ConLady on the other hand has been the bane of my existence since I was about 7, when she pretty much dumped me with an unreliable Uncle (hence to be known as Boozer)and went off to scam her next meal ticket. Sounds mean, right? She's yer Mum your saying, not all families are happy. Con Lady got her name because that was her life, while not a full on circuiting grifter, she knew the game. She taught me alot of that game when we tentatively reunited 6 or 7 years later, I unwittingly played the roper in her latest con (OK, I realize that many of you may not know alot of the terminology associated with con games; there is a reason for that citizen and I'm not about to fill you in.)the end result was coolness, for awhile. ConLady had roped herself a new meal ticket (we will call him Trapdoor). Trapdoor was a monster influence on my life, in the end I hated that I disappointed him. Trapdoor was roughly 17 years younger than ConLady and roughly 15 years older than meself. It wasn't like having a step-dad, it was like having an older brother. Trapdoor was a huge Little Feat and The Who fan, he truly gave me my love for music. We would hang out in the garage where he would mess around with CB radios, slot cars. go carts, mini bikes and skateboards. I took a real shine to skateboarding, it was alot of fun and I got pretty good at it, even did a few contests, never won crap; but seeing Trapdoors face when I rode was awesome.
Trapdoor introduced me to different music styles which I totally dug on, having started life in Europe I got into the newly formed punk scene in 1976. I wasn't as involved in it as I am now, but it did lead to my disappointing Trapdoor. One night we were in the garage listening to radio station KMET (Los Angeles radio station that played the now 'classic rock' - it became a new age station and I'm still convinced the basis for the movie Airheads). Anyway on this night there was to be an interview with Pete Townshed of The Who, now a big fan too Trapdoor and I locked ConLady out of the garage so we could hear every word. The interview was the usual stuff, Pete was playing some of his favorite tunes, then the topic changed to Punk Rock, Pete it turns out was/is a major advocate of new music and The Who in the end often got referred to as the godfathers of Punk. Pete put on the Sex Pistols 'Submission', Trapdoor looked at me in horror as I knew the lyrics to the song. PUNK! He screamed at me, mind you in 3 years of knowing him Trapdoor only yelled at me 3 times, this was the first. I tried to explain to him what punk was about, took him to my room and showed him the 'Never Mind The Bollocks' Album as well as Damned Damned Damned, by The Damned (My favorite, they walk on the water band of all time), he borrowed the albums to give them a fair shot; I never saw those copies again.
Trapdoor was figuring out ConLadys gig and it made him bitter and angry (who can blame him) now his step-son is a punk rocker! Trapdoor and I spent less time together, he would make mean remarks about me being a punk. Being a good punk, it was time to turn up the heat then. I started hanging out with a group (OK there were like 4) punks at the highschool I was sentenced to. Sunny Hills Highschool in Fullerton, California. Trapdoor busted his ass getting me in as we lived out of the district. But is was where he graduated from and a school populated by the well to do's children. Us being a poor family, meant I did not fit in. Angry, young, poor and punk; a bad combination for this rich kids school.
This is also where I met Sy, we had health class together. I lucked out most teachers wanted nothing to do with me (He's bright, intelligent even, but very angry and lazy)[Genius has it's price you knob ends]so I usually got away with, if you turn up and don't cause a fuss we'll pass you. So I would turn up in health class with my backpack, tape player inside; lay my head so I could hear it and breeze through the class. Sy eventually migrated from his usual seat, to the one next to me. One day before class, my tape player going, Sy comes over to me and asks me the name of the song and the band that is playing. "Agent Orange, Bloodstains" I tell him. I'm pretty damn sure this is the only time Sy and I ever talked to each other at my short stay at Funny Pills Lowschool. I was a walking time bomb, I was angry at the world.
Why? I was born in Germany, East Berlin to be precise, at the time the Soviets were not real keen on wasting money to educate the gutter trash German kids (a.k.a. poor kids) I picked up gutter trash German and Soviet as languages. Picked up English by watching television (we couldn't get one but our neighbor did). Anyway trials tribulations I end up in California, sounding very German. I got teased alot, being called a Nazi has always pissed me off. Whole lot of other crap fills in here, so by the time I met Sy, I was hiding my heritage and telling everyone I was English (seems Americans have forgiven the Brits [whom they also defeated]but Germans are still fair game). Nazi indeed, I wasn't even born yet ASSHOLES! Stop blaming my people as a whole for the crimes of another asshole who wasn't even German.
So that lead us on, things at home were rapidly falling apart, many nights I wouldn't even go home. I started bumping Conlady for cash, stealing food and what not and me new talent...hustling pool. But for the most part I was heading to Hollywood damn near every night, The Masque, Starwood, The Vex, Stardust and of course Oki Dogs. I was turning up less and less at school, when I did disaster usually followed. The funny part behind all of this, is I'd forge absence excuses (some in drunken hazes I may have repeated, I'm pretty damn sure I lost like 6 grandmothers in my time at Sunny Hills)but the really nice lady at the attendance window always took em and never said a word. Later I was to find out that this woman was Sy's mom.
"I knew those notes were fake." She said to me one day, I hadn't made the connection that she was Attendance Lady. I didn't hook back up with Sy for about 4 years after I got the boot from SHHS. Oddly enough I was hanging out with his older brother, again unaware that Sy was the guy who asked me about Agent Orange in health class. I'd often ask his brother (hence forth known as Droogie) why he didn't ask his brother to come along to the gigs and general nonsense we got up to, I remember a few lame excuses, but never really questioned them.
Sy is without a doubt (up til I met and married The Missus)the only person on this planet to have any kind of real faith in me. I got up to alot of shite growing up. Nothing major mind you, but as I go along with this blog some of the things would really make anyone say, "That's just Fucked Up". I'm the first to admit that alot of what I did was fucked up, I conned, hustled, stole and generally lied my way through life. But when your a young kid trying to survive, all bets are off.
We destroy the family [x4] Steal the money from your mother,Buy a gun! We destroy the family! [x2]Kill you mother And father! We destroy the family [repeated to end].
No comments:
Post a Comment