I had only moved out of my beloved orange room eight months ago, but so much had happened in that relatively short time. I had quit my full-time job at Bergner's, trusting that I would make enough money with the band to cover my fair share of rent and utilities. While the band was playing often, the chances of making enough money to pay my bills and other expenses seemed unrealistic, even to me. We continued to party frequently, so that kept my mind off the inevitable.
A few months earlier, while still living at home, I met the sister of a guitar student of mine, and she began to stop by our band house more and more often that Fall. I invited her to one of our wild parties, and she ended up spending the night. This sparked a steady relationship between us that lasted for two and a half years. She had a good job, drove a Camaro, and became a kind of de facto member of our group.
Another milestone was recording a 45 RPM record of two original songs that we entered into the first WWCT Basement Tapes in the spring of 1980. We ended up being one of the winners, played a concert at the old Second Chance, and taped a TV appearance on a local cable station. WWCT was an amazing station back then and would occasionally play music from local bands. Since we were one of the winners, our song "Separate Ways" was played on the radio from time to time. It was around May of that year that I experienced the trifecta of a lifetime—a moment that can only be described as an out-of-body experience. It was every young rock and roller's dream!!!
Our band house was usually crawling with people and sometimes uninvited guests. There was rarely any privacy. I'm not sure how it happened, but my girlfriend and I ended up having the band house totally to ourselves on a weekend night. We were not playing anywhere, and the other two fellas must have had other plans with their families out of town. So...the two of us prepared for an intense party for two!!! We began by ingesting some mild hallucinogenics and drank a few beers while we waited for our "magic carpet" to arrive. Our trip together was insightful as we took turns discussing subjects with various degrees of knowledge. We bonded that night and, after many hours, decided that we would put a blanket on the floor and listen to the radio. After a while, we became aroused and began making love on the floor under the blanket.
We didn't notice our song, Separate Ways, playing on the radio at first. We were touching and kissing one another, deep into our lovemaking, when I finally realized that our band, Maiden Cane, was being played on the radio while I was completely naked and making love to a beautiful young woman, tripping on MDA!!!! We both began to start laughing at the irony of the situation. How could the moons and stars have aligned in such a way as to behold and enjoy this particular moment in time? We finished our lovemaking and talked for the rest of the night about our shared experience.
At the time, I believed this was a sign of things to come!!! Perhaps our band would get signed sometime soon, and we would share many such memories again! Of course, the drug made me experience a euphoria that wasn't real. Maiden Cane disbanded a month later, and soon, I was asking my parents if I could come back home and try school again.
However, in the dark living room of our band house, under the green lights of a stereo receiver, I made love to a sexy girl, tripping.... while listening to myself and our band on the radio... all at the same time. A rock and roll trifecta!!!
Needless to say, that never happened again.
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