Jack Blades recently shared an amusing anecdote about Ted Nugent’s dedication to playing guitar during a 1989 earthquake. He recounted the incident in a conversation featured on Ted Nugent’s YouTube channel.
The Damn Yankees bassist recalled how Nugent continued playing through the San Francisco earthquake while the band was rehearsing for their first record.
“Remember that time the earthquake hit and we were rehearsing the Damn Yankees before we made our first record in 1989? The earthquake hit in San Francisco and all of a sudden the producers running around like get in the middle of a doorway and the whole pool is going like this,” Blades said.
He continued describing the chaotic scene at his ranch during the natural disaster.
“We’re downstairs in my at my ranch and it’s all going and through and Tommy and I are like going like, ‘What the f***?’ And you’re sitting there. You just kept playing with your head down. And all of a sudden it just stopped. The whole thing just stopped and it stopped,” Blades recalled.
Blades then described Nugent’s remarkably calm reaction when the earthquake ended.
“We’re all like, you know, eyes are bulging out of our heads and we’re like looking at this and you just stop. You look up and you go, ‘Earthquake, huh?’ And then just sat down and started playing again,” he said.
Nugent responded with characteristic humor about his guitar playing’s seismic impact.
“I would like to think whenever I play my guitar there is a semblance of an earthquake taking place but a very sexy controlled earthquake,” Nugent replied.
Blades concluded the story with a playful suggestion: “You might have caused the San Francisco earthquake.”
The earthquake that interrupted the Damn Yankees rehearsal was no ordinary tremor. It was one of the most significant seismic events in California’s recent history, leaving an indelible mark on the Bay Area and beyond.
Britannica reported that the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time with a magnitude of 6.9. The earthquake lasted approximately 15 seconds but caused devastating damage across the region. It resulted in 63 deaths and nearly 3,800 injuries.
Wikipedia documented that the earthquake’s epicenter was located in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Loma Prieta Peak, approximately 60 miles south of San Francisco. Despite its relatively distant epicenter, the quake’s effects were felt throughout the Bay Area. It caused widespread structural damage and infrastructure failures.
The timing of the earthquake made it particularly memorable for millions of Americans. Cal OES noted that the Loma Prieta earthquake famously interrupted Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics at Candlestick Park. The live television broadcast captured the moment when the stadium began shaking. This brought the earthquake into living rooms across the nation and made it one of the most widely witnessed seismic events in history.
The earthquake’s impact extended far beyond sports venues and recording studios. NIST found that the disaster caused the collapse of sections of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the devastating failure of the Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland. The viaduct collapse alone accounted for 42 of the earthquake’s fatalities. The total economic damage reached approximately $6 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history at the time.
