TUFF DIARIES #6
Sunset Summer, Tracii Guns’ Glue Gun, Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Vain and Sex by a Dumpster

Country Club, Dan Tana’s, Dana Strum, “Shout At The Devil”, FireHouse, Slave Raider, Gazzarri’s and Dean Delray. 

It’s now spring 1988.

Tuff are supporting the local kings Warrant at the largest venue in the San Fernando Valley.

Chuck Landis’ Country Club in Reseda.

This place was easily double the size of any of the name clubs in Hollywood.

I read somewhere the capacity was 1,000. But rumors are they would stick upwards of twelve-hundred bodies into this place if needed.

A few quick notes about Country Club.

Throughout the years this place hosted concerts for the who’s who of rock n’ roll.

Notable acts included: Motley Crue, Stryper, Kiss, Metallica, Poison, Guns N’ Roses, Tom Petty, Iggy Pop, Roy Orbison, Megadeth, Joan Jett, Neil Young, Blue Oyster Cult, W.A.S.P. and Robert Plant among others.

I saw tons of standing room only shows here, and some bombs too.

I once went to see Slave Raider at Country Club and there were less than 20 people in the entire building.

I actually went to the dressing room that night and talked to Chainsaw Caine pre-show. Still one of my all-time favorite bands.

Another fun fact: Skid Row shot their video for “Piece of Me” here. And yes, myself and Michael Lean were on set. You will read more about this in one of my 1989 blogs when Sebastian Bach and I were buddies.

The date was May 21^st 1988 and it’s our first gig back after our big tour of Wisconsin. Lol.

All I recall is that the place was beyond Sold Out, and Warrant were the biggest draw in town.

Tuff, well…. we were not far behind.

Our two bands together, were a 1-2 punch that was sure to be huge.

And it was just that.

It’s safe to say that Warrant sealed their contract with Columbia on this night.

Their debut record “Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich” was released (8 months later) in January 1989.

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In early July we were back at Troubadour.

If my count is correct, this is our 5^th show here in less than a year.

It’s a great club, but also remember, Troubadour is NOT on the Sunset Strip.

So playing there takes a little something extra, as you have to pull the fans AWAY from the main drag.

Even though it’s only a mile away, when you play the Whisky, The Roxy or Gazzarri’s … it’s all right there.

When playing those clubs you also get to pull fans from the Rainbow Bar & Grill.

And the general foot traffic on the Strip was in the mid-to-high hundreds (nightly) on a weekend.

If a carload of kids parked in one of the lots off Sunset, they are walking distance to 3-4 or 5 shows.

Not to mention, The Central was only 1 short block East of the Whisky.

Years earlier this spot was called Filthy McNasty’s and in the 90’s became Viper Room.

Point is, if you played the Sunset Strip there was a larger pool of potential walkups than a club somewhere else in town.

When you played Troubadour, you were kind of on your own.

Troubadour was also famous for only having 3 band lineups, where most others usually had 5.

I guess what I am getting at is, the fact that Tuff was packing this venue, meant once we returned to Sunset Strip – we’d be even bigger.

Tuff were regulars at Troubadour.

One night I was flyering and something crazy happened.

It wasn’t a gig of ours, but just a night out that I was there promoting.

Most clubs would let you in for FREE to promote your date – when booked at their venue.

But if they caught you handing out Gazzarri’s flyers in Troubadour, well, it wasn’t good.

When entering a (rival) club, a lot of guys would fold their flyers and shove ’em down the back of their pants. Or hide them in their cowboy boots.

Then they would sneakily pull 1 out and hand them to girls as they strolled by.

If the staff saw this, they’d usually take the flyers from you. And if you acted like a dick – they’d throw them away.

However most of the places would hold them at the front, and you could retrieve them on your way out.

This was common at most clubs around town.

Either way…

I see this young girl, she is stunning.

We’re making eye contact and of course I go up and hand her a flyer.

She asks, “When is this?”

I point to the date and she sighs and drops her shoulders.

I ask, “Why the sad face?”

“I am here on vacation, we leave in a week.”

I inquire, “Where are you from?”

“Alaska.”

Wow.

I had NEVER met anyone from Alaska before, and this girl was possibly one of the most perfect specimens I had ever seen.

This girl is about 18 or 19 (maybe), blond with green eyes.

She looks like she would be a cheerleader or a teen pageant contestant.

Just flawless.

I am telling you, a perfect 10.

Don’t worry, I am not here to embellish EVERY date. I have plowed some 3’s and 4’s as well. And at some point, you will read about those too.

But this girl…OMG…I can still see her today.

We’re talking, flirting and she seems to be as enamored with me, as I am her.

In less than 10 minutes of knowing her, I grab her hand and tell her, “Come on, come with me.”

She doesn’t resist and giggles, “Where are we going?”

“I am not sure yet” as I pull her through the wooden double doors.

We’re now standing on Santa Monica Boulevard. To the left is the famous Italian restaurant Dan Tana’s.

There are valet guys in red vests running back and forth. I see a driveway which leads to the alley, behind the buildings.

This is where all the cars are parked for the venue and restaurant.

I am anxiously looking and searching for some privacy. After a quick minute, I find the perfect spot.

We stop and I lean up against a garage and pull her towards me.

We start to kiss, and are now passionately making out.

In a matter of moments I spin around and position her back against the wall.

I drop to my knees, and I am now licking on her inner thigh.

Her tiny mini-skirt is doing her no favors but for me, I am thinking, “Honey, what a perfect outfit you chose for tonight.”

I am struggling to get my leather jacket off, and she’s holding a purse.

After a few seconds of this, I stop, rip my jacket off and grab her purse as well.

I put both on a dumpster.

Yes, a garbage dumpster which is to her immediate left, my right.

We’re kind of using it as a shield as well, so that when cars drive down the alley, they don’t (fully) see us.

I am sticking my hands into her panties and her hairy pussy is soaked.

A little fingering, more making out and she’s moaning louder than I am.

Total elapsed time since I had handed her a flyer, I’d say, roughly 12-15 minutes.

Tops.

I am now hard as a rock, and unzip my pants.

I lift her skirt, push her underwear to the side and inside of her I go.

She is now pinned against a garage wall, next to a dumpster and we are fucking like wild dogs.

While we’re stand-up screwing and swapping face, I specifically remember hearing keys jingling.

Along with the sound of shoes running through the dimly lit alleyway.

My guess is these were the passing valet guys, but they were probably not shocked (even if they did see us).

Afterall it was Hollywood.

Regardless of having an audience or not, in a few short minutes our fun was over.

She straightened her clothes, fluffed her hair and grabbed her purse.

We’re standing there just looking at each other.

Both of us were smiling ear-to-ear.

She was beautiful, and so was I.

Bragging?

Nope. Look at my pictures from my 20’s. Lol.

I walked with her back into the club, and I recall her friend coming up to us, “Where did you go?”

I politely stepped back and gave her a wink.

I never saw her again.

No name. No number. Nothing.

Hanging out in Hollywood in the 80’s…equals this.

It was amazing.

Fun.

Crazy.

Awesome.

And I loved it.

Wonder if I have a kid in Alaska?

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30 years ago… this was the summer of 1988.

I have added a few advertisements from BAM Magazine below.

Here is what took place at various Los Angeles area venues in July and August.

There were endless shows, and live music 7 nights a week at some of the clubs.

The following bands played within a 2 month period just between Gazzarri’s, Troubadour and Country Club.

L.A. Guns, Kix, Hurricane, Roxxane, XYZ, Little Ceasar, Jailhouse, Icon, Taz, Saxon, Damn Yankees, Salty Dog, Nitro, Testiment, Tyger, Madame X (feat: Sebastian Bach pre Skid Row), Tommi Gunn, Julliet, Johnny Crash, Cry Wolf, Black Cherry (feat: former L.A. Guns singer Paul Black), The Zeros, Funhouse, Motorcycle Boy, Electric Angels, The Wild (feat: Dizzy Reed future Guns N’ Roses member), Sweet Savage and many more.

Click on an image to enlarge it.

   

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I am now fully engulfed into living in California.

Tuff are playing shows, girls are abundant and run-ins with rock stars are common.

One night I am hanging with a girl named Valerie.

She too was a Gazzarri’s dancer.

Tall, blond, big boobs but older. Like mid to late 20’s.

How crazy of me to think, “older” in her late 20’s huh?

Damn how time flies.

So anyway, we’re at some club and soon after her and a friend load me into their sports car and we’re off to some after-party.

I recall pulling into the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel on Highland just off of Hollywood Boulevard.

The girls are talking a mile-a-minute in the elevator and soon enough we’re pounding on a high rise hotel room door.

Some rocker dude answers and lets us in.

I am introduced to Tracii Guns. He was super cool to me.

We sat on the bed and chatted a bit about bands, shows and who knows what else.

I knew little about L.A. Guns other than hearing “Sex Action” and a few other tunes off their recently released debut album.

At some point I asked to use the bathroom.

I take a piss and then begin to wash my hands. While doing so I notice a glue gun on the vanity next to the sink.

Thinking to myself, “What the fuck is that for?”

Then I see random strands of black and blond hair extensions laying around the counter, with little bulbs of glue on the ends.

I guess Tracii was sick of paying Cherie Adam’s Hair Magic so he took matters into his own hands.

Remember I talked about him being a client at her salon when I went there to get my extensions last summer.

I should have bought a glue gun myself at some point, cuz those re-tightening appointments cost a couple hundred bills.

Anywho…

That was 30 years ago and for the most part Tracii has always been very nice to me.

Sludging aside, he’s been a trooper and during all the drama with their group, I have pretty much remained #TeamTracii.

Except when he had the chick singer.

No not Jizzy, Dilana.

I kid, I kid. 😉

In the end, Phil Lewis is the true voice of L.A. Guns, and always has been.

Sorry Paul Black I was late to the party, so I never knew you as the band’s front man.

Either way, I love that band.

——————————————–

August 6, 1988

Tuff returns to the Bay Area to play another one of John Nady’s clubs.

This time, it’s The Omni in Oakland.

We roll up into a mostly black neighborhood. Some locals instruct us where to park and where not to park.

We’re also advised that after dark, to be careful. It’s a gnarly area.

Our crew roll in our road cases and equipment.

A local band is sound checking, and they are the headliners.

The marquee reads VAIN and Tuff.

We’re sitting in the venue and the band breaks into a song.

I can see it now and hear it as well.

“Who’s Watching You”, then “Holdin’ All The Aces” and others.

WOW!

This band is killer.

Easily one of the BEST bands I have seen or heard since moving to California.

Michael loves them as well, we all do.

Davy, Ash, Jamie, the entire band and crew were all stand-up guys.

We become fast friends with VAIN.

Aside from a killer band, we met other cool people as well on our 2^nd trip to the Bay Area.

Like local band guy and house booker Dean Delray.

I remember Dean being a bit loud, maybe even pushy.

He wasn’t a dick, but he was a straight shooter and likely seeing if I was just hair n’ lipstick.

Fast forward a quarter century and some comedian with the same name is suddenly making a name for himself.

I thought to myself, “Dean Delray… wasn’t that a rocker dude from Nor. Cal.?”

So a quick google search and I hit him up.

He wrote me back and we had a nice exchange. Small fucking world isn’t it.

We also met Cindy and Cathi.

Two awesome friends, who were fans of VAIN, and very soon became huge fans of Tuff as well.

Cindy is still a friend today and is one of the most awesome people I know. Even if she does like the 49ers.

Once again, we proved our worth and we’d be back up here sooner than later.

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Tuff on tour.

I will say that from very early on… Tuff got paid for our shows.

We did do a few pay-to-play deals, but always moved our tickets and usually made a little bit of profit as well.

Our pay was in the $ 500 to $800 range to start but soon that was a grand. That went up to $ 1,500.00 and eventually $ 2,000.00 a night.

We were fast becoming one of the hottest bands on the West Coast. From Hollywood to San Francisco, Phoenix to Fresno.

Our draw was also attractive to the next level of promoters who booked National Recording Artists.

Tuff was a heavy hitter locally and we would get offers to be added as direct support for the bigger signed bands.

Michael had a strategy to play Hollywood once a month, or every 6 weeks. Then a Bay Area show, an Orange County show, another in Arizona and so on.

This included stretching the roots to other Southern California suburbs like Montclair, San Pedro, Riverside, San Diego, Reseda and Anaheim as well.

Todd Chaisson having a beer and hanging outside our tourbus with Cathi in the Bay Area circa 1988. 

Once your name was golden in Hollywood, as a true headliner, it was almost a sure thing that they’d pay you to play their smaller area club.

And they did.

The money was good enough that we’d do weekend runs and sometimes play 2-3 shows.

Often we would rent a tour bus and traveled with a full crew as well.

Roadies, soundman and on select nights we brought a lighting or pyro guy. Tuff even had a tour manager along the way.

However most of the crew worked for free. At least the younger guys did.

We’d tell them this, “If you want, we’ll pay you each $ 50.00 a show and you guys will have to take turns driving the Ryder truck.”

“Or, we’ll rent a tour bus, we’ll go in style but we can’t pay you anything.”

Pretty much every guy was like, “I don’t need any pay, I wanna go on the bus.”

Most of our crew lived at home anyway and were 16, 18 or 20 years old.

This is crazy thinking back. But in the summer of 1988, I was 22 and the oldest guy in our traveling circle of friends.

Todd and Jorge were 21, Michael was 20 and most of our crew were still in their teens.

We occassionally had a guy in his mid 20’s but for the most part, we were all kids.

We wanted the band to look bigger, and be bigger than anyone else locally.

For all of our shows, we’d have full page ads in BAM. These would cost about $ 900.00 for the space.

But as we got bigger, so did the overhead.

Along with the stage show.

Ramps, rented lights, fog machines and even monitors.

Tuff also had an arena style fire proof backdrop that was 10’ tall by 24’ wide.

Let me also make note, the band never took a penny.

That’s right, from our shows, we as the band never put any money into our pockets.

Even if we made 2 or 3 thousand dollars in a weekend, the band never got paid.

The money we earned paid the rehearsal bill, bus rental, flyer cost, advertisements, merchandise and other band related bills.

If we made a grand a show, we’d spend $ 1,200.00.

Everything we made, went right back into the band.

As for living, eating, stage clothes or hair extensions – that is what we had girlfriends and groupies for.

#Duh

———————————————-

We’re back!

After several shows out of town, out in the Valley or down on Santa Monica Boulevard we finally return to the Sunset Strip.

Well returned to actually play a show that is.

This was my first full summer hanging out on Sunset Strip, and even if we didn’t play here every week or even every month – we hung out here.

Hollywood in general was nuts. And yes, there was always something cool happening.

Every weekend was madness. And when we were not playing (out of town), we were usually promoting the next Los Angeles area show.

We were booked to play Gazarri’s on August 13^th 1988.

Bill Gazzarri was an interesting guy.

I never got to know him very well, but do remember he’d give me the standard greeting at the door, “Hey foxy guy, how are you tonight?”

Bill had a commercial where he’d tell the listeners his club had the Foxiest Guys on his stage.

The club itself was all painted up with famous band’s logos that had played there.

Everyone from Van Halen to Ratt, Poison and Guns N’ Roses.

The overall vibe was kind of like a circus.

Lots of colors, a clothing store downstairs run by Al Bane For Leathur and of course they had the Miss Gazzarri’s dance contests.

Stevie Rachelle half-assed drum riser jump Gazzarri’s August 1988.

I can’t recall much about this show but it was definitely at capacity and in mid August, I am sure it was sweltering inside.

One bit of folklore from the heyday was that Bill would turn the heat on, to make people hotter.

Which in turn made them buy more drinks.

Something else that was widely rumored, was that Bill would give girls qualudes and coccaine. Then he liked to watch them do girl-on-girl stuff.

I personally cannot confirm this, and never saw anything of the sort but there were stories that circulated more than a few times.

It was not uncommon to see the old man with 2-3 or more girls. All were young and beautiful as well.

Bill Gazzarri was like the Hugh Hefner of Rock.

I found an original flyer from this date with the slogan “If It Swells Ride It”.

The use of slogans in ads and on flyers was a big thing in the 80’s.

We would sit around at our apartment, or on break at rehearsal and throw these around.

I found this photo above from that night. I can tell by my stage clothes and the general time frame.

Speaking of stage clothes, they were an essential part of everyone’s image in the 80’s.

Enter the clothing designer.

Tuff used many of them, and when I say used, I mean that term in more than one way. Lol.

Ana Cartwright was one of the first to design our clothes.

She had previously designed for bands like Poison, Cinderella and Bon Jovi.

Once we heard that, well of course we would enlist her to make our stuff.

Tuff with clothing designer Ana Cartwright. Photo by William Hames 1988

Fun Fact: William Hames’ studio was in the same location where Amoeba Records sits today on Sunset Boulevard.

Ana was a little heavy-set and had boobs the size of watermelons.

She helped design our clothes in this August 13th Gazzarri’s flyer below.

Ana also fed us more than a few times.

And I fed her too.

I recall me feeding her my dick one night while she worked on my stage pants.

Ana was fun and out-going and very hands-on at times.

If we looked back and had video tape of all that happened, it might show I was half-raped at some point.

But like the old saying goes, “You can’t rape the willing.”

Ana was one of the few girls who could put my entire dick into her throat.

I still communicate with Ana today and she’s always been a great friend.

Flyer for our Gazzarri’s show Aug. 13th 1988

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At some point during 1988 we did some photos with Beth Nussbaum who worked for Rock Scene magazine.

One of those shoots was a back-to-back session where Tuff and Vinnie Vincent Invasion both shot on the same day.

I vaguely recall seeing the guys coming or going as we arrived.

There was another time we met up with Dana Strum and Mark Slaughter around this same timeframe.

Beth called us up and asked if we’d come down to Cherokee Studios in Hollywood.

She said Dana and Mark needed a few guys to sing backgrounds on some band’s demo. The group was called White Heat and they were from North Carolina.

I don’t remember much about that band, but I did sing backgrounds on their song “There Outta Be A Law”.

Dana was producing the group and that night I remember him telling us that “Shout At The Devil” was recorded there.

I put my hand on the mixing console and was all giddy.

I was thinking to myself, “Holy fuck, “Looks That Kill” and “Red Hot” were done RIGHT here.”

Someone else was there that night, a girl named Charlie.

The girl with the boy’s name was from Texas and one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen.

It was now late at night and we were all outside after the session had ended.

One of the guys had a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Charlie jumps on it, starts it up, does a burn out and a half donut right there in the parking lot.

I was thinking to myself, “WTF! She’s like 105 pounds.”

She was sexy as hell but damn, she was bad to the bone too.

At some point I ended up becoming better friends with Charlie.

We were never really an item but I do recall being at her Hollywood apartment one night when Mark Slaughter called.

Her machine picked up and he informed her he was on his way (from Las Vegas). I guess something was going on between those two.

My memory tells me that us making-out was the peak of our fun time, so sorry to report but nothing crazy happened.

The next time I recall running into Charlie she was with Jani Lane (years later) at X-Poseur 54.

Jani was buying shots and insisted I drink one.

I politely declined.

Jani would not take no for an answer. So he stood there holding the shot in front of my face.

I told him, “If you can beat me arm wrestling, I will drink the shot.”

Jani took me up on that offer as Charlie, Steven Sweet and a small crowd of fans watched.

I won.

Jani demanded a rematch.

I won again.

He shakes his head and smirks at me, “Left handed?”

I won for the third time.

Jani then said, “You gotta beat Steven now.”

Everyone laughed.

I never drank the shot but a fun time was had by all.  RIP Jani Lane, you were a good dude.

It was many years later that I realized that band (White Heat) had gotten signed and changed their name to FireHouse.

As for Charlie, she’s back in the Lone Star state and is still sexy as hell.

————————————-

At this point meeting girls was like a full time job being in Tuff.

Seriously, it was like a virtual smorgasbord of vagina 24/7.

And for anyone questioning me, and my stance on women. I love them. And always have.

I am a lover, and don’t look at women in a negative light.

But like the old fashioned “notch on your belt” saying… girls became numbers, meat and prizes.

They also became friends, lovers and lifelong relationships.

I wanna tell you about a girl I met from San Diego.

Her name was Diane.

I met her at some point on the Sunset Strip, and I can pin-point the location.

It was right in front of the Gazzarri’s wall.

I handed her a flyer, and she just froze.

This tiny brunette, with huge caramel brown eyes.

Everything…her face, boobs, butt, legs and stomach were virtually flawless.

Diane was 100 pounds of perfection,

She just looked at me and said something like, “Want. Mine. Now. Please.”

As she mimicked a drunk little robot.

I continued handing out flyers and she was kind of following me around like a puppy.

Soon the night was winding down and Diane was right there.

She came right up to me and asked, “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know, home?” I replied

“I am going with you” she says boldly and latches onto me.

“Ok, twist my arm” was likely what I was thinking.

This girl was like a Hawiian Tropic contestant.

I think back, and even then I would say to myself, “Really, why me?”

I lived an amazing life when it came to friendships with females.

Call it lucky, crazy, or whatever. But honestly, I am truly thankful for all the awesome friends I have made over the years.

Diane and Stevie a decade after we had first met. Pic was taken in San Diego California during Super Bowl weekend January 1998.

Diane and I arrive at the Tuff Muff Mansion and there are a half dozen random people at our apartment.

Band members, a roadie, and some girls hanging around.

Everyone is making their way back from Hollywood and select band members are with their little posse.

My posse was me, Diane and she had a friend with her.

Michael and I shared a room, and that wasn’t going to work, so Diane and I made use of the living room closet.

Yes, the same closet that the Tuff singer (Dastin) before me was living in.

The closet was about 6’ long and 3’ to 4’ wide.

We tossed the shoes and jackets out and entered our love nest.

At this point we had known each other for… about 3 maybe 4 hours.

However that didn’t matter. We were young kids and could NOT wait to get our clothes off.

We stayed in that closet the entire night.

Kissing, sucking, 69’ing and having sex.

The next morning we woke up and Diane’s friend was sleeping on the couch.

They drove back to San Diego and we became friends forever.

Diane and I dated, hung out and remained buddies and (occasional) lovers for decades.

Over time we got to know each other and Diane was the sweetest soul.

We shared everything including the sad passing of her brother, the death of one of her boyfriends and so much more.

But something really shitty happened back in the summer of 2016.

I woke up one morning and was looking at my iPhone facebook messenger.

A message from a (somewhat) familiar name showed ‘New Message’.

“Steve, this is Diane’s Mother, I just want to let you know… she passed away.”

My heart sank.

I immediately re-read the message and clicked the link of the sender. I am now reading Diane’s Mother’s FB profile.

My friend has died.

Diane is gone forever.

We had talked about 6-8 months earlier, and had planned to get together. Have lunch and catch up on life like friends do.

I lay in my bed and cry for a while and reply to the message, “Can I call you?”

Her Mother replies and gives me a number. I call and she tells me the news and we share a few moments.

I had met Diane’s Mother a few times over the nearly 30 years we were friends.

I’d slept at her home in Escondido, went to dinner when they visited LaX on their way to Hawaii and more.

If Diane and I had lived in the same city, we would have no doubt had been an item.

Who knows, maybe we would have had a few kids.

We were THAT much of a match.

But the 120 miles that separated us, and of course my “I’m in a rock band” didn’t allow that.

I have met many special friends in my life, and Diane was without a doubt, one of the most special girls I had ever known.

The 2 year anniversary of Diane’s death just passed last month. I am going to miss her, she was an awesone person.

RIP my little beach friend.

————————————-

It’s now late August and Tuff are picked to support Vinnie Vincent Invasion at The Palace.

This place is now called Avalon and has a capacity of 1,500.

It’s located just off of Hollywood and Vine, across from Capitol Records.

It’s also the same place that Poison shot their video for “Cry Tough”.

Another cool fact, the punk band The Ramones played their 2,263rd and final show here on August 6, 1996.

Full page BAM advertisement from August 1988 for the Vinnie Vincent Invasion show at The Palace. Note they used an old photo of Tuff with Jim Gillette.  

The bill is a 3 band lineup and local hair farmers Brunette are the 1^st slot band.

Their hype was they had 15 feet of real hair.

Even though the drummer wore hair extensions, the others did have hair to their ass.

But if we’re being legit, it was more like 12 feet of real hair and 3 feet of phony ass hair extensions. Lol.

Hey, I ain’t bagging, just saying. I was rocking extensions too.

The day of the show comes and we’re at sound check.

At some point we arrive and Vinnie Vincent is alone on the stage, for like an hour.

All by himself, ripping riffs and soloing at maximum volume.

But no other band members were on stage.

Something seemed odd, even though we didn’t know for sure.

Vinnie is finally done and leaves.

Now Mark, Dana and Bobby Rock show up and take the stage.

Mark is playing guitar and singing and they sound check like a normal band.

Later we would learn that there had been on-going issues and drama between Vinnie and the others.

Hence Vinnie sound-checking alone.

Crazy.

Well something was wrong as their very next show would be their last.

August 26^th at “Celebrity Theatre” in Anaheim California was the end of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion.

——————————————————

We’re now entering the last quarter of 1988.

Tuff will do a dozen more shows spanning the entire West Coast in the next 90 days.

We’ll return to Phoenix twice, the Bay Area twice and add a few new territories into our regular tour route.

We’ll also play Troubadour a few more times, as well as Country Club out in the valley.

To end the year we’ll be back on the Sunset Strip at Whisky. But this show will be something new, as we will do 2 shows in 1 night at the same club.

We’ll do an early show and a late show and yes, get paid DOUBLE our headlining fee.

We chose 1 of our favorite local bands as our support for both shows – those purple haired maniacs The Zeros.

Soon we will be headed into the final year of the 80’s … 1989.

Holy Fuck, if you thought these last few years were crazy, next year is ever crazier.

Like that one song lyric says, “I’m going back to eighty nine. I went Platinum, zero times.”

Stay tuned for part #7

Stevie Rachelle

Message from the author.

People have said to me for years, “You should write a book, I’ll buy it.”

That’s not likely going to happen… not anytime soon at least. But if you are down with my blogs, my band or my various projects – I say thank you. 

I have self-released roughly 50 projects on CD. Cassette, VHS, DVD and Vinyl since 1994. All on my own. Without any label support. None. 

I have also kept Metal Sludge alive, afloat and online since 1998. For Free. You cannot imagine the workload a website of this magnitude can be.

No Kickstarters, no Go-Fund Me, and no Pay Me now and I’ll make a CD in a year and send it to you later. 

I am also self-managed, self-booked (most of the time) and 100% self reliant. A 1-man gang. 

If you want to support in anyway, buy a CD or Vinyl record from me, or a T-shirt. Or send me something direct via Pay Pal.

I am not begging. I am not sick and no hospital bill. Nope, just continuing my service to the fans that support my Rock N’ Roll. 

My direct Pay Pal email is Sludgeceo@gmail.com – send a dollar, send ten or send fifty. Send whatever you like, or nothing at all. 

Many independent websites have Donate buttons, Metal Sludge has NOW added one, Top Right of this page.

No pressure, but hey, it’s an option if you care to do so. 

Thank you for all your loyal support of my projects.

There is more to come, more blogs and more music too. I have something in the can now it just hasn’t been packaged just yet. 

Thank you again and all of your support is greatly appreciated. 

Stevie Rachelle

Read my previous blogs linked below, numbered and dated.


Entry #1  How I Made My Way To California, 31 Years Ago Today  (June 25th 2018) 
Entry #2  My First Meeting With Tuff, “Is That All Your Real Hair?”   (June 29th 2018)
Entry #3  Tuff audition, Jim Gillette screams, a near fist fight & our debut show  (July 5th 2018)
Entry #4  The Metal Years, Famous People, Cocaine, Kiss & Sex with a Miss Gazzarri’s Dancer  (July 14th 2018)
Entry #5  Guns N’ Roses, Del James, 1988, Sound City, Strippers, Crabs & You’re Fired!  (July 30th 2018)
Entry #6  Summer on Sunset, Vinnie’s Invasion, Tracii’s Glue Gun, Vain & Sex by a Dumpster (August 11th 2018)
Entry #7  MTV’s NYE Big Bash, Riki & Taime’s Cathouse & My Girlfriend was a Poster at Spencer’s (August 20th 2018)
Entry #8  Jon Bon Jovi, Sebastian Bach, Rick Rubin, Howie Hubberman, BulletBoys & Gazzarri’s (Sept. 16th 2018)
Entry #9  Summer Tour ’89, Andy McCoy, Def Leftovers, Max the Model, Z-Rock, Tommi Gunn & Lit (Oct. 10th 2018)
Entry #10 Goodbye 1989, Jessica Hahn, Skid Row, Martha Quinn, Young Gunns, Flyer War & Cock-Rings (Nov. 9th 2018)
Entry #11 Hello 1990, Texas, Britny Fox Tour, Strippers, Hells Angels and Atlantic Records signs Tuff (March 24th 2019)
Entry #12 Ready to Record, Howard Benson, FM Station, Jani Lane, Court hearing & my 1st Playmate  (June 2nd 2019)
Entry #13 Recording our Atlantic debut, Bret Michaels, Kane Roberts & Sex is fine, but no sleepovers (Aug. 27th 2019)
Entry #14 New York City, Mixing our Record, Publishing Deal, Video Shoot , Cherry St. & Tigertailz (March 25th 2020)
Entry #15 Hello MTV, The Nelsons, Jason Newsted, U.S. Tour, London & our Stolen Ryder Truck (May 19th 2020)
Entry #16 Lita Ford, Jason Flom, 75+ Shows, Cocaine, a Lawsuit, Sweet F.A. & the Freeway Fight (July 29th 2020)
Entry #17 Hello 1992, Gene Simmons, More Money, Mike Starr, a New Bassist & Jason Flom II (March 20th 2021)
Entry #18 WildSide, Dee Snider, Tour Drama, Baywatch, New Label Search and Living in Reseda (Aug. 21 2021)
Entry #19 Michael Resigns, River Phoenix, Thirsty Whale, He’s Got a Gun, Stolen Van & Danny Quits (Jan. 16th 2022)
Entry #20 1994, Northridge Earthquake, Kurt Cobain, RLS Records, releasing “Fist First” (May 2022)

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