Laurie Anderson 1986 Tour

So here we go, Virgin records bought into Sal’s concert merchandising business model and I was set to take one of the many bands in their stable around the world. To this day I scratch my head why they chose performance artist Laurie Anderson as their first act to merchandise world wide, but they did.

Those first six shows in the USA set the table for merchandise sales which were beyond horrible. Laurie Anderson is super talented, but her artsy audience sure as hell wasn’t a t-shirt buying crowd.

I remember telling myself while flying to Australia to start that leg of the tour, no matter what, I should enjoy myself every way possible and not study that the gig was a total loss for Virgin. I was a hired gun and that weight wasn’t my cross to bear.

On a happy note, the third night in Sydney, Australia at the Dire Straits concert I reached the apex of all I’d strived for. I was in a foreign land being paid a large sum of money doing my rock and roll job. I’d met a lady friend and I was stoned. The beautiful thing was my journey had only just begun.

I know to some, it might not seem so spectacular a goal to attain. But to me, it was all I’d dreamt about while sitting in the back seat of that Cadillac in 1980 while on The Police Tour.

My friends,  that six week Laurie Anderson tour allowed me to experience so many precious moments that to this day it still brings a smile to my face. Laurie was incredibly kind and generous and included the band and crew in many of the wonderful opportunities afforded her while traveling through New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Truly, I can’t thank her enough!

  During my entire odyssey it wasn’t easy making things I believed in manifest, but nothing is. I navigated my way with no instructions on how to get from here to there. All the techniques I’ve talked about in my book, at the time, didn’t have names and labels. That came to me much later in life. All I knew was the trick to succeeding was simple; first you have to have self belief and no self doubt, then set a goal or affirmation, have faith it will manifest and persevere until it does. To this day, that formula for the most part has not let me down.

Meanwhile on the tour, I honestly wasn’t surprised when Sal told me in one of our many phone conversations that the European leg of the tour was going to be handled by Kip. He was running the Virgin office in London, England and it would help keep the overhead down. Like I said the tour was a concert merchandising disaster and the amount of money wasted was ungodly. It must have made Virgin bean counters sick to their stomachs crunching those dismal numbers of their new business venture.

I knew my fate in Sal’s hands was questionable and my time on the road was running out. So, on that long jet flight from Japan back to LA I told myself leave the game a WINNER and don’t look back. I’d waited five and a half years for my affirmation to manifest and had received what I’d asked for. I was ready for a change in direction and to my amazement I kicked my addiction to road fever.

In closing, a word to the wise, never give up on yourself or your goals. Because if I can do it, so can you!

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MOTLEY CRUE 1985 TOUR

At the first Motley Crue concert in Erie, PA, Wonder and I were accepted as part of the gang by Motley’s lead merchandiser, Big.  This bit of good karma all stemmed from the positive relationship I’d had with Cliff who was the crew chief I dealt with on the 1984 Aerosmith tour. By fate, he too worked for the same company as Big. They conversed on the first day of the tour and since Cliff had nothing but positive things to say about me, Big treated us like gold. Usually opening act merchandisers were treated like pure shit which I had learned first hand while on the 1982 U2 tour opening for the J Geils Band. But,like I just said, we fit right in for the four and a half months on the road with Motley. RJ’s company had two bands slated separately to be the support act for the duration and I was given the gig of a lifetime! The bands were a Japanese heavy metal band named Loudness and the other was Autograph.

Gang, since 1981 I’d toured with some of the greatest rock bands of the eighties, and for the most part had all kinds of over the top fun. But, this Motley tour was the tour of tours and I knew I was in the right spot at the right time. So I embraced it every possible way and went about my daily routine in maximum overdrive. That Motley gig was truly the pinnacle of my touring days throughout the USA & Canada.

Fuckin’ A, I never saw so many smoking hot groupies on any single tour like that one. Straight up, girls were throwing themselves at you city after city. Hell, the Elephant Man could have scored if he’d been wearing a laminate and holding an after show double smile face pass. It really was big time insane, beyond my wildest dreams and I loved every minute of it.

During the entire tour, I kept thinking when this year ends I’m going around the world doing concert merchandise and my affirmation was indeed going to manifest. All I knew was the three words Affirmation, Faith and Perseverance really worked and I had never felt so blessed to understand the formula of attainment that I genuflected in thanks!

My only negative situation was finding the right time to tell RJ I was leaving his company which I detailed in my book. To my surprise, Karma as a last challenge threw me some high hard fast stuff. The new tour manager of Autograph wanted me fired immediately and that was fun to deal with. Other than that, I was living out my rock and roll odyssey in style!

I know Wonder also had many wild times on Motley. He met these two sisters who bragged one was better than the other and they both wanted after show passes. So, I gave Wonder my pass and I’ll never forget the shit eating grin plastered on his face, it was priceless. He bartered with both of them and everyone walked away happy. Wonder was my road brother and while he was alive I’m glad we shared time on earth as a team.

Over the years many friends have asked me what was the wildest crazy thing, groupie wise, I saw or experienced. So, to give you an idea I’m going to tell you one story. At the Omni arena in Atlanta, GA, this crew slut took on as many of the road crew who were willing. She had a score to settle with some scooter tramp that had broken her record and she was looking to regain her crown. Willingly, she went about her business and enjoyed it.

Unbeknownst to her, the back of the bus had a video camera in it and everyone in the front lounge was watching on a monitor and applauding wildly while she was doing her thing. She kept asking each new face why everyone was laughing and that person would say “I don’t know” She just kept doing her thing and achieved her goal. That tour ratchet to a level of SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK & ROLL I’d never seen before. City after city people were out of their fucking minds on the energy of the concert event and so was I!

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REM 1985 TOUR

Until the 1985 REM Tour, my favorite gig was the 1984 Fixx tour. That changed while both Donnie and I rode on one of the two REM crew buses handling merchandise sales. This was a tour I’d pushed RJ into letting me take, and I was really excited about doing it. I’d been a big fan of the band and REM was the largest tour we had. Gig wise, REM and crew were of the same fabric as the Fixx. Day in and day out, REM made being on the road a pleasure! Two major differences between the tours were that REM’s new record was a hit and so were their merchandise sales. The groove of the tour was a fast pace. We’d do three or four shows in a row and the merchandise sales kept ratcheting higher and higher. That gig was a winner for all involved. The first leg of the tour we played a string of shows on the west coast and down south. This time around while riding on the bus it was the right combination of people to be surrounded by 24/7, which can sometimes be tricky! Night after night we drank, smoked and slept in comfort while traveling across country.

Another difference worth mentioning about the two tours was there were no women hanging out with band members. As curious as I was, I never questioned why. Years later I found out why, but, in 1985 Michael Stipe’s façade as a straight front man was bullet proof and not a word was ever mentioned that he was gay. A lot of the crew were friends of the band and if they knew about Michael, their mouths were wired shut. The few times I was around him I didn’t get the vibe he was gay. I found him to be nothing but upbeat and friendly. Management successfully kept that bit of personal info about Michael under lock and key and wasn’t looking to fuck with the up draft momentum the band was experiencing. So, it was a stag tour of sorts for chicks and really no big deal, just different. Every chance I could, I called a lady friend who lived in a city we played and invited her to come and enjoy the show. Most concerts were in four or five thousand seat venues and sold out. A lot of these places I’d played on previous tours and knew what to expect.

 I was thrilled to work with Donnie; unbeknownst to him, he was very instrumental in my quest of attaining my goal and never knew how important he was to me. I’ll always be grateful for meeting him while on the 1982 Police tour. Donnie and I looked at life through the same set of priorities and I know he too enjoyed himself everyway possible while on the road. During that REM tour I told myself it doesn’t get any better than this as far as concert merchandising goes. As I mentioned, riding on the bus and not having to drive show after show was sweet. Being paid extra money to vend nightly, extra sweet! I was making a fat mattress salary and traveling with a band I dug. My friends, I was as high as a kite on life and loving every minute of it.

So, as I mentioned in my book, when Donnie and I were abruptly yanked off the tour and sent in separate directions I was bumming big time. All I kept thinking was this was another round of karma fucking with me. But, to my pleasant surprise karma did me a solid gold favor. I was going to be spending the remainder of 1985 doing merchandising for two different acts slated at separate times to be the support band on the upcoming Motley Crue Theater of Pain tour. That Motley tour, turned out to be an orgy of the things that make touring magical, and I was never so ready for the challenge of partying my ass off!

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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