AUTOGRAPH 1985 TOUR

The winter of 1985 I spent dry docked working in RJ’s office and living at his lakefront house. The house, situated on picturesque Lake Minnetonka was KILLER!  It was a beautiful place to live and allowed me a tranquil environment where I could think things out. Work wise, I quickly learned that I could easily adapt to working and running a business office, only not for someone else! I knew on the front end from past employers, office personnel make dick for pay and in my eyes this office job was going to be short lived.

All those negative thoughts I’d dealt with in 1984 about time issues kept trying to resurface and that was real fun! Worst of all, my road fever was starting to make me itch for a fix. I thanked god when I received Kip’s second phone call while on the up coming 1985 Autograph tour. That conversation finally smothered to death my situation about future time frame issues.

When spring arrived my lust for the road had me packed and ready to roll. The six weeks I spent working and traveling with the hair metal band I just mentioned named Autograph turned out to be a really good time for all. The band, crew and I traveled together on a single tour bus for the duration. That situation had its good points and bad. Good in the sense of traveling with the band and riding on the bus was big time fun. The bad part was being stuck night after night playing nothing but dive clubs.

Doing a club tour as a concert merchandiser is no doubt the bottom rung on the ladder and builds character, like it or not!

During the tour we pretty much lived on the bus and really didn’t stay at many hotels. All facets of touring were in excess while traveling directly with the band. The partying and the bartering were insane. Hair metal groupies were everywhere and total eye candy to look at. Being with the band certainly had its extra perks! The merchandise sales were horrible and RJ’s investment smelled and looked like the same fate bestowed on Orion the Hunter.

As I said in my book, concert merchandising is a real crap shoot. Let’s say, you put up a hundred thousand dollars to secure a band’s merchandise rights, then after six consecutive weeks of touring and losing more money in pursuit of your original investment you end up a total loser. This shit is not for the weak at heart or someone who doesn’t have a deep pocket. Luckily, RJ had both the gut and cash to persevere a few of these hits and kept the company going.

So, as the tour progressed I was flying high that my affirmation of going around the world in 1986 was going manifest and couldn’t wait. From that point on I instantly recaptured my love affair with touring and felt 1985 was going to be really special. I stayed focused in the here and now, and was operating at full bore every god damn day!  

Overall Autograph was a great bunch and the crew too. Unknowingly and to my surprise, months later I was thrilled to hear Autograph was going to be the support act on the upcoming 1985 Motley Crue Theater of Pain tour and request my presence. Meanwhile, my next gig was with the band REM and set to start right after Autograph’s tour finished.

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THE FIXX 1984 TOUR

The 1984 Fixx tour turned out to be one of the favorite gigs I’d do. As far as touring goes, those three and a half months spent engaged in motion were absolutely perfect. The band and crew had no airs about them and we all jelled into one big pack of road dogs. The pacing on The Fixx tour was rapid and that’s the way I always liked it. Every week we played three or four shows in a row and usually had one day off for a far- reaching drive. After four years of hands on experience, my job was never easier. As I mentioned in my book, Wonder turned out to be gold and confirmed my belief in second chances. He was my number two favorite road brother, Eric being first, and made traveling with someone 24/7 no problem. While on tour we played tons of secondary markets all across America and I saw parts of the US so unspoiled by development it was priceless to view. Women and cash were plentiful and all I knew was I was living life to the fullest.
However, my old cosmic buddy karma threw me a curve ball about future concerns pertaining to time issues and what I was willing to endure for attainment of my ultimate goal. I also had June’s parting words before I started the Fixx tour resonating in my private thoughts. This nagging stayed with me right until Kip’s call four months later on the matter of where I fit in the scheme of their business plan. That bit of news single handedly smothered the nag in my head and I was never so happy to be back on track! During this ordeal, all the techniques I’ve talked about in my book were put to the test and hands down perseverance was the work horse of the bunch for keeping me on course.
I have to tell you, the effect that time issue had on me started making me feel anhedonic. So, I told myself during this karma mind fuck that this might be my last gig and I should have as much fun possible while doing it. I was intent on staying focused on being in the here and now verses thinking about things to come.
Looking back, naive as it sounds, I truly thought I had all the time in the world to achieve what I wanted to. Then, one day I had what seemed to be an epiphany that we as humans have very short life spans compared to the age of earth itself. This thought made me think I needed to readjust the time frames of my future goals. Because, all of the sudden in my minds eye, time seemed to be fleeting.
My friends, I found out from this episode that the trick is to enjoy life’s journey no matter what is thrown at you and to make the best of the precious time allowed to us all. Trying to fight time is foolish and one lifetime on earth is enough if done right!
Despite those nagging thoughts, The Fixx tour was a high time for all involved. The road crew loved card games just like The Pretenders crew. These lads also liked wenching, burning and drinking all night long. We stayed at the same hotel as the band and crew and partied all across America and Canada.
Unfortunately, The Fixx were forced by the record label just like Men at Work to rush their follow up record and failed to deliver. As I explained in my book, thank God their manager had the talent to keep the band out on the road for the duration. Because, unlike Men at Work none of the gigs were sold out in advance and the tour could have easily turned into a financial disaster like Orion the Hunter had been for all involved. The Fixx ran into another major problem in that the trend in rock music was shifting from new wave to hair metal bands. The Fixx was pushed to the wayside and never really recovered. The rock business has no loyalty or code and will definitely turn its back on non superstar bands in a heart beat, aren’t they kind!
At the end of that tour I was offered three choices for my next gig and took a path I never saw coming. That situation allowed me time to sort things out and still receive a pay check.

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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