Episode 654: Pearl Harbour

[00:00:01] I'm doing okay this week. You know, I still, obviously maybe your listeners don't know

[00:00:18] that I have lung cancer so when I do chemo which I'm still doing it makes me really sick

[00:00:25] but this week I didn't do any so that's why I feel good today. So yeah, I'm having a

[00:00:30] really hard time telling the truth and the saddest thing is that the doctor said they

[00:00:35] don't know if or when I'll be able to sing again so that makes me sad because I have

[00:00:40] a country band that I put together and I was really enjoying that. So we'll see what happens

[00:00:47] Brian but I'm worried and I don't feel great but I'm here and I'm trying and you know

[00:00:55] it'll be okay. When was the last time you were able to actually sing in front of

[00:00:59] people? That was in August I did my last show and then right after the show I found out that

[00:01:07] I had cancer so it was sad because I had a bunch of shows planned and I had gotten a residency

[00:01:14] at this country and western place that's nearby that's really cool so I was just really happy

[00:01:21] everything was going my way and then all of a sudden the rug got pulled out but you know

[00:01:26] that happens to people and that's just the way it goes you know and I understand that. At that

[00:01:33] point it was doctor's orders to just not sing anymore or is it more an issue of having to sort

[00:01:39] of perform and be on the road? No it was well it was doctor's orders because my next show was

[00:01:47] three weeks after that one the last show and during that three weeks I had to get a surgery

[00:01:54] because as soon as they said you have cancer it was like you have to have a surgery immediately

[00:02:00] and then everything is immediately the radiation the chemo and all that stuff so I mean I'm glad

[00:02:07] that they were able to do everything immediately but yeah that's the reason why I couldn't do

[00:02:12] anything after that you know it's because they said we have to start this stuff. Not that there

[00:02:18] was ever a good time to find out but you know it's a shame that you weren't aware that your

[00:02:25] last performance for a while was going to be your last performance for a while. I know I

[00:02:30] had no idea because I had no symptoms and my doctor just said have you ever had a lung cancer

[00:02:37] screening and I said no and then she said well I think you should get one and I did and

[00:02:42] it came out positive and it just shocked the heck out of me. Yeah jeez I mean if I can ask I think

[00:02:50] this these sorts of conversations are useful people for people who you know yeah you didn't

[00:02:57] have any symptoms did your doctor see something or this was just a routine screening? It was a

[00:03:05] screening but to tell you the truth like a few months before I had the screening I was getting

[00:03:14] short of breath and they said they gave me a breath test and said that I had the beginnings

[00:03:20] of emphysema you know COPD so that's all I thought I had and then and then I had been

[00:03:29] given a an inhaler for that and the inhaler worked fine so if ever I was you know getting

[00:03:35] short of breath I would just do this inhaler and it was fine so yeah it was sort of out of

[00:03:40] the blue that she said you know what you should do this test but really she I think

[00:03:45] she saved my life because the cancer the tumor in my lung has not spread and it's very

[00:03:56] aggressive they said the type of tumor it is and so you know had we waited much longer

[00:04:03] it would have spread I'd be in real trouble you know so for all the bad luck the good luck far

[00:04:11] out what is it you know? Things like this definitely put things into perspective obviously

[00:04:17] the best luck of all is not having to deal with this but you know at a certain point when

[00:04:21] you're going through it you do recognize that things absolutely could be worse.

[00:04:25] Absolutely and if anybody out there is listening who has cancer or has a friend or a relative

[00:04:33] that has cancer you know we all are aware that nowadays they have so many new drugs

[00:04:41] and different things that they didn't used to have so that you know there's a lot of a lot

[00:04:46] of help out there to keep people living longer and another thing you know since we're doing this and

[00:04:54] people are listening and if anyone has cancer something that really helps me is music so if

[00:05:01] I'm really having a bad time you know I'll just lie down and put on some of my favorite

[00:05:06] records and that really helps and so you know since we're doing a musical show I would say

[00:05:14] to anybody you know music can help you through the worst of times and that's one of the really

[00:05:19] great things about music you know? Nothing of this magnitude at all but I was dealing

[00:05:25] with some health things and then you know it's just some standard depression during

[00:05:30] the pandemic and it really was it was that that's what finally brought me around. I got

[00:05:35] to a point for a long time where I just couldn't listen to music. I had depression

[00:05:38] during that too. Yeah I know and then all of a sudden uh yeah things turned around and I

[00:05:46] I found that listening to music especially really loud I'm lucky because where I live I

[00:05:52] don't have any neighbors so I can play stuff loud but yeah music helped me through that

[00:05:57] pandemic that's for sure that is for sure but I'm sorry you went through depression so did I

[00:06:03] I think a lot of people did don't you? Oh yeah I say that knowing that I'm I'm absolutely not

[00:06:08] unique. What was the what was the overall experience of the last four years like for you?

[00:06:16] So I live in the desert now I moved from Los Angeles where I lived for

[00:06:20] I'm from San Francisco then I moved to Los Angeles for 21 years then I retired and

[00:06:26] moved back to San Francisco and found that it was too expensive and to sort of run down and

[00:06:33] not the city that I had grown to love so then I said where am I going to go and then I decided

[00:06:40] to move to the dentist to the desert not to the dentist and um and uh I'm glad I live

[00:06:49] out here because it's really beautiful there's mountains palm trees um really beautiful things

[00:06:56] to look at so all during the pandemic I took a walk every single day to keep myself

[00:07:05] mentally okay and then since the you know the pandemic um you know I music helped me

[00:07:14] because I put a band together and rehearsing is the most fun I ever have I'm one of those

[00:07:20] people that loves to rehearse because there's no pressure I get to sing for hours um I'm laughing

[00:07:27] and having fun so the music really really helped um you know I had a lot of issues

[00:07:34] one of my brothers died from cancer and you know during that time and so there's a lot

[00:07:39] of things that weren't so great but um I got through them just like one does and

[00:07:47] yeah so everything was going well and until now but um I'm also happy to be in the desert

[00:07:55] and be sick because if I was living in Los Angeles or San Francisco I wouldn't get

[00:08:03] the kind of health care that I'm getting out here the desert is full of old rich people

[00:08:09] myself not included I'm old but not rich but so there's a lot of good doctors and um

[00:08:16] there's a lot all my doctors and everyone who's taking care of me have just been fantastic

[00:08:23] and it wouldn't be that way if I was living in the city it'd be a lot harder I'd have to

[00:08:27] travel farther I'd have to deal with a lot more people um you know it's it's I'm lucky that I'm

[00:08:36] out here a lot of what you just said resonated with me I'm actually I live in New York now but

[00:08:41] I'm from Fremont originally so you know obviously spent a lot of time in San Francisco and I

[00:08:46] go back fairly frequently for work and family and it's just it's hard it's hard to see it is

[00:08:53] hard to see it made me so depressed and I couldn't believe how the you know I feel sorry for

[00:09:00] homeless people just like everyone does but they have taken over that city and it's filthy

[00:09:08] and uh it's not nice it's not good it made me sad because San Francisco is so beautiful

[00:09:16] it is and not anymore hopefully they'll do a turnaround I'm not sure when that'll happen

[00:09:24] or how I'm in New York and I've been here for close to 20 years and when I first moved here

[00:09:30] there are all these you know there ends up being this sort of strange nostalgia for

[00:09:35] New York back in you know the kind of the grimy you know the 70s and the 80s and yeah

[00:09:41] I think these things are are cyclical you know San Francisco is a wonderful beautiful magical

[00:09:47] place so you know I think that it certainly has the power to change but there is a strange

[00:09:52] thing and I don't know if you've ever experienced this in your life of having

[00:09:55] nostalgia for a time when things were like perhaps markedly worse for you

[00:10:02] oh of course I have nostalgia for all the times especially because we're talking about an

[00:10:09] album that I made 44 years ago yeah I had the most fun I've ever had in my life so yeah I long

[00:10:16] for the old days when I was having a ball but I also am very thankful that uh you know my

[00:10:22] whole life I've had uh I've lived in great places and had a lot of fun and I can't complain

[00:10:30] about anything but I I long for the good old days sometimes one mustn't dwell on the old

[00:10:37] days you know I know that we forget the bad side of things right you know yeah yeah yeah

[00:10:44] yeah it's the grass is always greener and absolutely when you leave some place you forget

[00:10:50] about the bad and you only remember the good stuff but that's nice though that's that's a

[00:10:54] good thing about uh you know how the brain works is that it does cotton onto the good

[00:11:00] stuff and tries to put leave the bad stuff behind you've been in London uh Los Angeles

[00:11:08] obviously San Francisco is a smaller city but it is a city did you expect to be living

[00:11:14] away from the city like this at any point you mean like in the desert where I am now

[00:11:19] no never I never thought it'd be my cup of tea but you know I'm I'm uh

[00:11:26] uh you know older now and uh you know I'm pushing 70 I mean not really but yes and

[00:11:36] after you know experiencing so much hardships in different cities it's really nice to just be

[00:11:46] calm and relaxed and have everything easy I never thought that I would want that but I do

[00:11:53] especially being a single female you know it's not easy um always having to look out

[00:12:00] out of your shoulder look behind your shoulder and just be wary of things all the time and

[00:12:07] being out in the desert it's very quiet and relatively safe you can smell trouble coming

[00:12:12] a mile away so it's not like living in the city Los Angeles was tougher than San Francisco

[00:12:19] really as far as crime and all that stuff goes but no I never ever thought that I would go live

[00:12:26] in the desert but I'm happy to be here and I don't think I'll move those times that I've been

[00:12:32] in in the desert you know especially I'm guessing based on this conversation that you're

[00:12:36] somewhere in California still perhaps oh yes Southern California Coachella Valley

[00:12:42] okay yeah you know Palm Springs yeah absolutely yeah so I don't know there's something I've never

[00:12:50] been able to put my finger on it and maybe you can explain this to me but you know I had spent

[00:12:56] for various reasons spent some time in you know the Nevada desert and you know down in

[00:13:01] Southern California and there's something I know this word gets I was gonna say this word gets

[00:13:06] used a lot but there is something but when I moved to it's true right it's true I said

[00:13:12] I hate this word magical but the desert is magical I don't know why I mean Southern California

[00:13:22] desert is all Native American territory and I can feel that and Palm Springs is all Native

[00:13:30] American land and where I live I live right up it is mountains everywhere so the mountains are

[00:13:38] right behind me I see them every day I walk my dog in the desert every day I look at palm trees

[00:13:46] every day and it makes me and I know this is really corny but it makes me say prayers of

[00:13:53] thanks every day and I never used to be like that you know but you can just feel all this

[00:13:58] stuff and just looking at it and being there and you can feel in your heart that a whole lot of

[00:14:05] stuff has happened in this space you know and Native American vibes or whatever you call them

[00:14:14] all around and they're really strong and really beautiful and if you try to get in tune with them

[00:14:21] you have a better life I think this is what I've learned you know and I like that

[00:14:29] would you say that as you've gotten older that you become a more spiritual person

[00:14:33] yeah because I have a lot to be thankful for like I said you know I'm uh I'm 69 so I'll be

[00:14:40] 70 in a year and I never thought I would get to live to be this old you know being a rock

[00:14:46] and roller I mean I never was a drug addict or anything like that but you know touring all

[00:14:52] the time and doing crazy things and getting drunk and blah-de-blah and you see a lot of

[00:14:58] people your age dropping like flies sometimes in that scene yes yes and I mean uh uh I know

[00:15:06] you can't see me because my computer is broken but um if you look on Instagram you can see what

[00:15:12] I'm like and what my life is like and I still feel like a kid because you know uh they say you're

[00:15:19] always a kid until you have one and I never have so I still yeah I feel young out here and I

[00:15:28] just feel young at heart and really really uh sort of thankful for all that and so yes I do

[00:15:34] say my prayers of thanks whereas when I was young I was always too busy and

[00:15:39] too worried about all the wrong things and stuff like that as young people do

[00:15:46] in terms of being grateful and being thankful is there a sense in which that's a direct result

[00:15:53] of watching your brother go through what he went through and then going through a version

[00:15:57] of it yourself uh no yes and no I mean today I say I will be thankful because

[00:16:05] I mean my cancer so far is not terminal knock on wood which is my head um I mean I saw my mother

[00:16:14] die cancer two of my brothers died of cancer my father and one of other of my brothers had

[00:16:21] cancer but they didn't die from it so I have come from a big family and every single person

[00:16:27] has had cancer so um there's three of us left and uh but the thankfulness mostly comes from

[00:16:38] uh just being happy to be alive and to have so many nice friends

[00:16:45] and to have a nice place to live I mean I don't have a lot of money or anything like

[00:16:50] that but money certainly doesn't buy you happiness I've learned that very well

[00:16:57] not through experience but from watching other people because I've never been rich but I

[00:17:02] certainly have always had you know I've always had to work and uh and not except a few times

[00:17:10] you know like when I was on Warner Brothers and when I was in London I didn't have to have

[00:17:14] a job I was just doing music but um yeah I'm just thankful uh for all the things that I have

[00:17:21] because I see so many people who do not have the life that I have this actually gets right

[00:17:26] back to what we were talking about before about forgetting some of the um you know

[00:17:30] the the negative things that happened at the time and listening to this record now um it you

[00:17:37] know it's it's recently been I think as we're recording this it was reissued last month

[00:17:44] it sounds like an incredible experience you know you're surrounded by all of these amazing

[00:17:50] musicians from great bands at the time but yeah but it also sounds like Warner Brothers

[00:17:56] this major label that you're on in spite of everything didn't give you the support you needed

[00:18:02] no they were really mad at me and I can understand it in a way but they you know

[00:18:09] I was in my 20s and I was a real rebel and I was not about to do anything I didn't want to do

[00:18:17] I'm still like that I've never changed I won't do anything I don't want to do people are you

[00:18:22] know say if you did this you would make more money or if you did if you covered this song

[00:18:28] or if you wore these clothes or if you did this or did that I'm not interested in any of

[00:18:34] those things I'm interested in in playing and making music on my terms and so when I was in

[00:18:42] London I uh you know did meet all these great people but it wasn't because of Warner Brothers

[00:18:49] it was because of Cosmo Vinyl Cosmo is a guy who is the personal manager of The Clash

[00:18:57] and Ian Jury and the Blockheads well I met Cosmo in San Francisco when Ian Jury and the

[00:19:02] Blockheads were rehearsing in the same rehearsal studio that I was in and so I met this crazy guy

[00:19:10] with purple hair in the hallway and he said you know you're the second most beautiful girl I've

[00:19:16] seen today and I was like no who is this nut it was a did you ask who the first was

[00:19:23] no I just said I said I get out of here whatever he said and then he said you want

[00:19:30] to see the best rock and roll bands in the world and I was like oh brother I said who's that

[00:19:36] and he said ever heard of Ian Jury and the Blockheads and I said yes I said oh my god

[00:19:45] because uh our band had played with Elvis Costello in the attractions and so and it

[00:19:51] was Elvis's first tour and so I became friends with them because they were they stayed

[00:19:57] in San Francisco for a couple of weeks rehearsing and all that kind of stuff so I got to know those

[00:20:04] folks and I showed them around and they told me about stiff records and they told me about

[00:20:09] Nick Lowe and Ian Jury and Graham Parker and all these wonderful people reckless Eric so

[00:20:14] I was aware of them all and so I I so when I when he said Ian Jury I was like I said

[00:20:20] oh my gosh so I went and saw some of their rehearsal and it was phenomenal I mean

[00:20:29] those guys are great and so the next thing I knew I became friends with Cosmo and then we started

[00:20:36] dating and then I start I went on some of the tours with Ian Jury and the Blockheads

[00:20:41] and then he introduced me to the Clash and and during all this time this was 77 78 79

[00:20:51] so in 78 I had Pearl Harbor and Explosions and we signed to Warner Brothers and made this album

[00:20:58] and did all this touring and Cosmo knew I wasn't happy with that band because I didn't

[00:21:05] like the kind of music that we made you know there's three people who liked Jazz Fusion

[00:21:12] against me who hates Jazz Fusion and so you know these guys would present me with music

[00:21:19] say write lyrics to this and it was hard because I didn't like the music so Cosmo said why

[00:21:25] don't you move to London and I can and Ian and the Blockheads and the Clash will back you

[00:21:32] up and I was like nah he said yeah they really like you so sure the two best bands in the

[00:21:39] world are going to back you up I know and it happened I moved to London as soon as the

[00:21:45] Pearl Harbor and Explosions tour finished the tour with the Explosions was fun because we

[00:21:52] we were the sport act for the Talking Heads and I love the Talking Heads so that was fun

[00:21:59] but then you know leaving San Francisco and leaving you know my band and going to London

[00:22:06] was really scary but right away he hooked me up with the Clash and the Blockheads and

[00:22:13] I just had a blast and Warner Brothers were mad at me because they spent a fortune on Pearl

[00:22:20] Harbor and the Explosions and then I quit the band and moved to London they were like

[00:22:25] oh my gosh because they were ready to really you know make Pearl Harbor and the Explosions

[00:22:31] a really big deal and so when I handed them Don't Follow Me on Lost Two they hated it

[00:22:39] it's nutty speed it up rockabilly it's this it's not commercial as they said it has no hits

[00:22:48] and then in 1980 I'm sure no one had any idea even like pre-Brian Sets or no one had any

[00:22:53] idea what to do with anything remotely rockabilly exactly exactly but the Brits were really cool

[00:23:00] because like the the British Warner Brothers they liked it and there was a small rockabilly

[00:23:09] scene that was that was happening in London because the Teddy Boys scene didn't really

[00:23:17] ever go away but it was not that popular so when I went there and Nigel Dixon had a band

[00:23:26] he was my rhythm guitar player and my songwriting partner and Cosmo hooked me up with him

[00:23:31] he had a rockabilly band called Whirlwind and they were fantastic and you go to the

[00:23:38] flea market and there'd be all these record stalls that had a million rockabilly records

[00:23:43] I'd never heard of it was just it was fantastic so yeah and then I handed them this record that

[00:23:51] they didn't like and then I said and you cannot put the Clash and the Blockhead's names on

[00:23:57] there and they were like why not and I was kind of like a had this punk rock mentality

[00:24:08] probably from hanging around with Cosmo in the Clash too but I was afraid that this unknown

[00:24:14] American girl because Pearl Harbor and the explosions was not very well received in

[00:24:20] Britain it was in the United States but not in England so anyways I thought that if I

[00:24:30] and the British press are really cruel and they are really tough especially back then

[00:24:37] and especially towards Americans so I decided that if I put out a record and listed all the Clash

[00:24:44] and the Blockheads as the musicians that aside from Joe Strong, Ian Jury and they weren't on

[00:24:52] the record but at any rate I thought that the press would eat me up and say oh the only reason

[00:24:57] why anybody would listen to this record is because of the Clash and the Blockhead so I

[00:25:03] just thought let's just make this easy on me and not list anybody and just see if people like it

[00:25:13] well Major that's not good business and so the record company were mad at me and they threw

[00:25:19] me off the label and I mean that is sort of one regret I do have I kind of wish that I had

[00:25:25] listed them because you know I would have been given a chance and whatever but it's just the

[00:25:32] way that I felt I didn't want to be you know this unknown person who was recording with

[00:25:38] great people and people would just write me off as a person who lucked out because they knew these

[00:25:46] people. I know for me during the pandemic it was a good opportunity for me to really get

[00:25:51] you know I write for a living but then to you know to get more into my writing and it seems

[00:25:54] like part of the reissue of this album was you doing the the liner notes have you have

[00:26:00] you found that this this has been an opportunity for you to do more writing?

[00:26:06] I'm supposed to be doing more writing I'm supposed to be writing a book about

[00:26:12] you know my life and stuff but it's kind of a it's hard for me because I'm sort of

[00:26:18] I mean when I'm on stage I'm like a real you know go-getter but in real life I'm

[00:26:24] kind of quiet and shy and so for me to write a book about myself is really hard.

[00:26:31] I enjoy writing because I try to do it well I find it to be hard but who knows maybe in

[00:26:38] the next couple years I will put out a book but yeah I didn't want to write the liner notes

[00:26:44] right I was like oh god do I really have to but you know I didn't it's okay I'm really hard

[00:26:53] on myself about my writing so I always want other people to write things about me and not

[00:27:00] not me write about me but. We're talking about nostalgia obviously a reissue like this and then

[00:27:05] sitting down and writing the liner notes is you know an opportunity to to really think

[00:27:10] about things that you haven't thought about in a long time I mean in in spite of the

[00:27:14] difficulty in writing did you find that recollecting in that way was a positive

[00:27:19] experience for you? Yes I'm not really one to dwell too much on the past because it can be

[00:27:31] hard for me because it was the most fun I've ever had in my life and obviously I was married to

[00:27:37] Paul and had you know I was very happy with him and you know so I was really happy and

[00:27:45] having so much fun so when I was writing and thinking about this album and all the fun we had

[00:27:52] it did make me smile and go yeah that was so much fun but then you know on the other hand

[00:27:58] after a little while I might frown and go dang I wished you know I wish my life was still

[00:28:05] that fun but whose life whose life can be fun for their whole life you know like I said

[00:28:11] I'm nearly 70 and I was in my 20s when I was having a ball so I was I had I had a great time

[00:28:19] and yes when I reflect on things I really do say to myself man I was lucky to have done all

[00:28:27] that because a lot of people who are way more talented than me didn't get to do all that fun

[00:28:34] stuff and record with really fun people and go on tour with you know the greatest rock bands

[00:28:40] ever and stuff like that I got to play in front of you know thousands of really great people

[00:28:47] because I got to be the support act to the clash and blockheads and whoever else you know

[00:28:54] lots of great bands talking heads that's a really incredible trio right there I have to say

[00:29:03] hearing you describe the story of moving to London it reminds me a little bit you know or

[00:29:08] brings to mind you also describing the experience of moving to San of dropping out of school and

[00:29:14] moving to San Francisco would you say that they did you were impulsive or that there were points

[00:29:19] in your life where where you made a few impulsive decisions like that yeah that that

[00:29:26] is the way that I've always lived my life is I will live somewhere and then all of a

[00:29:32] sudden I'll know it's time to leave now in the case of moving to San Francisco from Germany

[00:29:39] you know I was a bad teenager and I um you know when I said to my parents um

[00:29:47] I'm moving to San Francisco and I don't care what you said they were like great bye you

[00:29:53] know my dad bought me an airplane tickets and my parents said bye you know I'm 17 years old

[00:29:59] and they didn't they didn't say oh no you don't instead they said go ahead and go because I said

[00:30:06] I want to pursue my music career and they knew I had always wanted to be a singer because

[00:30:12] I have always wanted to be a singer and all four of my brothers were record collectors

[00:30:16] and my one brother who was one year older than me he had um bands when we were in high

[00:30:22] school so um you know so moving to San Francisco yeah that was impulsive when I left San

[00:30:28] Francisco for London um I knew it was the time for me to leave San Francisco and I really wanted

[00:30:35] to know what it was like in London and when I left London I that was a different experience

[00:30:41] because I did want to leave London and move back to San Francisco but Paul had broken up

[00:30:48] with me so it was kind of like do I want to stay in the city with my tail between my legs

[00:30:54] or do I want to go back home where everybody will welcome me as some sort of long lost hero and I

[00:31:01] chose that and uh so you know I and then when I was in San Francisco for a while

[00:31:08] in the late 90s I said I wonder what it's like to live in Los Angeles so I

[00:31:13] I just you know packed up my bags and moved and lived there for 21 years and then when it

[00:31:19] when I was sick of living there I said oh I'm gonna go somewhere else so

[00:31:23] and that's a long answer to your question but yeah when I when the spirit moves me I do get up

[00:31:30] and go yeah it's I don't have children you know and I'm not very loud I have children

[00:31:36] so I can do whatever I want yeah and I was just saying it's a it's a it's a great answer

[00:31:42] and I'm curious you know after after this album that we're discussing now didn't work

[00:31:47] out quite like you had hoped and then you know you go through this breakup after several years of

[00:31:55] marriage did you was it clear what you were going to to do with your life at that point

[00:32:03] yeah I knew when I moved back to San Francisco that I would just put together another band and

[00:32:09] and just keep rocking and rolling as long as I could and that's what I've always done um

[00:32:15] I kind of don't have any choice I have to do that it's just who I am and what I do um I've

[00:32:21] never been as successful the most successful I ever was was Pearl Harbor and the explosions

[00:32:27] and what did I do I I left it but um I'm glad I did uh you know like I said I I the fame and

[00:32:36] fortune part is not why I like to sing and I mean I I've never stopped singing I still have

[00:32:44] now I did but I I have like I said I had a country band now and I was just sad because

[00:32:51] my life in London was so fun and so good and then it was old you know you moved to San

[00:32:56] Francisco how does one become a tap dancing boxer or boxing tap dancer well when I first

[00:33:06] moved to San Francisco and you know when I was 17 there is a few things that interested me one

[00:33:11] was uh being in a rock band and the other was dancing because I loved dance and so I went to

[00:33:17] this dance school and I learned jazz ballet and tap and and tap dancing was not and I don't

[00:33:26] think has ever been in fashion but I auditioned nuts and Sammy Davis probably right exactly so I

[00:33:35] I uh there was a a talent show by the tubes and the tubes were this rock band that were

[00:33:44] worse and fantastic and they you know um had like a it was like a rock and roll circus they

[00:33:51] just had a million different people doing you know they had a high a high wire act they had

[00:33:58] just people doing all kinds of stuff on the stage and I said I want to be on that stage

[00:34:03] with those people so I saw that they were having this audition talent show and I won it by tap

[00:34:09] dancing and boxing and I knew what the tubes looked like and I knew what they sounded like

[00:34:15] and I knew what they would like and I found out that they loved you know Roxy music and

[00:34:20] Phil Manzana and all this stuff so I got a film and Zanara song that I thought that they

[00:34:26] would like so I wasn't dumb even though I was young I kind of put everything together

[00:34:31] and I thought these folks you know you know like it's sexy so I you know I had on my satin

[00:34:37] boxing shorts and you know I put a bandage you're a sexy tap dancing boxer a sexy glam

[00:34:43] rock tap dancing box yeah with the big hair and eye makeup and all that stuff and I had a

[00:34:49] a cape with pearl written in glitter on the back and it was funny but it at the same time

[00:34:55] it was right up their alley so I kind of knew what I was doing even though I was a kid

[00:35:01] it's so wild you know looking at your your history about how from there everything is kind

[00:35:06] of a straight line like how getting in with that group just set up your entire music career

[00:35:12] it seems it did everything everything did fall into place and nothing was planned

[00:35:18] and I just followed my nose like when I was in the tubes what there was a girl a lady

[00:35:25] Leela and she had a band called Leela and the snakes and it was all girl band and she asked

[00:35:30] me to join that and then when I joined that then I learned a lot about performing and then

[00:35:37] I said I want to have my own band and then I took the eventually she she had boys in the band

[00:35:45] too and they were they were the the Haynes brothers were the rhythm section for Pearl

[00:35:50] Harbin explosions but I took them with me yeah so and then Pearl Harbin explosions led to

[00:36:00] me meeting Cosmo and going to learn yeah so everything happened like and I didn't plan any

[00:36:07] of it I'm just really lucky that all that stuff happened to me speaking of luck and

[00:36:14] things falling into place you have a story of perhaps one of the luckiest flea market

[00:36:22] finds of all time that that that aligns is a perfect croc section of my interests in

[00:36:28] flea markets nudie suits and the Doobie brothers how did you know how do you know these things

[00:36:36] well this one I just I found out by reading an interview but I'm a you know I that has been

[00:36:40] a dream of mine to to find a nudie suit and I had Michael McDonald on the show a few years ago so

[00:36:47] I'm a genuine fan of theirs so it's just like you know you hear these stories a few years

[00:36:52] ago there's a story about somebody who found a copy of the first Velvet Underground acetate for

[00:36:58] two dollars and wow this to me this isn't quite this isn't quite Velvet Underground acetate but

[00:37:05] a Doobie brother's own nudie suit is I know I know and you know I didn't buy that my brother

[00:37:13] who passed away from cancer he he saw it at the flea market and he bought it for me for

[00:37:19] my birthday it's like a hundred dollars or something and it's more worth thousands I still

[00:37:24] have it and everybody wants to buy it from me I probably should sell it now but no now that

[00:37:31] I'm I don't know right I can't thank you here's what I'm gonna tell you Pearl because I you know

[00:37:37] assuming you're not in total dire straits I think a big part of the healing process is

[00:37:43] knowing what you're going to to do after it's over and to you it's clear that you're

[00:37:47] gonna be singing country and western music again yeah you've got you got the outfit exactly

[00:37:54] I know I have the nudie suit which everybody you know that that's as good as you can get in

[00:37:59] country music you're right I know I know I know well what we'll see what time brings Brian you

[00:38:06] know if I do well with my getting over cancer then um heck I'm gonna wear that nudie suit

[00:38:15] and then if it comes time that it ain't happening then we'll see what happens but

[00:38:20] I agree with you I should hang on to it until I until I know but yes yes yeah we were

[00:38:27] talking about you know how corny some things like spirituality and magic can be and I think

[00:38:31] I think the idea of visualizing things can be corny as well but I do think that if you

[00:38:36] really think about yourself on stage in that suit singing music yes other people have said

[00:38:43] that to me and I agree 100% that was a nice thing to say Brian because I agree I do have

[00:38:50] to visualize things and it is a corny thing to say but visualizing a lot of times does

[00:38:58] bring stuff to you and I don't know why or anything like that but um I am you know when I

[00:39:04] when I'm lying around here sick you know and not you know you know feeling sorry for myself

[00:39:11] I do visualize stuff like getting back on stage and what I'm gonna wear and the jokes

[00:39:18] I'm gonna tell and all that kind of stuff and it really brings me around and makes me happy