On top of all the usual stuff that the other guys were dealing with, I had the pressures of the McDonald's gig, which had come to take up just about every free moment that I had left over after working in the band. But the money was great so I stuck it out. Sometimes, about all I could do to battle the hoarseness and the sore throats was to keep a Hall's throat lozenge going at all times.  I figured out how to sing and talk with them in my mouth. I could break a small lozenge into four pieces and make it last a full set. Eventually I actually became rather addicted to them. Sometimes I would run late to work and wouldn't have time to stop at the 7-11 to buy them and would have to make a run to the store on my first break. I'd even been so desperate for them that I'd find pieces of them on the stage floor that I'd broken up, and pop them into my mouth without a second thought. After a few months of using the lozenges full time, a funny thing happened. On night our friend Bobby Albin came up on stage to sing with us and he walked over to my mic to sing. I believe the song was "Hot Legs." As he brought his mouth close to the microphone he quickly jerked his head back and gasped out loud! He began closely examining the mic as the music played on where he was supposed to be singing. I leaned over and asked what was wrong and he motioned towards the mic and held his nose. Then I noticed for the first time that my mic was almost covered in a solid, hard, orange candy-coated glaze, and smelled like a vaporizer putting off menthol fumes. Just the atomized moisture in the spray that came out of my mouth when I'd been singing over those months had been building up like wax on a car. Once all the other guys figured out what was going on, they all had a huge laugh at my expense. I kept using the lozenges, but I started using foam windscreens. I would put a nice clean one on for guest vocalists from then on. 

It was the end of April and we had three days off in a row. To a man, we were all looking forward to it.  I vowed to myself not to step foot in a club for the entire three days. Day One of our little vacation started with Ricky taking off for Longview with his dog, Nigel. Steve Wilson from the Molly Maguire Band showed up at the apartment around 11am with a bottle of Tequila. Tequila for breakfast was not completely foreign to me in those days, although it wasn't a routine affair by any means. It was just a fun way to be obnoxious and prove to ourselves that we answered to nobody but ourselves. Basically, I guess we did those things because we could. We played guitars and recorded some stuff in my little studio, and then I rode with Steve to pick up his very lovely wife and their adorable daughter. From there we headed over to El Chico's for dinner. I was feeling very loved and generous and decided to pick up the tab. By the time Steve dropped me back at my apartment, I'd forgotten my promise about not going out, and after cleaning up, I made a bee line straight for Savvy's. 

I ran into a girl named Darlene that night, who I called "Little Lilly" since she looked like a miniature version of my ex girlfriend. We danced a few times (which I hardly ever did) and then we went back to the apartment for a while. Later that night I took her home to her apartment in Diamond Loch, then stopped by the Jack in the Box on the way back to my place for a Mustard Jumbo Jack with Cheese. It was my favorite. . 

Day Two of our three day hiatus started at 1:30pm. I got up and showered and headed out to buy a new washer and dryer. The best I could manage in one day was just a washing machine, but it was a nice one. It was on my mind the entire time that nobody else in any of the bands I knew would likely be out shopping for washing machines that day. My second job afforded me finances that not many of my peers enjoyed. I didn't want to squander it. Back at home, after getting the washing machine up and running, I got a call from Colleen. In honor of the washing machine, I must "come clean" and admit that I broke my promise to stay home again for the second night in a row when Colleen and I went to Dallas to see my friend Steve Wilson and the Mollies play at the Agora. From there we made it back to Cowtown in time to catch Joe City's last set at Savvy's. Joe City had broken up a few months earlier, but I suppose they must have regrouped again. Steve Wilson's brother Lindy was still Joe City's front man / lead singer. Lindy wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. Something was obviously bothering him. 

[1/31/04 - I just got off the phone from talking with Lindy Wilson. I had to ask him what all the feuding had  been about from his perspective. The man has a memory like a steel trap, and proceeded to tell me about the very night I'd just been writing about -- the night I'd seen them playing at Savvy's when he'd been sort of rude to me.   He said that on the night in question, someone had just written something on their white band van in black marker while it was parked in the alley behind Savvy's. The writing said something about "Lindy Wilson and his Hitler Youth." The Joe City guys were assuming that either someone in Savvy, or from our fandom, had vandalized their vehicle in the name of some kind of feud.  I told Lindy that I was sure nobody from the band would have done it, but all bets were off when it came to anyone beyond that. In fact, a few years later when we were on our last legs, someone from our own nightclub scratched "SAVVY SUX" into the paint on the side of Rick Miller's cargo van. 

Once we got past the subject of the van, we had some really good laughs about a lot of things that went on back in those days. One really interesting story he told had to do with Q102 and the More Texas Crude album. Joe City had been one of the bands on that album, which would eventually lead to all of us competing in that battle of the bands to see who got to open the 1980 Texas Jam. Lindy said that while visiting Q102 studios one day to make sure that all was going to be fair with the competition, they ran into Q102 DJ, Gary Shaw. They confronted Gary about rumors they'd heard that Gary was somehow involved with the management of Savvy. According to Lindy, "Gary nervously denied the claim, and lit a cigarette. The book of matches he used was from Savvy's Nightclub!" While it was a great story, I assured Lindy that although Gary did hang around with us quite a bit, Jerry Hudson had always been our one and only manager, and no deals had ever been discussed or made with Gary. I think that Gary probably thought, like we did, that something really big was about to happen for us, and he was trying to help however he could from afar. It never hurts to have one's wagon hitched to a successful endeavor, or to see one's friends do well.  But Gary Shaw was never associated with Savvy in any official paid capacity. He was simply a good friend, fan, and perhaps occasional advisor to Hud from time to time - but that was between them. Gary wasn't a newcomer to the music business and we respected his input.  For all I knew, Gary could've been just as big a friend and fan to all the other bands on that album. But I can certainly see how, with so much at stake, it could've looked bad at the time. Lindy promised that he had many more great stories to share and we'd be talking again soon.]

As for what I did on the third day off, we'll never know. All I wrote in the books for that day was the following: "Today is the third day off. I don't know what I'll do today."  A good guess would be, say, perhaps that I ended up at Savvy's. 

With three days rest under out belts, we were ready for a three night run at the Houston Agora, sharing the bill with a band called Jet Wheel Racer. We were flying to Houston this time, and Ricky and I were concerned we were going to miss the flight. I was running through the terminal at Love Field - dodging in and out of people traffic -- when I turned a corner and my knee went out again for the 4th time in 6 months! I went down like a ton of bricks and rolled up in a ball of pain. But there wasn't time for that. Ricky helped me to my feet and we became a two-man wrecking ball, mowing down people in our path. My leg was hurting, but I had to try to make it to my flight. Somehow I managed to get on the plane, but my leg was swelling up and I knew this was going to be the worst plane ride of my life.

The Agora had arranged for a stretch limo to pick us up in Houston. We were getting the first class treatment and we loved it! The limo took us to our rooms at the local La Quinta Inn. I limped to my room and packed my leg in ice until time to go to the gig. That night was the slowest we'd seen at the Houston Agora. The opening act was a three piece, and they weren't exactly working the crowd into a frenzy. I was just glad that Sherry was there. It was the first time I'd had a Co-Host in quite some time. She was on hand for pretty much the entire three days we were in Houston. 

The La Quinta wasn't happening for us, so on Friday we moved to the Marriott.  The accommodations were much nicer and more comfortable. Sherry and I watched movies all day; "Apocalypse Now", "Smokey and the Bandit II", and "Ordinary People." The crowd at the Agora was much better on Friday night, too. Lou Messina dropped in and invited Ricky and Hud to his house. Ricky later reported that he'd met J.W. (John Wolf) of Lone Wolfe Productions at Lou's house. On Saturday, Sherry and I went to TGI Friday's, and then to the club. Little did I know at the time, but I was about to be in for a very interesting night.

It was just like a made-for-movie comedy starring Jerry Lewis. I'd invited Colleen to come down to Houston for the gig, but never dreamed she'd do it. She did. Another girl I'd met during a previous visit to Houston, named Beverly, showed up too. And to top it all off, the female executive from Pace Concerts that I'd hung out with during our last Houston trip was standing off to the side of the stage and blowing kisses at me! I was trapped like a rat. So I did the only logical thing; I got trashed and blamed it on trying to help ease the pain of my bad knee I hopped around during breaks from station to station, visiting with each girl for as long as I could before another would spot me. I knew it was useless and after a while the whole band was onto me. They all still had co-hosts, so they were really enjoying seeing me in that predicament. My bum leg got me out of it though. They all understood when I told them I was really in too much pain to be good company, and went back to the Marriott alone. Sherry was there waiting for me in the room. I'd given her the key and explained the situation to her. She was a good sport and took good care of me that night.  The next day I regretted drinking so much. As we were walking out of the Marriott en route to our limo, I had to step around the side of the hotel to throw up really quick. The other guys were hungry and asked the limo driver to stop at JoJo's for breakfast. The last thing I wanted to think about was food. After breakfast, the limo took us to the airport. On our flight home I heard two spots on the radio for Savvy's Nightclub! 

Back at home, renovations were under way to expand the club. We learned that the owners of Savvy's were going to purchase a $10,000 house PA system! I called mom to check in. She was having an inner ear problem. I paid off my car and my amp. On the night of June 1st, it was Q102 night at Savvy's again. A lot of the Agora staff was on hand, along with most of the Molly Maguire Band, and Lightning's manager, Mel. All of them came to the apartment after the gig. Some guy named Brett ended up riding with me and a full carload. We accidentally left him at the 7-11 during a short stopover on the way home. 

We were once again haunted by the memory of the Green Acres break-in when the sister of the guy who went to prison for the crime offered info on where some of our guitars were. We put her in touch with Detective Gaylor. By that time we were pretty burned out on the whole thing. It was history.  Jamie Friar, a local radio news reporter, asked if he could make mention of my "unique" connection to McDonald's during an upcoming Savvy interview we had scheduled with him.  I had to give him "THE TALK."  I just couldn't go there. He was cool about it and left it out of the story. I visited dad and we discussed the younger days of my uncle Okie, who'd been a performer back in the days of the Grand Old Opry and Louisiana Hayride. That night I dreamed that my teeth all broke in half and my ventriloquist puppet, Jimmy, wouldn't speak to me anymore. 

My trusty wooden pal, Jimmy.

On the 4th of June, RJ turned 29. We had a bunch of friends over to the apartment for a sort of birthday get-together for him after the club closed. The guests included Lightning's manager Mel, his pal Bruce, Rich, Amy, Hud, RJ, Marilyn, Dan, Colleen, Jackie, Cheryl, Jo Ellen and her two girlfriends, Marty, and Rabbit. I made breakfast for everyone. On the day after RJ's birthday, the final section of the wall came down at Savvy's to make way for the big expansion project. A new giant bar was built in the back corner of the new room. We were told that Head East had been booked to play at the grand reopening of the club. 

Rick bought a 24 channel Canary sound board and 7 power amps for the house sound system. The sound equipment coming into Savvy's came from the old Texas Electric Ballroom. It was going to be nice to have a professional sound system, with good monitors for a change. The dressing room was remodeled and the club put up huge portraits, taken by George Jara, of all the members of the Savvy band on one wall. It was like a Shrine! (When Savvy broke up, I nabbed mine and it now hangs in our rehearsal room at my brother's house.) 

George Jara's Savvy Portraits

Steve Jones

Ricky Lynn Gregg.

Rick Miller.

RJ Jones

Rich Mauch

Dan Kostura

I did a cool clown gig at the Ft. Worth Zoo. They had me walking around with a llama named Dolcie, and got spit on by apes. It turns out that chimpanzees are freaked out by bright colors, and it doesn't get any brighter than Ronald McDonald!  Good times. At 5:00am on the 13th of June, Dan was still over and we were all talking in the living room. Dan was trying to avoid a girl that had given him a nice turntable in exchange for a ride. While hanging out, we heard a couple of Q102 radio spots promoting the upcoming Texas Jam in Houston, but Savvy wasn't mentioned in the lineups. That was our first clue that something might be amiss once again. Still, it wasn't unusual for a local opening act to be left out of the major radio promotions so we didn't start freaking out - yet.

 The new bars and bathrooms were completed at Savvy's. Larry Holmes beat Spinks. Van Wilkes jammed with us at Savvy's. Sunday the 14th of June 1981 was spent laying on my back on a scaffold, working on the new ceiling at Savvy's. Rick, Stan, Wayne, Janice, Judy, Dee Ann, Rat, Jackie, Lynn, Craig, Margie, Amy, Rich, and I had a good time hanging out and working to try to get the finishing touches done. Nobody asked me to help. I just wanted to be a part of the renovation process. It was good to get my hands on something.

On the 15th we played at Graham's in Arlington along with the Molly Maguires. It was Q102 night and we broke their attendance records. On hand representing Q102 were Drake Hall, Gary Shaw, Brenda Shaw, and Tom Owens.  Dee and Julie from the Houston Agora showed up. Dee never could hide her affection for Ricky, and we were pretty relentless giving Ricky a hard time about it when she would show up. Somehow, Drake Hall ended up stranded at our apartment so I gave him a ride back to Dallas on the 16th on the way to our Agora gig. This would be two Q102 nights in a row, and this one was also a party for Buddy Magazine. The gig went fine, but the big riser on stage was missing. Rick Rose from the Agora threw a party after the show. RJ and I were supposed to meet Ricky Lynn there, but he didn't show up. By 4pm on the next day he was still nowhere to be found. I needed him to come home because his dog, Nigel, was infesting the apartment with fleas. I put Nigel in "quarantine" in the bathroom until we could figure something out.  

My uncle Okie came into town, so my brother Chris and I went over to our aunt Iris' house to visit. It was a big gathering; uncle Don and aunt Iris, cousin Tim and his family, aunt Grace from Washington state, cousin Robbie (RJ's sister), my aunt Bettie and her new boyfriend Maurice, cousin Julie, uncle Okie, brother Chris, my parents, and me.  It was a long day with the family, and then it would be back to the Agora to play with Windfall.

 
Our friends from El Paso. Windfall's singer sounded like
Steve Perry from Journey.

RJ was visiting at our apartment when Ricky finally came home and sprayed the apartment for fleas. A new family was moving in upstairs. It had grown noisy at the apartment again and I was thinking about how nice it would be to have a house with nobody walking around above or below me when I'm trying to sleep. I went fishing at 9 am Monday morning with my brother Ray. We caught 4 or 5 fish and he practiced his fire alarm salesman sales pitch on me.  He was pretty good! When we got back, I finished up a video project for dad that I'd made as a Father's Day gift. He seemed to really like it. Rabbit was sleeping over at our apartment on a regular basis. Marty had kicked him out of their apartment for some reason or other. On June 22nd we opened for Gary U.S. Bond at the Dallas Agora. I ran into Rocky Athas (guitar player from Lightning) and we had a friendly exchange. He complimented our set and I told him I was a fan of his band too. Then he was on his way. Someone at the Agora that night told me that Lynx (Dan's old band) had been signed by Epic Records!  

At 5:30 pm the next day, we all went to Love Field and took a flight to Houston. In Houston we were met by a limo. John the limo driver rushed us to the Agora where we had just enough time to get into our stage clothes, jump on stage, and do the opening set for Three Dog Night. We went over really well, and at the end of our set, we got to visit with the Three Dog guys for a few minutes before their set started. Very nice guys. Sherry showed up and we spent a few minutes together watching Three Dog Night's first song, " One Man Band." But then we had to rush back in the limo to catch our flight home. We were pretty buzzed in the limo after the show when we realized it was Rich's birthday. He was 29. Needless to say, the flight home was a real party. We made it home before the Molly Maguire's finished their last set at Savvy's. It was a slow night, but we enjoyed jamming with them to close out the night. All the Mollies came over after the gig and we ran re-dubbed videos. My brother Ray crashed on the floor. 

It was three weeks before all systems seemed to be "GO" for the Houston Texas Jam. The show was scheduled to take place at the Astrodome, and the lineup was still Heart, REO, Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, the Rockets, and Savvy! Things were getting exciting again. The renovation at the club was finished and everything looked great! We were able to bring in about 3 times the previous amount of people per night. Another person came forward with more info regarding the location of our stolen guitars. It didn't matter anymore. We'd heard so many promises but nothing had ever turned up yet. We knew that by then our guitars were probably trashed beyond repair.

New friends, Stacie Tucker and April, came over and made a big shrimp dinner. We all went to see the movie "Dragonslayer." I came down with a bad, bad cold. Excitement was building in anticipation of the grand reopening of the club and the Head East show. Then Rabbit turned 28 years old. He was still camping out at our place on the sofa. He wasn't a problem and didn't seem to get in the way so I didn't mind. The new neighbors upstairs sounded like they were just taking up juggling - and using bowling balls in the process! It would've been nice if they could have CAUGHT a few now and then instead of dropping them on my ceiling!  All I was interested in was trying to get just one good night's sleep. 

CHAPTER 21:  YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART! 

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