In 1972 through '74, right before we hit it big, we were hauling our own equipment into the club and setting up and playing for, I don't know, a hundred bucks a night.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It was in the Seventies but I still recall what was a good night for my club. Of course, the stadium has changed now but I have heard that the atmosphere is still the same.
We spent a lot of money on some players.
Around '75 when the recession hit, club owners started going to disco because it was cheaper for them to just buy a sound system than it was to hire a band.
I think my top salary was maybe in 1966. I made $17,000 and 11 of that came from selling other players' equipment.
First paying gig, I got 20 bucks. I played at some really weird venue. I don't remember the venue; I just remember it was the last stop on the A train. It was, like, the Far Rockaways, Queens, and it was an audience of, like, three people.
I'd played in about four or five bands before we started up, only a couple of which did club dates.
I think we raised about 20,000 pounds. There was a live performance thing so we thought we'd donate the equipment for an online charity in Britain. I hated to part with my guitar, but it was for such a great cause.
It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.
Nice, the club where I started my career in 1983, want me to see out my playing days there.
I played with the Birmingham Black Barons. I was making 500 at 14. That was a lot of money in those days.