Chapter 2
Decadence
I met a fellow in Louisville who was a veteran of the secular rock side. His
name was Leee Black Childers. Leee had done photography for all of the big
secular mags in the 70's, and had worked with many punk and rock-a-billy bands
in London. Leee was instrumental and one of the driving forces that introduced
punk to America. His roots went back to bands like the Sex Pistols, Billy Idol
and Generation X. He had worked with David Bowie early in his career.
I was determined to have Leee introduce me to some of the big names in the rock
industry, hoping that I could find someone willing to take a chance on a young
Christian band. Leee and I drove to NYC in my new Chevy Chevette. It was a long
grueling ride, but I thought it would be worth it. We hit some of the thickest
fog I had ever seen. Even though I would have continued driving, Leee said he
would rather stop for the night and get some sleep. Leee did not drive, so I had
to drive the entire way.
It was somewhat a miserable trip up there. Leee forced me to listen to hours of
punk and rock-a-billy music while complaining it was hot in the car. I froze as
I drove; however, we finally made it to the Big Apple.
NYC was a fascinating place. It was like something out of a Science Fiction
novel. Being from Kentucky, I had never seen anything like this before. Leee was
more popular than I ever imagined. People would stop him on the street like he
was a celebrity. Maybe he was and I never knew it. I was told by a friend of
Leee's that he was the man who brought decadence into rock music. I quickly
found out that it was probably true.
Leee gave me the full tour of NY; the sleazy nightclubs, and the famous ones,
like The Limelight, where all of the entertainers went to be seen and
photographed. I saw things in the Big Apple that could not be written in this
book. It all soon became disgusting, and I had my doubts about if I really
wanted to play music at all.
It seemed that the people who could launch a career were the perverted mutants
of the city. These appeared to be the kind of people that you only see at night.
Maybe they were normal, regular people during the day with ordinary jobs, but at
night there was a metamorphosis and a transformation into something very dark
and sinister. My Christian upbringing rejected the idea about selling out to
these sick individuals.
Leee, in all of his bizarre ways, seemed to be more normal than the rest. He was
like a little boy who was not being supervised, but he had a suave and a
street-smart attitude that kept him alive. I was introduced to Angela Bowie
while I was taking in the surroundings. She and Leee had known one another for
many years. She was a very nice person, but seemed to be very engulfed with some
family problems concerning her child and her ex-husband, David Bowie. Out of
respect, I said very little and listened very carefully. I was a stranger here,
and I really did not know these people very well, so I was careful not to offend
anyone. It was some type of experience for this boy from the Blue Grass State.
One evening, as I was moving my car from one side of the street to the other
because of street sweepers, I was stopped and frisked by three police officers
who said I should not be out at night alone in this part of town. They checked
my I.D., said that I did not sound like I was from KY, and they let me go. I was
introduced to a woman named Cheri Vanilla, which at the time I thought was her
real name. She was a nightclub singer who, from my understanding, had been in
several "men's" magazines. I met so many people I can't remember their names,
and at the time, they all seemed impressive and important, but since then I've
never heard anything much about any of them, with the exception of Angela Bowie,
who years later was still having trouble with her ex and appearing on TV talk
shows to discuss it.
I stayed in NY only about two weeks and drove home. Later on, I would return to
NYC with Leee and fly to London to meet Angie there, in hopes that she could get
us looked at by a record company. She was way too self-consumed and busy to
really do more than be a tour guide for a day in London. I left London as
quickly as I had come and focused on the Christian market. The secular market
did not want us without compromise, and I could not find any holes in the
Christian market to crawl through. We had decided we would just keep doing what
we were doing, which was playing locally in Louisville.