I am pretty sure that it was 1971. Blue Oyster Cult played the Action House/Rockpile lots and lots of times. If you've been reading my story I told you how it was just a known thing that if groups wanted a record contract, they had to play the Action House/Rockpile. Organized crime stuff mixed up with the music industry. Some of the people that went there knew this. Nobody really thought about it. I'm pretty sure the musicians themselves didn't have anything to do with it, they were just told where they were playing by management. They were the victims here. Now I'm just talking all this stuff hearsay. Knew just a couple of people there. That's all.
The reason I bring this up is because I didn't go there this night. I don't know the exact date... there's almost no information online. People out there must have records & it would be nice to see who played when. But so many times I saw the name "Blue Oyster Cult' on the marquee & thought "who are they?" I remember asking someone once and they said something like "I don't know. They probably suck." So I never saw them. Ha. 🤣 We didn't know. A Long Island band too. Most of the time we didn't care, we just went. Some people we just accidentally saw, like MC5. They opened for J Geils a few times. I didn't go specifically to see J Geils either. Just went.
So one Friday I guess we were trying to figure out what we were doing. Blue Oyster Cult? Well, as ridiculous as it sounds Seals & Crofts were playing my high school. They weren't my cup of tea but my friend "I" said her brother was going to cover it for his college newspaper. Oh... her brother.
Back in those days it was sometimes hard to get weed or whatever. Dry. But pharmaceuticals were sometimes easier to find. Oh... I don't know how many Quaaludes I had shoved in my pocket. The dumb things we humans do. It was obvious I should have been doing anything else. Should have gone to that BOC show. I can tell you that as soon as I got there I wasn't paying any attention to what was going on up front on the stage. We sat behind "I's" brother but even that wasn't thrilling enough for me. I am pretty sure I started out with two Quaaludes. I had a problem with those. They felt really good. So I'm not sure how many times I went into the bathroom to take more. 🤷
From here on out I don't remember anything. I can only tell you what people told me later. I guess I was falling over (again.) I fell all over "I's" brother. I fell in the aisle. Whatever. I vaguely remember a split second of this... the mean gym teacher grabbed me by the arm. That's all I remember. I was told he threw me out front. Times have changed, haven't they?
Then I remember for a split second being on the floor of a garage and seeing two young fellows I slightly knew. But here's the story from a couple of people. I was completely, completely out of it. I was overdosing. I was like a flopping fish. I was vomiting out my nose. I guess you get so out of it, you don't even open your mouth. These guys sat me up a little so I wouldn't choke.
Somehow they got word to another guy that I knew better. He didn't have a car but other people did. I don't know who it was. I think I do, but not sure. They got me up and into the car and drove me home. The early 70's a lot of drug overdoses were handled at home because you were up shit's creek. Not only were the police involved, sometimes you had to spend at least three days in the psychiatric ward. There wasn't just the pain in the ass of the police, but there was a "Shame!" on the family. Gossip and all that. They'd stand at the chain link fence and you'd be the topic of conversation
Now in case you are wondering, there were no shenanigans with those two fellas that tried to help me. The gent that brought me home was known for kicking ass & they knew the boundaries. I ended up in a longtime relationship later with that guy because there's nothing more attractive than to flop around like a fish and vomit out your nose.
I guess it was a good thing that I was vomiting out my nose. Got to get that stuff out of there. If you don't that's when you kick the bucket. When people overdid things it was street knowledge to stick your finger down their throat. If it wasn't something you swallowed, you did the walking around thing. Luckily I never witnessed anyone else having problems, but heard about a number.
So I woke up and my mom was sitting there next to me on the bed. A washcloth on my forehead. We had a family friend that was a registered nurse. I guess she was by a few times to check me out. I said "How long was I asleep?" I knew it was a while. "Three days." I don't know how I went to the bathroom? I'm thinking the nurse & my mom helped me in there? Don't remember a thing.
Wow. My mom. She was cool. My parents put up with a lot from my brother and I, but they had a wild youth too. In the late 1920's before the Depression. So they didn't kill us. I guess we roll on through the generations doing crazy stuff, but at least we were living.
I'm glad quaaludes were not so popular by the time I entered my drug years. Would have been really really bad.
ReplyDeleteGreat writing. B.O.C. 👍 Seals & Croft 👎
😂 Reply down below.
DeleteYeah. You are lucky. I'm tellin' ya. Too good. (Quaaludes) 😂 No kidding. I was kind to Seals & Croft. They apparently disgusted me. 😂
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat read. I'm glad you made it.
ReplyDelete*sigh* You missed out on BOC...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePretty funny, huh? Yeah. I made it so I could try & remember it "holy cow that many years ago."
DeleteOk. This comment thing acts weird. So if there's double replies... oh well. 😂
ReplyDeleteAt least there's no android, stoned Keelber elf, or demonic smirking guy to censor you here.
Delete