After the Colorado trip, I gave a lot of thought to possibly breaking tradition and buying a nice car for myself. I was fortunate to be making "decent" money between my two careers, and it was certainly possible to pull it off. But what kind of car would I want? That was the big questions. It was answered when I saw the Mazda RX7! I wanted one of those little suckers... They only cost about $14,000 -- which was still a small fortune in 1981, but I'd decided to start looking into it anyway. 

Mazda RX7

The Volare' had been a great car up until the Colorado trip. I'd had relatively little trouble with it, and it was only 4 years old. Sure, it looked like a corny family car, and I took some ribbing about it, but I couldn't understand how anyone could have a decent date with a console between them. I didn't have that problem. The Volare' had a giant bench seat in the front that you could almost land small aircraft on. It served its purpose, but I had somehow been bitten by the Mazda bug. It would be a challenge, but I decided to start saving and see how it went. I figured it would be paid off by the time I was 30.

Bad news rolled in. My uncle J.T. was in the hospital with a busted appendix. Next we got word that the Houston Agora was shut down. On top of everything else, I estimated that I'd need to come up with $1,500 for a down payment on the Mazda RX7. It might as well have been a million bucks. I went to visit Mark Karolevich. He was living with his dad temporarily and they had a great flight simulator on their computer. It was a real computer - not a Commodore or Atari like mine. I was blown away by the green monochrome stick figures and lines that represented the horizon and flight path. The flight instruments were simple numbers at the bottom of the screen. I fell in love with it and didn't want to quit playing. I had no idea how sophisticated flight simulators would become in just a few short years. 

The Peter Frampton concert fell through. Silver Condor opened for him instead of us. That was a bummer. The drinking age changed from 18 to 19. It slowed business down a little for a short while until everyone could get new fake ID's made. I visited my parents, and then took my brother Chris to eat at Jimenez Restaurant on the north side. He told me about the video projects that he and RJ had been doing. Then in a bold move which was completely against everything he'd been preaching to everyone else, RJ moved in with Marilyn! If I used his terminology that meant she'd been upgraded from Co-Host to Master-Host!  

I sold a bunch of my older video games for $200 to put towards the car down payment. I'd put a deposit down on a black one, but somehow it got sold anyway - so I got my deposit back. I was starting to lean towards the silver ones too. The Marney brother's band, MAXX, played with us over the weekend. They did a good job. We weren't as lucky with the September 14th gig at Graham Central Station in Arlington, though. The Savvy  / Molly Maguire Band lineup had always done gangbusters at Grahams in the past, but this time it was a bust. The turnout was really disappointing and I sat up all night afterwards trying to figure out what had gone wrong. There were a couple of considerations:

• the drinking age law changing
• Q102 had not promoted this Q102 night as they had in the past
• school was back in session
• the cover charge had gone up since the last time we'd played there

Blah blah blah blah blah! Excuses! It was just one of those things; our first slow gig since things had started really taking off for us. I just needed to shake it off! After the gig, the Mollies - and a few other friends came over and partied with us at the apartment.  Attending were: Steve Wilson, Nat Davidson, Ross, Bart, Phyliss, Sherry Hodo, Ricky, and me. We hooked up to the little in-house studio setup and jammed until morning.

Stacie T. had been busy with her new job at a local daycare and we hadn't seen much of each other since the Colorado trip. On a night off we went to Steak & Ale, then I took my VTR (VCR) to Rabbit's apartment to record the big Sugar Ray Leonard / Hit Man Hearns fight. I hooked the VTR up for him and then Stacie and I went to Curtis' house to watch the fight there. Sugar Ray won in the 15th with a TKO. I took Stacie home and headed straight to Savvy's. At Savvy's I ran into Janice, the attorney, who was celebrating the purchase of her new Z-28. I rode with her to a club called Danceland. It reminded me of the old Head North / Stargazer clubs. After partying a while, we went back to Savvy's. At the club, I saw Eddie Hinehosa, the car salesman from the Mazda place. He was the one who had sold the black RX7 even though I'd put a deposit on it. I didn't hold a grudge though, as long as he would help me get a great deal when I was ready to buy for real! (Yeah, right.) At closing time, I went to a small party at Barbara's place, but couldn't stay long because she had cats. (Allergies.) So I ended the long night by heading back over to Rabbit's to pick up my VTR machine, but he had an apartment full of people who'd just come from the club specifically to watch the tape of the fight. I took a deep breath, and a fond possible last look at my VTR, and went home - leaving it there to be picked up the next day.  Just another typical night in the life...

Oddly enough, after an action packed evening like the one I'd just had, I was starting to feel a little bit of loneliness and depression. I knew that my days with Stacie were numbered. In fact, the number had been up for a few weeks already. I was just clinging on to whatever last few times I could spend with her. Her head was in another place, and it was evident. I sure didn't want to lose her, but it wasn't an exclusive arrangement anyway. I never was good at letting go. The two things that gave me some bit of consolation were knowing the album would be finished soon, and thinking about that shiny new silver RX7, sitting in my parking space at the Sleepy Hollow Apartments. It was just a thought though, for at that very moment I could plainly see the Volare' through the open living room windows, right where it always was. 

The loneliness followed me like a cloud for a few weeks. It mostly haunted me when I was alone. Thank goodness for work - and after work parties! In mid-September there was a big one at Mark's in Smithfield. My neighbors - and good pals - Lori and Colleen (sisters) followed me from Savvy's to the party. The house was packed and we had a good time. That weekend, LoDella opened for us at Savvy's. At the time, LoDella consisted of Danny Rosenhaur, Ronnie Ward, Bob Fisher, and our old Savvy keyboard man - Don Reeder. On Saturday night, Ronnie Ward told Ricky and me that Rich and Rabbit had been "jerks" to them. I never heard any more about it. Rich Mauch didn't have a mean bone in his body so I figured it must've been a misunderstanding. Same for Rabbit. I've heard a few other stories through the years about people getting treated badly by members of Savvy and our crew, but I never personally saw it happen. Not that I can recall anyway.

The day of the big Q102 Last Day of Summer Concert finally arrived! Our friends from the custom bus company gave us the royal treatment. It was quite a site being stuck in concert traffic, in that big custom coach, on the way to Green Valley Raceway. Over 50,000 people attended. We went on after Lynx, before Silver Condor, and Blackhorse closed the show.

View from the stage at the Q102 Last Day of Summer Concert at
Green Valley Raceway.

 Brother Chris went along and video taped the show. During our set, a fight broke out close to the stage. Chris taped it, and I was surprised to later learn that one of the guys in the brawl was ex class mate from high school, Rocky Hopkins. Rocky won the fight, by the way. Gary Shaw and his son Casey were on the bus with us. Ex Lightning roadie, and childhood friend - Mark Karolevich - helped our road crew during the show. Drake Hall showed up and invited me on another fishing trip. Other than Ricky's amp overheating during the show, the set went well. He just switched over and used my amp. I wasn't using it for much anyway in those days. 

Waiting to go on at the Q102 Last Day of Summer Concert. (L to
R:  Steve Jones, Hud, Rick Miller, Ricky Lynn Gregg, and 
Rich Mauch.)

Stacie called to say she was undecided about her future. She prepared me for the end. I went into an emotional tailspin at the thought of not being able to see her again. Had I been able to take a step back and evaluate things, I'd have likely seen the serious co-dependency streak in my personality. After three days of not hearing from Stacie, a phone call lifted my spirits. The girl from 6 Flags Mall, Chris Johnson, called to say she was finally single again and free to get together! I couldn't believe it! She came out to the club, but had to leave before the end of the night. She still had a big day job and wasn't wild and crazy like most of the people I was accustomed to being around. Chris was sweet, beautiful, smart, and had religious convictions, so I knew it would be a long shot for anything to come of it. But we would have to wait and see what would happen. It would likely come down to how much she would be able to handle outside her comfort zone.

Edgar Winter was booked to play the club. My old girlfriend from the Desperado days, Pam, showed up at Savvy's with another old girlfriend, Janice. It was freaky enough to see the two of them. Then I saw who they were sitting with. Lilly! What a group photo that would've been! The caption might have read "Drawing straws to see who gets the KILL shot." It was amazing how only a few short years earlier I wondered if I would EVER find a girl who would go out with me. But there I was looking a table full of really beautiful women, all of whom I'd dated - two quite seriously. I knew guys who would literally KILL to have my kind of dumb freaking luck when it came to girls. It was an empty kind of luck though, for I knew that without the spotlight and hoopla from being in the band, I'd have to tie the proverbial pork chop around my neck to get a dog to play with me.

I couldn't get Stacie off my mind and was beginning to show signs of cracking up. There I was, a singer in one of the most popular (local) bands in the state, and I had nothing better to do than mope over a pending breakup that hadn't even developed into "love" yet. I definitely had some issues going on.  

On the 26th of September, the axe finally fell. Stacie sent a friend to tell me that it was simply over. There wasn't really a problem between us. She just wasn't ready for a relationship, and needed to get out of that club scene and figure out what she wanted to do with her life. Another smart one. Go figure. I went out on a limb and called Chris Johnson, and she agreed to meet me for dinner at Blossom's. That was on a Saturday. On Sunday I watched the Cowboys play the Giants with mom and dad, and then spent an hour or so rummaging through the attic of their house, the old house I'd grown up in. As young kids, we weren't allowed to go up there alone because of the rusty nails, dust, and danger in general. But with their permission I went up and went through a lifetime of memories that had been stored away. 

That night, someone rummaged through my Volare' while it was parked in the alley behind the club. They took my wallet (which I'd been foolish enough to keep under the seat of the car) and got away with a whopping $20. Monday, I cleaned the apartment and met Chris Johnson for a movie at the old Forum 303 Mall. We saw "Mommy Dearest" and I was convinced that Faye Dunaway would get the best actress academy award for the role. I had a wonderful time with Chris, but I still couldn't get rid of the blues from missing Stacie.  Savvy had come a long, long way since Chris had last seen us, and while that may have been a good thing for the band, it wasn't something that gave much promise for Chris and I getting together. Upon seeing each other again, and spending a little time together, I could tell she was somewhat shocked at how I'd changed in a year. She tried to put on a good game face, but even I was conscientious enough to realize she was way out of my league. That girl had character, convictions, and plans for a "normal" life. It bothered me to know I had become far too jaded to fit in her world. She was surprised to see how much a little local success could change someone in so short a period of time. We left options open, but I didn't expect to hear from her again.

Meanwhile, I decided to pull a last ditch effort to try to change Stacie's mind by sending roses to her at the daycare where she worked. The card read "To the Teacher. I already miss your smile." I tried to keep busy that afternoon, but was really waiting to see if the phone would ring. The day wore on until I finally gave up on her. Lori Doyle came over and invited me to go riding around with her. We went to the Arlington Plantation Cemetery,  and then on to Arlington Lake. The lake was down about 6 feet. We sat on the dock for a while and then headed back home to get ready for work that night. 

The next day, September 30th, 1981 - Stacie came over and woke me up at noon to thank me for the flowers! She told me she'd tried to stop seeing me cold turkey but it wasn't working. She was still confused about what to do, but we put all troubles aside and it felt like old times again. As quickly as she'd vanished, she was back in my life again. I'd have to wait and see where it went from there. At least the black clouds of sadness were lifted and I could think again. I'm not sure what compelled me to be such an emotional mess. Sometimes, keeping my emotions and moods UP was like trying to keep a Jumbo Jet in the air without flying lessons. It took constant focus and planning. Life could've been so much easier had I only known to let go - and everything would fall into place on its own.

September was another one of those months that seemed to go on forever, but at long last, October had arrived. The weather seemed to change on a dime from warm to cool. Tony Bishop was interested in buying my Ibanez Artist guitar -- the one that had been pawned by Stacie's former boyfriend. Gary Shaw asked me to entertain at his son's birthday party the following Saturday. It was Casey's 3rd birthday, and he knew me from the bus trip to Green Valley. I had plenty of magic tricks, puppets, and clown costumes to get through it so I agreed. Jamie Friar was there too.

Gary Shaw's son, Casey, at his 3rd birthday
party. Note the Savvy's t-shirt.

The Edgar Winter show at Savvy's cancelled, but another show booked in its place. John Kaye and Steppenwolf would play at Savvy's on October 11th and we would open for them. This was going to be very exciting for us. We'd been playing their hit "Born to Be Wild" since first starting to play rock and roll back on Hemphill. It was a classic anthem, and Steppenwolf was a legend. We'd played with them before at the Agora clubs, but this was the first time to have them play at OUR club!

Back in the studio, we worked on wrapping vocals for "Lady", "Alive", and "Pistol."  Manny, an off duty police officer who worked security at Savvy's, invited me to ride with him on his beat. I had another offer to go camping that same night. I ended up going to a party at RJ's instead. It was a wild night and Hud had to drive us home in the Volare'. We were up all night. Sunday afternoon I washed clothes and went to Bonanza Steak House for dinner. Stacie called, but she was getting back into that whole uncertainty mode again. I got frustrated and hung up on her. On Monday October 5th, I went to visit mom and dad. I was really surprised at how tired dad was looking all of a sudden. He was 62 years old and was just hoping to make it three more years so he could retire. His job as a route salesman for Sunshine Biscuit Company took a serious toll on him. He'd always been the picture of health, so it was upsetting for me to see him looking a bit gaunt and more tired than usual. Mom pulled me aside and whispered that she was taking good care of him. I was overcome with a feeling of love for both my parents that day and hated to leave. 

My brother Chris loaned me his video camera again. Rick Myrick came over to the apartment and we made a short movie called "Dejavu." It was basically a special effects video experiment in which we tried to shoot a movie within a movie within a movie....  After taping, Rick Myrick, Lori, Kim, and I went to Denny's where we ran into a guy named Boyce who was being a real jerk. The following night I went with Ricky Myrick and his girlfriend Julie to Jo Jo's Restaurant for dinner.

It had been raining a lot. My last living grandparent passed away. His name was Wilber, and he'd been married to my dad's mother. He was technically a step-grandfather, but it didn't matter much. I'd never met the man, and he'd lived in Arkansas. Still thinking about that RX7. Messina called Hud to say the second check (settlement for the Jam) was in the mail. We'd received the first installment a few weeks earlier. Rick Myrick told me he knew where an audio cassette tape of his old band Future Shock might be. Bob Lemmon's car got ripped off while parked in our apartment parking lot. Ricky Lynn and I spent our night off in the studio with Hud touching up vocals on "Lady." 

I heard that Stacie was dating Curtis. We'd been to his house the night the Hearns fight was on. That stung. It also stirred up a competitive spirit within me that forced me to try to win her back, just for the sake of winning. I wrote a letter to her and made a promise to myself that it would be the last hurrah as far as dealing with Stacie was concerned. I knew things were just getting silly, but I couldn't stop it.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in a horrible attack. It was one of the first really graphic murders by terrorists to be captured on video. It played over and over on TV and the whole world was in shock. As a result, the talking heads from the news shows started stirring up rhetoric about possible nuclear strikes in retaliation. Those images of Sadat being shot, along with talk of possible use of nuclear weapons, kept me up many nights worrying about the future of our country and our planet. [Nobody could have imagined the horrors we would come to live with in another 25 years or so.]

The guitar player for Head East popped in the club on  Friday October 9th. Their soundman was with him. They sat in with us and did a few songs, including their hit "Never Been Any Reason", a song I'd been performing since back at the Hungry I club.  Then the big night of the Steppenwolf concert arrived. Only nine months earlier we'd opened for them at the Agora clubs.  It was a very cool night, with Savvy opening the show. John Kaye and his band used our dressing room, and we used the storeroom behind the back bar. We didn't mind though. We were just thrilled to have them at Savvy's. That night, a likely imposter was going around the club claiming to be from ABC TV. He told us he'd heard about us in LA and wanted to tape a national TV show with nine other bands from around the country that "hadn't made it yet - but should." He was plastered and very likely full of crap. We knew better than to get our hopes up about that one.

I did a McDonald's event in Cleburne and managed to leave my Savvy jacket there. Friends found it and promised to get it back to me. I'd gotten very little sleep and was really tired, but a news flash from Hud would wake me up with a start! He called to say we would be opening up for the Allman Brothers at Dallas County Convention Center - the following night! Whew! That was huge for me. I'd been a giant fan of the Allman Brothers ever since my brother Chris got their "Eat a Peach" album on 8 track from the Columbia Club. That had been almost 10 years earlier. The Allman Brothers represented everything I'd ever loved about rock and roll. Tunes like "Whipping Post" and "Not My Cross To Bear" taught me how much emotion could come from a song. That collection of songs, and that band, took me back to a really great time and I couldn't believe that in less than 24 hours, I'd be opening a show for them, seeing them live, and maybe even meeting some of them. 

Funny how such news could make me forget about broken hearts, fallen world leaders, and threats of nuclear war. In a matter of a few heartbeats, I'd been reminded of what a charmed life I was getting to lead.

CHAPTER 29: OCTOBER MADNESS!

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