pasadena Nov. 5. The bulk of the crowd at the American Legion had come for the annual Doo Dah queen auditions, but some came seeking companionship or comfort after learning of the death of the Pasadena icon.
“I have many fond memories after the Doo Dah Parade when the Loch Ness Monster Pub (now the Old Towne Pub) would become just hugely swamped with people, and I would find some time where we would just sit and talk about what it all means.” Light Bringer Project president and Doo Dah Parade Tsar Tom Coston said. “What I loved was (Finnell) would talk about the history of the musicians and the people who would cross paths and the relationships. It made me feel like I was in a place that wasn’t just some everyday city Anywhere U.S.A. It made me feel like I was in a town that had an identity, a local character and local characters.”
Pasadena musician Danny Hesse played in a number of bands, including Horses on Astroturf, that shared the stage with Snotty Scotty and the Hankies.
“To me, Scotty represented the more idiosyncratic, soulful, out-of-the-ordinary, uncompromising and just plain odd side of Pasadena that we just don’t really see anymore,” Hesse said. “The Hankies came out of that period of time when Old Town wasn’t another boring, expensive metropolis catering to boring folks with disposable income. Old Town was neglected and, of course, where the interesting happened. Scotty didn’t care about ‘making it’; he had other ideas. …I thought he would be around until the world finally imploded.”
Pasadena musician and Duke of the Occasional Doo Dah Parade Andrew Kvammen stumbled on Finnell’s band in the 1980s and forged a friendship with the musicians.
“I was wandering through Old Town and I heard some music coming from an alley and I walked down this alley. There’s a bar, the Loch Ness Monster Pub,” Kvammen said. “It had a portrait of Robert Burns on the wall and there’s this rock band playing there and they are kicking ass. There’s people throwing darts in the back and the place is just jammed full, everybody is dancing and drinking and the band was Snotty Scotty and the Hankies. That was my first encounter with them and I just thought, ‘Wow, I have found home; this is my place’ …I don’t care what anybody says about Van Halen, Snotty Scotty and the Hankies are the best band from Pasadena.”
Finnell wasn’t all about rock and roll, Pasadena PIO emeritus and Woman About Town Ann Erdman said. She had a heart-to-heart with him two years ago after the Doo Dah queen tryouts at the American Legion.
“I decided to go and get one for the road, I always drink diet Coke when I’m here, and Scott was just sitting alone at the bar,” Erdman said. “I decided to go over and sit next to him. I wasn’t sure if he wanted any company or not because the queen tryouts are always raucous events and he may have just wanted some quiet time. I sat down next to him at the bar and we began to talk about everything except Doo Dah. We talked about family, we talked about childhood memories, we talked about Vietnam, we covered a number of topics just in that quiet half hour, just the two of us sitting quietly at the bar just catching up with each other and sharing some thoughts. I will always treasure that precious memory.”
Area resident Chad Druten knew Finnell from the pub and Doo Dah Parade events, but over the last several years the two men became good friends.
“He was a very kind and good person. He was a character, but he was so much more that people didn’t see when he was on stage and that’s who he really was to me. He was a friend and he was a person’s family member, he was a woman’s boyfriend and he was surrounded by people towards the end that loved him,” said Druten.
Elizabeth Finnell said that her brother-in-law helped make the holidays special for his family.
“What I remember the most is Christmas, because everyone would get together and the thing that was consistent among all the Christmases was that Scotty would organize the music,” Elizabeth Finnell said.
She recounted how Scotty created a video of a fireplace long before you could get one on the television and the family would all sing Christmas carols. The family also gathered together at Thanksgiving and after his father died, Scott and his mother would spend the holiday with Elizabeth and her family. Whatever the occasion, Scott would take a moment before everyone parted to sing the Shelby Flint hit, “Angel on my Shoulder.”
Elizabeth saw a softer side of Scotty, as he had been taking care of his mother for the last 15 years.
“He loved her dearly. Scott would drop anything to take care of his mother, even if she just needed a bag of Ghirardelli chocolates from Rite-Aid,” Elizabeth said. “He was more than band icon, he was a brother and an uncle and a father and a cousin. I never ever, ever heard anything negative come out of his mouth, except about politics. He was the best brother that I ever had.”
Elizabeth is now taking care of Finnell’s mother, who she invites everyone to meet, along with his brother Mike Finnell, as they celebrate Finnell’s life at the 39th Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade Nov. 20.
If you want to go to the Snotty Scotty Remembrance
When: 3-9 p.m. Nov. 5.
Where Old Towne Pub, 66 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena.
Admission: Free, please bring potluck dish to share.
Information: 626-577-6583, https://www.facebook.com/Old-Towne-Pub-137574276257961/?rf=138542896212888.
If you want to go to the 39th Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade
When: 11 a.m. Nov. 20.
Where: Colorado Boulevard between Altadena Drive and San Gabriel Boulevard, East Pasadena.
Admission: Free, $10 to march in the parade.
Information: 626-590-1134, www.pasadenadoodahparade.info.
