1998. Drew Carey auditions 10 top guitar players for "The Horndogs".

[JohnnyRingo]

As a lifelong NE Ohio resident I'm so proud of Drew Carey. I've spent a lifetime driving to Cleveland to see the same bands he was following, so I also loved the North Shore comedy The Drew Carey Show. In this episode the fictional band he was starting was The Horndogs and they were looking for a guitar player.

This is a short clip of the mock auditions they had featuring co-stars Oswald Lee Harvey (Diedrich Bader) and Lewis Kiniski (Ryan Stiles).

If you can name every one of them, don't forget to take Advil today in case your arthritis kicks up.

[poli-junkie]

1. Let's see:

I recognized Slash; the ZZ Top beard guy; Lisa Loeb; tall skinny guy was a Ramon; and it looks like Joe Walsh got the gig. Rest I have no clue. Clever sketch 👍

[JohnnyRingo]

3. It says a lot for Carey that he could draw that level of talent....

...just for cameos.

Of course Joe Walsh is a local boy, but others in order are:

Slash of GnR
Rick Neilson of Cheap Trick
Dusty Hill of ZZ Top
Matthew Sweet 40 years and 40 pounds ago
Joey Ramone Lead singer of The Ramones playing a guitar which he doesn't usually do.
Lisa Loeb Singer / songwriter
Dave Mustaine of Megadeath
Roy Clark Grand Ole Opry star
Jonny Lang Whom I saw in 1997 on his debut tour at Wilberts in Cleveland with about 30 other people.
Michael Stanley Cleveland icon of stage and local TV. MSB "thanked God for the man who put the white lines on the highway".
Joe Walsh who started The James Gang as a student at Kent State. Got to see them in local battles of the Band shows.

The inside joke with Michael Stanley was that he hosted a local morning TV show, which is why he said he has to be in bed by 5:00PM.

All of these have a common denominator with Cleveland for the original "World Series of Rock" that took place annually in the old Cleveland Indians ball park for six years running beginning in 1974. It was general admission and was known for sell out crowds of rowdy fans.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. I'll Play

Slash, Rick Neilsen, Dusty Hill, don't know, Joey Ramone(?), don't know, Dave Mustaine, Roy Clark, Johnny Lang, ?, Joe Walsh.
Didn't do as well as I should have.

[JohnnyRingo]

4. I didn't recognize Matthew Sweet

I never knew he harbored skills of the strings, at least not judging by the lone CD I have, "100% Fun".
I thought he was Joe Bonamassa.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. I Knew It Wasn't Joe B

But, I wouldn't have guessed Matthew Sweet in a million guesses.