GETTING FIRED FROM THE JUKE JOINT

 The Juke Joint 213. Ahhhh....the Juke Joint. The Juke Joint was a great little bar in Bellmore.....Beautiful downtown Bellmore. It was owned by my friend Christine Frey's mom, Eileen...and her pal Debbie.

It was great. I think they opened in the summer of 1997...but I started working there in October of that year. It quickly became my home. The 2nd week I worked Brian Setzer showed up and performed. It was that type of place.
   The jukebox was stocked with 100 CDs. All of which were hand chosen by Christine Frey and me. The Damned, Tom Waits, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Cure, The Clash,  Etta James, The Stray Cats, Sex Pistols, Louie Prima, The Cramps...etc...etc...

   The lay out of the place was inviting. There was a black leather, sectional couch in the back, with 2 Lazee-Boy recliners and a pool table in the back.  People would show up, drink and settle in. The front had a beautifully stocked bar, leopard skin fabric on all the bar stools.
  Many bands played there. This bar had flavor. It had feel. It was a community. There were write ups in papers about this place. It was cool....but after 5 years, Eileen & Debbie decided to sell it....and 2 creeps bought it. They quickly killed it.
  Enter Bob & Rich. The new owners. Two guys that never owned a bar...or a business together. They bought it. They wanted "Cheers"...they didn't get it.
   Bob was a nice enough guy. Divorced, drove a mini-van. (At the time I lived at my friend Sue's house. Malibu Sue from WLIR/WDRE...anyway Bob dropped her name a lot ...whenever Bob referred to Sue, he called her, my landlord...never my friend. He'd say things like..."I heard your landlord on the radio today." He never said, "Hey, I heard Sue on the radio today." That was weird.) Bob started off OK...but he grew a goatee and shaved his head to "play" the part of "cool" bar owner, pretty fast. It didn't work.
  The other guy was a real piece of work. Rich was a whack-a-doo!!!! He had white hair combed back like a Saturday Night Fever extra. A porn mustache and BIG Chiclet teeth. He was a REAL CREEP.
One night, after we closed, young Will Teel was helping me clean up and he asked Rich for a bottle of Bud. Rich said, "Sorry. It's after 4am....but I'll give you a massage if you like?"  Will...didn't like.
   Immediately, they got rid of the Lazee-Boys & the couch. A few weeks went by. I continued to work there, hating it...but still making money. When all of a sudden the pool table was gone. The whole back area was empty. I asked why and Rich responded, "More room. Now we can fit more people."
 "More people? To do what? Stand & stare at each other?"
 "No, Dave. Pool tables bring in the "wrong" people. Ya know people that just hang around all night."
 He was clueless.
 They bought smaller glasses and raised the prices.
  They made the tattooed clientele feel uncomfortable (Lone Wolf Tattoo was next door), but embraced the actors from Rich's community theatre. These people never hung out there, but their 8x10's were on the wall. Once, one of them came in and asked for a Pina Colada. I cringed, but made it anyway. When I handed it to her, she slid it back and asked, "Where's the whipped cream? I was on Carnival Cruise, there's suppose to be whipped cream." Oh boy.
  We always clashed. They would ask me advice....and they would go and do the opposite. Each time pushing more people away.
  After 7 months, I was fired.
  I walked in one Wednesday night and proceeded to walk behind the bar. Bob extended his arm to block me from entering. He said we need to talk. Rich was standing feet away.
  "We have a witness of you giving someone a six pack of Heineken without charging him. That's stealing. You're fired."
  Flabbergasted, I said, "What? What are you talking about?"
  Rich steps up and ferociously says, "You stole!!!! You stole a six pack!!! You're fired!!!!"
  "Wait. I didn't steal anything. You're saying a gave some a six pack?", as I motioned a person handing a six pack of beer to someone.
  "Yes!!! You gave someone a six pack. A six pack of Heineken...and didn't charge them."
  "That doesn't make sense. Why would I give someone a six pack and not charge'em? What would I gain? Are you saying I gave someone '6' beers through the course of the night and never charged'em?...or I physically handed someone a six pack and said 'Take that, that's on me..????"
  "You, you...you gave'em a six pack and said it was FREE!!!!!!"
  "We don't have six packs.", I said, tilting my head, curiously. "We get our beer in cases, without six pack carriers. There's no six pack holders inside the cases. There's 24 spots. This NEVER happened."
  "IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!!", yelled Rich, his face bright red. "We have a witness!!!"
  "Well, alright then. If you wanted to fire me you coulda just did it." I turned and started walking out.
  I was just about to open the door and leave when Rich yelled, "...and DON'T phone in any phony police reports."
  I shook my head and walked out...never to walk through those doors again.
  Eight months later they were out of business.

It's now a dance studio. No more bar.
Here's a link from Frank Fusco's Bellmore: The Unscene Blog.
The last EGGPLANT QUEENS show there. This is after Bob & Rich bought it. We played there once, only once....but I warned them.

http://bellmoretheunscene.blogspot.com/2011/04/eggplant-queens-juke-joint-213-72702.html

RADIOHEAD STORY : #2

  June 1, 1995:  I ride into New York City with my good friend, Michael Walch (He's now a member of  my band, EGGPLANT QUEENS aka Sunnyside) and his pal, Squid, it was a Thursday. Our destination: Roseland...to see The Reverend Horton Heat open for White Zombie. They had tickets. I did not, I planned on scalping.
  We park and walk up to the venue. There's a mob scene. White Zombie were at their peak. I start hitting up scalpers and it appears the going rate for a ticket is $70...face value was probably $25. I move from scalper to scalper...both professionals and nitwit frat boys trying to score quick loot. After a half hour, Michael and Squid tell me they're heading in and wish me good luck.

  I waste another 20 minutes trying to sneak in and/or get a ticket for face. I explain to a number of scalpers that I'm really only here for The Reverend..... They have no idea what I'm talking about. My effort is futile....and that's when it occurred to me that Radiohead were playing at Tramps, downtown the very same night in support of The Bends. I fill with glee and hail a cab.
  Fifteen minute later I'm standing in front of the place. Tramps was great. It was a tiny club. Through the years I saw GWAR, The Reverend, Ultra Bidet, and a few other acts there....anyway. There I am...standing out front. It's sold out...but no mob scene. In fact, the street was pretty empty...except for one guy. One douche bag. I ask him if he has an extra ticket for the show. He says, "Yeah man.....$50."

  "Fifty?!", I reply...."It only cost $20. I'll give you twenty-five."
  "Supply & demand!", he snapped.
  "Supply & demand? Really? I'm the only guy asking for a ticket on the whole block?"
  "....and I'm the only guy selling."
  So, I tell him to fuck off and I move closer to the entrance.
  I stand there for a few minutes, watching people show up and go in...asking everyone if they have an extra ticket. No one has. This goes on for awhile and that lone scalper yells over, "Hard luck?.... 50 will get you in."...as he startles an elderly woman, walking by with a poodle ..."Hey? You NEED a ticket?"
 She pulls tight on said poodle's leash and says.."NO!"
 I look and laugh, "You're an idiot.".......with that a Lincoln pulls up. A "car service" Lincoln. Out steps 4 cool looking people, in what seems like a hurry.....and I yell, "Hey! You wouldn't happen to have an extra ticket?"
  One woman looks at me. Studies my t-shirt and asks, "You like Fatima Mansions?"

  (Ya see...I was wearing my favorite t-shirt of 1995...it read, in big red letters: "KEEP MUSIC EVIL". I got it from WDRE: the radio station I worked at year or two earlier. It was a promo by a band called Fatima Mansions. I just happened to love that shirt, I just happened to like that band, and I sported that tee often.)
 "Yeah! Those guys are great!"
 "They're mine.", she said. "I've been working them for awhile. They're on my label." (Radioactive, the same label Radiohead were on at the time.)
 "I worked at WDRE for 5 years.", I reply.
 "No shit. Come with us. I'll walk you in."
 I accept....and me and my new entourage, proceed to walk in....with me giving that one lone douche bag the old heave-ho......."Fuck off!!!", I screamed as I walked inside.
  Immediately upon entering Tramps, my new friends leave me. I like that. I squirm through the crowd as Radiohead take the stage. I get up front.

Here's the set list from that night.

They were great. Introducing "Creep", Thom Yorke said, "This next song. This is when the cool kids go to the bar, so go away, while we play 'Creep'...drink up, we'll be here when you return."
  That was probably the umpteenth time I had gone to a concert by myself....but I was learning, and more was yet to come. I ended up seeing Radiohead again, on the tail end of this tour at Roseland. A highlight was the cover of "Nobody Does It Better"...The Spy Who Loved Me Theme. That was incredible!!!!...and again, I went alone.

STEALING ROBERT PLANT'S SCOTCH (Evan Dando & his sister)

 So I had been working up at WDRE for awhile...and by the time 1993 rolled around the guys that owned the station were branching out into syndication. Our program director Tom Calderone was hosting a nationally syndicated show called "Modern Rock Live". Although we were based on Long Island, this show was taped and sent out from New York City. Tom had always said I could come up any time I wanted to meet whatever singer, band, rock star he was interviewing.....if I liked. I never went.
  I didn't think much about that show at all. That was until one day I received a call in my office at WDRE from some guy at Atlantic Records. He said Evan Dando from The Lemonheads was scheduled to be on "Modern Rock Live" that night and that he was bringing Robert Plant with him.
  HOLD ON, WAIT A MINUTE!!!!....so I let that process in my head for a second and said, "Dando is bringing Plant to the interview? Thee Robert Plant? As in Led Zeppelin?""
  "Yes."
  "Can we promote this?"
  "Yes."
   Fast forward 6 hours: Now I'm standing in a studio, up high on 52nd St. in Manhattan with my buddy Andre....[DJ Andre, Dre Dog from WDRE (He was a board op at the time)]. We see Robert & Evan along with the usual crew of record company reps...publicists..and tag-a-longs. We talk quick, get a picture taken, and I have Plant sign Led Zeppelin 4...but it's all fast, and done. No contact.

That's me on the left with jet black hair, then Robert Plant, next Andre...and the record company rep.

It was turning into an uneventful evening when all of a sudden I eavesdropped on Evan Dando telling Plant about some bar they were going to. So I grabbed Andre...headed straight to that bar, which was only a few blocks away. We waited outside and after a half an hour a Lincoln Town Car pulled up and the whole crew climbed out....Dando, Plant, and entourage. The record company rep sees us and says, "Holy shit! You guys hang out here? Come on." ....and gestured a wave for us to join'em.

   So we all walk inside, and by complete coincidence, 2 girls I knew from my neighborhood are sitting at a booth as we walk in....and they're like, "Oh my god!!! That's Robert Plant....with...with Dave Jemmott."

  So I give them a condescending nod and walk towards the back of the room with my rock star friends. I belly up right next to Robert Plant. Andre is next to me. Next to him is Evan Dando & his sister. Plant has nothing to do with me. Apparently, my tits weren't big enough. We drink.

  After a few minutes, Plant finishes his drink (Johnny Walker Red & soda) and asks the bartender, "Can I have another?"

  The bartender makes it, places it in front of Plant. I elbow Andre and say, "Watch this."

  I grab Plant's drink and chug it down, one gulp. I slam the glass down and slide it back in front of him.

  Plant nonchalantly, picks up the glass, looks into it, and says, "Can I have another?"

  The bartender is like, "Holy shit, he just downed that!"...but makes a new one and places it directly in front of Plant.

  With that , Andre & I start cracking up....and Evan Dando says, "What the fuck are you guys doing?"

  I look up and laugh, "I'm stealing Plant's drinks!!!"

  Dando shakes his head and says, "You guys are fucked up."...as he moves over and puts his arm around me...he orders some beers and we drank together for the next hour or so.

Me, Evan Dando, Andre, & Evan's "so-called" sister

   

The next day Evan came out to WDRE studios and was brought into Malibu Sue's office. There I was behind a desk typing. I looked up and said, "Hi."

  He looked at me and was totally confused. He slurred, "Hey!!! You're that guy from the bar last night."
  

RADIOHEAD STORY : #1

  I started as an intern at WDRE out on Long Island in April 1990., within two weeks Malibu Sue hooked me up with a paying gig doing data entry. From that I started producing her "Top 30 Count Down". A Casey Kasem-ish count down of the weeks top requested songs at WDRE as well as a cross section of record sales from local independent record shops across our listening area, as well as Square Circle, Record World, and Tower Records.
  I would do my research (pre-Google) via communication by telephone and fax to record company personnel. I would also thumb through endless magazines, fanzines..etc...
  Anyway, Sue (Malibu Sue) offered up her office for me to work in. Prior to that...I moved my manila folders from place to place around the radio station. So, right from the beginning, as I was researching facts about "our" next count down. ...various musicians would show up to be interviewed and need a place to hang out before going on air. They need a safe place away from gauging eyes of "sales reps", "interns", "goofy radio personalities",...etc....Sooooo they put these people in Malibu Sue's office. The office where I worked.
  I met many artists this way. They'd be shuffled off to Malibu Sue's office, pushed inside, and there was me. Little ole Dave Jemmott, writing, calling, faxing....and as soon as they were led in and the door was closed behind them, I'd stand up and introduce myself.. I'd offer them coffee and get back to "my" work. Leaving them alone.
  Sometimes conversations would come to me. Sometimes they wouldn't.

 Anyway, by 1993 I had had quite a few experiences meeting musicians, famous and not quite famous. When this band named "Radiohead" where out supporting the "Pablo Honey" LP & the single "Creep". They stopped by for an interview. They were all stuffed in my office. After their "on air" with Malibu Sue, they were going to SPRATS nightclub in Westbury for a "Meet & Greet" autograph signing session while Malibu Sue  and I did WDRE's "Party Outta Bounds" Weekend Kick Off!!!!

   The tour manager & some record company guy tell the band they have to now go "SPRATS" and "meet & greet"....they are not happy.
   The record company guy asks me if I know where "SPRATS" is?....I do....and not only do I know, but I'm suppose to work there from 4:00 - 6pm. Doing "Radio Emcee Shit".
  I tell him it's just up the block and I'd show them the way, but my car is the shop. So he says, "Why don't you hop in the limousine with us?"
  Twenty minutes later I'm in a limo with RADIOHEAD, their manager, and a record company rep, I'm sitting next to Thom Yorke. Thom's head is up against the window. We are driving on Merrick Ave. He's staring out at Eisenhower Park. I look at guitarist Jonny Greenwood and ask, "What the fuck are you guys doing going to SPRATS? The crowd sucks. You'll be lucky if they know who the fuck you are. All young yuppies, Mother Fuckers."
  I look forward. The record company guy is giving me the "cut it" symbol...slash across his throat....and Thom Yorke lefts his head off the car's window and says, "I FUCKING told you so." Collasping back into the closed window.
  We arrive at SPRATS. Pull in back. The band waits. They rest, we go inside. Set up a folding table. Lay out 8x10 photos and Sharpies. People start showing up, drinking, eating. We bring the band in. They sit at the folding table......and wait. After a few minutes some twenty-something guy dressed in a business suit approaches the table and asks, "So are you guys in a band or something?'
  Thom Yorke gets up and walks out.

The End.

Getting Paid $40 to See Pixies (Resurrecting the Ghost of Studio 54)

  I La La Love The Pixies. I've seen them 6 or 7 times. (Frank Black once. The Breeders twice). In 1991 their Trompe le Monde Tour stopped in New York at The New Ritz. The venue was once home to Studio 54. I got two pairs of tickets for free from WDRE, the radio station I was affiliated with at the time. I went to the show with my buddy Ivano from Italy, Matty the Horse (The WDRE Van Driver) & his girlfriend. 

  We drove into New York City from Long Island and parked over on 9th Ave. The four of us were walking down 54th St. toward the venue when we were pounced on by the usual swarm of scalpers...and their cries, "Who needs tickets?"..."Who's selling?"...etc... I saw a scalper I had dealt with before and said, "Hello.".

  He asked if we had extra tickets. I told him, "No."  He then asked (in his almost Russian accent), "Are you on the list or do you have actual tickets?"

  "We have tickets. No guest list tonight."

  He said, "I'll give you guys ten bucks a piece...and still get you into the show if you give me those tickets."

  "Wait.....I hand you these tickets. You hand me $40 and then you STILL get us into the show?", I questioned.

  "Yes."

  I looked at my friends. Matty & his girl shrugged. Ivano was like, "No fucking way!!!" (I told Ivano to be quiet and follow my lead.) 

  "Let's do it." I said as I reached into my pocket, pulled out the tickets & handed them over. This stocky, Eastern European scalper held up the tickets to the sky, looked at them and quickly shoved them into his jacket pocket. Reaching into his jeans, he pull out a wad of twenties and handed me two...and said, "Let's go."

  We walked pass the venue. Through the crowd out front and stopped at the building next door. The scalper said,     "OK. Two at a time. Who's going first?" 

 We all looked at each other, dumbfounded. I turned to the scalper and said, "Me! Me and him." Pointing to Ivano.

 The scalper told us to follow him into the building. He told the other two to wait and he'd be back for them in five minutes. 

  We walk in and follow this guy to the elevator. He presses the button and turns to me and with his thick Baltic/Russian/Ukraine..whatever accent says, "This is how they used to sneak people into Studio 54. You know Studio 54?, disco, very popular disco, it was." We wait a few seconds and .."DING!" The doors open and the three of us step inside. The doors close and we head down to the basement. 

  The doors open. Its dark. You can smell the damp air. "Ssssssh...this way. Stay close. Watch your step."

  This guy, that I've only met on the streets of New York to do illegal activity, leads us down a dingy corridor, Exposed cinder block walls. Puddles splashing with each step. We get to a doorway, look in. Across the room is a hole in the wall and there's a light on the other side. "Go to the hole over there and wait for instructions."

  At this point, my friend from Italy grabs my arm and whispers firmly, "NO FUCKING WAY."

  I tell him to be brave. We walk across, through the darkness and just as we are a yard from the hole...a hand reaches through and gestures to hurry. I'm the first one through. Ivano right behind. Now we are standing in a brightly lit room. There are walk in refrigerators and industrial equipment laying about and this shady looking guy points down the hallway to a stairwell. He says, "Go up those stairs. Open the door and you're in."

  We bolt! Down the hall. Up the stairs. Stopping at the landing, we can hear the music blasting, there's a door on the left and a door on the right. I grab the door knob on the right and we rush in. We are now standing behind the bar in The Ritz. The bartenders look at us. We turn around and run to the other door. We open it. Step out. WE ARE IN!!! 

  We run into the crowd. Hug. High five!!!! Ten minutes later Matty & his girl emerge, smiling. Matty grabs me and says, "Holy shit!!! That was c-c-c-c-razy!!!!"

PIXIES KILLED IT THAT NIGHT. They ended with "U Mass", one of my favorites.

I got this sticker that night.

REPUBLICAN PARTY PLANS TO LOSE THE 2012 ELECTION.

Who is in control of the Republican Party? Can they be seen? From the looks of The GOP's candidate roster, they can't. They are laying low. They have no intention of a 2012 Republican Presidential win. They have fed America a cavalcade of distractions. Herman Cain is character. Michele Bachmann has less appeal than Sarah Palin. Rick Perry is not "W".  Ron Paul, nope. Mitt Romney is a Mormon. Jon Huntsman...who? Newt Gringrich is hawking DVDs & books (This is his QVC).

The  Republicans will block anything put forth to advance jobs, infrastructure, or recovery for this economic crisis. THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN 4 YEARS is 8 YEARS. So they are planning on an Obama win, next election.

Republicans have NO plan on winning this election. They plan on losing. The economy is so far in the shitter that they would never jump in to save it. They will let it ride.


I predict, Dave Jemmott

President Barack Obama will win a 2nd Term : I Predict

Ronald Reagan was president when I first realized I didn't like the President. I was a child/teenager of the Reagan Years....and PUNK ROCK taught me to HATE him. My friends and I, the people I admired, the bands I was drawn to. They all saw Ronald Reagan as a throwback...a man out of time. I agreed. We agreed. That man offered nothing for us. We, the youth, were brushed off. This only made me question his "being" more. I still don't like him....and it's a SHAME they named an airport for this man, after what he did to the air traffic controllers.

George H. W. Bush, 8 years later he got in. (I didn't vote for this man.) "READ MY LIPS".....I still hated him from "Iran-Contra". He was so old school and had such as sense of entitlement...it was sickening. He thought he was a shoe-in for '92...but it turned out he was a loafer.

Bill Clinton (William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton) I voted for him. I made money while he was in office. My life was carefree. Then he deregulated banks. 

George W. Bush This guy came into office with a whirlwind of "election fraud", "election speculation" around him. He "won". That NEVER sat right. The BIGGEST act of WAR ever carried out against us, THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA happened on his watch. His reaction was to invade a country that had NOTHING to do with that. George W. Bush was NEVER Presidential. When he spoke...my skin crawled.  It was the first time I was embrassed by our leader.

Barack Obama.  I voted for this man. I had hope. I believed he was a big step in a new direction. President Barack Obama is a politician. His try at bipartisanship has failed. I can easily blame Congress...but this guy needs to step up. I need more. We need more. That said, President Barack Obama will win a second term. I just hope things get done.

THE GOP had 7: After the debate tonight. The GOP have none. There is NOT a person up there, that is better, has the answers, or is capable of beating the current Administration.

This is my prediction.