Tuesday, October 02, 2007

'Tons Of Replacements' A compilation by Brad Kesler

Yes, I know it has been a while since I last updated this thing. I appreciate some of the angry emails and the ones asking if I were dead. It makes me feel pretty special. The threats are sometimes so sweet, it brings a tear to my eye.

--I got a big surprise last week when an old girlfriend left a picture comment on my MySpace page. It was a picture that I didn’t know even existed.

Check it out! I’m the guy on the right pictured with Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead.



Here’s the story behind the picture…

It was 1987 and my girlfriend and I had lucked upon some tickets for the Alice Cooper show down in Charlotte at the Oven Auditorium. I remember it as the ‘Raise Your Fist And Yell Tour’ and I was so looking forward to seeing the opening act… Motorhead.

I had never seen Motorhead and the chances of ever seeing them here again on the bible belt’s buckle are slimmer than me marrying Drew Barrymore. Atlanta and D.C. are always the closest towns Motorhead hits when they’re on tour in America.

Before we got on the road, Melanie felt like the night was going to be special… She wanted to get a bottle of Wild Turkey to nurse on as we travel I-85. So we pick up that along with Eddie Thacker (Peaches #36 coworker). Eddie had to sit in the back of my brand new 1987 Ford Escort EXP where there are no seats. The EXP was a 2-seater.

That didn’t stop him from doing a few shots with Melanie while sucking down his Wild Turkey and Coke. Melanie, as I recall, was drinking straight from the bottle… My kind of girl.

Eddie started getting quiet in the back of my car (her name was Ruby) just as we were hitting the city limits of Charlotte. I didn’t like that, so I started asking Eddie if he was all right. After the fourth of fifth affirmative… I got a negative response from Eddie. I pulled that bitch over into the breakdown lane as fast as I could… Melanie opened the door and before I got to a safe stop, Eddie stuck his head out to upload the contents of his stomach down the side of I-85.

He puked and puked… Then after a little rest, we started down the road again. We didn’t get 2 miles before Eddie needed to release some contents from his stomach’s reserve tank. We took a little longer and that pushed us behind a bit. I was willing to do what it took to keep my new Ruby all pristine and free of vomit smell.

When we finally got there, we rushed to the Will Call to get our tickets. Lo and behold, there were also backstage passes for an after show meet and greet.

I could hear Motorhead playing very loudly as we made our way into the auditorium. And just as we got into the darkened room, Lemmy shouted his farewell to the crowd. I didn’t even get to see them on stage.

Alice Cooper was a great show… As always… But I felt defeated because I didn’t get to see Motorhead. I wasn’t angry at Melanie or Eddie… It was just one of those concert things, you know?

We slapped our passes on and met the MCA Records rep for the meet and greet. I was thinking that I would get to meet Alice Cooper (one of my faves)! So imagine my surprise when I walked into Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead!

We talked for a good fifteen minutes or so… And it wasn’t that “fan boy” kind of talk… It was like I was interviewing him. Asking him questions about various albums, his influences, bass guitars, and things in general. He talked to me and asked me questions. He had one of his roadies fetch me a beer!

And then Melanie walked up… Still a little drunk, she asked Lemmy a question… “Have you ever seen The Young Ones?”

I hung my head and he said, “Darlin’… We were ON The Young Ones.” Then he walked away and was gone… And that’s when I’m guessing the picture was taken. Just before he was walking away.

Alice Cooper never made an appearance but his band, backup singers, and dancers did. I spent some time talking to them while drinking my roadie fetched Newcastle. And a few feet away, Melanie was sitting on a folding table and was being hit on by Kane Roberts… Cooper’s hotshot guitarist.



I was a little uneasy as I watched it all play out… Roberts walked up to her and started making little circles on her thighs with his fingers. She said, “Hi.”

They chit-chatted a little as he kept making those little circles just above her knees. And I heard him say, “You know… I’ve got a new solo album out.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “I’ve got it.”

“Yeah?” he asked with a I’m gonna get lucky tonight glint in his eye. “What do you think of my album?”

Without malice or any intentions to hurt his feelings… She said, “I haven’t even opened it yet.”

Kane Roberts took his hands off my girlfriend and moved on to another woman in the room.

For 20 years, I didn’t recall that picture ever being taken. It was an awesome surprise!

Here's the song list for the Replacements compilation...

4 comments:

  1. That's a Replacements' comp alright - even goes in chronological order - with the exception of "If Only You Were Lonely" which was, of course, the b-side of their first single in 1981, "I'm In Trouble."

    And I'm done being a 'Mats geek for now.

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  2. Anonymous6:26 PM

    Check out that penmanship. I should have won an award, or something.

    I thought that was a photo of you with Eddie Thacker.

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  3. Anonymous11:04 PM

    The Young Ones!!!!!!!

    I loved that show. Now I must e-mail my brother and demand that he bring me the DVDs pronto!

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  4. Anonymous8:44 AM

    The Mats rule! Always did, always will. Nice shot with Lemmy, I've heard he's a great guy. I'm not much of a Metal head, but always been a Motor-head!
    Greetings from Ann Arbor, MI.
    C9

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