according to RICH HOPKINS

PART ONE

I started putting the band together originally around March of 1985.  I was playing in a small and inexperienced band that consisted of my wife at the time, ANDREA CURTIS on DRUMS; ROGER ALAN--VOCALS; RANDY FERBER--BASS; and me on guitar..I was borrowing a Fender stratocaster thanks to my good friend DAVID SEGER who was in NAKED PREY at the time....I did not have any electical equipment and so Dave lent me his stuff till I was able to buy my first electric guitar which was a FENDER SQUIRE STRATOCASTER...it was cheap but it looked pretty good!

Anyways, the band we had was called the 700 CLUB...we never did play a gig, but we rehearsed a lot in Roger's art gallery in downtown Tucson, next to the old KXCI Building on Congress.  We even recorded a bunch..5 or 5  songs to a cassette player which I still have...some of the songs we recorded were: FEVER (PEGGY LEE), THRU THE YEARS(ROGER ALAN, RICH HOPKINS), SUCH A DISTANCE (HOPKINS/ALAN), and EMPTY EYES, which was the first song I wrote and recorded after I had returned from the PEACE CORPS in PARAGUAY, SOUTH AMERICA in July of 1983. I had been in Paraguay since January, 1981.

My wife at the time, ANDREA had been in a few really cool bands from Tucson (THE PHANTOM LIMBS AND NED SUTTON AND THE RABBITTS) so she was the most experienced..she knew I loved music and played guitar(I had been playing in Paraguay for the previous 2.5 years in my first acoustic bands(SAPO with BRUCE LUSTMAN) and (LOS REYES with CONCEPCION ROMERO)..anyways, she was jamming with Roger and Randy and they needed a guitar player and she asked me!!  I was excited but nervous since I had never played ELECTRIC GUITAR!!! ever before but I borrowed Dave's guitar and amp and went...and lo and behold!  I loved it and was a natural leader since these guys weren't really song writers and I had been(in Paraguay I had already written 20 or more songs) so it felt pretty natural to start coming up with different chord patterns so we could jam...anyways after a few months of that I wanted to record a new song that Roger and I had written..I forget the name now but we went over to this guy's house whom I knew from a party I went to and he seemed really nice..his name was DAVID SLUTES and he has a 4 track cassette machine and offered to record us and our song.....by that time though, Andrea and Randy had quit the band and I had looked hard to find some new players and found MIKE MONKE to play DRUMS and this guy RON ZASTURY to play BASS(I BELIEVE WE EVEN JAMMED WITH THIS OTHER DUDE..CHRIS? ON BASS BUT HE SEEMED TOO COOL FOR US HICKS!)..anyways...we went to Slutes' house to record this new song and we laid down the basic tracks of bass, drums and my guitar....it was raw but..very Sidewinder-esque!..anyways, Roger started getting "cold feet" about wanting to record his vocals and he did not want to play live and I did...

A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF TUCSON BANDS

At the time the local Tucson bands who were very popular were GIANT SAND(WORMS), NAKED PREY, RAINER AND DAS COMBO, AL PERRY AND THE CATTLE, THE FREDS, THE RIVER ROSES, THE PHANTOM LIMBS, THAI PINK (later to morph into the Supersuckers), THE JOHNNIES, BLACK SUN ENSEMBLE(JESUS ACEDO), THE HOST..to name a few....by the way, the Tucson punk/new wave scene had officially started in 1979 with a Tucson band called the PEDESTRIANS who consisted of DAVE SEGER, CHRIS CACAVAS, JOHN VENET AND BILLY SEDLAMYR...this band was the first ever band to take it from the living rooms and garages and "boonies" in the desert to the first club called "PEARL'S HURRICANE," which was an old man's alcoholic bar in downtown Tucson on Broadway....anyways...these boys were the first band to start the "alternative" rock scene..there were others like THE SUSPECTS and Z-9.....at the time, in 1979, country rock was very popular and the two biggest bands at the time were CHUCK WAGON AND THE WHEELS and THE DUSTY CHAPS lead by frontman GEORGE HAWKE...they were one of the first bands to land a major recording deal with CAPITOL RECORDS.  There were only two band/artists from Tucson before 1979 who had ever landed a major recording deal: LINDA RONSTADT AND THE STONE PONEYS and THE DEARLY BELOVED. But maybe the most critically aclaimed band from Tucson to get famous by moving to Los Angeles in 1981 was GREEN ON RED(formerly the SERFERS), consisting of DAN STUART, CHRIS CACAVAS, JACK WATERSON AND VAN CHRISTIAN.  They were wildly popular here in Tucson in 1980-81 and when I saw them in 1980 I knew they were "going places"...they moved to L.A. around the time I left for the Peace Corps and I was so impressed with them...especially Cacavas' musical ability...I decided to lend them some $ to record their first album, which turned out to be a Red Vinyl 5 song E.P., of which approximately 500 copies were made...very collectible now...anyways, the rest is history.....they met Steve Wynn, signed to his DOWN THERE/RESTLESS RECORDS, then to SLASH/WARNER BROS. so they too were one of the first bands to "Make It"!  By the way, they ended up paying me back the money I loaned them...

END OF BRIEF DISCUSSION

Ok...back to the 700 CLUB/SIDEWINDERS.....Roger Alan decieeded he didn't want to play out live or record...well something very interesting happened during my taste of "band turmoil"...I had gone over to Slutes' house to listen to our first recording and Dave was kinda smiling and was a bit embarrassed to play me my song...I said "What's up?"..Very coyly he plays back the song and, lo and behold, he had wriiten and sang the new lyrics to our song WITHOUT ASKING ME!! which was very cute and ballsy!..Anyways..I LOVED IT!!  He sounded perfect and the song was great..it became our first song we wrote as HOPKINS/SLUTES...it was called at the time "I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU"!

Legend has it that I asked him to join me and the new band I had renamed THE SIDEWINDERS(I wanted a name that conjured up the southwest feel and flavor)...Dave was a bit hesitant but finally agreed to be the new singer...by the way, I had booked our first show at JACK'S BAR to open up for NAKED PREY AND THE RIVER ROSES..but we needed a band first..oh, it was perfect timing for me to ask SLUTES to join because Roger Alan did not want to play out live and we had a gig coming up in 2 weeks...the Sidewinders then consisted of me, Slutes, Monke and Zastry....but all of a sudden,my wife ANDREA decided she wanted to come back..not to play drums but to sing! ..so we had 2 lead singers...kinda like the Los Angeles band X...I was basically the rhythm guitarist and was too "chicken shit" to play lead, so we hired this very intersting guy DAVID MOSKOWITZ to play lead and the SIDEWINDERS were formed...and we did play Jack's two weeks later...that was April 12, 1985.

The band did go through many personel changes over the next 3 years before the SIDEWINDERS had settled on a lineup of ANDREA CURTIS ON DRUMS/VOCALS, SCOTT GARBER (ex GIANT SAND) ON BASS GUITAR, ME ON GUITAR AND DAVE ON GUITAR AND VOCALS.....THIS WAS DECIDED ABOUT SEPT. 1987.  By then we had gone through about four lead guitarists and finally decieded I would be the guy to step on the Fuzz/Distortion Box and be the new guitar hero of the Sidewinders!  Andrea had come and gone a few times in the past few years(our marriage had come to the end, also) but she decided she wanted to play drums and sing...she was very intregal to our sound...a very steady drummer who was beautiful to look at...plus, she had that 'southwestern" sound in her voice...kinda like if Patsy Cline was from Tucson...and Scott Garber was a seasoned pro, having been with Howe Gelb in GIANT SANDWORMS..and he added a sure-handed professional sound and look that we hadn't had until his arrival.....Slutes and I had learned to start writing some decent tunes by that time..it took us about 2 years to get it figured out......some of our first songs were " WHAT SHE SAID" , "BLLOD ON OUR HANDS" and 'COWBOY'S LIFE," which I wrote.....

Some of the earlier Sidewinders to come through our door were: SCOTT SUTHERLAND who personally inspired me to write better; MIKE MONKE AND RON ZASTURY who were there for us for the first year or so....they were a great rythem section and gave us a good head start; GENE RULEY; ADRIAN SCHUMACHER, PAM DRACO, TONY DOW, DAVE SEGER...there were more but I have forgotten....oh,well...they were all fun for awhile!  By the way, during the first 2 years we recorded about 4 times in different studios around Tucson..STEVE ENGLISH'S SOUND FACTORY, RANDY CHU'S SUMMIT RECORDING STUDIO..so we did record about 12 different songs..sometimes a particular song 3 or 4 times untill..we got tired of that…

Here is a list of the first shows we played in 1985:

4/12...JACK'S... WITH NAKED PREY
4/18...NINO'S with the ONLYS
5/3..FOOD CIRCUS
5/5..NINOS STEAK HOUSE AND BAR
5/13..NINOS
5/25..FOOS CIRCUS
5/25...FOOD CIRCUS..with ROAD FURNITURE
5/29..TEQUILA MOCKING BIRD
5/30...NINOS
6/3..BROOKLYN'S
6/14....TEMPLE OF MUSIC AND ART
6/20..NINOS with the JETZON'S (TEMPE, AZ. BAND, WHOSE LP WAS PRODUCED BY PHOENIX LEGEND MIKE CONDELLO) (May he rest in peace)
6/21...TEMPLE OF MUSIC AND ART with AL PERRY AND THE CATTLE
6/22..GENTLE BEN'S
6/27....NINOS
7/6....TEMPLE with H.M.S.(JOHN VENET)
7/11...NINOS with the MEAT PUPPETS
7/24...TEQUILA MOCKING BIRD
7/26...TEMPLE
8/3...NINOS with U AND THE RISK(NOGALES, AZ. BAND)

***DAVIS MOSKOWITZ  leaves Sidewinders...rumor has it that he was almost killed (on separate occasions) by Andrea and Rich!  TONY DOW (THE FREDS, ROAD FURNITURE) joins as the new lead guitarist for 14 shows.

9/5...NINOS...we made $182.00
9/8...NINOS WITH SCREAMING SIRENS FROM L.A...ROSIE FLORES ON GUITAR!..$75.00
9/27...NINOS WITH MEAT PUPPETS...COOL GIG! AND WE MADE $75.00
10/3...UNIV. OF ARIZONA'S "EAT TO THE BEAT" LUNCH PROGRAM..$50.00
10/5..NINOS WITH THE PHANTOM LIMBS..$60.00
10/11...TWIN PEAKS...a new low for us!
10/12....TWIN PEAKS...night #2..another new low...Dave was losing interest and Andrea was drinking more....and carrying a pistol in her purse!....hey we made $375.00!
10/19...NINOS WITH THE RIVER ROSES..$150.00
10/9....TEQUILA MOCKING BIRD...$50.00 PLUS %
10/10...TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD....DAVE WAS LATE, ANDREA WAS THE LEAD SINGER AND TONY DOW SOLOS FOR 45 MINUTES ON CHRIS SPEDDING'S "MIDNIGHT BOYS" UNTIL SLUTES SHOWS UP...
11/15..SCARLET'S....WITH DRESS CODE AND THE CATTLE..
11/16...SCARLET'S....SAME BANDS AS NIGHT BEFORE...$125.00 PLUS $ OF DOOR.
12/21...TWIN PEAKS...another new low!
12/22...TWIN PEAKS......$375.00.....band was really starting to crumble...seriously low morale!

From my notes, it wouldn't be until April of 1986 that the SIDEWINDERS would resurface with another lead guitarist, SCOTT SUTHERLAND and a new bassist,TOM EWES, both from  SEATTLE, WA. Scott was visiting his family...he was Mike Monke's brother in law and he was a great musician and I conned him into playing with us for about 7 shows...Tom was his buddy and they were just hanging out so they played with me, Mike and Dave until July of 1986.....details are a bit fuzzy now....we definitely played to drink or was it drink to play??!!

Hope you enjoyed a bit of the SIDEWINDERS' "BLAST FROM THE PAST"!!!

Yours truly, Rich Hopkins

PART TWO

FIRST OFF, LET ME SAY, THIS STORY IS A LOT MORE TYPING THAN I CARE TO…TYPE.

PART 2---JUST RECENTLY I WAS IN TOUCH WITH MY OLD FRIEND ROGER ALAN, WHO WAS THE VOCALIST WITH THE 700 CLUB, WHICH IN A WAY WERE THE PREDECESSORS TO THE SIDEWINDERS, ESPECIALLY SINCE I WAS WRITING THE MUSIC AND ANDREA WAS STILL IN THE PICTURE…AS HAZY AS IT WAS!  ROGER SAW IN PRINT THAT I SAID SOMETHING LIKE HE "CHICKENED OUT" AND THEN SLUTES CAME IN AND...WELL, I WANT TO APOLOGIZE, ALTHOUGH IT IS TRUE THAT ROGER LOST INTEREST IN THE PROJECT..AND I STILL BELIEVE HE THOUGHT WE NEEDED TO PRACTICE MORE, ETC., ETC. BUT IT WAS HIS CHOICE TO DISCONTINUE HIS ASSOCIATION WITH ME...PLUS AT THAT TIME I WAS REFORMING THE BAND TO SUIT MY NEEDS--AND THEN

WE CHANGED THE NAME TO THE SIDEWINDERS...IT IS A BIT FUZZY NOW BUT SORRY, ROG

OK..LET'S START WITH THE SIDEWINDERS—WE WENT THROUGH A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT PLAYERS BUT FINALLY WE STARTED JELLING IN EARLY 1987. THERE WAS ME, SLUTES, ANDREA AND PAM DRAGO...WE EVEN PLAYED THE "NOGY FESTIVAL" WHICH WAS A LOT OF FUN, BUT SOON PAM LOST INTEREST. WHY?? WHO KNOWS? BUT THEN ANDREA WAS HANGING WITH SCOTT GARBER OF GIANT SAND/SANDWORMS FAME, AND HE AGREED TO PLAY WITH US YOUNG PUPS..LUCKY US!!  REALLY,SCOTT REALLY BROUGHT AN AIR OF PROFESSIONALISM AND CONFIDENCE INTO OUR YOUNG BAND… THINGS IMMEDIATELY STARTED JELLING.  SLUTES AND I BEGAN WRITING SOME DECENT MATERIAL, LIKE "BLOOD ON OUR HANDS", "CLOCK STRIKES 12", "I GUESS IT DOESN'T MATTER"  AND A  BUNCH MORE THAT WOULD BE ON OUR FIRST REAL ALBUM “CUACHA." BUT FIRST, THERE WERE PRACTICES AT MY DAD'S HOUSE, LOTS OF GIGS IN TUCSON, AND THEN OUR FIRST "OUT OF TOWN/STATE" SHOW IN AUSTIN, TEXAS WHERE WE GOT TO PLAY AT THE FAMOUS LIBERTY LUNCH..THIS WAS AROUND APRIL OF 1987 (???)...PLUS, WE HAD STARTED RECORDING OUR FIRST ALBUM AT THE SOUND FACTORY...ANYWAY, THE CROWD IN AUSTIN LOVED US AND WE WERE ON OUR WAY!  WE LOVED PLAYING OUT THERE...SCOTT HAD CONNECTIONS TO THE WILD SEEDS AND THE SINGER KRIS MCKAY..AND THEN WE MET AND PARTIED WITH BANDS LIKE ZEITGEIST, THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, AND A FEW OTHERS I CAN'T REMEMBER RIGHT NOW..BUT WE LOVED AUSTIN BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WERE FUN AND LIBERAL, THE MUSIC WAS GREAT AND THE TEX-MEX...NEED I SAY MORE THAN “THE MAGNOLIA CAFÉ”?

ANYWAY, WE STARTED PLAYING OUT A LOT IN AZ AND BECAME QUITE POPULAR AS A RESULT OF SLUTES’ AND MY SOCIAL SKILLS (!), AND WE WERE SOUNDING GOOD!  LIFE WAS REALLY EXCITING IN TUCSON AT THE TIME...GIANT SAND WAS ALREADY LIVING IN LA AND MAKING RECORDS..ALSO NAKED PREY WERE HOT ON FRONTIER RECORDS...EVEN SMALLER BANDS WERE MAKING NATIONAL RECORDS, LIKE THE RIVER ROSES, PHANTOM LIMBS, YARD TRAUMA....

THEN GARBER QUIT!  I WAS BUMMED...HE QUIT FOR A BILLY SEDLMYER-LED BAND WITH BRIDGITTE KEATING AND MARX LOEB...I HAVE TO ADMIT I FELT DOWNRIGHT BETRAYED, WHICH WAS PROBABLY PRETTY IMMATURE, BUT HEY, WHO'S PERFECT??

ANYWAYS, WE DECIDED TO ASK OUR NEW FRIEND, MARK PERRODIN, WHO AT THAT TIME WAS PLAYING WITH A REALLY COOL BAND CALLEDED SKULL TACO, TO JOIN FORCES WITH US. MARK WAS GREAT...HE WAS YOUNG, FUNNY, A GREAT MUSICIAN AND FOR MY MONEY, THE REAL "UNSUNG HERO" OF THE GROUP BECAUSE OF HIS SOLID, MELODIC BASS PLAYING…HE WAS A FANTASTIC MUSICIAN AND I AM SURE HE STILL IS.

BY THAT TIME WE HAD ALREADY RECORDED 5 SONGS WITH GARBS AT SOUND FACTORY  AND NOW IT WAS TIME TO RECORD FIVE MORE NEW SONGS WITH MARK PERRODIN.  WE EVEN HAD SOME FRIENDS, LIKE PETER "SPLAT" CATTALANOTTE FROM THE RIVER ROSES AND BRAD BROOKS FROM THE DISTANT, ON BACKING VOCALS.  WE WERE VERY KEEN ON THE PERSON WHO MIXED THE GIANT SAND ALBUMS, SO WE ASKED ERIC WESTFALL TO DO THE SAME FOR US...SLUTES AND I FLEW OUT TO L.A. AND WE MIXED “CUACHA” IN 2 DAYS...MAN, WE WERE HAPPY!  TO HAVE A REAL PRO LIKE ERIC MIX US WAS A DREAM CIOME TRUE.  BY THE WAY, OVER THE PREVIOUS TWO YEARS WE HAD SHOPPED OUR DEMOS AROUND TO COMPANIES LIKE ENIGMA, , SLASH, FRONTIER AND A& m, BUT IT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET "SIGNED"....I EVEN HAD ASKED MY PAL DAVE SEGER TO HELP US BY DROPPING OUR DEMO OFF AT DIFFERENT COMPANIES IN L.A., AND HE DID. EVENTUALLY, HOWEVER, ALL SIGNS POINTED TO US HAVING TO DO RELEASE THE RECORD OURSELVES.  BACK THEN IN COLLEGE RADIO, ALL SORTS OF INDIE BANDS WERE TOURING AND DOING IT WITHOUT THE "MAJOR LABEL" HELP...BACK THEN YOU COULD SEND YOUR ALBUM(VINYL) TO A COLLEGE STATION AND THEY WOULD PLAY IT..EVEN REGULARLY...NO PAYOLA, JUST "WE LIKE IT!"  TIMES IN 1987-89 WERE MORE INNOCENT AND THERE WERE A LOT OF GREAT INDIE BANDS TOURING AND MAKING A LIVING.  THE MAJOR LABELS HADN'T REALLY FIGURED OUT JUST HOW GREAT THE INDIES WERE.....BUT SOON ENOUGH, BANDS LIKE THE REPLACEMENTS, SOUL ASYLUM, AND HUSKER DU WOULD ALL END UP ON MAJOR LABELS.

I DECIDED TO START MY OWN RECORD LABEL AND DECIDED TO CALL IT "SAN JACINTO RECORDS,” USING THE NAME OF MY DAD'S FERTILIZER COMPANY NAME THAT HE USED WHEN WE LIVED IN HOUSTON, TEXAS.  WHY?  BECAUSE IT SOUNDED COOL, PLUS I LOVED THE LATINO NAME AND WANTED TO INCORPORATE AS MANY THINGS LATINO INTO MY WORLD AS POSSIBLE...SO “CUACHA!” WOULD BE THE FIRST ALBUM...WE STARTED WITH THE CATALOGUE NAME "DRAM "0188 BECAUSE IT WAS 1988 AND IT WAS DAVE, RICH, ANDREA AND MARK!

SO, IN JANUARY 1988, “CUACHA!” WAS RELEASED LOCALLY, AS WELL AS TO ABOUT FOUR DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES AROUND THE USA...MOST OF THEM EVEN PAID US!  WE WERE VERY AMBITIOUS AND MANAGED TO GET OURSELVES BOOKED INTO AUSTIN'S SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, WHICH WAS THEIR 2ND OR 3RD YEAR..IT WAS VERY SMALL BACK THEN...BESIDES US, THE RIVER ROSES WERE THE ONLY OTHER TUCSON BAND TO BE INVITED TO PLAY...OF COARSE WE WEASLED OUR WAY (WE HAD NO MANAGER..JUST ME AND SLUTES) INTO THE LIBERTY LUNCH AGAIN AND THIS TIME THE PLACE WAS PACKED...WE PLAYED PRETTY GOOD, BUT I THOUGHT WE BLEW IT BECAUSE MARK ENDED UP BLOWING SOMEONE'S BASS SPEAKER AND WE JUST SEEMED A BIT NERVOUS...BUT WE WEREN'T THINKING ABOUT RECORD DEALS AT THAT POINT..WE WERE HANDING “CUACHA” OUT TO EVERYBODY AND PLAYING INSTORES WHREVER WE COULD…THE NEXT DAY I RAN INTO JAY FERRIS OF THE BARAND NEW MAMMOTH RECORDS…HE KNOW WHO I WAS AND SAID HE LOVED OUR SHOW AND WANTED A COPY OF THE RECORD...MY FIRST REACTION WAS "JAY WHO?? MAMMOTH WHAT??”

FORWARD A MONTH OR TWO LATER AND BY THIS TIME WE HAD BEEN TALKING TO JAY REGULARLY ABOUT WHAT WE WERE DOIN...BY JUNE OF 1988 WE HAD BEEN ALREADY ON THE FRONT COVER OF THE CMJ MUSIC JOURNAL WITH A STELLAR REVIEW…THE FRIGGIN FRONT COVER!!  DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS TO GET??  ANYWAY, WE WERE HOT....BESIDES US AND THE ROSES, WE WERE THE TOP DRAWING LOCAL BAND IN TUCSON AND CLUB CONGRESS BECAME OUT SECOND HOME. BY THEN WE WERE ALSO PLAYING PHOENIX REGULARLY, THANKS TO MAY MCCANN, A PHOENIX DJ, AND LAURA LIEWEN, WHO WAS MANAGING LONG WONG’S, TEMPE'S REAL HOT SPOT. SHE WAS ALSO BOOKING THE GIN BLOSSOMS, WHO WERE STILL UP AND COMING...SOME OF THE OTHER VERY POPULAR BANDS IN TUCSON AT THE SAME TIME WERE AL PERRY AND THE CATTLE AND THE PHANTOM LIMBS.

BY MAY, WE HAD DECIDED ON BOOKING OUR FIRST REAL U.S. TOUR..OUR GOAL WAS TO GO ALL THE WAY TO NEW YORK WHICH WE MANAGED TO DO. WE EVEN PLAYED IN CANADA.  THE TOUR WAS LARGELY BOOKED BY THE CATTLES' MANAGER, ANGELA MCCORMICK, WHO ENDED UP MARRIED TO FISH KARMA AND THEN EVENTUALLY MARRIED MR. MC5, MIKE DAVIS, A FEW YEARS BACK..BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY. BETWEEN ME, ANGELA AND THE EVER IMPORTANT JAY FARRIS OF MAMMOTH, WE HAD A 5 WEEK TOUR BOOKED PRETTY WELL...THROUGH TEXAS UP THE EAST COAST TO CANADA AND THEN THROUGH THE MIDWEST..AND THEN HOME...IT WAS A HUGE TOUR FOR US ROOKIES, BUT I HAD PURCHASED A BIG OL’ WHITE DODGE VAN AND WE WERE OFF!

THE FIRST PROBLEM WE ENCOUNTERED WAS MARK PERRODIN BEING SICK; HE DID NOT CATCH UP WITH US UNTIL WE HIT BATON ROUGE,WHERE WE PLAYED WITH JOHNNY AND THE HITMEN...ALL I REMEMBER WAS THAT PLACE WAS HOT AND FULL OF COACKROACHES..BUT LET'S BACK UP TO OUR FIRST FEW SHOWS....OUR FIRST SHOW WAS IN AUSTIN--AGAIN!--AND THIS TIME WE PLAYED WITH THE AMAZING SOUL ASYLUM, WHO W HAD THEIR NEW ALBUM OUT ON A7M CALLED "HANGTIME"...THEY WERE A GREAT BAND... SCOTT GARBER, WHO WAS NOW LIVING IN AUSTIN, SUBBED IN FOR MARK AND HE WOULD CONTINUE TO DO THAT OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS UNTILL WE HAD A BIT OF A "MISUNDERSTANDING"…BUT GARBER WAS GREAT..WE PLAYED HOUSTON'S FITZGERLAD'S, TOO, WHICH OUR FRIEND ANGELA CORNISH BOOKED....BY THE WAY, MY FORMER WIFE, ANDREA CURTIS, AND I WERE NOW DIVORCED, AND SHE WAS MARRIED AGAIN BUT WANTED TO STAY IN THE BAND...WE GOT ALONG AMAZINGLY WELL DURING THE BREAK UP…IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON, PLUS I HAD A LOT GOING ON WITH THE BAND, WORK AT THE UNIV.OF AZ., THE RECORD LABEL AND MY NEW HOBBY..GIRLS!!  WHO HAD TIME TO FIGHT?  UNFORTUNATELY, ANDREA WAS PREGNANT! SHE SAID SHE WOULD BE OK, SO OFF WE WENT...

TO BE CONTINUED......

PART THREE

WHERE WAS I???  OK..SO WE WERE ON OUR FIRST EVER U.S. TOUR AND THINGS WERE REALLY FUN...I MEAN, WE WERE LIVING OUT OUR DREAM OF BEING NEW ROCK STARS…WELL, NOT QUITE YET, BUT WE WERE TOURING.   WE FINALLY GOT TO RALEIGH/CHAPELL HILL, N. CAROLINA, WAS THE HOME OF JAY FERRIS AND THE NEW UP AND COMING MAMMOTH RECORDS...WE DID NOT HAVE ANY OTHER COMPANIES INTERESTED IN US. WE HAD TALKED TO ENIGMA A BIT, AND THERE WAS A LABEL IN THE SOUTH CALLED DB RECORDS, WHO WERE WORKING WITH THE REIVERS (FORMERLY ZIETGEIST), WHOM WE ADMIRED AND LOVED, BUT AFTER A FEW GIGS IN CHAPELL HILL, STAYING AT THE MANSION (IT SEEMED!) OF JAY FERRIS, GOING TO A BASEBALL GAME IN DURHAM, JAY ASKED ME AND THE BAND IF WE WOULD LIKE TO SIGN...WELL, AFTER ALL THE SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY AND ABOUT 4 BEERS AND 3 HOTDOGS. HELL, I WAS ALL IN FAVOR OF THIS UNION!  WE SAID YES AND WE EVENTUALLY DID SIGN TO HIS LABEL.  BUT FIRST WE HAD TO MARCH NORTH TO VIRGINIA, WHERE WE WERE SCHEDULED TO PLAY WITH STEPPENWOLF, ONCE MY HEROES OF THE 60'S. WE OPENED FOR THEM IN A TINY BAR IN ROANOKE, VIRGINIA CALLED THE WOODEN NICKEL..ANYWAYS, THERE WAS NO ROOM FOR US TO PLAY ON THE STAGE, SO THEY JUST DECIDED TO GIVE US OUR MEASLY $50.00. WE WENT TO OUR MOTEL AND WATCHED THE NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT...THEN IT WAS ON TO POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. WHERE WE TRIED TO GET A GIG AT THE FAMOUS "CHANCE," BUT NO LUCK..SO I CALLED MY COUSINS TIMMY AND PAULI BURKE TO HELP US OUT. PAULI HAD AN IDEA...THERE WAS A YOUTH CENTER IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD AND HE WOULD ARRANGE SOMETHING THERE…COOL, I THOUGHT!  I WONDER WHAT SLUTES WAS THINKING AT THIS POINT...4 DAYS OFF AND A GIG AT THE YOUTH CENTER!!!????  WELL, WE SHOWED UP AND MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE AND CHAGRIN, THERE WAS NO SOUND SYSTEM. SOMEONE MENTIONED THAT DAVE COULD PERHAPS SING THROUGH A MEGAPHONE. MAN, WE LAUGHED FOR DAYS ABOUT THAT MISSED OPPORTUNITY!  WE DECLINED THE "GIG" AND ENDED UP DRINKING BEERS WITH MY COUSINS AND THEIR WHACKY FRIENDS IN THE PARKING LOT.  

THEN WE WERE OFF TO CANADA TO PLAY SOME REAL SHOWS THAT ANGELA BOOKED..AND THEY PAID!  UNFORTUNATELY BY THE TIME WE GOT TO OTTOWA, CANADA, PREGNANT ANDREA WAS NOT FEELING WELL, AND WE DECIDED IT WAS MORE PRUDENT TO FLY HER HOME. NOW, OF COURSE, WE HAD NO DRUMMER. WHAT TO DO?  REMEMBERING STEVE CHAPMAN FROM THE TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, WE BOUGHT HIM A TICKET AND FLEW HIM TO OTTOWA IN TIME FOR THE GIG, FOR WHICH WE RECEIVED TONS OF PRESS. STEVIE PLAYED BRILLIANTLY AND FINISHED OUT THE LAST TWO WEEKS OF SHOWS, WITH NO REHEARSAL OR ANYTHING..IT WAS WILD.....THANKS AGAIN, STEVE!  BESIDES OTTOWA, WE PLAYED MONTREAL (A BAD NIGHT...SLUTES AND I GOT INTO A HUGE FIGHT OVER SOME GIRL WHOM HE FANCIED--I WAS JEALOUS! AND AFTER A 30 -MINUTE VERSION OF "WHAT SHE SAID,’ WE GOT INTP A FIGHT RIGHT THERE ON STAGE.....THIS WOULD BE A COMMON REOCCURANCE FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS, WHENEVER WE WERE FEELING STRESS OR SIMPLE PETTY JEALOUSY.  DAVID BRIGGS (NEIL YOUNG'S PRODUCER, NOW DECEASED) ONCE SAID, WHILE WATCHING SLUTES AND I GO FLYING ACROSS THE RECORDING STUDIO, "THAT'S WHAT I LIKE..MY BOYS COMMUNICATING!”  IT SEEMED FUNNY THEN BUT HE WAS RIGHT...

AFTER THE FIGHT, IT DIDN'T HELP THAT SLUTES STEPPED IN A PILE OF SHIT THAT I HAD TAKEN OUTSIDE NEXT TO THE VAN BECAUSE I REFUSED TO GO INSIDE WHERE ALL THE JUNKIES WERE SHOOTING UP...HEH HEH HEH!! SO AS WE WERE LOADING OUT, SLUTES STEPPED IN THE CACA AND TRACKED IT INTO OUR VAN...THAT WAS GROSS. WE HAD COME SO FAR AND WE WERE ALREADY FALLING APART. THEN IT WAS OFF TO TORONTO, ALBANY, MINNEAPOLIS (I DROPPED A HIT OF ACID AFTER THE SHOW @ 1 AM AFTER PLAYING WITH THE GEAR DADDIES), AND THEN ABOUT 1,500 MILES STRAIGHT TO OKLAHOMA CITY....IT WAS REALLY STRANGE, I WAS LISTENING TO A CASSETTE WITH ANDREA'S SONG "INSIDE" AND I STARTED CRYING...I STILL LOVED HER SOME AND DURING THE EMOTIONAL DÉJÀ VU, I HAD MISSED THE TURN SOMEWHERE ABOUT 50 MILES BACK..SO AS THE SUN WAS RISING, I WOKE UP SLUTES TO GET US BACK ON COURSE. MAN, I WAS WASTED!  BUT WE GOT TO OKLAHOMA CITY, WHERE OUR BOOKING AGENT, JOHN MANSON. TOOK CARE OF US. WE ENDED UP PLAYING A REALLY NICE PLACE, A FERN BAR ALL GLASS AND METAL..WE BLEW THE PEOPLE RIGHT OUT THE DOOR...NOT A GREAT GIG BUT WE GOT OUR $100.00. THEN IT WAS ONE LAST GIG TO GO, WHICH TOOK PLACE IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, I BELIEVE...WE WERE TIRED BUT HAPPY AND SAD TO END IT ALL WITH STEVE CHAPMAN, WHO WAS ALSO READY TO GO BACK TO HIS TOWN OF AUSTIN!

THE REASON JAY FERRIS LIKED US SO MUCH WAS BECAUSE HE LIKED OUR MUSIC, WE HAD OUR OWN LABEL AND DID IT OURSELVES, WE WERE WRITING A LOT AND ALREADY HAD HALF OF “WITCHDOCTOR” RECORDED WITH ANDREA ON DRUMS. BUT NOW THAT WE WERE BACK HOME, SAFE AND SOUND AND HAD COMPLETED A SUCCESSFUL 5 WEEK U.S. TOUR--AND HAD A NEW RECORD DEAL (OUR FIRST! ONE OF MANY TO COME)--WE HAD TO FIND A NEW DRUMMER. SO WE HIRED DIANE PADILLA, A VERY SWEET, COOL, TALENTED 19 YEAR OLD! SHE EVEN LOOKED A BIT LIKE ANDREA. WE FINISHED RECORDING “WITCHDOCTOR” FOR $3000.00, INCLUDING MIXING, AGAIN DONE BY ERIC WESTFALL. THE ARTWORK WAS DONE BY ROGER ALAN, MY OL’ BUDDY FROM THE 700 CLUB!  BY THE WAY, JAY FERRIS ALSO LIKED THE FACT WE RECORDED PRETTY CHEAPLY...”CUACHA!” COST ABOUT $3000.00 ALSO, NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT.

SO, WE HANDED WITCHDOCTOR OVER TO MAMMOTH AND JAY DECIDED TO GO TO RCA RECORDS IN NEW YORK TO SHOP HIS NEW BAND, THE SIDEWINDERS..HE MET A VERY PROMINENT OLD SCHOOL A&R MAN, ROBERT FEIDEN (A VERY HIP DUDE..GOOD BUDS WITH LOU REED IN LOU'S WIERDER DAYS!)..ANYWAYS, YOUNG PUP JAY METWITH BOB FEIDEN, PULLED OUT A TAPE OF “WITCHDOCTOR,” PLAYED THE SONG “WITCHDOCTOR” AND WITHIN A MINUTE, FEIDEN SAID (MORE OR LESS) "STOP THE TAPE....WHO ARE THESE GUYS??"  HE LOVED US! WITHIN 2 MONTHS, WE WERE HEADED BACK TO NY CITY FOR A REAL SHOWCASE GIG IN FRONT OF ALL THE RCA EXECS DURING THE CMJ MUSIC FEST.  YOU TALK ABOUT DREAMS COMING TRUE??  WELL, THEY DID THAT NIGHT. WE PLAYED A TIGHT 7 SONG SET AND WE ROCKED...JAY MET US AFTER THE SHOW AND SAID "NO WORRIES, YOU'RE IN THE DOOR!!" AND WE WERE!  IT WAS AMAZING...WITHIN TWO MONTHS, WITCHDOCTOR WAS RELEASED ON RCA/MAMMOTH AND WE SOARED TO #5 IN THE COLLEGE CHARTS OF ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE…PLUS WE HAD OUR FIRST VIDEO FROM “WITCHDOCTOR” ON THE NEW MTV....THEN IT WAS OFF TO TOUR, DURING 1989, WITH BANDS LIKE DRIVIN’ AND CRYIN’, CHARLIE SEXON, THE HOODOO GURUS../TO NAME A FEW.

THINK ABOUT THIS: WITHIN ONE YEAR, WE HAD SELF-RELEASED “CUACHA!,” DONE A 5 WEEK TOUR OF THE USA ON OUR OWN, RECORDED AND RELEASED “WITCHDOCTOR,” SIGNED TO MAMMOTH AND THEN RCA.....YES, THERE WAS A LOT OF ENVY AND JEALOUSY AROUND TUCSON WITH SOME OF OUR OTHER FRIEND’S BANDS, BUT WE HAD LITTLE TIME TO WORRY ABOUT THAT...WE HAD A LOT OF CELEBRATING, WRITING, PRACTICING, RECORDING, AND TOURING TO DO...AND THEN THERE WAS OUR PERSONAL LIVES THAT WERE TAKING OFF…

THE YEARS FROM 1988-93 WERE THE SIDEWINDERS--SOON TO BE SAND RUBIES--GREATEST AND MOST PRODUCTIVE YEARS, WITH THREE MORE MAJOR RELEASES: “AUNTIE RAMOS POOL HALL” IN 1990, “DO NOT PLAY THIS DISC” IN 1991 (A PROMO ACOUSTIC ALBUM OF 7 SONGS) AND THEN, IN 1993, THE SAND RUBIES’ SELF-TITLED ALBUM THAT WOULD COME OUT ON ATLAS/POLYGRAM.  BUT BEFORE THAT, WE WERE ABOUT TO SIGN A MANAGEMENT DEAL WITH THE FAMOUS ALEX HODGES OF NEEDLANDER FAME (HE PERSONALLY MANAGED STEVIE RAY VAUGhN..NOT TOO SHABBY!)...WE ALSMOST SIGNED WITH HIM BUT WERE EVENTUALLY DISCOURAGED TO DO SO, WHICH NOW, LOOKING BACK WAS THE SINGLE GREATEST MISTAKE WE EVER MADE...I LOVED ALEX BUT RCA WASN'T HAPPY ABOUT HIS INVOLVEMENT...WHY???..WHO THE FUCK KNEW? BUT WE DECIDED TO CHECK OUT OTHER  MANAGERS THAT WERE SANCTIONED BY RCA AND WE SETTLED ON MIKE LEMBO WHO WAS MANAGING THE CHURCH AT THAT TIME...AND THAT IS YET ANOTHER STORY.

MANY THINGS HAPPENED THAT TOOK US AWAY FROM OUR INNOCENT SELVES...WE DID GET SUED BY A TOP 40 BAND SIDEWINDER FROM NORTH CAROLINA, WERE FORCED TO CHANGE OUR NAME, SWITCHED COMPANIES FROM RCA (THEY HAD ENOUGH OF US AS WELL) TO ENSIGN  AND THEN TO ATLAS/POLYGRAM...OH, YEAH, BY THEN WE HAD BURNED ANOTHER BRIDGE WITH MAMMOTH, BECAUSE WE NEEDED TO "GET OUT OF THE MAMMOTH DEAL" TO GET OUT OF THE RCA DEAL...AND IN DOING SO, WE LOST SOME GOOD FRIENDS WHO DID A GREAT JOB WITH US...OUR EGOS WERE GETTING REALLY BIG AND WE THOUGHT THIS RIDE TO THE TOP WOULD NEVER END...WELL, IT WAS A GREAT RIDE AND WE ALL LEARNED A GREAT DEAL.  IN MY OPINION, YOU HAVE TO MAKE MISTAKES TO LEARN.  DIANE PADILLA WOULD BE REPLACED BY BRUCE HALPER, WHO WOULD IN TURN BE REPLACED BY DAN LYNCH, WHO WOULD THEN BE REPLACED…FINALLY///BY TOM LARKINS IN EARLY 1993.  MARK PERRODIN--AGAIN, THE "UNSUNG HERO" OF OUR BAND--WOULD GET FED UP WITH THE POLITICAL BULLSHIT OF THE BAND IN 1992 AND WOULD BE REPLACED BY NICK AUGUSTINE OF RAINER AND DAS COMBO FAME...NICK WAS AMAZING....THEN DAVID SEGER (MY BEST FRIEND) WOULD JOIN US ON OUR LAST HURRAH OF TOURS WITH THE REMBRANDTS AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHO ALL ELSE...THE TRAIN WOULD EVENTUALLY DERAIL IN JUNE OF 1993 WHERE I WAS SO ANGRY I QUIT THE BAND I HAD STARTED BACK IN 1985.  YEAH, I DID BLAME SLUTES FOR A LOT OF OUR COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS BUT I ADMIT, I DIDN'T HAVE THE TOOLS TO DEAL WITH THE BUSINESS AND THE BAND POLITICS AT THE TIME..SO IT ALL ENDED, AT LEAST UNTIL SOME TIME AND SPACE HAD CLEARED THE TENSIONS AND WE WOULD EVENTUALLY MEET UP AGAIN AND REFORM THE BAND IN 1996.

I AM GRATEFUL TO DAVE SLUTES, MY LONG TIME PARTNER IN CRIME..WE DID MUCH TOGETHER, INCLUDING FIGHT, BUT WE HAD SOME AMAZING DREAMS COME TRUE TOGETHER.  I KNOW I WAS JEALOUS OF DAVE (THE LEAD SINGER SYNDROME...HE GOT A GREAT DEAL OF ATTENTION!) BUT I AM PROUD OF THE FACT THAT WE WROTE MANY COOL SONGS AND PLAYED VERY WELL TOGETHER....WE ALL DID IT TOGETHER!