The slopes overlooking Lake Tahoe. In between blizzards 
and snow flurries, the sun would come out and the vistas
were breathtaking!

The group on this trip consisted of; Rich, Rick, Wayne, Stan, Rat, Lindy, Jackie, Big Mike, Lonnie, Donnie, and me.  Jackie was the novice on this trip, but he picked it up so quickly that the group decided to spend the second day at nearby Squaw Valley, the home of the 1966 Olympics. 

Squaw Valley was beautiful, but also proved to be 
potentially dangerous for us.

We had just made it to the top of the slopes at Squaw Valley when a blizzard hit. It may not have been a blizzard by Colorado, or Nevada standards, but to a Texan like myself, I may as well have been at the North Pole. The ski patrol told us that the easy slope back to the lodge was closed, and the only way down would be to press on ahead and take a really steep slope down. Even on a clear day it would have been a challenge for half the group, including myself, but we were in a blinding snow storm. We stood around giving it a lot of thought until the cold was too much to bear. It was decided that the best way to get down would be in a sitting position, zig-zagging back and forth diagonally until we were on a less steep incline. It was very slow going, but we all managed to make it to safety. 

The following day we went back to ski Heavenly again. I took a few poles to the face, a ski to the teeth, and my knee was hurting from being wrapped in an uncomfortable brace, but other than that it was wonderful. I did my first gambling at the Caesar's casino there. We went to the big show featuring Bill Cosby and Sammy Davis Jr. in the main show room. We actually got to see Sammy do "Mr. Bojangles." The trip would have been worth it for that alone. Later that night, we were sitting in a small casino bar when Cosby and Davis came in with their entourage and partied. They were all very cool. Robert Culp (Cosby's co star from the I Spy series) was also with them. I was surprised to see that Culp had snow white hair. 

Caesar's Casino in Lake Tahoe, where we saw Cosby and Sammy. 

Rob Hanna, Major Tom, and Kool and the Gang were also playing at the Casino. I couldn't believe all the stuff that was going on in that place. Back in the room, I was able to finish reading Pet Cemetery, and started reading Wired.  I was pleased that I'd survived to ski another day!

Standing left to right:  Rich Mauch, Steve Jones, Rick Miller, 
Wayne Addington, Rat, and Lindy. That's Jackie kneeling. 

We came home to serious problems. I was BROKE after spending every cent I had on the ski trip. It was snowing and freezing in Ft. Worth. We'd been scheduled to play in Muenster for two nights, but the club called to say they weren't opening on Friday because of the weather. We did end up playing Saturday night, but to a small crowd. We all could have used that Friday night's pay. After sharing the costs of all the expenses from the equipment truck fiasco, flying Rabbit all over Texas, and then going on vacation, we were all hurting financially. Fortunately, we had the following full week booked at Matleys. Or so we thought.

Matley's was closing their doors for good and cancelled our entire week! Clubs were closing left and right. The weather wasn't helping either. Losing Matley's was a serious blow, mentally and financially. We desperately needed that week's pay. We would have to wait five more days before a week at Pasadena started. That would mean we'd had one gig in seventeen days. Of course a week of that had been spent on vacation. All we could do was cross our fingers and hope that Cardi's would come through. We all had bills stacking up. I was most worried about Rich. I could usually carry him through hard times and he would pay me back, but I was going to have a tough time even covering my own bills if Pasadena didn't pan out. 

I found out that Rabbit had been staying in the deserted house on Lester since Rich and I had moved out! The property owner didn't know it. Rabbit was driving Rich's car, and Rich was getting around with help from Tammy (who was staying over quite a bit) and myself. We were all just trying to get by the best we could until a gig could come through.

Prior to heading to Pasadena, I made a few calls around town, looking into a real job just in case Cardi's cancelled on us. I called Harris Costume Shop, Videoland, and even looked into possibly doing singing telegrams. It was way past time to start thinking about an exit strategy. Nobody was hiring. At least not where I was looking. 

We arrived in Pasadena at 3pm. on Tuesday the 12th of February, 1985. I went to a payphone and called Yvette to see if she was still working there. A man answered, and I asked for her anyway. She got on the phone and told me she was living with someone, and to please not call her again. A bit dramatic, but I got the point. On Thursday night we opened for Molly Hatchet, who were for the most part, real jerks to us. I met the bass player out in the crowd after our set and he was a nice enough guy. Our set went very well and we signed a lot of autographs during the Hatchet show. 

On the 19th we played for a week at Cardi's in Houston on Westhiemer.  We had a day to settle in, wash clothes, and relax. I had a bad crick in my neck from sleeping wrong. Some girls from Pasadena showed up at the hotel on our day off after being invited by Rich. One of them took mercy on me and gave me a Valium for the neck pain. It helped. We had great crowds during our week in Houston, but I noticed a big change in the music being played during our breaks by the DJ's. That's a sure fire way to gauge what's hot and what's not. Our song list was very different from the DJ's play list. The following Monday I rode home from Houston with Rich and Tammy. That was a very relaxing and fun drive. 

Rich and I were getting closer after having been room mates for a while. I'm sure it must have been really tough on him to not be able to smoke in Jim's house, but that was the rule. We knew he was sneaking a smoke from time to time because he would try to mask it with a strange perfume spray, which left a nasty, sticky residue on everything it came in contact with. Eventually, he stopped smoking in the house all together and was a sport about it. Unfortunately, that was the deal I'd made with Jim when I asked if Rich could move in with us. Rich understood the deal. 

I arrived home to find a stack of bills waiting for me. Rich had a stack too. Thankfully, we finally had some money to help deal with them. We weren't home two days before we got the word that the Pasadena Cardi's had been closed down due to allowing too many under aged kids to get in and drink. Rhonda came over and we had a nice evening hanging out. We both seemed unsure of what was going to happen between us, but we were working on it, and we still didn't want to give up on things. Not just yet anyway. 

Rick Miller was officially the new manager at Savvy's. One of the first things he did was to try to work out a deal for a set number of dates for us for a total of $12,000.  He was going to explain the offer to us as soon as he got the details worked out. It would take a few days. But it wouldn't matter. On the 5th of March, 1985, Dan Kostura gave Rick a month's notice that he was leaving the band! 

He'd been planning it since before the trip to Tahoe. Dan was just fed up with the whole scene and had decided to take a paper route. As strange as that sounded, at the same time it made a lot of sense and sounded pretty good. When Dan told us he was quitting, the initial surprise was quickly replaced with a feeling of relief. We'd been struggling for several months, against very difficult odds, trying to keep the Savvy legacy alive, but none of us really wanted to think past Dan leaving. Nobody cranked up dialogue about going four piece, or replacing Dan. Things just seemed to go dark for a day or so while we all digested the news.  

I visited mom and dad. Dad was building a radio controlled plane that I'd bought for Chris. I also had to pick up the giant color poster that I'd ordered from our ski trip in Heavenly. (shown above on this page.) I'd had it delivered to my parent's house.  Jim's birthday was on March 6th. We had a little party for him at the house. Life went on. Then on March 7th, what I would come to refer to as "the final straw" for me, came when I rode with Rick Miller to play a one niter in Azle at a club called Rafters. We pulled into the Rafter's parking lot only to find the place padlocked!  It didn't much matter anymore. I turned my thoughts to the phone company. Rhonda had worked there for years and her dad had a lot of pull. It was time to get serious about looking for a real job. 

We played three nights at Savvy's, followed by yet another week off! Money was tight again. Tammy was staying over a lot and Rich was broke. Rhonda was staying over a lot too. There was a lot of tension in the house. That tension was relieved for one night at least when Steve Wilson, his wife Kim, and their drummer, Terry Ranson, came over for a visit. We played with the computer, and went to eat at Pancho's. 

Mom called to tell me that dad had been pretty sick, but the doctors couldn't seem to figure out what was wrong with him. Rhonda traveled with me to a Ronald gig in Oklahoma and my car freaked out on me. We barely made it home.  I'd been picking up a few extra dollars by working the door at Savvy's on a couple of nights. I had to swallow my pride and accept reality, but I knew I would have to get away from that place as soon as the band broke up. I took a camera operator class at Arlington Telecable. That made me eligible to borrow the city's cable TV equipment when I wanted. 

Blackhorse played at Savvy's. Tuffy Burkhart was playing guitar with them. The Oscars were boring. I started working up a few keyboard parts on songs we'd been doing forever. One of those songs was Stairway to Heaven. Ricky Lynn sat in with us one night. We did "Stone Free" by Hendrix, and our old original, "I Can Only Break Your Heart." Ricky forgot the last verse and skipped it. Laurie was there. I spent a lot of time pulling weeds in the back yard, trying to get the place in shape. I decided to get my hair cut. Not just a trim either. It was a major change for me.  I went to the Ritz to see the Mollies. On break, Steve Wilson, Terry Ranson, and I went out to their van and talked "Photon" for a few minutes. Photon was an indoor electronic version of what would later evolve into Paintball.

Rhonda and I had dinner with her dad and his girlfriend, Linda. We talked about me possibly getting on at the phone company. Then it was off to Wichita Falls to play a club called Journey's End. It was a horrible trip. We had to load equipment in the rain. When we got there, our lights were messed up and wouldn't work. RJ was fooling with them and blew up the dimmer pack. Rabbit had forgotten to pack the color gels used for lighting. While setting up, a girl who was hanging around told us that her uncle owned a local music store and might be able to help us. We jumped in the van, probably appearing to nab the poor girl, and drove over to Sam Gibbs Music Store. It was late and the store had already closed, but the girl called her uncle and talked him into coming back and opening up for us. We ended up buying some colored gels, but the clips that hold the gels were missing! Then we couldn't find the duct tape. Finally, Rabbit rigged up four lights, and plugged them all directly into the wall sockets. It was a sad, sad light show that night. Someone named Lynn Moffett told us they wanted to book us for some shows. He claimed to be the cousin of John Moffit. 

[In February 2005 I received an email from Steve Carter, from the band X (formerly played with bands Damien and Minx.) After reading this chapter, he informed me that Sam Gibbs Music Store in Wichita Falls has always catered mostly to Jr. High School band students, and that the "real musician's store was and still is McCarty Music." Steve's journey was very similar to mine, except that his came a little later, and his bands were more heavy metal / glam than Savvy. He  is currently working on writing a book about his rock and roll adventures with the band Damien.]

The radio controlled robot deal finally happened and I was flown to Atlanta, along with Dal Sanders, to learn how to operate it. We spent a day at Twenty First Century Robotics learning about RF, batteries, and everything else involved with making the robot, which looked a lot like R2D2 from Star Wars, come to life. The trick was to hide the fact that we were operating the robot. It looked like it would be a fun way to make some extra money on the weekends. Dal was quite the extrovert during the trip and did most of the talking. I mainly just observed and tried to learn as much about it as I could. While there, we got to see a demonstration of a bomb disposal unit working with a police robot. Dad picked me up at the airport when I got back into town. He was extremely edgy and didn't look well at all. I was really worried about him, but tried to conceal my concerns until I could check in with mom. Something was very, very wrong with dad. All things considered,  I was suddenly  far more concerned about my father's condition than I was about my own life after Savvy.  

NEXT CHAPTER:  Born In the Shadow of a Church

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