Roger Zee Memoirs
"Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician"
Richard Thorne 7/05/20
In 1980, I joined a burgeoning, original NYC Punk band on bass called Richard Thorne and the Side Effects. We recorded a vinyl EP, (sadly I own nothing to play it on now), and worked all the usual Manhattan clubs, and then some -- CBGB, Copperfields, Max's Kansas City, etc. The "Then Some" derives from Rich's openly Gay identity and connections. Welcome to another excerpt from my memoirs, "Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician."
I've never cared how people indulge their sexuality as long as they do it consensually -- safe words and all, LOL! Hey, I rehearsed with multiple bands in Giorgio Gomelsky's (one-time manager of The Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones) Manhattan S&M Club. I still dream about some of the things I witnessed there!
Before our wedding, my ex-wife, Gwendolyn B Armstrong and I lived in an apartment on 26th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. We friended a number of Gays in the building, including a lovely, male actor couple we dubbed "The Johns" who we remain in touch with to this day. We all ended up celebrating many Christmases together. They eventually adopted a beautiful daughter who just graduated high school! But another obviously Gay man there spent all his time denying his identity. You could literally see the tension spilling from his body...
Richard Thorne lived with Eddie, a very handsome, preppy, nice, and supportive man. With their connections, we got to play some very cool Manhattan Gay clubs. Did you ever see the movie, "Airheads," with Adam Sandler, Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi? Check out the final scene where the whole band plays a prison gig dressed in orange jumpsuits.
The film totally ripped that off from my gig with Richard Thorne and the Side Effects at The Underground in Manhattan! Rich packed the club, mostly with guys in black leather. At the time, that didn't ring any warning bells, LOL! The crowd really dug us and slowly inched closer to the band. And I totally played up to it with my stage moves. All of a sudden, I noticed these two scantily clad, "Macho" guys smiling at me, copying my steps, all the while zooming in closer and closer. Suddenly the light went off in my head! I immediately backed off, hugged the rear stage wall, and drastically cut down my gyrations, LOL!
When the set ended, I slinked off the stage and made a beeline for the dressing room.I just didn't want to lead anyone on, haha! So on this gorgeous, but sad Covid-19 lockdown of the 2020 July 4th weekend, I amuse myself by learning the bass lines to The Ramones "Greatest Hits" all the while laughing at my astonishing music career! One <3
YouTube - I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
©2020 Roger Zee