HVD!

February 14th – Happy Valentine’s Day!

That’s it. No flowers, no card, no money spent topping up some fat-cat’s bank account, a fat-cat who’s making money hand-over-fist by flogging Valentines Day cards, Easter cards, Mother’s Day cards, Father’s Day cards, Get Well cards, Just Passed cards, First Sexual Experience cards…just made that up, sorry…although, give them time. 

So, this Valentine greeting is just a personal one from me to you. H.V. D. X! 
It’s just I get sick of seeing Easter stuff in the shops in January and Christmas stuff in the shops in August…don’t you? Indeed, the only saving grace about Christmas cards is that, in the most part, charities get money from them and you get to recycle them after use…miserable kill-joy curmudgeon? Moi?

These event markers (cards) are all about timing, I guess. The kind of timing that Janis Ian showed when she released her track, ‘At Seventeen’ and got hundred’s of Valentine’s cards on this day in 1977; a lovely, storytelling song that’s well worth the listen, it’s even been used as a teaching aid for young, educationally troubled kids…that was timing. Did you see what I did there, slippin’ an’ slidin’ from one subject to another….? That was good timing.

What was not good timing, however, was the double whammy of Steppenwolf, on this day in 1972, being gifted with the honour of ‘Steppenwolf Day’ by the mayor of Los Angeles, but not being there to receive it because they were announcing their break up in New York on the very same day, saying, and I quote; 

“We were locked into an image and style of music and there was nothing for us to look forward to.” 

Well what a fuckin’ shame. Such a piss-poor life you must have led up ‘til then; record sales of 25 million, eight gold albums, twelve hit singles, international first-class travel, five-star fuss, money, sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, hero-worshipping fans, freebies all the way…gosh, I can see where the trouble lay, those storm clouds of yet more recording sessions, tours and royalties gathering on the horizon were they…? So difficult for you all; bless, I understand. 

You’d think, from the announcement, they’d been forced into the recording studio at gun-point. Spoilt rock stars, world’s full of ’em. Mind you, there was a certain amount of comic timing on display when their bass player, Nick St. Nicholas (shades of ‘Spinal Tap’ right there) turned up on stage pissed and dressed in a bunny costume and proceeded to play the set out of tune (yup, ‘Spinal Tap’…). They fired him…so, not only had Steppenwolf lost their sense of musical camaraderie but their sense of humour too by the sounds… (Bass players, eh? – see January 3rd). 

The only good thing to come out of this sad tale of the loss of a band’s identity was that one of their managers, a Mr. D. Pesnell, apparently put Phil Spector (see February 10th) in hospital for three days ‘cos they hated each other so much. During a ‘new-improved Steppenwolf’ recording session that Spector had taken charge of they had a major fist-fight. The charges against Pesnell were dropped when it emerged that Spector had instigated the fight…our Phil, eh? What a chump...must’ve left his gun at home that day… Day! I’ve just thought! ‘Steppenwolf Day’!

Yet another greeting’s card opportunity going begging…