Tag Archives: Elton John

His Wife, Refused

3 Replies

Well I took today off from work, yet every now and then I’m checking email and voicemail. I gave them enough notice, that I was taking today off and I haven’t heard from everyone so I’m hoping no news is good news. That’s the work front. Here in Hoboken today, it’s bright and sunny with a cool breeze every now and then. I’ve been puttering around the apartment, getting things ready to sell.

I just came up from the basement where I found that Julio was right. He mentioned previously that a lot of my things are ruined from water and the damp. As I was going through some boxes I’ve noticed notebooks with my writings faded or washed away or covered in black mold. Records, books, photographs all ruined. I’m disappointed and regretful but there’s nothing I could do about it now.

Books that were autographed by Andy Warhol have now wound up in the garbage can as well as a book autographed by Brian Eno. It was the price I paid, living on the top floor of a five story walk up and when I moved in that rainy weekend 6 years ago, I moved enough things up those stairs along with Bill, William and Chaz, and was so exhausted that I started leaving things in the basement, not taking into consideration that nature would have it’s way.

And nature sure did have it’s way. I hadn’t seen these books or records in years and figured they might have been up here somewhere, but they weren’t. So it’s Hello Bin from David Bowie books, Beatle books, Warhol autographs, all gone forever. Disappointed in it all, not crying though. It’s my own fault. Procrastinate for 6 years and something was bound to happen.

Let this be a lesson to you. Or me.

In any event I’m still putting out some decent items tomorrow and if they don’t sell, well I don’t think I’ll be lugging those up to the fifth floor. Either they make it to the curb, or placed in the basement, this time not on the floor though. At least I know I’ve met Andy Warhol and Brian Eno so the books, while they would have been nice to keep, are just material things and easily discarded. I would have more than likely tried to sell them on eBay somewhere down the line.

They should make it to the trash tonight instead. The Metal Box PiL collectible is now rusted and warped, and Chris Stamey stares at me from the garbage can with his cold, dead eyes. I called up Julio and asked if he had any heavy duty garbage bags. He asked why and I told him that he was right about my things being ruined. He of course, maintained the ‘I told you so’ stance, asking what did I expect after leaving my shit down there for 6 years?

I told him I had hope. He asked if I was an atheist, and if so what the hell was I doing ‘hoping’, equating a belief in hope with a belief in a deity. Whats done is done. I saw Stine and Alexander outside and had a nice little chat. No pictures today. Maybe tomorrow. All I can do is laugh about the destroyed books and records as I have no one to blame but myself.

Last night Bill and I watched an entertaining biography on Elton John: Me, Myself and I. It was pretty funny and well done. I showed Bill my Elton John scrapbook from the 1970’s, which contained the ticket stub for my first concert. Madison Square Garden, Elton John August 12, 1976 $9.50. I don’t know why I have this 30 year old scrapbook. I was definitely into Elton John, that’s for sure.

I bet that Chaz has several scrapbooks about T Rex from his youth, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he is constantly updating it.

Showtime tomorrow! Have to put up some signs for the gate sale later.

Overture

Leave a reply

It’s Holy Week on the 4:30 Movie. The Robe, King of Kings, Demetrius and the Gladiators. Thats’ what used to be on back in the day. Channel 7 would show the religious movies whereas Channel 4 would show Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and Ghidra the Three Headed Monster, which starred Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra. Sometimes afterwards my friends and I would wonder aloud, ‘who would win, Jesus or Godzilla?’

We all agreed that Rodan would flap his wings and Mothra would spray silk to create a cocoon which both Godzilla and Rodan would eventually get out of, but Jesus would more than likely get trapped and killed by a giant sized caterpillar. Who knows? It was all about resurrection wasn’t it? Jeffrey Hunter was a good Jesus, but Robert Powell was the handsomest Jesus by far. He also played the father in Ken Russell’s Tommy, but he wasn’t so handsome due to the scar on his face, shot down in World War 2. I loved Tommy when it came out.

Actually defied the Catholic Church, or rather the Pastor of St. Francis de Sales church who came out during a sermon suggesting that parents forbid their children from seeing the movie due to the scene with Eric Clapton singing Eyesight to the Blind in a ceremony surrounded by Marilyn Monroe acolytes. The priest saw Marilyn as a substitute for Mary, Jesus’ mom. Brother Frank and his then girlfriend, now wife saw it and didn’t see any harm in me seeing it.

Of course the only reason I wanted to see it was for Elton John, playing the Pinball Wizard. I remember seeing it with my brother Brian and a friend of his, They were more than likely in an altered state, I rode back trying to will myself into being deaf, dumb and blind. It didn’t happen, well according to some, one out of three actually ‘took’. I was dumb after all. I watched the movie a while ago on cable and I really don’t like it as much as I used to. In fact I don’t like it at all. It really is a crap movie even with Elton John in it. It was more of a ‘what were they drinking’ rather than ‘what were they thinking’ situation.

I remember growing up, my brother Brian arguing with Kathy Plauchino that the band was called Tommy The Who. Brian insisted they were only The Who. I saw the Who live in 1979, my third rock concert. The first was Elton John in 1976, then Peter Frampton in 1977 then the Who. I couldn’t say I was happy to be there since I had gotten into a big fight with Brian who threatened to ‘out’ me to my family, calling me a pervert for having Honcho and Mandate magazines under my bed, instead of Penthouse and Playboy like under Brian’s bed.

It was a bucket of cold water in my face, causing me to hyperventilate. My brother Frank, late as ever eventually showed up to drive into the city, but I wasn’t into it at all. I really wasn’t into it and I think it showed. Frank ran into some friends at the show. They were going to a place called CBGB’s to see some new band called AC/DC. He wasn’t up for it and I certainly wasn’t either. I wasn’t even sure if I would be welcomed at home, if Brian had gone ahead with his devious plan to ruin my life. He hadn’t and I had a few more years in the closet, much to my relief.