Stories...

One of my favorite memories of the band was Dwight Frye, Cars by Gary Neuman

-Kim A.

Where does one begin trying to tell a story about the band days...So many memories, so little memory. I think one of my favorites would be the Christmas tree story.

Being good Christian lads, one Christmas season we decided to take a tree on the Road. Our tree was decorated with typical holiday decorations and was placed center stage at our shows. This tree was on tour with us for several weeks and showing it's wear when on a Sunday night show at Filthy McNasty's, Gary decided the tree had not given it's all. During the band's rendition of Midnight Moses, Gary grabbed the tree and began SMASHING it all over the stage. It really made for a great show, but that old tree did not let Gary get the best of it. After the song, I walked into the dressing room to find Gary bent over a chair having Christmas decorations removed from a place "where the SUN don't SHINE". I don't think Gary ever messed with a Christmas Tree again..

-Jon

One of my most vivid memories is of the Wooden Nail in Salem, Ohio. It wasn't the largest or the most beautiful club we played, but it certainly had to be the wildest.

They had very strange rituals at the Wooden Nail. One of which I was was not eggsactly ready to participate in...

The bartenders were a very uninhibited bunch... maybe it was the "screamin' eagles" (a shot of wild turkey & 151 rum) that they favored. They had a habit of dancing on the 20' bar when the club was packed and rocking, as it usually was on our regular Thursday gig. When the spirits moved them (pun intended), they would all produce an egg and wave it around as they danced on the bar. With a some sort of secret nod and a wink the whole crew would proceed to eat their eggs.

The first time they did it we thought it was a bit strange - maybe some bizarre Salem aphrodisiac? What's the big deal about eating a hard boiled egg? We later learned that the eggs were not hard boiled. They were raw. These guys were eating raw eggs, shell and all while they danced on the bar and pounded down their beverages.

One night while we were into the "Life In The Fastlane" part of the show (when I used to go out into the crowd while I played silly nursery-rhyme solos) I made it to the bar. I was helped up and was strolling down the bar when I was joined by the bartenders - and their eggs. I was not really inclined to eat a raw egg, but I was being egged on! (another bad pun) I waved my egg around as if I had done it all before, while at the same time looking for a good place to blow chunks if it didn't quite go down. When the moment of truth arrived I summed up all of my courage and hoped no one close was wearing their Sunday best. I put the egg in my mouth and bit down. Apparently the look of horror on my face caused one of the dancing egg men to quickly give me a large beer mug to relieve my egg-ony. I released most of the egg in the mug, but I still had a mouth full of egg shell pieces along with some egg-goo. Thankfully I was handed an cold beer to wash it all down. I finished the solo and the song, and learned why eggs are meant to be cooked.

-Gary

June '80 The band, Breakout, and I went to Florida for a two week stint- playing one week at the Hallandale Agora (near Ft. Lauderdale) and a week at the Tampa Agora. We set up my van with double-decker lay down areas in the rear so we could squeeze 11 in it for the trip- very tight. It was a great trip- going to Disney world as a group, and the water park at Tampa was a good time. Notable was the whole gang going to Miami Beach for dinner, having Rick Hemphill run next door for a six-pack after we ate, and leaving him behind in Miami. He called the hotel after we returned and nobody believed him- but we did drive back down and pick him up. I think he was new with the group at the time, too.

-Bruce

I was always very impressed by the covers of Yes songs and Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein"

-Dave

I remember going out to Filthy's in Kent on Sunday nights. Before the first set the band usually did something outrageous to start the show. One night the comedian Charlie Weiner was the opening act. Before the band came out, the whole band plus Charlie galloped around the entire club ( Filthy's held 500+) on wooden stick horses. It made absolutely no sense, but I still remember it 20 years later. I think the week before they smashed disco records on the stage before the show...

-Ed