The cache is NOT at the listed coordinates. Enjoy the music and life of the featured band to find the location. Bring some tweezers and definitely bring your own pen, even though you won’t be expected to write any music with it.
Difficulty rating is for the process of determining the actual coordinates.
Standing ovation for rsfixit for the premiere debut, er, First to Find!
And a round of applause to OF-Erad for the first Favorite Point!
Consider the other geocaches in this series:
GC3TGDG, Satchmo - JazzMan’s Musical Mystery Tour
GC3TMYT, Ray Charles - JazzMan’s Musical Mystery Tour
GC3W4QR, Chicago - JazzMan’s Musical Mystery Tour
Determine answers to questions below to find the required coordinate numbers by clicking on the hyperlinks I have provided to related websites and videos. I have visited all these sites without harming my computer and no downloads or signups are required.
Because the answers must be numbers, the questions themselves may not be especially significant to appreciating this great musical ensemble. The experience of finding the answers, however, will hopefully bring you pleasure as you encounter the life and music of a creative musical group.
Since 1970, Tower of Power's music has changed and evolved with time, but their musical roots and early influences are always evident in their recordings. Blending soul, funk, jazz, and rock like no other band, Tower of Power has created their own unique genre, not easily fitting into traditionally defined categories. Nevertheless, ToP's leader and founding member, Emilio Castillo, has labeled their sound as "Urban Soul Music." Tower's rhythm section lays down a groove like no other band. The band’s horn-driven sound is unique, and the way they approach everything, from writing and arranging to mixing and performing, is totally their own. The horn section has always had its own style, its own character -- cutting the notes short, snapping them off, clicking and bumping against the rhythm section. Technically speaking, it’s not the way you’re supposed to play…but that’s Tower of Power.
Actual coordinates = N38° 5a.bcd W104° 4e.fgh
a. Answer = u minus v plus w, all from the same video.
During the first song, The Oakland Stroke, a tenor sax player with an afro takes a solo. While you may not recognize his face in this 1977 video, you may recognize his playing. Since 1995, Lenny Pickett has been the band leader on the television show Saturday Night Live!, and he is the saxophonist who has been playing super-high phrases in the opening credit theme music of SNL! episodes since 1985. Lenny is shown below sitting in with Tower of Power at the City Winery in NYC, 2009.
u. Tower of Power appears in this recorded concert as a guest. How many letters in the host’s last name?
v. Later in the same video, following the drum solo in What is Hip, the organist takes a solo. During the organ solo, how many members do synchronized dance moves? Subtract that number.
w. Add the number of musicians wearing a tuxedo.
b. In this video of Don’t Change Horses in the Middle of a Stream, from verse three, how many letters are in the word that fills the blank in this lyric?
“… Jumpin' over stumbling blocks
As they wander in our ______. …”
c. Answer = x minus y, both from this video medley of Soul Vaccination/You Got to Funkifize.
x. Early in the video, Stephen Kupka (the baritone sax player wearing a hat) plays a funky solo riff. The band leader Emilio Castillo calls out Kupka’s nickname, which contains how many letters?
y. Then subtract the number of letters in the word that fills the blank in this lyric:
“If you want to get ______…like a bow-legged monkey…”
d. In this video of Down to the Nightclub, how many letters in the word that fills the blank in this lyric?
“You can get what you want if you know how to find _____.”
e. As you watch this video of Soul With a Capital ‘S’ , look for a neon sign to the side of the stage. It says “ohne Filter MUSIC _____” (“ohne” is German for “without”). How many letters in the word that fills the blank?
f. Here we see the group appearing on the classic TV show Soul Train, and this is the roster of musicians I first got to know back in the ‘70s. In this video of So Very Hard to Go, how many horn players take a solo?
g. Answer from this video of Diggin’ on James Brown. How many letters in the word that fills the blank in this lyric from the chorus?
“Ya know the more things change,
The more they stay the same.
It may be a __________ age,
But I'm on the same page.
Cause one thing that I've found,
I'll still be diggin' on James Brown.”
h. In this video of I Got to Groove, baritone sax player Stephen Kupka ‘grooves’ as he does some solo dance moves. At 4:34, the lead vocalist calls out Kupka’s two-word nickname, shouting “That’s the ‘_______ Doctor’ ”. How many letters in the word that fills the blank?
Actual coordinates = N38° 5a.bcd W104° 4e.fgh
Use the link below to verify coords:
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.