Disclaimer: Memory is a funny thing, and an elusive one. Meaning; I might have some of this wrong, as 1. my memory is not always accurate, like anyone and 2. it is from my perspective only. Any friends who were there, feel free to correct me or add things I have missed. It helps! Also, no gossip on anyone here, it ain't about that. Personal details are on a surface level, and friends, girlfriends and others are re-named to respect their privacy. People in bands generally put their names out there on albums and in interviews anyway, and are not in the habit of staying anonymous, and therefore are named here. That said, anyone who is in the blog that wishes me not to use their name has only to ask
Apologies to all for a delayed entry. You know how it is, life, holidays...This entry will cover some State of Confusion tours, between the years 1985-1988.
As I have previously mentioned, SOC got a van and began playing shows around the Northwest and eventually the west coast. Our aspirations for coast-to-coast touring came to an end as a result of the events of the 1987 tour, which will be the focus, as it was such a crucial moment in the life of SOC. I kept a detailed journal of this tour (and admittedly, another part of the delay of this entry was finding the damn 26 year old journal, buried within tons of stowed boxes). I can't tell you how incredibly odd it is at age 41 to hold in your hands your own words as a 21 year old, which may as well have been written by an entirely different being, as, in fact, they were.
As I have previously mentioned, SOC got a van and began playing shows around the Northwest and eventually the west coast. Our aspirations for coast-to-coast touring came to an end as a result of the events of the 1987 tour, which will be the focus, as it was such a crucial moment in the life of SOC. I kept a detailed journal of this tour (and admittedly, another part of the delay of this entry was finding the damn 26 year old journal, buried within tons of stowed boxes). I can't tell you how incredibly odd it is at age 41 to hold in your hands your own words as a 21 year old, which may as well have been written by an entirely different being, as, in fact, they were.
Additionally, before I tell the story of said 1987 tour, there are two tales that must be told first in order for the attendance by SOC at the Descendents gig in LA California to make sense. Let me begin there. Needless to say, this entry is quite a bit longer than most (ok twice as long) and the '87 tour will have to be split into four entries. I hope that's ok!
On Anarchy Street, there are no painted lines, no speed limits, no stop signs - SOC's Second LP; 'A Street'
(Note that this album was released in 1988 and thus a little out of sequence here. We had 6.3 Million Acres with us on the '87 tour, the story of which follows in this entry) The headline above are words from the lyrics of the title song of the second State of Confusion LP, an album called 'A Street', which stands for 'Anarchy Street'. If I remember correctly, the concept for this title song came from a late night driving on a street that had been freshly paved, lines had not yet been painted on the asphalt. Someone, possibly myself or Pat, said "Jesus...anarchy street." And Pat seized on a theme.
And, as themes go, 'A Street' was a departure from the 'environmental hardcore' of the previous album ('6.3 Million Acres') and demo tapes by SOC. The lyrics, overall, were less of a political and environmental statement, and more about 'personal politics'. Now, while the beginnings of the later dubbed 'emo movement' were in full force on the east coast at this time (led, unknowingly, by a band called Rights of Spring, who would later become Fugazi) in our neck of the woods, we had our own slant on this idea of 'feelings' and 'stories from home' being part of the vernacular. And in fact, this was a theme that was continued later when SOC morphed into The Treepeople. But that is for what? Yes, another blog entry.
Recorded once again at a farm studio, though a different farm studio, where tracking was done in a shed that was remodeled with all the comforts of a home studio, 'A Street' was cut with a speed as furious as the speed of the music we played. While the feel of this LP was more rock than earlier stuff, the blistering pace remained; we had a reputation to upkeep!
I sang on one song, 'Monster In Me', only because Pat's lyrics were not working for him, and I happened to have something randomly written that fit freakishly perfect with the music. It was one of those things that just happens, and rarely. Since I had started my musical existence as a hardcore singer, and since I had sang back-ups consistently throughout SOC's existence, it was an easy transition for me. Pat was very graceful about this, but it was obvious I was stepping a little into his territory, something I was very conscious of, or tried to be.
This record was the first and only record by State of Confusion ever to be put out by a label (other than an organic, do-it-yourself label of our own devising). The label was called 'Sub Core' out of Seattle, which now, in context of having gone through the 'grunge' era dominated by a little Seattle label called 'Sub Pop', may seem like a rip-off name, however, they were contemporary, and I believe 'Sub Core' came first. 'Sub Core' was run by a young man named David Portnow. I have no idea if he is still in circulation, and don't care much, to be honest. Maybe as an older chap he got his shit together more. The relationship ended with him owing us money he never paid. I will leave it at that [I found out recently that this is incorrect, David was owed expenses for the record and it all 'came out in the wash',' as they say, my apologies to David. In this blog, rather than simply edit over mistakes, I try to leave and correct them, mainly so that if someone comes back to an entry, they will see what was incorrect. Also, I want to retain the original entry].
The other notable thing about 'A Street' was the artwork, done by a young punker named Cliff Green, who came to most shows and sported a full-on single spike from the forehead, the rest of his head shaved. Cliff had a unique drawing style and was obsessed with drawing. We asked him to design a cover for 'A Street'. He produced one of the more memorable icons of that era in Boise. It is a fierce, after-the-apocalypse rat, body formed into a perfect circle as it viciously eats itself, tail first. We pulled this from the larger drawing that was the cover of 'A Street' that Cliff drew, an amazing, swirling vision of urban decay, complete with an evil fetus. It was beyond our wildest dreams.
Portrait of the artist as a young skater - Cliff Green, the artist who drew artwork for the SOC LP 'A Street'
Sticker featuring the post-apocalyptic rat eating its own tail - Artwork by Cliff Green - Design by Pat 'Brown' Schmaljohn
And by some fluke, someone at the company producing the actual covers and vinyl, the company that 'Sub Core' used (Important Records, who also distributed them, and because of this, 'A Street' ended up, for a short time, on the shelves of Fred Meyer stores up and down the west coast and to the mid west...Until someone saw the fetus, and the rat eating itself!) somebody took it upon themselves to take the imagery we had provided for the back cover and add some acid-trip gone wrong swirly paint behind it all inside of interlocking circles. In retrospect, this was grounds for suing, especially in light of the fact that we knew nothing of it until we held the records in our hands. However, by an even larger fluke, it was really cool, so we let it go.
The second LP by State Of Confusion, 'A Street' (stands for 'Anarchy Street'). Note the back cover mentioned above - Artwork by Cliff Green - Design by Pat Schmaljohn and some anonymous person at Important Distribution (again, see above)
You Can Take the Boy Out of Boise, But You Can't Take The Boise Out of the Boy
Before I dive in, some words on touring, and my direct experience with it, so as to give an idea of where my perspective is coming from. Despite my many years of playing music seriously and semi-professionally (always funny saying that; as I worked shit jobs and ate romen for many years) I have only done one coast-to-coast tour, in the band Violent Green, in 1997, though I toured fairly extensively in the Northwest and on the West coast. Most of my peers have toured relentlessly, many still do, and this is part of why some of them are doing well. And those who are not full time? They keep on keeping on. Power to all of them. I guess I feel a little self-conscious here, in that I don't want to pass myself off as some 'wise, sage, seen-it-all' musician in this blog. I just want to tell a story. Cool? Cool.
The other thing about me and touring is that I was never very good at it (this can be confirmed by many ex-band mates). At least in terms of chilling out a bit. As I have mentioned, I was a very high-strung, though lovable, young man. I was a worrier. As in the SOC House, in terms of cleaning, paying bills...I was martyristic in my swift take-over on the road as tour mother/father. Although this evolved over time, I suppose, reaching its zenith in Violent Green. SOC of course had Pat, the elder, degree-holding, opinionated, fury-driven and lovable madman as an appointed Father. It was, to say the least, an interesting combination of personalities on the road.
Boise punks hit the road. Picture from record sleeve for the State Of Confusion LP, 'A Street', taken at the beginning of the 1986 tour. Left to right: Scott Schmaljohn, Pat 'Brown' Schmaljohn, Wayne Flower, Erik Hansen (and roadie Ted Martinez's middle finger, barely seen in the background) - Design by Pat 'Brown' Schmaljohn, Photo by Eric Akre
I will refresh your memory on the van we had, with some important additional details. It was a Chevy (I think a 75) that had been painted army green with house paint, including the hubcaps. Erik constructed a platform using pieces of plywood and two-by-fours. I guess we all contributed to the design, but he was the handiest of us and had access to his father's tools, which were pretty decent. It was just a big crude bench, with a single plywood wall. The wall was fastened to the bench with random brackets, and also fastened to the van walls. The equipment went in the back. More than once when the van brakes were applied heavily, the equipment came tumbling down on us. Luckily no one was hurt. Ah, youth!
Packing the van was my first manifestation of the 'tour mother/father control' person emerging, as, soon, I insisted on doing it. No one else did it to my specifications, or they did it in such a way that the equipment fell over and got damaged. I will 'qualify' this by saying that I am actually quite good at packing a van for tour, or even a car for moving. It is one of those things I call 'my useless talents' (a bit inaccurately, really, as in truth, they are all technically useful). Other useless-actually-useful talents are; I am really good at peeling off price tags or stickers without ripping anything (like when you take price tags off of paper/cardboard cd covers) and I am really good at pouring things from bottles into bottles, or any pouring involving small openings, without spilling a drop. No shit.
We did many little trips, as I have mentioned, throughout the Northwest. In the beginning, we were rarely out more than a four day weekend. Then we progressed into some two week trips and eventually some month-long trips. We transferred our poverty-stricken lifestyle to the road, only it was even more dire, of course, relying solely on money made at parties or shitty hall gigs and merchandise sales to buy gas, eat and drink. I quickly found that I could not ever sleep in a moving van unless I was incredibly exhausted (a wonderful 'quality' to have for a touring musician). So, I began a trend on tour that would continue through the next decade of my life, that of driving until I could drive no more, and being cranky enough to inspire my band mates to off me.
Being at the wheel was never fun with SOC. Mainly because everyone was driving with their mouths as you actually drove; opinions were hurled, insults delivered with spice. Many a fight broke out from getting lost in unfamiliar towns. Fault could lie anywhere; 'Dude YOU told me to turn there...', "Hey FUCKFACE...it was YOUR idea to try the logger road, you dumb DOUCHE!!'. Yeah. Good times.
But it was good times, too, of course; Young men on their own, out in the world, away from the oppressive environment of Boise (and an unexpected result was being homesick and actually learning to appreciate what you took for granted at home). Every night, a new adventure, a chance to meet girls you had never met, or cool people who were into the same things and actually organizing shit, as did we, miles and miles away. It was encouraging.
During the '80s (and into part of the '90s
s) as I have mentioned, there was a huge, nationwide network of folks putting on shows however they could; renting church halls, lodges, cheap ass halls in shitty parts of town, or in their own basements, garages and living rooms. Whatever it took. It was beautiful. The 'Woodstock' of our generation happened in homes, halls and dumps across the country, all the time. Stop. Listen. What's that sound? Everybody Slam, It's Goin Down.
The Cruel Desert That Spawned Us Calls Us Home - SOC's 1987 Tour; A perilous journey, Part I: The Northwest.
The longest tour State of Confusion did was in 1987. As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog entry, I kept an extensive journal of this tour, scrawled into a green spiral notebook in ALL CAPS that I titled 'ADVENTURES IN CONFUSION', written in black sharpie across the cover, complete with a sticker of the coiled rat eating it's own tail, an SOC logo and the aforementioned 'Confusion Man' of Pat's design, and a 'SCREW THE PMRC' sticker (the PMRC was the 'Parent Music Resource Center', organized by a senator's wife, one Mrs. Gore, to censor music. Mrs. Gore was a natural enemy to us, of course). See scans below.
'Adventures In Confusion' - A journal of the ill-fated 1987 tour by State Of Confusion, written by yours truly, age 21
I recorded the tour dates on the inside cover of the spiral notebook. Memory doesn't serve me well here (or anywhere) as to why some of the dates were so far apart, as, this is not what you want to do on a tour, you want as many opportunities to make cash as possible. I assume it was due to the fact that a) Pat did what he could, cold calling folks and setting up shows and b) as I mentioned, there was a network of folks willing to do shows in their homes, basements, garages, living rooms, whatever, so we played many shows that were not on the official itinerary.
Tour dates scrawled on the inside cover of my tour journal 'Adventures In Confusion' which chronicles what became known as 'The Poverty Trail Tour'
Also not listed here was that we were slated to hook up with the band Government Issue in the Midwest and finish their tour opening for them. I do not remember how we worked that, but we were pretty stoked about it. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen events, this leg of the tour was never to be (though we did put on and play at the Boise Government Issue gig on this tour).
Above: The first Government Issue LP - Right: a later picture of Government Issue
At any rate, here are the dates we did do, for the 'historical record':
1987 State of Confusion Tour
5/19 - Richland Washington
6/6 - Salt Lake City Utah
6/30 - Richland, Washington
7/1 - Spokane, Washington
7/4 - Tacoma, Washington
7/5 - Portland, Oregon
7/7 - Boise, Idaho (written as 'Boise Rox', here).
7/8 - Twin Falls, Idaho
7/10 - Salt Lake City, Utah
(here is written 'Reno Transmission Tour', as we had our tranny go out and had to lay down over $400 for a new one!).
7/21 - Santa Barbara, California
7/26 - Green River, Utah (no show, but the end of the line, written here as 'Green River Blowout', as this where our van finally died.
After this, it says 'possible Descendents fin ALL show, which never happened, or rather, we never played it. We did, as I mention and will cover more here, go see the Descendents in LA after our Santa Barbara show. Underneath this are two drawings; one of stick figures in front of a van, then one of the same stick figures with heads hung low around a van gushing oil from its belly).
We did a Salt Lake City show after the blowout, on the way home, where things got even more interesting.
Richland, Washington, Spokane, Washington, Seattle, Washington, Tacoma, Washington, Port Orchard, Washington, Portland, Oregon and back home.
It doesn't seem that I started this tour journal in earnest until just after the first Tri-cities show, in Richland, WA, a house party (see below) as I begin the journal with a quick recount of a Tri-cities hall show (see below). My goal here is to pull out highlights from this journal, rather than recounting every trip, of course. I wrote that 'our friends have a hot band called Diddly Squat' but that they didn't play the show.
We had played a show with them previously, starting this tour, at the house of the parents of a guy who would eventually sing in Diddly Squat. The house, in the hills of Richland's suburbs, was completely trashed. And there was a moment when cops came to the house, and we turned off the lights, hid and pretended no one was home. I will never forget squatting under the bar to the kitchen, while seeing cops with flashlights peering through the sliding glass door in the back, holding dogs on leashes whose noses were against the glass. And the amazing thing was...they left and never came in!
Through the years of playing shows in the Northwest, we had met a group of kids who pretty much ran the scene in Richland and the Tri-cities area, two of whom would become very good friends of SOC and subsequently, The Treepeople and are to this day amongst my best friends; Paula Sen and Doug Pack. More on them later.
The best band (in our minds) from Richland was a hardcore band with a sort of blues rock twist ('soul speed', they called it) the aforementioned Diddly Squat. Members of Diddly Squat will re-appear throughout this story as seminal figures in the evolution of hardcore and indie rock through the '90s, and some are played on your radio stations and in your music collections today. That just sounded like some cheesy fucking commercial; SAVE on an aging punk/indie rocker's memories, TODAY! Sorry...
Diddly Squat sticker
SOC/Diddly Squat/Comatose show flyer ~
From the personal collection of Rich Wingfield
From the personal collection of Rich Wingfield
I list the bands played with as Road Kill, Comatose and Moral Crux whom I have mentioned, and who were also seminal in the development of NW indie rock. They really put on a show, the front man wore white face make-up and had his hair spiked and a big voice, tight power-pop punk...or, I will let 21 year old Wayne tell it; '...the singer was a weird lookin' fuck, skinny with black hair comin' to a point in front & white shit & make-up on he was a good singer though they had a pop Misfits/Sex Pistols/Damned type sound...' The bass player, as I mentioned previously, was damn good, or, as I would say then; 'hot'. Apparently, my new word at the time was 'hot' but I was using it how one might use 'cool' or 'really good'. Hilarious to read now and think how someone else may assume I was gay when reading words written about a male player like 'they had a hot bass player'. Ok, young Wayne. Get em.
But the best part of this old page is a note scrawled into the margin that says "...Forgot to mention Pat wearing a sock on his dick with duck tape on a trash bag in back." [oh how I wish I had photos!]
I told ya...good times.
In Spokane, Washington we played at the same place we were supposed to play when the show got canceled before when we were to play with The Accused (see; Music History, Part 8 The Early Boise Years 1985 to 1986, in this blog for details on that). A dude named Brian, who put on the show, apparently 'brought a pot of sgetty and bread for ALL the bands.'. We played with some metal-esque punk bands, Wehrmacht (whom, apparently, I was unimpressed with, as I called their music 'cheater-beat thrash metal NOISE') and Cryptic Slaughter.
The cops came and harassed Brian about all the beer drinking. I see a note in the margin 'forgot to mention Pat singin' nude for awhile' (I don't remember that much nudity! Further in the journal, there is also a note about The Dehumanizers playing nude at a show) '...we suffered through their [other band's] noise and headed to Seattle...[and once there] Drove around in circles for awhile til we found our bros from H-Hour's home [the band had moved to Seattle not long before our trip there] ...We entered and stirred them up & went to the store to purchase eggs and bacon & taters & cooked up a nice meal and slept awhile...' This visit began our first Seattle link, especially through Tad (of the later band, TAD) which was key when we moved there later.
Then I remember in the journal that there was actually a gig in Seattle the night before; 'oh duh, the night before was the show at a bar called Scoundrel's Lair with H-Hour, who started out with a cool set'. A note here that I will speak more of H-Hour in other entries, while this one focuses on the tours.
We also met David Portnow, owner of Sub Core Records, at this show, who had put out 'A Street'. He was a skinny young man of 18 years, or, to quote Young Wayne '...a skinny, geeky lookin' dude, but he's cool enough'. We were surprised to see he was so young. He seemed to like the band. The show was not hugely attended, but there would not have been room in the bar anyhow as it was a small upstairs venue. By the time we played it was mostly Boise folks, transplants to Seattle and a handful who had driven up to see the show, we had a good time.
In Tacoma, we went to see The Accused play at a cool old building in downtown Tacoma, which apparently made an impression on me '...downtown Tacoma is a bunch of fuckin' hilly roads going straight up to the sky...' The venue also let us sell our own merch, even though we were not playing. The Accused was, as always, very good. We later played a 'matinee' show in an old theater just outside Tacoma with a local band called A.M.Q.A, named after a sign by the freeway warning folks that it was an Apple Maggot Quarantine Area.
The show was sparsely attended, or maybe just felt so due to the huge open room of the theater. The opening band was a great Seattle punk band we hooked up with for a few dates called The Dehumanizers, who were getting some buzz from a song called 'Kill Lou Guzzo'. Lou Guzzo was a local Republican journalist for KIRO television who led the crusade to ban all ages live music in Seattle. Even the Wikipedia page on Lou Guzzo mentions this song; 'By today's standards, Guzzo's commentaries were largely inoffensive and moderate, if slightly right-of-center. In 1986, his commentaries caught the attention of the punk-metal band the Dehumanizers, who named their debut 7" EP (and its title track) "Kill Lou Guzzo." Lawsuits and outrage ensued, and the EP has since become difficult to find.'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Guzzo. A decade later, I would end up playing in a band with The Dehumanizers' bad-ass guitarist, one Lonnie King.
The Dehumanizers' controversial disc, 'Kill Lou Guzzo'
Flyer from a State Of Confusion Dehumanizers show, I believe this was in Tacoma, WA (?)
Onward to a little port town called Port Orchard, Washington to play at a rollerskating rink on the 4th of July. The rink was called 'Rio's Skate Castle', owned by an Asian couple. There was a little fair set up for the holiday, complete with Ferris wheels and other rides, there by the rink, near the water. It turned out that people used Rio's Skate Castle as a babysitter and dumped their kids there while they got plowed at the local bars.
We were playing with an odd local metal band called Tempered Steel. They were whiny kids who had blow dryers in their backstage room and argued constantly. We nick-named them 'TemperMental' They made us open the gig, which was no problem, since we wanted to get the hell out of there.
Prior to the show we went on some of the rides. We had eaten little pieces of paper that made the colors pretty and were having quite a time, when a few members of Tempered Steel found us and bitched at us because we were supposed to be playing. So we went back and played upstairs on this odd square of checkered linoleum surrounded by lights and there were disco strobes about, spinning and flashing. Only friends of the whiny metal kids watched. We ended up playing roller hockey with the teen aged son and daughter of the owners of the rink until early hours of the morning.
Next up, Portland, Oregon and the Satyricon, at which, I marveled, there was porn showing on some of the many TVs set up all over the place. We played with one other band, Hester Prynne from Seattle, a 3 piece playing tight poppy punk, and, I noted, a Metallica cover and a Descendents cover. The Dehumanizers were supposed to play this show, but they never showed up. We decided to beat the heat and drive home that night, for a stop-over, and arrived in Boise at around 6 am '...to the surprise of our families.'.
In Boise we played a show at '...Camp Art...the show ended up being our best one...and even the Dehumas [Dehumanizers] showed up. We played after Farm Days, who put the show on...When we played, the cops made everyone come inside, so it was ragin'...We had a tight, intense set & everyone got into it...'
And apparently my ex was there and I 'asked her to fuck me. She said after we got back...'. Hilarious, indeed. I don't believe she did (though she did manage to fuck a few of my friends).
I do not remember too much about this show, or what 'Camp Art' was, but Farm Days was a Twin Falls band (a town south east of Boise) led by a young Doug Martsch (later in Treepeople, Built to Spill and The Halo Benders) who would become part of our musical tree soon. They played smart, tight folksy punk rock and roll with clever lyrics. We were instantly wowed by their talent. They also enjoyed State of Confusion. Not sure if this is when we first met them all or not. It was around that time period for sure.
Consecutive Descendents albums that rocked
Early Descendents promo pic
Flyer for Descendents gig in Boise with State Of Confusion (I can't find any other scan of this online and this ain't that great - looks to have a set list on the back, if anyone has a better one, send it to me!)
The new Descendents made up partly of 'old' Salt Lake City punks and might have been made up also of a Boise punk had I chose a different path
Clean Sheets Mean A Lot, To A Guy Who Sleeps On The Floor; Refusing an offer of The Descendents from my ancestors...
The next part of this blog will cover one of those decisions you make in life that is a turning point, for yourself, and as a result, for others, a place where your life could have gone one direction, but you chose another. Over the years, State of Confusion, in Boise and in other cities, had the pleasure (in most cases!) of playing shows with some of hardcore punk's finest bands, including the ever lovable band from LA...The Descendents.
The Descendents were fronted by a seemingly helpless nerd named Milo, with his glasses and worn-out clothing, mostly jeans and t-shirts (which, by chance, was a 'look' that the Brothers Schmaljohn had unintentionally had for years) and whose story was told with wonderful lyrics about broken hearts, cruel girls, the ills of being different and still having to deal with college, personal politics, and bullies. It can be said that The Descendents, in many ways, paved the way for later 'indie rock' bands, with their hardcore pop that even chicks dug. The bands Weezer or The Shins and many others owe them a great debt. Check out the Descendents albums 'Milo Goes To College' and 'I Don't Want To Grow Up' to get an idea of the pop power they laid down, and of what I am spouting about. Definitely one of my favorite bands from that era.
Consecutive Descendents albums that rocked
Early Descendents promo pic
The Descendents seemed genuinely impressed by SOC whenever they played with us. Especially their drummer, the infamous Bill Stevenson, who was the leader of the band, and had the Godlike stamp of having played in Black Flag. He complimented me on me on my bass-playing a couple of times, which I of course appreciated, but never got cocky about.
Young Bill Stevenson
Flyer for Descendents gig in Boise with State Of Confusion (I can't find any other scan of this online and this ain't that great - looks to have a set list on the back, if anyone has a better one, send it to me!)
One day, I was hanging out upstairs from my apartment at Pat and his girlfriend's apartment (also shared by her 8 year old boy) and the phone rang. The call was from Bill Stevenson. Hanging out with us at the time were friends from Salt Lake City Utah, members of a band called 'Pravda' (named after the revolutionary Soviet newspaper of the same name) who had played a show in town the night before. One member of Pravda was the former bass player of the aforementioned SLC band, The Massacre Guys, one Karl Alverez. Karl was always a gentleman, even in the crazy old days. At any rate, Bill Stevenson asked Pat if he could talk to me. I grabbed the phone.
Mr. Stevenson told me that the bass player for The Descendents was no longer in the band and they were shopping for a bass player, and he wanted to know if I would play bass in The Descendents.... Say again? But reality crashed upon me like a hammer: Playing in The Descendents required moving immediately to Los Angeles, California, a place I found repulsive. More importantly, my mother was in the midst of treatment for cancer and could die at any time. That made it a no-brainer decision alone. And on top of that, 'A Street' was about to come out, actually distributed by a label in Seattle (the aforementioned 'Sub Core Records').
So I had to explain about my mother to Bill. He gave me his condolences, and asked if I knew other bass players that may be interested (were no bass players in LA??). Karl had been listening and stood up..."I'll talk to him." And so he did. Karl talked to Bill, flew down and tried out for the Descendents (he was and is a fantastic bass player, and of course was in) and Karl called his old friend Stephen (the former SLC Punk rock God lead man for Massacre Guys, 'Stevo' was back to his birth-given name 'Stephen' and studying classical music in DC at that time, I believe...anyone?) who also tried out. Thus, the final line-up for the Descendents album 'All' was formed, and thus, the seeds for the later band 'ALL' were also formed, right there in Pat's apartment, in Boise, Idaho, in 1986. I shit you not. SOC ended up attending the first 'final Descendents gig' in LA in 1987, which I cover later in this blog.
The new Descendents made up partly of 'old' Salt Lake City punks and might have been made up also of a Boise punk had I chose a different path
This concludes Part I of the 1987 tour. Part II next time; The cruel desert. The first time 'leaving the band'. WayneO goes to college. And more.
