Billy Idol 1984 Tour

Just coming off the 1983 Men at Work Tour and having the Billy Idol gig lined up was a real comfort compared to the previous winter I had spent nailing up siding.

During the entire Idol tour my focus bounced between past and future goals. Since Thanksgiving of 1980 most, if not, all of my affirmations had materialized and I was in awe of the power of self belief. While traveling in the fourteen foot cube van that the three of us drove for the duration, I visualized about things to come. All I kept telling myself was my goal of going around the world would manifest. As my minds eye wandered forward, Kip’s and Sal’s business model resonated that it was my ticket to attainment. So, I chose that vision as my future affirmation and saw myself working for them no matter what! However, I needed to hurry up and wait for another two years or so. Because, like it or not, things come in their own sweet time and perseverance is the best way to ride out time frame situations that require waiting.

Not being in charge of the concert merchandise on the Billy Idol tour wasn’t such a bad thing. It gave me plenty of free time and I loved watching him perform nightly. He and his band were so in the groove that every show was electrifying. Billy’s stage persona was just that! He was nothing like his image, unlike Joe Strummer of the Clash who I had also toured with in 1982 and every bit his! Billy was on tour to promote his new album Rebel Yell and looked to me to have a case of road fever. Some performers hate road travel and word spreads around a crew real quick about the performer’s mood. Because, if you’re traveling with a moody son of a bitch who hates the road, it can really suck big time! Happily as I mentioned, not the case with Billy, he was enjoying his moment in the sun to its fullest capacity! He was also the perfect superstar candidate for MTV which manifested in all of eight weeks. Billy Idol was the fastest rising rock star I’d ever toured with and he made it look cool as shit while doing it! Friends, Billy Idol was nobody’s fool and deserved all the fame and fortune afforded to him!

Billy had a wicked sense of humor and at some shows he’d send the female keyboard player, who was straight as an arrow, to score blow for him. For whatever reason the first and only place she’d come looking for coke was our merchandise table. She’d be all upset she’d been delegated that task and complained on our deaf ears, except for Hank. He thought he was going to bang her and listened intently to her rag on forever about how she knew Billy was outright just fucking with her for being straight. She played Hank like a fiddle and her paying attention to him actually made him tolerable to be around. As far as I was concerned, I made it my business to NEVER get drugs for her. I’d learned, as I mentioned in my book, my lesson really well on the 1982 Police tour about scoring for a band member and knew the ramifications that can come from it.

Hank was our crew chief and one of the most negative people I ever traveled with. If this asshole was an Indian his name would have been Chief Dark Cloud! He was the product of a sour load and a downbeat in every facet of his very being. I was thrilled that in about eight weeks we’d be parting ways forever. In my eyes, life’s too short for surrounding one self with such negativity.

During the second month of the tour we started performing in theaters and arenas and stopped playing just colleges. The tour was another fast paced experience and despite dick head Hank, a lot of fun to be on! I insulated myself from Hank and ratcheted into my work groove, and like I just said enjoyed every god damn day of that tour.

Hey, life’s short, enjoy the journey before you can’t!

We played a bunch of venues I’d already been at on past tours and no karma surprises came my way, to which I was very grateful for. Overall the Billy Idol tour was one of my favorite tours for watching a band night after night! Again, they truly were an electrifying live act and Billy was a perfect front man!

The last week of the tour I was hot to trot about immediately going back to work for RJ and starting the 1984 John Cougar Mellencamp Tour. I was a big fan and couldn’t wait to hit the road doing his concert merchandise. The tour was going to be about two months long and I was ready to part the Idol gig for greener pastures of opportunity!

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Men at Work 1983 Tour

On the flight to Minneapolis I couldn’t stop thinking how my life was in constant flux. As I’ve stated, two years ago, I was nailing aluminum siding and doing other things on the side to subsist. Then, I was a chunk of raw steel being pulled along by the magnet of life. Now, I was shining stainless steel gliding and rising smoothly in the magnetic pool of existence! 

As I've written in previous blogs, self believe is one of the best mind sets used to succeed in the world in which we live. The knowledge that you can manifest your thoughts and be triumphant is really strong stuff. I owed all this positive mental hopscotch I’d been experiencing to my mentor Eric. By taking me under his wing he turned my world into this wonderment odyssey. The man was a brilliant mentor and a great friend. However, as mentioned in my book, I betrayed our bond on the 1982 Police Tour and always regretted it. Though, I learned a great lesson from the dissolution of our friendship; put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Then, think about the actions you’re engaging in with that person and the consequences!

Halfway through the flight my train of thought turned in the direction of things to come. Here I was going on this 3 month plus tour totally prepared and ready to take care of business. My self belief was never stronger! The reality that I was in line to make some serious cash had me floating on cloud nine. Something that I’m sure would have never happened if I’d still been working for Guy. From the first night selling Men At Work merchandise, which also turned out to be another karma ass kicking of sorts for my dirty deed I bestowed onto Larue, we made nothing but money! More often than not, I was being paid a considerable percentage to vend at shows. My salary plus perdiem was at a level that a couple years ago was inconceivable. The icing on the cake was the hefty bonus afforded to me from being part of that very profitable 1983 Men at Work Tour. We did eighty some odd gigs in the USA alone and the vibe of the tour was fast paced and upbeat. Men at Work were professionally peaking and all those sold out concerts made the tour a win win situation, everyday. The large amounts of money being generated nightly from merchandise sales forced me to buy an over sized duffle bag to carry all the loot.

My friends, I must tell you it was mad fun for the duration. I didn’t barter with jail bait which made up the lion’s share of the audience. But, I did invite lady friends from past tours to come hang out and enjoy the concert. The amount of blow snorted on that tour was staggering! Just like the Police Tour, everybody was into coke and in 1983 it was the drug of choice in America.  Damn, the road crew from OZ LOVED their cocaine, more so than the Brits I’d traveled with!

The three nights we stayed in LA at the Hyatt (RIOT) House on Sunset was one of the best three day benders I’d ever been on. My invisible banner that said Sex Drugs & Rock & Roll waved wildly over my head. Those were three burn a brain cell days.

Colin Hay was the leader of the group Men At Work. For the most part he came off very cocky and I got the vibe he looked at Americans as real YANKS, like in, Yank This!!! As far as front men go, he was the polar opposite of watching Sting who radiated on stage. Most nights while performing, Colin looked uninterested in giving the audience their money’s worth of a show. Don’t get me wrong, he sang well and the band was tight. I just think touring didn’t work for him.
Colin had what looked like a lazy eye and the few times I was around him, I caught myself gawking at it. All I kept thinking was don’t stare at his dallying eye ball, and made it a point to not make eye contact with him. Happily, the band split 9 out of 10 times after the show and that was fine by me. I really wasn’t looking to derail my come back. The opening act INXS was the pure essence of a great Rock & Roll group, they were an energetic live act. They were fun to be around and we were also selling their merchandise.

Driving in a twenty six foot Ryder truck compared to a luxury tour bus was quit a contrast. The three of us rode squeezed shut in that truck’s cab and became brothers of the road really quick! I had to pinch myself when I morphed into Eric’s role of the mentor while on that tour. I never thought I’d be wearing those shoes, but that’s part of the mind-boggling surprises self belief has in store for you. You’re capable of anything under the sun, and in charge of your own life. Looking back, twenty four years old never looked so sweet!!!!

As the Men at Work tour started to wind down I knew RJ had no tours set to roll and kept the belief a gig would appear. To my pleasant surprise it would be the 1984 Billy Idol tour and I’d be working for one of RJ’s competitors.

So, when the jet touched down in Minneapolis, Minnesota I stopped day dreaming, which had been the entire flight and departed. Donnie greeted me at the airport’s baggage claim area and I got the feeling I was in the right spot at the right time. The next two years I spent living and working in Minnesota was like a home away from home. From day one, Donnie and RJ treated me as an equal, not just some worker bee. I never felt so blessed for the second chance I’d received and silently thanked the gods of the universe. 

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 I'm thrilled & proud to announce that the The Golden Notebook Bookstore| 29 Tinker Street | Woodstock, NY 12498 | 845-679-8000 is now selling the paperback version of my book ROCK MY WORLD