Great story and I want to hear more. Mike Ness is one of my true heroes, he is pure rock and roll, through and through. I saw them again this past September and there is no question that he's still got it.
How I met Social Distortion. Old punks, know other old punks. I was at a show 100 years ago in Green Bay. An old Wisconsin Punk worked at Epitaph and was at the show, naturally we got together. He brought me to the hotel after, then everyone went to the casino. It might have just been a Ness show now that I think about it. Ask Phil Doran, I think he brought them.
I saw Social D in 88 at Blondies in Detroit. It was a ratty, dangerous club in a bad neighborhood. I wanted them to play Mainliner, which wasn’t on the very visible set list. So I started miming spiking my arm with dope, idiotically oblivious to the fact that Mike had an issue with it. Between songs he went off on me. I told him I didn’t know, that I just wanted to hear Mainliner. They played it and then Dennis, John and Chris wound up back at my house. My band opened for Social D the next two times they played Detroit at St. Andrew’s Hall Downtown. Haven’t spoken to Mike in years but I know he’d remember me.RIP Dennis, who was a great guy.
That's awesome! You already know my Jawbreaker story (I think I technically met them during that show at their merch booth), but how about that time I interviewed the Misfits?
Thanks for leaving space for folks in the comments. We share that: the comments are among the most important things going on over at my space, if not THE most important to me - as an author, I get real-time feedback from folks I really want to hear from, and for the readers, they are often rewarded with some clever addition or gentle correction.
In other words: real talk, this is fun and cool! Glad we're here.
About 5 years ago down the Oregon coast, I stopped at a closed thrift. From the free box out front I grabbed a brass-pinned three-hole-punched script for a Lou Grant episode called Executioner. Reading it in the car, I knew it was familiar and knew I had watched few minutes of Lou Grant ever. Upon googling I realized the reason I had watched this episode long ago, stopping while flipping through the channels, was because it featured a very attractive woman, Terri Nunn from Berlin, as the death row inmate. Also signed by Ed Asner. Of course on youtube
Love this. I have many met-the-band stories but a close-miss has stuck with me. A good friend worked for Delta at the Cincinnati airport (CVG) in the early 90s. He recognized The Jayhawks when they landed as I had turned him on on to Hollywood Town Hall. They had an afternoon to kill, so he mentioned his musician buddy who had a 74 VW Microbus. They were game for seeing the city and hanging out.
Alas, I was away for the day in grad school and returned home to several answering machine messages from Scott saying, "Dude, pick up your phone, The Jayhawks want to hang out with you!" Sigh...
No, he left several years later (early 2000s, I think) to pursue a late-in-life career change to follow his heart and become a horticulturalist. Quite a change!
Lucky man.
Thanks for the shout-out - 100-word stories are fun little exercises. And I'm glad the window was opened to ask you up.
lol. Me too!
Great story and I want to hear more. Mike Ness is one of my true heroes, he is pure rock and roll, through and through. I saw them again this past September and there is no question that he's still got it.
Thank you! I’m glad to hear he’s as good as ever. They’re coming out this way this summer (I think?), and I’ve been trying to decide if I want to go.
How I met Social Distortion. Old punks, know other old punks. I was at a show 100 years ago in Green Bay. An old Wisconsin Punk worked at Epitaph and was at the show, naturally we got together. He brought me to the hotel after, then everyone went to the casino. It might have just been a Ness show now that I think about it. Ask Phil Doran, I think he brought them.
These are the stories I’m here for!
I saw Social D in 88 at Blondies in Detroit. It was a ratty, dangerous club in a bad neighborhood. I wanted them to play Mainliner, which wasn’t on the very visible set list. So I started miming spiking my arm with dope, idiotically oblivious to the fact that Mike had an issue with it. Between songs he went off on me. I told him I didn’t know, that I just wanted to hear Mainliner. They played it and then Dennis, John and Chris wound up back at my house. My band opened for Social D the next two times they played Detroit at St. Andrew’s Hall Downtown. Haven’t spoken to Mike in years but I know he’d remember me.RIP Dennis, who was a great guy.
Great story and RIP Dennis indeed.
Totally different story if he had peed on you...
lol. True!
That's awesome! You already know my Jawbreaker story (I think I technically met them during that show at their merch booth), but how about that time I interviewed the Misfits?
https://goatfury.substack.com/p/meeting-the-misfits
I don’t remember this one! Thanks for sharing it here.
Thanks for leaving space for folks in the comments. We share that: the comments are among the most important things going on over at my space, if not THE most important to me - as an author, I get real-time feedback from folks I really want to hear from, and for the readers, they are often rewarded with some clever addition or gentle correction.
In other words: real talk, this is fun and cool! Glad we're here.
Same! We can all use more fun & cool right now.
About 5 years ago down the Oregon coast, I stopped at a closed thrift. From the free box out front I grabbed a brass-pinned three-hole-punched script for a Lou Grant episode called Executioner. Reading it in the car, I knew it was familiar and knew I had watched few minutes of Lou Grant ever. Upon googling I realized the reason I had watched this episode long ago, stopping while flipping through the channels, was because it featured a very attractive woman, Terri Nunn from Berlin, as the death row inmate. Also signed by Ed Asner. Of course on youtube
Holy shit. There used to be a decent place in Seaside that I’d stop by when we were there, but never found anything like this!
This is amazing! And the fact you managed to tell it in 100 words is even more impressive 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
It’s harder than I’d remembered!
Awesome story!
And trying not to repeat myself, but again I asked the burning question.... Is this another show we unknowingly saw together?
It’s gotta be! This was at Pine Street.
Love this. I have many met-the-band stories but a close-miss has stuck with me. A good friend worked for Delta at the Cincinnati airport (CVG) in the early 90s. He recognized The Jayhawks when they landed as I had turned him on on to Hollywood Town Hall. They had an afternoon to kill, so he mentioned his musician buddy who had a 74 VW Microbus. They were game for seeing the city and hanging out.
Alas, I was away for the day in grad school and returned home to several answering machine messages from Scott saying, "Dude, pick up your phone, The Jayhawks want to hang out with you!" Sigh...
Oh no! What might’ve been, right? Does he still work at Delta?
No, he left several years later (early 2000s, I think) to pursue a late-in-life career change to follow his heart and become a horticulturalist. Quite a change!