DVD Review: Europe – Live at Sweden Rock: 30th Anniversary Show

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2015
Images from the Internet

Europe – Live at Sweden Rock: 30^th Anniversary Show

Directed by Patric Ullaeus
Hell and Back AB / Revolver Films / MVD Visual
145 minutes, 2013
www.europetheband.com
www.ear-music.net
www.revolver.se  
www.mvdvisual.com

There is no one who can argue with the fact that Sweden’s hair metal band from the 1980s, Europe, is one of the A-Listers of the genre. They’ve sold tens of millions of nine albums across the world, influenced other bands, and stayed true to themselves. Even after a period of breaking up, they reformed and have been going strong for years.

Of course – and rightfully so – the five members celebrated their 30th Anniversary in their home Scandihoovian country of Sweden on November 5, 2013, with 30,000 (boy, there are a lot of the number 3 in this sentence) die-hard Swede fans who welcome their homeboys – er – home.

At first, I had given this DVD to someone else to review because, well, this is not my genre. I’m punk, so I like it loud and fast, I also like it short and sweet. The guy gave it back to me saying that while he enjoyed it, he didn’t feel like he could contribute anything. I respect that, so I put down my precious Ramones and picked up the DVD. And with Raymond J. Johnson Jr. stuck in my head, you should know that this concert is also available on this DVD, a 2-CD set, Blu-Ray, and digital VoD elsewhere.

Euro-hair metal is somewhat different than North American hair metal. Most of the ones from here, such as Poison and, well, most of them, were pretty interchangeable; of course, some may say that about the Ramones, but I soldier on. They were glam, silly, and superfluous (boy I can see a lot of hate mail may be heading this way). The Euro-bands, though, were more…serious? Well, fiercer, anyway. They meant that shit. And it seems the more north you get, the more intense the bands were. I mean, Sweden is arguably the locus of the rise of döds metall, or death metal.

Back in the 1980s, though, these kinds of bands were still into harmonies (fierce harmonies), which is what attracted fans to them from North America, Central Europe, Japan and beyond. With Joey Tempest (hey, wait, is that his real name?) out front it doesn’t surprise me that the band has such a loyal following. His singing is strong, on key, and a bit stereotypical (that vibrato every few lines, for example), but his energy level is powerful, even after all these years.  With all the air guitaring next to actual guitarist, and flashing extremely white and straight teeth and ample employment of the “excruciated-reaction” face during the solos (actually, he bears a striking resemblance to Del Shannon, but I digress…), the impression is that the band gets along and is having fun performing, and that transfers to the viewer. And the energy level is matched by the audience, which also propels the band.

Going into the virtuosity of the musicianship seems unnecessarily. Of course these guys know how to play phenomenally, and each rightfully gets their chance to show off often, though the main focus is on guitar and the drum. You don’t get to this level and this many decades without being able to wield your axe or whatever instrument you’re pounding on. The drum solo with Ian Haugland is him playing alone of the stage to a tape of The William Tell Overture.

As I said, the energy level is high and rarely dips, except when it’s meant to, such as the three-song section starting with the ballad “Drink and a Smile,” where the band sits on chairs and they all play acoustics. You don’t see much of the audience at first until this section, where you see multiple people singing along with “Open Your Heart” (including some dude stuck in the wrong decade wearing a long green wig and a too small red cowboy hat).

And how does the show fair from this side of the television? The flashing white or red LED laser lights can get tiresome, but what really stood out for me was the average of 2-5 second edits (with rare exceptions, those usually being long shots of the whole stage), sometimes feeling almost like a live action flip-book. And with a stage as huge as this one, the motion of the edits makes it hard to follow the “story” of what’s happening. What I mean by that is if you cannot see more than two or four bars being played, it makes it harder to get into the musical moment; just too harsh. Why even bother with HD?

There are two rock guitar gods guests that join the band for a song each in the third act. First there’s Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham, who takes lead on TL’s “Jailbreak,” and then Michael Schenker naturally joins for a UFO cover of “Lights Out,” each giving a new flavor to the band as each has their own style of rockin’ out.  In the latter case, both Schenker and Norum play similar Flying V guitars.

With harmonic songs and anthemic numbers like “Superstitious,” “Rock the Night,” and of course, their biggest hits “The Final Countdown” (which is used weekdays a theme for an afternoon talk radio program in Saskatoon), show them at their strongest, the audience rises to the occasion. There are also some songs they rarely play out, such as “Paradize Bay.”

Extras include a Set List, a nearly 6-minute Behind the Scenes (most of which is whatever, though two parts of Norum playing solo backstage with Schenker and with Gorham are cool, especially Norum’s expression of joy), an interesting 18-minute backstage interview with the entire band after the set about the show and their history (amazing they even have any voices left!), a 13-minute montage of still images (including screenshots), and a couple of audio choices (stereo or surroundsound). Included with the DVD is a nice 16-page color glossy mini-booklet with pictures and some text.

But the question of if this made me into a convert? No, but it was a fun ride for while, even though at the hour and a half point I started to skip along on occasion. Now to go listen some other four guys talk about beating on a brat.

Band:

Joey Tempest: vox / occasional guitar and bongos
John Norum: guitar / back-up vox
Mic Michaeli: keyboards / back-up vox
John Leven: bass
Ian Haugland: drums / back-up vox

Set List:

Riches to Rags
Firebox
Not supposed to Sing the Blues
Scream of Anger
Superstitious
No Stone Unturned
New Love in Town
In the Future to Come
Paradize Bay
Girl from Lebanon
Prisoners in Paradise
Always the Pretenders
Drink and Smile
Open Your Heart
Love is Not the Enemy
Sign of the Times
Start from the Dark
Wings of Tomorrow
Carrie
Jailbreak (including Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham)
Seven Doors Hotel
The Beast
Let the Good Times Rock
Lights Out (including UFO / Scorpions / MSG’s Michael Schenker)
Rock the Night
Encore:
Last Look at Eden
The Final Countdown

 

MYSTIC EYES: Far Out Music for Fab Folks

Text and photos © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 1988
Introductory text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2015
Videos from the Internet

Scott, Eric, Craig (front), Bernie

I still remember, while still in high school, sitting in Bernie Kugel’s room when told me of his desire to play guitar. He learned quickly, and I joined on bass, which I did not do well at all. We called ourselves, Le Bien. When he went off to college in Buffalo, Le Bien was over and he started a group that would earn him cult infamy, The Good. Most of the now-classic singles recorded were at Tommy Calandra’s (bassist of Raven) studio BCMK (Buffalo College of Musical Knowledge), and released on Tommy’s label by the same name. A couple include “Walk Round the World” and “Judy.” Members of the Good, for a while, included future film star Vincent Gallo, who would give a shout out to Bernie in the credits of his directorial debut, Buffalo 66 (1998), and drummer Dee Pop, who would later form the Bush Tetras.

After the demise of the Good, Bernie formed his next group, Mystic Eyes, at first accompanied by BCMK musician/sound engineer Mike Brydalski, but it would gel into the band interviewed below. Proceeding numerous singles, additions onto compilations, and two albums on Get Hip Records (Pittsburgh), they found some level of success, and even had the Cynic’s cover Bernie’s “Girl, You’re On My Mind,” which played on MTV.

The band mostly played upstate New York, but they also gigged in the likes of CBGB’s (opening for Flat Duo Jets) and Maxwell’s (on a bill with the A-Bones and the Cynics), and even performed in Atlanta! When I went to the Netherlands in 1997, I stopped into a record shop in Utrecht and found the Mystic Eyes albums in an out-of-the-way record shop. Holding one of them up, I said to the guy behind the counter, “Why don’t you play this on the PA?” He smiled and said, “Yah, Bernie Koog’l, good stuff!” Of course, Bernie knew of the store and explained a kinship between them, Get Hip and Norton Records.

At the time this interview was conducted (each member was given the same list of questions via mail), garage rockers and record collectors, with rare exception (e.g., Mad Louie the Vinyl Junkie, who is a Buffalo fixture and legend) were anti-CD, as is reflected in the answers below. Part of the reason CDs were mocked was because it was obviously a trick by the record companies to add more songs to the CD than on the vinyl, and then say, “See, people want CDs!” Mostly, it was because of the sterile vs. warm sound. But what changed the dynamics was the ease of producing it digitally, and then copying it, which is much cheaper for the producer to duplicate than vinyl.

In 1998, guitarist Eric passed away from pancreatic cancer, followed by Craig moving to the Deep South in search of employment. With Scott in Binghamton and Bernie in Brooklyn, this led to the demise of the band, though everyone remains extremely good friends. Since, both Bernie and Craig have moved back to the Buffalo area, and I had the absolute pleasure to visit with Bernie and his wife Dawn (aka Tink) a couple of days in June 2014, and spend some of one afternoon with the unofficial comedy team of Bernie and Craig.

BernieKugel was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame, in 2012. – RBF, 2015

Eric, Craig, Scott, Bernie at rehearsal

A more eclectic band you’re highly unlikely to meet. But first, as a group, this Buffalo (2), Binghamton (1) and Brooklyn (1)-based bunch have been together in different forms for a few years now, but always doing their own version of ‘60s punk garage sounds.

Anyway, they’ve put out some really good tracks so far: a cover of the Stoics’ “I Lost My World” on the Garage Sale compilation (ROIR Tapes), “I’m Glad I Walked Out That Door” on the Declaration of Fuzz collection (Glitterhouse Records, Germany); and the 45 of “My Time to Leave” b/w “From Above” (the latter a Q65 cover; Get Hip Records). They are all worth getting. An album on Get Hip is due [There would eventually be two LPs, Our Time to Leave and The Whole World is Watching – RBF, 2015].

As promised, now, the guys:

Well, it may not be printed on his tombstone, but in Buffalo, Bernie is, by far, a cult legend. His seminal band, the Good, took the city by sunshower (hence, a cult figure), but left an indelible mark on the area’s music scene, along with a few records, mostly recorded at local BCMK Records. Ever in search of a livelihood, Bernie, with wife Dawn (Tink) and tot Ben, moved back to Brooklyn recently (Bensonhurst, home of the Kramdens). This put a cramp in the band’s practicing, not to mention touring, but they manage to record and do the rest occasionally.

Craig is a cool guy who gets as much of a thrill out of rare animated films (cartoons) as he does a good ‘60s rocker. Practice is done in his basement (he owns the house [West Utica, in Buffalo – RBF, 2015]). When he and Bernie get together, the jokes fly as fast as fingers on a fret.

Scott is Craig’s brother. He’s the rabble-rouser of the band. His credo was summed up by an Adny Shernoff lyric: “Cars, girls (surfin’?), beer / Nothin’ else matters here.” I’ve seen him lift three cartons of LPs at once to finish and meet up with a date on time! He’s also the only one in the band who actually looks like he’s in a band. Scott recently relocated to Binghamton for his job.

Eric. Well, Eric is…Eric. Craig likes to draw comic strips of Eric’s life. Eric’s one of these guys who have mastered the guitar by sitting in his room, until joining this band. He’s damned good, and damned strange. Well, just look at his answers! ‘Nuff said.

 Name: BERNARD MARTIN KUGEL

• Nickname: Bernie
• Instrument: Guitar
• Other instruments played: Bass; other junk
• Equipment owned: 2 broken guitars (one is a Fender Telecaster)
• Influences: The Baroques; Ray Davies; Bo Diddley
• Previous bands: The Good; R.T. Jones & the Fabulous Beat Brothers; The Whotles
• First gig: Buffalo, mid-‘70s
• Top 5 LPs/45s at moment: Q65, “I Got Nightmares”; the Shaggs, “My Generation”; Bo Diddley, “What Do You Know About Love”; the Beatles, “Cats Walk”; the Monkees, “St. Matthew” (unreleased)
• Appx. number records owned: Uncountable
• Appx. number CDs owned: 0
• First record owned: Yellow children’s record (Peter & the Wolf?)
• First record bought: Beatles, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”
• Best gig ever seen: Two guys playing “Johnny B. Goode” for about four hours on a corner in Buffalo
• Worst gig ever seen: Erased from memory banks
• Non-musical hobbies: Comic books; playing with my son, Ben [then 2 years old; currently 29 years old – RBF, 2015]
• Fave movies: T.A.M.I. Show (Barbarians’ part) [1964]; The Producers [1967]; I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang [1932]; Head [1968]; Animal Crackers [1930]
• Fave TV shows: “The Honeymooners” [1955-56]; “Diver Dan” [1961]; “The Prisoner” [1967-68]; “Soupy Sales” (1959-62]; “The Fugitive” [1963-67]
• Fave TV characters: Ralph & Ed [Jackie Gleason; Art Carney – RBF, 2015]
• Fave actors: Ralph & Ed
• Fave actresses: Joyce Randolph & Alice [Audrey Meadows – RBF, 2015]
• Fave cartoon characters: Don Knotts in The Incredible Mr. Limpet [1964]; Scooby Doo
• Fave quote: “Before him there were none. After him no one will be. Here is the legendary…Bo Diddley” – Jukebox Jerry, NYC
• Fave joke: Three Kennedys in a rowboat. Lee Harvey Oswald swims up and Kennedy says…
• Fave food: Roast beef with gravy
• Fave drink: Cold water
• Last major accomplishment: Meeting Bo Diddley and talking to Joyce Randolph.
• Name of ideal woman: Elizabeth Montgomery
• Fave period of time in history: November 1963-November 1967
• What do you want written on your tombstone: Husband. Father. Cult Figure.
• Fave color: Shades of Gray.

Name: CRAIG DAVISON

• Nicknames: “Bernie” (ask Scott why); “Gillman Putty” (ask Bernie why)
• Instrument: Electric bass guitar
• Other instruments played: Cheesy Ace-tone organ; guitar; trombone (once-upon-a-time)
• Equipment owned: Vox violin bass; Hofner violin bass; Longhorn bass; Vox Phantom guitar; imitation Rickenbacker 12 string; Vox Super-Beatle amp; Silvertone 6-12 amp
• Influences: The Monkees; the Beatles; the Ventures; the Beach Boys; recent spate of un-earthed ‘60s bands (a la Pebbles, Crypt, Cicadelic, etc.)
• Previous bands: Various school orchestras (1967-73); Brew, drunken pre- and post-high school band (1972-78); Atones, a no-wave band (because) Bernie wouldn’t let me join the Good (1979); Valhalla, an interim name for Brew when we had two drummers (1974).
• First gig: I’m not sure! I’ll say it was a C.Y.O. dance at St. Paul’s Church in 1973 [St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Pearl St., Buffalo – RBF, 2015]
• Top 5 LPs/45s at moment: 45s:”My Time to Leave” / “From Above,” Mystic Eyes. LPs: Squires, Goin’ All the Way; the Beatles, Sessions; the Beach Boys, Pet Sounds; various artists, Open Up Yer Door; original soundtrack, Pennies From Heaven.
• Appx. number records owned: 300 LPs & 120 45s; plus, I am curator of Bernie Kugel’s Upstate collection, which is easily twice my entire library
• Appx. number CDs owned: Approximately none
• First records owned: “Popeye the Sailor,” Jack Mercer (Golden Records); first “rock” record, “Help” / “I’m Down,” the Beatles (folks thought I was too young to see the movie, so they bought me the single)
• First record bought: Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles (hey, I was 12 years old and I wanted to see if Paul was dead!)
• Best gigs ever seen: Jonathan Richman in Buffalo; Ultravox; Jan & Dean; the Turtles; Ricky Nelson; the Who (day after Cincinnati); the Ramones (1977); XTC; Mystic Eyes with the Cynics, Splatcats & the Chesterfield Kings (1986)
• Worst gigs ever seen: Jonathan Richman in Toronto; the Ramones (1985); Mystic Eyes at Buffalo State College (October 1984)
• Non-musical hobbies: Film collecting; TV watching; doodling; collecting rent
• Fave movies: It’s a Wonderful Life [1946]; The Producers ; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? [1966]; My Favorite Year [1982]; Meet John Doe [1941]
• Fave TV shows: “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” [1986-51]; “The Rifleman” [1958-63]; “Maverick” [1957-62]; “Green Acres” (1965-71]; “SCTV” [1976-81]; “The Honeymooners”
• Fave TV characters: Characters in above shows, plus Josephine the Plumber, Mr. Whipple
• Fave actors: James Stewart; Cary Grant; James Garner; Lionel Barrymore; Jerry Lewis
• Fave actresses: Donna Reed; Maria Montez; Judy Garland; Elizabeth Taylor (in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
• Fave cartoon characters: Popeye; Bugs Bunny; Daffy Duck; Donald Duck; Screwy Squirrel
• Fave quote: “I’m going to wash these dishes if I have to stay up ‘til 3 in the morning!”
• Fave joke: Sans-a-Belt slacks; millionaire maker TV shows; any joke my brother tells me after being out all night
• Fave foods: Liver; bagels; home-made puff pastry; good pizza; Glazed Freddie’s Doughnuts (Buffalo delicacy)
• Fave drinks: Milk; coffee; iced tea; diet colas
• Last major accomplishment: Birth
• Name of ideal woman: Michelle Carey (fiancée)[they have been married a number of years now – RBF, 2015]
• Fave period of time in history: 1920-1972. Pop culture at its best! Movies, radio, TV, popular music, fashion! Over-ripe hippies & disco-crazed “me generation” nitwits ruined it from then on. P.S., “now” is always in the Top 2.
• What do you want written on your tombstone: Having my name spelled correctly will suffice!
• Fave color: Gray, gray and more gray!

 Name: ERIC LUBSTORFF

• Nickname: Rico (sometimes)
• Instrument: Guitar
• Other instruments played: Tambourine, etc.
• Equipment owned: Acoustic: Fender Villager 12-string (my first guitar). Hollow-body electric: Vox Super Lynx Deluxe; Fender Wildwood Coronado; Fender Coronado XII 12-string. Solid-body electric: Hagstrom II; Hagstrom Swede; Hagstrom (model unknown); Hagstrom 12-string; Gibson S-1; Gretch (Baldwin era, model unknown). Effects: MXR compressor; MXR Phase 100 phase shifter; MXR 6 band EQ; Dod-mini chorus 460; Boss DM-w delays; Boss flanger; Boss super overdrive; DOD distortion; Electro-Harmonix electric mistress flangers; Electro-Harmonix Dr. Q envelope follower; MXR noise gate; Rocktron Hush II noise reduction [etc.; list shortened from two legal-sized pages – RBF, 1988].
• Influence: The Byrds
• Previous bands: I can’t even remember their names; they never made it out of the basement
• First gig: An open mike at Nietzsche’s, on Allen St., Buffalo.
• Top 5 LPs/45s at moment: Well, I just rebought all my Byrds albums; I plan to rebuy the early Joni Mitchell LPs, too!
• Appx. number records owned: 60-70; I don’t have a lot of money for records
• Appx. number CDs owned: 0
• First record owned and bought: The Beatles, Meet the Beatles
• Best gigs ever seen: U2, at Shea’s Buffalo Theater, May 1983; the Go-Go’s, at Sherkston [Shores], Ontario, 1985 (I want to go out with Charlotte [Caffey])
• Worst gig ever seen: Various local bands
• Non-musical hobbies: DX-ing shortwave radio; listening to scanner radios; C.B. radios; photographing airplanes; reading non-fiction
• Fave movies: I seldom watch them
• Fave TV shows: “Nightline” [1980-present]; “Saturday Night Live” [1975-present]; “Upstairs, Downstairs” [1971-75]
• Fave TV characters: Ted Koppel; Alistair Cooke
• Fave cartoon characters: Doonesbury; Bloom County; Jimmy Carter
• Fave quote: “Could you turn it down please!” – Everybody
• Fave joke: Walter Mondale running for president in ’84
• Fave food: Submarine sandwich with genoa salami and loaded with hot peppers or hot sauce!
• Fave drink: Black coffee or tea
• Last major accomplishment: Giving first aid to a gunshot wound victim (I always wanted to do that)
• Name of ideal woman: I’m still looking – if you’re an ideal woman, please write me
• Fave period of time in history: The ‘60s: the Berlin Wall; space race; Bay of Pigs; Cuban missile crisis; Kennedy assassination; British Invasion; Vietnam War; long hair; Boeing 727; Mao’s Cultural Revolution (exciting, hunh? And you thought the ‘80s were tough)
• What do you want written on your tombstone: Made in U.S.A.
• Fave color: Anything but green.

 Name: SCOTT DAVISON

• Instrument: Drums
• Other instruments played: Bass; guitar
• Equipment owned: 1962 Kent drum set, flame red with orange polka-dots; Paiste cymbals
• Influences: Wild Turkey; cheap beer; Lucky Strikes; Lou Reed; Iggy Pop
• Previous bands: The Factor (Buffalo’s first punk band, 1978); Gag Order; the Fems
• First gig: School auditorium, playing bass in school orchestra; song was “Czech Folk Song”
• Top 5 LPs/45s at moment: Iggy Pop, New Values; General Public, All the Rage
• Appx. number records owned: 3 or 4
• Appx. number CDs owned: 0
• Best gigs ever seen: Devo, 1978; the Ramones, 1980.
• Worst gig ever seen: The Police
• Non-musical hobbies: Fishing; driving; refinishing my West Side apartment; anything that works up a sweat
• Fave movies: The Producers; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ; My Favorite Year
• Fave TV shows: “Maverick”; “Night Court” [1984-92]; “The Day the [Universe] Changed“ (PBS; 1985); The Rifleman” ; “Green Acres” (1965-71]
• Fave TV characters: Brett Maverick; David Addison [Moonlighting – RBF, 2015]
• Fave actors: Humphrey Bogart; Richard Burton; Peter O’Toole; Robert Mitchel; Sean Connery (as 007 only)
• Fave actresses: Liz Taylor; Kelly LeBrock; Ingrid Bergman; Ida Lupino
• Fave cartoon characters: Wile E. Coyote, Supah-Genius
• Fave quotes: “I would like a Yankee Whaler with no tar-tar [sic] sauce.” – My brother Craig at a Burger King drive-thru; “We are a civilized people!” – from Camelot; anything from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” particularly George’s soliloquy about the cherub-faced boy
• Fave food: Roast beef on weck roll with horseradish
• Fave drinks: St. Pauli Girl; Bavarian beer; coffee; Wild Turkey 101 either straight or mixed with Penguin-Cola
• Last major accomplishment: Ten weeks as camp counselor for the criminally insane in the Adirondacks last summer
• Name of ideal woman: Kelly LeBrock – looks & cool accent
• Fave period of time in history: Beat Generation to pre-hippie days
• What do you want written on your tombstone: What are you looking at? Scott Davison, 1961-2061, R.I.P.
• Fave color: The green that’s in my eyes (ah yes, the soul of a poet, wallet of a pauper).

 

Mystic Eyes Videowave non-interview (with Michael Kastelic of the Cynics; RBF as videographer):

 Mystic Eyes Videowave interview (with Buffalo cult idol Bob Kozak):

 

A Dream of Johnny Thunders: The Mo(u)rning of August 14, 2015

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2015
Photo © Robert Barry Francos

This morning, before I woke up, I had a dream about going to see Johnny Thunders perform a solo show. It was actually going to be three shows in three locations, and although he died in 1991, the dream took place in the present. Any time there is a (f#) in the text, it means there is a brief footnote at the bottom with an aside comment in refection/explanation of the dream.

What I remember at the start was that I was already in the first club. When you walk in the door, there is a room with a bar to the left with some early-CBGB’s round-type tables along it, and the dressing rooms lined the right side of that room. Right before the dressing rooms, on the right side, was the open entrance to the second, slightly larger room. Couches lined the walls, with one couch overlapping the entrance door, where I sat. The small, raised stage was in the far corner to the right, diagonally across from me, and behind the stage were windows across the whole room, much like Max’s front wall.  There were a total of perhaps a couple of dozen people in both rooms of the joint.

As I was sitting there waiting, with a book in my hand, I looked over to my right and standing next to me was Johnny Thunders, looking at the stage. He looked the same as in the ‘80s, but perhaps three or four inches taller. I said to him (f1) that I was looking forward to seeing him play. He thanked me and seemed a bit nervous. I showed him the book I had in my hand that had a photo of him that I had taken (f2). He asked if he could see it, and I handed it to him.

Then I asked him if he was going to play “Pipeline,” as he hadn’t played it in a long time (f3), and he had sort of an “Oh, yeah,” remembering look, and said he needed to practice it. He left and disappeared into the other room to head towards the dressing rooms. I could hear him rustling in the dressing room behind the couch, and I concerned if I was ever going to see my book again, as he had taken it with him (f4).

I could then hear him practicing, but noted that it wasn’t “Pipeline,” but rather the main theme from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.” In the dream, it made me think of a couple of the Universal films that used it as their opening credits theme, such as The Mummy (1932) and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932).

Meanwhile, I was hoping he was going on soon, because I knew my partner was coming to pick me up at some point. I ran out the door of the club, which was in a downtown kind of turn-of-the-century building, and I could see her drive up to the front in the car were now drive (f5) through the big glass doors. I ran back upstairs to grab my stuff and saw a co-worker of hers (f6) sitting on the couch where I had been, and he said she was coming up to see the music. Relieved, I looked over to where the tables were and saw three couples I knew of my own ex-co-workers (f7), so I knew my partner would have people to talk to while I watched the music and take pictures.

At that point, I realized I didn’t have my camera, only my cell phone. I was a bit sad that the photos would not be as good.

Suddenly someone came up to the mic stand and said they were running so late that Thunders would not have time to play, and we’d have to go to the next venue. I rushed out the door, and the next thing in the dream I remember was standing in the front of a club that was long and narrow like CB’s, with blank walls on either side like Max’s, but the stage in front was higher, like the Ritz. JT was up there, obviously nervous, and being calmed down by three other musicians who were big on the scene at the time of the Heartbreakers (f8). In the dream, I remember thinking that one of the trio reminded me of Neon Leon, but he was lighter, and had white streaks dyed into his hair. Another had on some full-body ogre costume (more GWAR than Shrek). I knew who two of them were, but not the ogre guy. JT was still taller.

After a while of us standing and waiting in the audience, and as the other guys are still talking to JT, the guy with the hair streaks announces that JT is not ready to go on yet, so we should head out to the third venue.

It’s daylight when we get outside, and there are some vans parked with drivers who are taking everyone to the third venue, which is out in the countryside. The person driving the van I’m in is a current co-worker (f9). She drives our group out into the desert, and is very perky and animated, as she is in real life. After we dip through a short tunnel at the border of the venue grounds, we stop at what appears to be a religious-based (f10) building in the middle of the desert, with nothing else around as far as the eye can see. Some monk-type people take us to the doorway, but not far in we are told that we cannot go any further if we are not a member of the organization. There is a wooden gate, much like those on a church dais where communion is given. The floors are black and white marble tile, and there are statues of what I interpret to be Saints on either side of the walls.

There are some people already in there (obviously members) milling around, nearly all in silhouette from the candles and stage lights, and I’m hoping that they won’t block my view of the stage. I can feel the crowds pushing from behind me, and thinking this feels uncomfortable on so many levels.

Then the alarm went off, waking me. So three Johnny Thunders shows in one night, and never got to hear him perform, other than practicing “Swan Lake” through the wall. At least I had the opportunity to say hello, unlike I did in my waking life. That’s something, I guess.

There is a lot of subtle and blatant imagery here, including some recurring themes in my dreams (f11), and I actually understand quite a bit of it. It’s rare I remember dreams more than five minutes after waking, but this one stayed with me for hours. RIP Johnny Thunders.

(f1) As many times as I saw the Heartbreakers, the Waldos (JT would often play with them even though he wasn’t part of the band anymore), including some solo performances, as well as published articles about him in FFanzeen and know friends who were close to him, I don’t ever remember ever actually speaking a word to him.

(f2) This book and photo does not really exist, though I have lots of pictures I’ve taken of him both solo and in the Heartbreakers/The Waldos.
(f3) The instrumental “Pipeline” was actually a rather raucous staple in the JT canon.
(f4) Even in the dream as I worried about it, my “real” inner voice said, “well, it is Johnny Thunders. He did have a reputation.
(f5) Which is how I know the dream takes place in the present, rather than in the past.
(f6) He doesn’t exist in real life.
(f7) Only one, David M–, is someone that actually was a co-worker, in the mid-‘80s at Travel Agent Magazine.
(f8) Again, none of them based on real people.
(f9) She has been volunteering at a local international venue, which I’m sure is why I dreamed her in this particular service position; ironically, in real life, she doesn’t drive.
(f10) While it feels Buddhist from the outside, the symbolism inside is Catholic, which does not surprise me considering JT’s Italian heritage.
(f11) For example, the theme of losing my camera in one way or another is something I dream about every few months.