The Quick were my favorite local band in the mid 70s; they had a party for their fan club members at which they played their final show. The set list was determined by fans' votes too.
They had played their first or second ever show in Mary's living room (her mom was away) two years earlier; this had been arranged by their manager, Kim Fowley and I had missed it as it was spring break and I was on a family vacation. But I had seen just about every Quick show since then, at least all the ones in So. Cal.
1 April 1978
I waited for Gary [Tonda, my latest flame] to call - he never did. So I went to the Quick's party with Ava and Cathy. Ava had been worried that I was going to go off and leave her on her own at the party - hardy har har!!! She went straight from Davy to Ian to Mark Hammill [Yes, Luke Skywalker had gone to school with some of the Quick], with some other dork in between!
The party was really boring at first. Then the Quick played - that was great! I couldn't believe how many of the winning songs I had voted for! It was good hearing the older songs but they sure didn't do them too well... Danny had to read the words! He joked: "This is the last time we're gonna play; we're breaking up after tonight..." and everyone was saying, "Oh sure..." Little did they (or Danny?) know it was no April Fool's joke but the TRUTH! [I wrote this account a few weeks later.]
They really hammed it up... Rolling on the floor and everything. Mark Hammill (what a geek) ran in in front of everyone like he's a hero or something. And I think it was the first and only time I ever saw the Quick NOT do Over the Rainbow!! (And it even came in top of the poll!)
Afterward it was pretty boring till I discovered all the food and free beer and Coke. The cookies Ian's mom had made were great. By now Ava was trying to pick up on Mark Hammill (barf!) who had a pretzel hanging from his nose and kept going, "Pretzel rock! Pretzel rock!" Yuk!
Ian was messing around on the piano playing cocktail music so I took a styrofoam cup and stuck a dollar in it... But I didn't really wanna give it to him [stingy bitch that I was!] so I took it back when he wasn't looking... Later he had a tizz: "Where's my dollar?! Karen put a dollar in there!!"
Then Cat told me to play something... So I began playing my latest song with the Todd-like progression and Danny said, "Who wrote that?!" He kept making me play it over and over then asked me to play something else, so I started to play "Too Late '68" but he stopped me cause it was time to go and he wanted to hear the first one again, though he said that both of them were good and he could tell I was influenced by Eno, just like him. He and Ian kept raving about the new song though and asked if they could use it. [But then the Quick broke up and Danny went on to co-write the Friends theme song...]
Mark Hammill still had a pretzel in his nose when he left.
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
On this day in 1977 - April 1st
Ratso is Mary Rat; Killer is Hellin Killer, and Tiger is Steve Tigerman.
I had a pair of pet rats, Bromo and Alka, who had a few litters. (They were in seperate cages but kept escaping.) I found homes for most of them but had to give or sell several to pet shops.
I have absolutely no idea where this POP! gig was. It must have been in the South Bay but it could not have been the Smokestack (later called the Fleetwood) as they didn't have two rooms where bands played; did that place on Redondo Pier?
1 April 1977
I set my alarm and put the phone by my bed... Trudie called at 8:00 and said she would take a bus and be there at 11:30. But they woke me up when they all came at 10:00, Trudie, Ratso and Killer. We took my rats. That one does look like Johnny Rotten! There were six boys and two girls. I gave five to the pet shop. They have some monster rats!
We picked up Tiger and went to Hollywood Boulevard but first we had a big fight about going to Todd's old house. [In the Hollywood hills - I just wanted to see it!] I got super pissed that Tiger and Killer came, cause Trudie said she didn't mind going. I finally found that book! [No idea what this book was...] We got mad at Tiger cause he was being impatient. Then we had to go to the sex shop [jewelry for Killer] and the Aardvark [used clothes]. Then Tiger went to school [UCLA] and we ate his Top Ramen [presumably at his place on La Cienega] and we went home and got in a gigantic traffic jam.
So Killer got in trouble and almost couldn't go out that night. Trudie stayed here and we called Furruzie [Peter Furru]. His sister [Teddi] said he was sick and couldn't go to Pop! Then later Robert Marlow (who wanted us to give him a ride to the Santa Monica Civic - I'm sure!!!!) said Peter was having a party! That asshole liar!!!
So anyway Killer came and I had to go get Ratso, and in a while we went. There were SO MANY SURFERS!!! I never saw such a surfed-out place!! They were all saying stuff like: HollyWEIRD!, Hollywood Swinging! Motorcycle Mamas! Da FONZ (???!!!!) and junk, and they would shove their friends into us and ask where we came from and touch us. GEEKS!!!! They asked Ratso if she had a knife - some surfers said we had been threatening them!!!!
We had to wait in this long line and when we got up there they said there was no guest list. So Trudie and Helen paid, and Ratso was going to but I didn't have any $$. [Like usual...] I didn't want to borrow any from Killer. Finally the guards said, "You're holding up the line! Just go on in..." So we got in free!
DD [Faye], Audrey [Pavia] and Don [Waller] came. POP! were going to be playing in this almost empty room and we went to the bathroom.
I came out and told Roger [from POP!] what had happened and he tried to get Trudie and Killer their money back but they never did. Then all these geek surfers started dancing to POP! And they did all these cover versions. At least they were slightly original cover versions, even Get Off of my Cloud and Under My Thumb. But they didn't do them very well. They played so long. About five sets with 15 minute breaks. I got so tired (and thirsty!!!) so fast and Trudie got mad cause she wanted to have a spaz and we were all falling asleep! I didn't even know who the band in the other room was. That room was twice as big, twice as crowded and twice as hot. I would have been super pissed if I had paid!
When Ratso and I walked to the car some surfer pinched her butt and she said, "Fuck you!" and they started making noises and I imitated them and said all this junk like "Catch a wave, man!", "Later toad!" etc. When Trudie came she was yelling "Fuck you, surfers!" out the window and "Surf out!" and stuff and they all flipped us off.
I had a pair of pet rats, Bromo and Alka, who had a few litters. (They were in seperate cages but kept escaping.) I found homes for most of them but had to give or sell several to pet shops.
I have absolutely no idea where this POP! gig was. It must have been in the South Bay but it could not have been the Smokestack (later called the Fleetwood) as they didn't have two rooms where bands played; did that place on Redondo Pier?
1 April 1977
I set my alarm and put the phone by my bed... Trudie called at 8:00 and said she would take a bus and be there at 11:30. But they woke me up when they all came at 10:00, Trudie, Ratso and Killer. We took my rats. That one does look like Johnny Rotten! There were six boys and two girls. I gave five to the pet shop. They have some monster rats!
We picked up Tiger and went to Hollywood Boulevard but first we had a big fight about going to Todd's old house. [In the Hollywood hills - I just wanted to see it!] I got super pissed that Tiger and Killer came, cause Trudie said she didn't mind going. I finally found that book! [No idea what this book was...] We got mad at Tiger cause he was being impatient. Then we had to go to the sex shop [jewelry for Killer] and the Aardvark [used clothes]. Then Tiger went to school [UCLA] and we ate his Top Ramen [presumably at his place on La Cienega] and we went home and got in a gigantic traffic jam.
So Killer got in trouble and almost couldn't go out that night. Trudie stayed here and we called Furruzie [Peter Furru]. His sister [Teddi] said he was sick and couldn't go to Pop! Then later Robert Marlow (who wanted us to give him a ride to the Santa Monica Civic - I'm sure!!!!) said Peter was having a party! That asshole liar!!!
So anyway Killer came and I had to go get Ratso, and in a while we went. There were SO MANY SURFERS!!! I never saw such a surfed-out place!! They were all saying stuff like: HollyWEIRD!, Hollywood Swinging! Motorcycle Mamas! Da FONZ (???!!!!) and junk, and they would shove their friends into us and ask where we came from and touch us. GEEKS!!!! They asked Ratso if she had a knife - some surfers said we had been threatening them!!!!
We had to wait in this long line and when we got up there they said there was no guest list. So Trudie and Helen paid, and Ratso was going to but I didn't have any $$. [Like usual...] I didn't want to borrow any from Killer. Finally the guards said, "You're holding up the line! Just go on in..." So we got in free!
DD [Faye], Audrey [Pavia] and Don [Waller] came. POP! were going to be playing in this almost empty room and we went to the bathroom.
I came out and told Roger [from POP!] what had happened and he tried to get Trudie and Killer their money back but they never did. Then all these geek surfers started dancing to POP! And they did all these cover versions. At least they were slightly original cover versions, even Get Off of my Cloud and Under My Thumb. But they didn't do them very well. They played so long. About five sets with 15 minute breaks. I got so tired (and thirsty!!!) so fast and Trudie got mad cause she wanted to have a spaz and we were all falling asleep! I didn't even know who the band in the other room was. That room was twice as big, twice as crowded and twice as hot. I would have been super pissed if I had paid!
When Ratso and I walked to the car some surfer pinched her butt and she said, "Fuck you!" and they started making noises and I imitated them and said all this junk like "Catch a wave, man!", "Later toad!" etc. When Trudie came she was yelling "Fuck you, surfers!" out the window and "Surf out!" and stuff and they all flipped us off.
On this day in 1976 - April 1st
After a little break (seven months! I don't know what happened...) I return with an entry that has the potential of being even more embarrassing were I to reveal the band I was trying to see. (I only figured it out from references in previous entries.)
I had seen this English band the year before at the Santa Monica Civic with Jade; I think her step-father drove us. But since then I had started taking the bus to Santa Monica after school when there was a show, so I could hang out on the lawn beforehand, to meet the bands or people I had met at other gigs. I got the bus this time with Susan Richards.
Someone, I think Danny Benair, told me that you often could get the best seats - orchestra pit - if you waited in line for the box office to open just before the show. This worked a couple of times but not tonight! So we got the bus home as well.
April 1
Fortunately Susan got home just in time. Bill Wood was there so I talked to him. [No idea who this person was!] Then I was talking about Sparks and stuff to a lot of people. We were in line from 5:30 till 7:30, and were the second people in line but there were no tickets! We found a couple of scalpers with them but $15 each????!!! [Tickets for the Civic that year would have run from $3.50 to $5.50, maybe $6.50, so 15 bucks was a lot!]
I was looking and waiting for Robert [Williams, my objet de crush] and then I saw him inside! He was facing the other way though and I ran around to the other side and he disappeared. I kept running around - finally he was near the door but facing the other way but this guy got his attention and he came out to talk to me. He said to stick around, he was sure I'd get a ticket... He burped ... I said I liked his shirt but that it wasn't worth $30 and he got mad. He squeezed my hand then he blew a kiss as he went back inside.
We heard them do "School", then went home. That bus driver was totally loony! Coasting, putting his feet up, those looks, the way he talked, waiting at lights... WEIRD!!!
I had seen this English band the year before at the Santa Monica Civic with Jade; I think her step-father drove us. But since then I had started taking the bus to Santa Monica after school when there was a show, so I could hang out on the lawn beforehand, to meet the bands or people I had met at other gigs. I got the bus this time with Susan Richards.
Someone, I think Danny Benair, told me that you often could get the best seats - orchestra pit - if you waited in line for the box office to open just before the show. This worked a couple of times but not tonight! So we got the bus home as well.
April 1
Fortunately Susan got home just in time. Bill Wood was there so I talked to him. [No idea who this person was!] Then I was talking about Sparks and stuff to a lot of people. We were in line from 5:30 till 7:30, and were the second people in line but there were no tickets! We found a couple of scalpers with them but $15 each????!!! [Tickets for the Civic that year would have run from $3.50 to $5.50, maybe $6.50, so 15 bucks was a lot!]
I was looking and waiting for Robert [Williams, my objet de crush] and then I saw him inside! He was facing the other way though and I ran around to the other side and he disappeared. I kept running around - finally he was near the door but facing the other way but this guy got his attention and he came out to talk to me. He said to stick around, he was sure I'd get a ticket... He burped ... I said I liked his shirt but that it wasn't worth $30 and he got mad. He squeezed my hand then he blew a kiss as he went back inside.
We heard them do "School", then went home. That bus driver was totally loony! Coasting, putting his feet up, those looks, the way he talked, waiting at lights... WEIRD!!!
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