Generally, the private affairs were hits. The band also enjoyed popularity and success in several local clubs. Of course, the pay was not nearly as good, but there were chicks, lots of chicks. The married guys (me included at the time) would never openly admit to being motivated by the energy they brought with them…
OK, even with the single guys we all talked among ourselves, but never to our wives. Onstage there were signals: Black dress at 10 o’clock. Tight jeans under the Budweiser sign. Oh my God! Did you see that? Where?…
Our special brand of horny funk and soul made the chicks crazy. ‘The 5-Spot’ in Philly was hated by us for being on the second floor and, worse yet, stuck in the middle of this back alley near the waterfront, several blocks away from available parking. But, nothing mattered after the music started and the chicks started being chicks. They thought they could wear us down, but there were 10 of us and only 243 of them.
On other fronts, ‘The Rusty Nail’ was (and probably still is) a small neighborhood bar. The stage area was cramped and there was a cover charge. We always had a packed house and I often wondered if the chicks had to pay for the opportunity to squeeze themselves in. On nights like this, the trumpet players were a mess, but not alone. At one point, John Hoey had decided to do a 70’s set. We were required to buy/find outfits that would set the mood and I was particularly proud of my dark orange, 3-piece John Travolta suit, and my platform shoes. Most of the guys had to go to retro-stores and spend money. I had only to look in my closet.
The ‘act’ debuted at ‘The Nail’. A lack of dressing rooms begat costume changes in the crushed stone parking lot behind the club. Passengers on the high speed trolley line passed by without noticing, but the winter cold…We were happy that the chicks waited for us to return…Cool)))