Kenny Loggins 1983 Tour

While riding back to LA from the US Festival in Kip and Sal’s rented motor home I focused my thoughts on the Kenny Loggins gig that I was about to begin. In my minds eye, it was looking to be one of the best tours I’d do. I thought working with Larue was going to be a breeze. HOLY SHIT, how wrong was I. As I detailed in my book our friendship imploded and it really wasn’t cool. Larue was someone I looked up to, again, he got me into this line of work and we were tight friends. In the past when we toured together he was always fun to be around and girls just loved him. He radiated charm and never went ugly early, if you know what I MEAN! I was totally prepared for going back on the road and doing my job to the best of my ability. When we arrived in LA Kip said “I’ll keep you in the loop!” and we parted ways.

Unfortunately, from day one of the Loggins Tour, Larue saw me in a business light of the old version of what I was, verses the current state of mind I now occupied. Things just kept getting shittier by the minute. It’s funny, and not in a Ha Ha way, what rage can make you do in certain situations. A few weeks into the tour when Donnie called unexpectedly and asked if I could help him out of a pickle he was in, I didn’t hesitate. I said I would in fact assist him by taking the tour he was offering and decided to immediately leave the Loggins tour. In retrospect, I don’t know if I would have jumped ship or thought about leaving the Loggins Tour if it wasn’t for meeting Donnie. No one was looking to hire me and I was still internally reeling from my recent karma ass kicking.

As I previously stated, my bond with Donnie stemmed from a simple good deed I’d done for him while on the 1982 Police Tour a year earlier. My

business friendship with him lasted a little over two years and they were the very best of times during my odyssey!

After the dust settled from the Loggins blowout, two years later, Larue and I reconnected. Hell, how many true friends do you really have?

A little side note, just about ten years ago when my loving mother passed away and friends were telling other friends of my loss, one of the first calls I received was from Larue. He was living in Hawaii on the north shore in a beach front house and insisted that I come visit him and clear my head. After we followed my mother’s wishes I caught a flight to Hawaii and took heed in his words of wisdom. I reflected for two weeks on how much I missed my mother and still do. That’s the kind of friend Larue was and is, and I LOVE him for it!

The Kenny Loggins Tour was like most, only this time I was riding on the crew bus and what a joy it was. You could party your ass off, get whacked out of your mind on whatever poison of choice and not have a care in the world until you reached the next destination. What a great escape!!! Kenny’s audience was largely made up of women and there was plenty of bartering in every city we played. The crew chief of the bus I was riding on was a real dick and ran things that created situations reminiscent of the petty crap of high school days. Things like, who’s in with the right click! Who’s being picked on and talked about behind his back. Big Paulie was a first class ass wipe with his bus etiquette, but, ran a tight crew. Though, he really didn’t bother me as much as he did others, he was a big bully with a bad attitude. Honestly, if Larue wasn’t such a dick the tour would have been a blast. The tour was set to roll till early fall and I was making great money. Kenny’s manager was very laid back. He gave me plenty of space to do my job and we had no problems. Again my only reason for bailing was Larue’s unfair treatment and I’d made a promise to never let anyone manipulate me. So, as I stated in my book, I flew off the handle and abruptly departed the tour. Needless to say Larue wasn’t too thrilled that I left him holding the bag. Hey, karma can be a cold hearted bitch! On the jet flight to start the 1983 Men At Work tour I felt bullet proof and never looked back!

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