Stairway to the Stars? Was: BOC: HW: Apold info on Moorcock track s

[Joseph Brooks]

Which reminds me of a story I was going to post to the list... (hey, its a
chance for some actual BOC content, ok? :)

I'm terrible at remembering years so lets just say that it was around the
time when Joe was still in the band, Al was gone (I forget who the drummer
was at the time.. Downey?) and BOC was still a big enough name that they had
to be billed as Soft White Underbelly in order to play at smaller clubs so
as not to attract too large of a crowd I suppose. (In the several times that
they played the same club in later years, they were billed as plain ol' BOC,
presumably because there was not much concern at drawing an unmanagable
crowd).

Anyway.. Having been a huge fan since the tender age of 14 or so (circa
1974), a friend and I waited out back for the boys to come out, hoping for a
chance to meet them. My friend had brought every BOC LP with him, hoping to
get them all autographed. I was very excited. I mean, when I was 15, I
wanted to BE these guys. I was oh, 28 or 30 at this time, 25 at the youngest
so my sense of worship was, of course, not what it was in, say, 1976, But I
was still thrilled to death to meet them at last.

First out the door was Joe.. He was great, friendly, signed each BOC LP my
friend had brought with good humor, commenting on how cool it was that my
friend Steve had brought every single album. Lanier, also friendly though we
didn't get him to sign, I don't recall if he declined or what. Everyone
pretty much ignored the drummer (would have been very different if it had
been Al.. This was the first I'd heard of him not being in BOC anymore..).

Buck was amazing, showing incredible patience with all the fans, smiling and
answering questions, signing everything put in front of him. In fact, the
rest of the band was already in their rented buick, shouting "Buck, we gotta
go!" a good 20 minutes after they came out, Buck wouldn't snub anyone by
walking away.

Last out was Eric. He blew by everyone, not openly hostile but not exactly
friendly either. Ok, I had seen this guy on stage more than anyone I knew, I
practically worshiped the guy when I was a kid.. I mean, to me, he was the
voice of BOC and the most interesting member aside from Buck. I am also a
huge Moorcock fan and my first thought was, I wanted to know about his
relationship with Mr. Moorcock. I wanted to ask if the Fireclown character
was based on him (see the FAQ, its my claim to FAQ fame, I submitted that
bit.. haha). So I walk up to him as he's yelling at Buck to hurry the hell
up and say, "Hi there, say, how well do you know Michael Moorcock?"

His reply? "Yeah, I know him" then he proceeds to turn his back on me and
get in his car, effectively ending the conversation. I was dumbfounded.
Could it really be true that one of my biggest rock heroes was in fact, an
asshole?

I understand that he may have been tired, he may have had a bad night, maybe
someone pissed him off earlier but people like him need to remember just who
it was that got them where they are. I mean, he totally snubbed me. I was no
starry eyed Fan Boy, I was a grown man, only about 10 or less years younger
than himself with questions about his work.

Maybe I pissed him off by seeming more interested in Moorcock than in him.
Perhaps I was.. I didn't mean to bruise his ego. Regardless, I'll never
forget the incident. It really opened my eyes as to the fact that so-called
Stars can be assholes just like anyone else.

Stairway to the stars, indeed! Years later, when I learned (mostly through
reading this list) that the man has a reputation for being hard to get along
with, I could only nod to myself. Yep.

In his defense, I did meet him a 2nd time at a New Years Eve show a few
years ago. This time he was more friendly (though still a little offish),
even putting up with my wife hugging him and gushing over him a little (she
was quite drunk and has been a fan as long as I have.. Our first date was a
1975 BOC show..). But I still can't forget that earlier time.

Anyway, sorry for being long winded, I've wanted to post this story for a
long time.

JB