(Photos of him to come shortly, hopefully.)
When I arrived at Big Daddy's, the second band of the night had yet to start their set, and it was already 10:30 p.m. I knew this was going to be a looong night.
I walked around the place for a couple of minutes, then noticed this average-height, somewhat skinny fellow walk past me and sit at the bar. He had reddish hair and tinted glasses and red Converse sneakers. I looked around and walked past him a few times. I took a stool next to him at the bar after a while, and the band started, and he turns to watch them. In between one of the songs, I say "Excuse me, are you Andy Rourke?"
"Yeah."
"Hey! How's it goin?"
"I'm a bit tired. Jet lag."
"Oh, where'd you fly in from?"
[He rests his head face down in his elbow]
"Uhh ... L.A."
"So, you're on tour?"
"Yeah, I'm in the states until November 7th."
"Cool."
"Yeah."
"Hey, would you mind signing something for me? Would that be alright?"
"Yeah, sure."
[I take out the above CD; somehow I had the good sense to bring that one--I was thinking about bringing Meat Is Murder for the longest time.]
"Oh, I'm not familiar with this. With this format."
[He plays with the cardboard fold-out front a bit, asks my name, signs it.]
"Yeah, it's, uh, it's a CD of remixes. This is my favorite single."
[He nods.]
"Oh, ... it has the New York mix! Do you mind, do you mind if I borrow this? I'll give it a spin tonight when I DJ."
"Yeah, no problem."
[TIGHT.]
I'll flesh this recollection out later, when I have photographic evidence. I'll even include a list of songs that I recognized from this ones he played while he DJed (bet you can't guess what song he used to close! And what group he played the most songs from [no, not The Smiths, although he did play a few of those--including one off my disc!!!]).
He's going to be back at Big Daddy's tomorrow... with no cover charge (I paid $8 to get in tonight).
I'm considering going back with my old, wooden, three-quarters fender bass guitar and having him sign that, too. That would be so frikkin' tight...
I shook the hand that played the "This Charming Man" and "Barbarism Begins At Home" basslines!!!
Pretty sweet!
ReplyDeleteThat absolutely KILLS me, man. I can't believe it. YOU ARE SO COOL!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I dunno about having him sign your bass guitar, but you could, uh, give him a copy of my CD containing two delicious Smiths covers and see if he'll spin them. Or at least listen to them. THAT WOULD BE SO SWEET! Ok, time to go calm down.
ReplyDeleteSorry, dude, I missed him last night, and I forgot about your disc. Had you mentioned it earlier, I would have just given him it. To Keep.
ReplyDeleteHe totally played "Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before," "There is a light that never goes out," and that original song that Sixpence redid, "There She Goes."
Cool guy. And he's only 42! I hope (and I imagine) he's doing pretty well in monetary terms. I didn't have the guts to ask what really happened to the group, or what he thinks of Morrissey's current songs.
Nah, that's cool. Anyway, he gets those questions all the time.
ReplyDeleteHe's probably doing all right financially because when Mike Joyce sued Morrissey and Marr, Andy settled with them out of court. But the two of them were only getting 10% each while the other two got 40%.
In case you were wondering, that situation was the source of the "high court judges" line in "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get". Oh plus, didn't Rourke + Joyce work with Moz further in his solo career? Until Mike sued, probably.
You are still the coolest guy I know at this point.