Tag Archives: Freddie Mercury

The Anniversary to Never Forget or: RIP

25 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by in KISS, Life as We Know It

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Salutations™!!

Yesterday was the 28th anniversary of not one but two major rock stars (at least in my mind). Let’s get the big elephant out of the way, first. Usually, I wait for this one and focus on the other and I will, still. The big one was Freddie Mercury, the first major music star to pass away from HIV/AIDS. Not long after there was a huge benefit/memorial concert that featured a star-studded lineup paying tribute to Freddie. It was a great show and he deserved it.

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Eric Carr (©unkown)

But, the one that meant more to me was the passing on the same exact day of Eric Carr, the drummer (still my favorite) of (again, still my favorite) KISS. I had had the flu on my birthday, four days prior and I took Nyquil and while I did “sleep” it was like I was in a comatose, half-awake state. I dreamt in green. I dreamt that Eric Carr had passed away. I had read that he had been sick but I didn’t know that he was that sick. He died of an aneurysm and complications of brain cancer.

The news had swirled around all day on MTV about Freddie’s passing. I had gone to the liquor store, as again, I had the flu on my birthday. It was my 21st birthday. So, I hadn’t yet felt like going to legally purchase alcohol for the first time. I didn’t know what to buy as I had never been to a liquor store before. I recognized the name Wild Turkey, so I bought that. I also went to the grocery store and bought a 2 liter of Moutain Dew.

I was settled in my bedroom/living room (still at Ma Rents’ house, much to their chagrin, I’m sure) and watching MTV when it came through that Eric had passed away. I stared at the TV and didn’t think about the dreaming until the next day. I pushed the Mt Dew out of the way and started taking huge chugs of Turkey.

Somehow, I ended up in my bathtub and the girlfriend I had at the time found me there. It was bad. I didn’t have a hangover. I’ve never had one.

But that was a huge day in KISStory and not one of the good ones. I have thought a lot about Eric and what would have happened over time if he had lived. Would the original lineup have gotten back together? I don’t think they would have. Perhaps with Ace, probably not with the makeup. I don’t know this for sure, but no one does. We never got to that point.

RIP Eric and Freddie. We miss the heck out of you both.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I can’t wait to get out. It’s been much too long, I don’t like being home. I’d rather play. This tour is going to be really big. We’re gonna have the biggest show we can have. It’s gonna be different not like the old KISS shows.” – Eric Carr

Remembering or: 27 Years Gone

28 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by in KISS, Life as We Know It, Records

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Salutations™!!

This past Saturday was the 27th anniversary of the passing of Paul Charles Caravello. You may not know who Paul Caravello is by name, at least that name. Most of the world, even I, knew him as Eric Carr. He was the second drummer for my favorite band, my musical lifeline, KISS. I didn’t find out until November 25, though.

Carr-promo

©(unknown – not owned by me)

I remember finding out all-to-well. But first…

Four days before, I turned 21 years old. Those same four days before, I came down with the flu. My 21st birthday, I had the flu. I was excited to get to go purchase alcohol for the first time and I was unable to. I was sick. I was throwing up. I was lightheaded, feverish and all around icky. I had a full-motion waterbed at the time and with that, I wasn’t going to get into bed and get even sicker from trying to rest.

I spent my birthday night and the following three nights sleeping on Ma ‘Rents’ couch and on the second night, I took NyQuil for the first time ever. It was the green gel-tab kind. When I slept that night, I never felt like I was asleep, but I dreamt weird stuff and everything was in green. It was so surreal. The only thing that I remember dreaming about was that Eric Carr died. I awoke the next morning sweating — partially from the flu and partially because that was an awful dream — and felt weird all day. Another two nights passed and I was better.

On the 25th, I made my way to the liquor store and was overwhelmed by what I saw. I had never been in a liquor store before. I didn’t know what to buy, didn’t know what anything was, didn’t know anything about drinkin’ no liquor. I saw something that I recognized which was Wild Turkey. I had never imbibed any liquor so I just grabbed some of “The Dirty Bird” and made my way to Food Lion to buy a 2 liter of Mountain Dew to drink with it. “Chase it,” whatever that meant.

To my mother and father, if you are reading this part, please forgive me. I know it’s no surprise (because my dad found my stuff later), but I settled on my couch, in my room, in the basement of my parents’ house and took a swig of Turkey and followed that with a swig of Dew. Turkey. Dew. Turkey. Dew. Turkey… oh, MTV News is coming on.

Tabitha Soren told us the news that Eric Carr, the drummer for KISS had passed away at the age of 41. I stared at the screen for a long time. I was starting to buzz a little at this point. I stared a while longer. I turned to my coffee table within a few feet from me and stared at the Wild Turkey and its citrusy companion. I pushed the Dew to the side and turned up the bottle of Turkey.

I drank almost a whole fifth right then. I got plastered. I ended up on the bed, talking to a friend of mine when my girlfriend at the time came over and I somehow found myself suddenly in the shower, clothed, dry and drunk. I slept it off.

But, the next day I started looking in the newspaper about Eric’s passing. I was glued to MTV for more news. But, not a lot of details came. As devastating as that was to me, as a KISS fan, as an Eric Carr fan, the news of his passing was mostly overshadowed by the passing of another, higher profile figure, Farrokh Bulsara, known to the world as Freddie Mercury. Freddie was the first major music star to succumb to the plague of AIDS, only one day after confirming what the media had been hypothesizing for almost a year.

I get it, Freddie’s death was high profile, for sure. I hated that either one of them had to die, but I thought it was extra sad that Eric passed on the same day, or same week as Freddie. I would have liked to have had a little more coverage of his passing, but then again, maybe it wouldn’t have been any different. Everyone knows Freddie’s story, heck it’s now a major biopic. But, to me, there was a lot to love about Eric.

When Peter Criss left KISS (however you want to say he left – fired, quit, etc.) in 1980, a search went out for a new drummer. Big name drummers (even Mick Fleetwood, so was the rumor) auditioned for the part. But, Gene, Paul and Ace, for the most part, wanted someone who wasn’t known. They wanted to keep up the mystique of identity. Paul Caravello was one of the auditionees and really, wasn’t the best. But, he asked for their autograph, so the story goes, and that endeared the rest of the band to give him a shot.

There was already a Paul in the band, so he chose Eric Carr as his new name and after some tweaking, he became the character The Fox, replacing Peter’s green motif with an autumnal orange/yellow/brown motif. Eric brought a harder-edged drumming style and while he technically debuted at one show in the US, made his true debut on the World Tour, specifically Australia. The fans took to him immediately. At least, most of them did. I did. I didn’t care one way or another about Peter at that time.

So, it was time for KISS to go back to the studio. The result was Music from ‘The Elder.’ I am pretty sure that’s not what Eric thought he was signing up for. There were some rockin’ parts, yes, but for the most part, this was not a “rockin'” album. He even played a little acoustic guitar on “Under the Rose” which he got a writing credit for. They didn’t really tour for that because it was such a “disaster” (I don’t agree).

They came back with a vengeance on the next album, Creatures of the Night and then took off their makeup for Lick It Up. Animalize, Asylum, Crazy Nights, Smashes Thrashes and Hits (in which he recut the lead vox for “Beth” and, in my opinion, did a better job of) and Hot in the Shade followed. I got to see him on the HITS tour and he did a wild drum solo. I loved it. That was my first concert and I was amazed by his drumming.

About six months after I saw that show, Eric got sick. Eventually, he was diagnosed with heart cancer in April 1991. He begged Paul and Gene to let him do stuff with them but they made sure that he got the treatment he needed. He wasn’t doing well. He did get Paul and Gene to let him shoot the video for “God Gave Rock and Roll To You.” He wore a wig as his hair had fallen out from the chemo.

In September 1991, KISS was on the MTV Video Music Awards. Eric played with them for that. It was his last performance with the band.  He had an aneurysm not long after that. Several days later he suffered a brain hemorrhage and never woke up. He then passed away on November 24.

I still miss Eric. I love his era with the band the best, even though it’s not my favorite music, at least all the time. He brought something to the band they had been missing. He fought and scratched with Gene and (especially) Paul. He had a great relationship with Ace, although he only played on one album with him. I have always wondered, which I’m sure most KISS fans have, what would the band have done had he lived? Would they have gone back to makeup? Would they have kept him instead of Peter with the reunion? How would the music evolve over time? Many things pop through my head on that subject.

And, I still think about that day in November 1991 when I heard the news; the emptiness I felt and the sadness, as well. Not only sadness that he was gone and that Freddie was gone, but that they died on the same day. Freddie got the glory and he deserved it, but Eric should have gotten more than he did. I don’t blame anyone for that, just “well darns.” Play on Little Caesar and know that we still miss you down here!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Ten million stories in the city. Ten million backs against the wall. Desperation’s out tonight, you can cut it with a knife. Everybody wants to have it all. Well, they tell you that the world is rough. But, they never rocked it hard enough. Hey, little Caesar! Nobody messing with you. Hey, little Caesar! Go show ’em what you can do!” – “Little Caesar” (Simmons/Carr/Mitchell)

Silence of the Starman or: Rest in Peace Thin White Duke

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Life as We Know It

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Salutations™!!

This is probably a very predictable post. I went to bed at 1:30am and all that I saw on Facebook was people talking football; right wing nutbars talking nothing about people on their side, only about how bad Obama is, how Hilary has done this; leftists waxing (and waning) about the absurdity of Donald Trump leading the polls; the overused “If I say hello, I wonder how many people will say hello back” baloney; the usual fodder that is the Book of Faces (that’s also way overused, I apologize). Nothing out of the ordinary. I listened to some Elvis Costello to write the review for the Rolling Stone Top 500 of All Time that I do from time to time (wink), just to pass some time.

Then as I was waking up this morning from The BCPF’s alarm spouting its rousing evil, I heard the awful news on the local “news” outlet. I snapped my head up, trying to clear my old-contacted (that I rarely remove), fogged-over eyes to see if I heard that correctly. I had. The rest of the morning has been a bit of a bummer.cd7aa249-8a20-4643-89b1-b01654384202

Whilst I came into him late, which is what I can pretty much say about anyone that isn’t KISS, I’d say that I was a Bowie fan. Is David Bowie anywhere near the top of my list? Absolutely not. I’m not going to sit here and do what many people do and write, talk or insinuate anything about the recently passed by talking about how influential he is, how he changed my life or how he’s the greatest that ever lived.

He was great and he was on a level all by himself. He was what he needed to be. He was a constantly evolving revolutionary. He shocked. He was an enigma. People didn’t know how to handle him. Was he a man, a woman, both? He did that before Prince was even out of school. He was a spaceman, an alien, part of The (Tin) Machine. He’s been everything he needed to be. For some, that was what they needed him to be, too. There are some that would say that he changed their lives. We all have something in our lives that is exactly the same way. It brings us out of what may be ailing us. Music has always been that way to me. His ability and willingness to evolve also enabled musicians, both contemporary and those to come later, to do the same thing.

What may (or may not) shock people is when I tell them that my first exposure to Bowie, at all, was “Blue Jean,” and at that time, I hated that song. I lived in West Virginia and we didn’t have radio that played all this stuff. Until the early ’80s, there wasn’t a true popular music station where I was. Plus, remember that I didn’t listen to anything at all, other than KISS, until around 1979 and then it wasn’t until 1983 or so before I started stepping outside the KISS realm to seek out music. We got “Night Tracks” on TBS around 1984 and that was his latest single. I admit, I was still skittish about anything outside my kabuki-greased heroes, so whilst I’m not proud of my thinking back then, that’s just the way it was.

There are plenty of his “hits” that I don’t care for. Other than the guitar riff, I don’t care anything about “Rebel Rebel.” “Young Americans,” “The Jean Genie,” “Suffragette City” and “Golden Years” are also a few I just don’t like. I know the duet with Mick Jagger was probably a publicity stunt but I’ve never cared about “Dancing in the Street.” The duet with Queen, however, I love. Have always and will always.

All of that being said, just as I did with So from Peter Gabriel, I have made a push to do Bowie with the Vagabond Saints Society. The difference is, I don’t want to do an album by Bowie, I want to sing the Best of Bowie album. This would require some of those that I don’t like but it would be worth it. VSS doesn’t do “greatest hits” albums, though. The obvious choice, in my mind, would be The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. I get that absolutely and I’d be up for that, as well. I’ve gotten to where I listen to the Best of Bowie album a good deal. I really dig that.

I told a few of the songs I don’t like, so I’ll talk very briefly of the songs that I do like. I’m a fan of: “Space Oddity,” “Starman,” “The Man Who Sold the World,”Ziggy Stardust,” “Fame,” “Heroes,” “Changes,” “Ashes to Ashes,” “Fashion,” “Let’s Dance,” “China Girl,” “Modern Love” and yes, even “Blue Jean.” I can listen to those without getting tired of them.

Bowie was one year to the day older than Ma Père. They both were born on January 8, Bowie in 1947, Ma Père, 1948. Elvis was born on that day in 1935. Bowie had a secret battle with cancer over the last eighteen months. His family knew. The last album, Blackstar, released just this past Friday (his birthday), has gathered positive reviews I haven’t had a chance to listen, yet, but I liked the last one, even though I only listened once. I think it was fitting but the last single (and video) from that album was entitled “Lazarus.” It seems that most lyrics on this album is a foretelling of his eventual death. It was planned to be his goodbye from what I can tell. I will listen to it, perhaps today, in honor of that. No cancer is good. Liver cancer has to be really awful. I believe I have a former cousin-in-law who passed from that. He was strong and I’d venture held on as long as possible. Thoughts to Iman and his family. Being as I’m non-religious, I couldn’t say if he went to “heaven” but I bet no matter where he is in the Great Wherever that he and Freddie and John Lennon are somewhere writing music together. Rest well, Thin White Duke. Shine on.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles, I’m feeling very still. And, I think my spaceship knows which way to go. Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows. Ground Control to Major Tom: Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong. Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom?” – “Space Oddity” (Bowie)