| 1 | ||
It was during the great murk  of adolescence,in a 1979 winter evening when it was revealed to us that Alan had purchased a natural finished Fender guitar. Such an expense for a 15 year old. He plugged into the hi-z jack of a Fischer ER-8150 and pretended (used) the home stereo was a great guitar amplifier. Prior to the guitar arrival that stereo meant a great deal to us.
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It was in a room behind the garage, the staging area for a garage band. Sometimes Alan would manipulate the turntable manually, spin it forwards a little faster, backwards a little slower. Maybe we were seeking hidden messages, the kind you hide in plain sight. | So the wheels were set in motion. You see before this time we would put albums on the stereo and pretend tennis rackets and one wooden stick were actual guitars. I must say, they were a lot easier to play than the real thing. I don't want to step on someon else's copyright, but there's nothing like the real thing. So that's where things were going |
| 2 | ||
| I don't know if there was much hesitation going on. Somewhere down the line there was talk, perhaps too much talk, about the next guitar to be purchased. Marty had toiled with the idea of purchasing new stereo speakers but alas.... | He walked up to a catalog, the very one Al had browsed and found a blonde Fender Telecaster guitar. He had been working his fingers to the bone assembling drafting tools, much as Al had done. He now needed to spend his hard earned cash. |
In April of 1979 the guitar had arrived. On a Saturday afternoon this 15 years old kid sprung the surprise upon me. This was an outrage that could not go without punishment. I, the elder brother by 20 months, decided I had enough of this crap. How dare ye purchase thy things whilst I have negative? I shall smite thee .... blah blah blah, that's just too much olde English (methinks). I started the research, if I were a bass guitar what kind of bass guitar would I be? |
| 3 | ||
| I disclosed my intentions to Al, who seemed a bit enthusiastic about the whole idea. In fact he very well may have been more enthusiastic than I. I reached out for employment and went through three jobs. The International House of Pancakes as a professional diswashter (fired after one night. Crikey), a restaurant called "Charley Brown's" (quit after one month over the theft of $30.00), and finally a dishwasker at the Numero Uno Pizzaria | I washed those dishes to the bone. The glasses, pizza pans, and empty beer pitchers as well. The cooks in the kitchen had the radio tuned into a popular rock n' roll radio station. I enjoyed the perks of the job that came in the form of music and hot waitresses. I was 17 years old. those hot waitresses meant almost everything o me. It was decided that I would purchase a Fender Jazz Bass. For months I had making little doodles in my school notebook and folders of Jazz bass guitars | Alan called me the day of the ordering and requested "do not order a Jazz bass guitar". For $10.00 cheaper I could get a Rickenbacker 4001 bass. "What's that?" I inquired. "Like what McCartney plays" he replied. I thought he meant that violin looking thing. I ordered one in the color of Burgundy and then called Al back. "okay, I ordered that violin looking thing". "Not that McCartney one" he replied. "Psychedelic era, the Magical Mystery Tour album". Oh dear. I hope I like it. It arrived, July 26th, 1979 |
| 4 | ||
Something was missing.  I mean, besides REAL and actual amplifiers, something really drastic was definitely absent. Ah yes, the drum kit. It just so happened that Rick was around us a bit. He was also the one playing that bongo arrangement. How about a drumkit? Not too many people know this but Rick has a cousin named Eddie Huerta, who played with the likes of the Jack Brewer band and the Lazy Cowgirls. It's in the blood, we're strapped for money, lets all chip in and get a drum kit. How about a 1968 (or so) turquoise Sonor kit? Well it just so happens we found one. |
We kept the thing in the yellow room behind the garage for we were not quite ready to be a garage band. Thus far we had A.) number of lessons: Zero. B. )Years of experience: Zero C. ) Actual mentors: Zero. However, we had the stereo, ears, and mimmicking capabilities. So that's what we did. |
So we spun the records and went to the movie theater to watch Rust Never Sleeps and The Kids are Alright films over and over again. My older brother had friends that taught us how to tune using harmonics. We mimmicked The Beatles, The Stones, The Who. We even faked some horribly faked English accents. I have the cassette tapes to prove, don't make me play them. |
| 5 | ||
| We played in the room behind the garage. We graduated to the garage. Eventually we hit the local high school party scene (thanks to the trickery of D.Stone). Somewhere in the high school party scene we began to call ourselves The Ushers | There was a segue into obscurity. Post that scene there was the venture into the Los Angeles Clubs. The very first club we traversed was called Gazzarri's. You didn't send in tapes and hope they would book you, oh no no no. Instead you had to sign up for the battle of the bands. This event occurred every Sunday night. |
There were mini-obstacles. For one thing you had to be over 21 years of age to play in this thing. Three of us hadn't quite reached that requirement. Okay, 25%, that's not so bad. Well...... In some things it is not so bad. I suppose gigging might be one of those things. Besides, the fake I.D. took care of the other three (just on fake I.D. They shared it) |
| 6 | ||
| The gear we owned was a little lo on quality. We had one guitar amp shared by two guitar players. Therefore one had to be rented. We had one bass amp and one 5 piece drum kit. We were supposed to supply our own P.A. system. We had something we used as a P.A. system but we were hesitant to call it that. We rented a head and I forget how we set it up. Anyway. We won the battle of the bands (much to our surprise). | And we waltzed about other clubs as well. More parties, more clubs, outdoor parks, radio stations, and a small town auditorium | and time went on and briefly we did not.  These things happen. There comes a time to float on out. We went into studios that turned into catastrophes. Recording was not our strong point so why push it? |
| 7 | |||
We stopped playing for bit.  Marty moved away to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Alan went to law school. I would sit in with the band The Stukas Over Bedrock. |
The guitar player and one of the original founders of the Stukas Over Bedrock was starting an independent record label. He asked if we wanted to release a CD on it. | Marty had made a mixed tape of our own two track recordings and mislabeled it The Users We changed the name to that. We die this budget 8-track recording of our first album Friendly. 8 track, reel to reel, that is. |
| 8 | ||
| There was this return to the bars and clubs (sans Marty, excepting the first one at the Cobalt Cafe) | Another album (Little Bag of Hope) |
and then and 13 days after his wedding Marty died |
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| We placed his ashes under a makeshift in the high country. | So there's that. | He loved the high country.  |
| 10 | ||
| I have other recordings that I delay assembling. Marty is on some of them. So are some other friends | Yet the gigs have sort of stopped | and the ticks on the clock have moved forward |
| 11 | ||
If we play live it is because something has happened |
Yet we still get together most Friday evenings |
and jam until the very late evening / very early Saturday morning. |  |
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| You're more than welcomed to attend. Well. Usually. |
| 12 | ||
| Oh, it's a party but sometimes it doesn't feel like one. There's a cloud in the form of someone missing | if you're here it's because you know us. You're bored and you popped your head in. "Oh look, another page on the website". If you dont know us, then I'm curious. |
Maybe you heard us somehow or somewhere. How? Where? It really doesn't matter. Thank you for your time and patience |
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~ Mike ~ |