The Piano When I was in 6th Grade I saw Alan Breed play the piano during recess. He was one grade ahead of me and his mother was the local piano teacher. He was also my next-door neighbor. I was jealous of … Continue reading →

The Tree Fort When I was about 12 years old, the new hockey rink in town was being finished. It took several years, and while it was under construction there was a lot of junk wood lying around that anyone could take. I … Continue reading →

The Shack When I was 13 years old, I started smoking as much pot as I could find. One summer, I was totally against the idea of drugs and the next summer, out of nowhere, it just made a lot of sense. … Continue reading →

The Diamond Ring When I was 14 years old, I used to baby-sit to make some extra cash. A lot of families in my neighborhood had me on their list and they’d call me once in a while to see if I was … Continue reading →

The Origin of XORNE I got my first professional electric piano, a Fender Rhodes, when I was 14 years old. I also bought a little P.A. with the help of my stepfather paying half. Now that I had a real keyboard and a sound … Continue reading →

I Dropped Gerber I’ve always been a flincher. If somebody pretended to punch me in the face I would always flinch. I still fall for it. I guess I’m just a flincher. I like that word. Flincher. Flincher flincher flincher. It has a … Continue reading →

Union Village Dam During the spring of my senior year in high school, some of my friends and me would cut school on a nice, warm sunny day and go skinny dipping up at a secluded water hole at the downstream part of … Continue reading →

The Best Party in the World By the time I was 18 years old and a senior in high school, I had grown into a six foot, four inch 185-pound big person. My parents would take off for the weekend once in a while and let … Continue reading →

KILL SLUG When I first got to Berklee, I always had some sort of moneymaking scheme happening at all times. Piano lessons, music tutoring, renting my sound system, selling weed — you name it; I’d try it to make some extra cash … Continue reading →

Emanon I met Brian Fox in 1982 at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was a talented and very odd character. We used to smoke a lot of pot together and argue about music. We’d argue about who was the … Continue reading →

Falling in a Pot Hole I used to love riding my 10-speed bike around Boston. I’d take it down to the Charles River, across the bridge to M.I.T. and further out to Cambridge and Harvard. I’d ride it to Boston Commons and Beacon Hill, down … Continue reading →

The Giant Sea Rat During my summers at Berklee College, I used to be a member of the Back Bay Boathouse. It was loads of fun going down to the Charles River and sailing in those cute little 470′s. They were small boats, but … Continue reading →

OOH, That Is Some OTHER Shit I knew this guy at Berklee who was my black friend. We used to smoke a lot of pot, listen to jazz, and play chess. A lot of chess. He was tall and good-looking and always had a white girl … Continue reading →

Jumped I was walking home from a party, by myself, at 3 am. I lived on a street that was next to a really rough neighborhood. I had NO city street smarts and shouldn’t have been walking that late, by myself, … Continue reading →

Capsized: A Sailing Incident It was so windy down by the Back Bay Boathouse that there were hardly any sailors out on the river. The water was really rough and there were big white caps. Probably too windy to be sailing with little boats, … Continue reading →

The Tubes, Todd and Utopia I first heard about The Tubes from my friend Vic Luke back in 1984. I had heard about The Tubes from other people here and there, but Vic was the one who really got me started. He went on and … Continue reading →

The Drive to Hollywood Right after I graduated college it was time to move to Hollywood. I picked Hollywood because I’d learned there are only four places on earth to be if you want to make it in the music business: London, New York, … Continue reading →

Riff Mic Stand When I first got to LA in 1987 I had a girlfriend named Nina. Her mom worked in the advertising department at a Jewish newspaper and got me a free ad. I advertised for Piano and Voice Lessons — first … Continue reading →

George the Furry Man (Part One) I met furry George through a college buddy from Berklee. I’ve always been fascinated by certain odd types of people and George, an avant-garde artist, certainly qualified as a real eccentric. He was a singer/songwriter with really catchy songs and … Continue reading →

Cajun Jimmy I met Cajun Jimmy through Furry George. Furry told me that he knew the best car mechanic in the world. I needed one because I always owned beat up vans or muscle cars that required a lot of attention. There … Continue reading →

House of Weasels (Part One) I got a call from an old college friend, who knew about an audition for a rock band. It wasn’t to play with the band, but to be a roadie. It paid well and I thought I’d at least check … Continue reading →

Road Rage I was driving in my old ’67 Mustang on Sunset Boulevard, just a few blocks west of where U.C.L.A. starts. 1967 was the summer of love, and my old beater car had a certain charm about it. But it was … Continue reading →

House of Weasels (Part Two – Europe and Back) The tour was off to Europe for the next three months where we were opening for The Scorpions, Germany’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll band of all time. They were really great, and super regal, like dukes and barons. They’d enter … Continue reading →

I Found God in Hollywood Some people might have a hard time believing that anyone could find God in the middle of Hollywood. But I did. I wasn’t raised with a God and I certainly didn’t see any evidence in my family that God was … Continue reading →

Fuzzy Slipper My first six months of sobriety was a little slippery. I was still dealing pot and living a double life. I’m grateful not to be doing that anymore. My first shrink, Dennis, was a little too clinical and dry for … Continue reading →

The Water’s Coming I met this woman in AA who was a massage therapist. She sold me her massage table for $100 because she was moving and didn’t need it anymore. She was tall like me and it was a pretty big table, … Continue reading →

George the Furry Man (Part Two) When I was about six months sober I was driving down Hollywood Boulevard and I saw Furry George walking along. I pulled up next to him and said, “Hey, man, want a ride?” He jumped in with a big smile. … Continue reading →

The Massage Therapist I met Marci Winters in the late ’80′s. I was still dealing pot and she was a referral from my first girlfriend, Val, in Hollywood. Marci was a cool chick. I liked her, and she reminded me of my kindergarten … Continue reading →

The Wishbone Incident The second I saw her; I knew that I wanted her, in THAT way. Karen was an actress and very talented. She was small, only about five foot two, and cute as a button. I met her at a party … Continue reading →

Class 5 Rapids One summer, I was back east visiting my family. We had a cabin in Millinocket, Maine, right on the lake. It was pretty nice. My stepfather was from Millinocket and every now and then he would take a little vacation … Continue reading →

Esalen My stepbrother, Matthew, inherited a lot of money from his grandparents and wanted to buy me a gift. Since he was a meditation and yoga teacher he wanted the gift to be in the genre of spiritual recovery and renewal. … Continue reading →

The Stand Up Comic I was thumbing through a course book for L.A. City College one night and came across something that looked like fun — stand-up comedy. It was only four classes and it only cost $70. I could afford that. Plus, it … Continue reading →