Appetite for Destruction

“You get nothing for nothing If that’s what you do Turn around bitch I got a use for you Besides you ain’t got nothing better to do And I’m bored”
I hadn’t listened to “Appetite for Destruction” in years. Probably one of the most kick ass heavy rock albums of its time. I sat there and stared out of the window at thirty five thousand feet and relived the music. I listened to the album in my own world there on the last minute flight out of Detroit Metro.
It was late Friday night when I got the call. It was from an old dear friend of mine, Jason, who I hadn’t heard from in over a decade. I was shocked and excited as I sat there trying to figure out why and how he had found me way out here. My joy and happiness soon ended as he explained the reason for the call. Jason explained that he and others had been searching for me most of the week. Finally one of them drove to Las Vegas and tracked down my cousin Teri. She gave them my contact info. Our good friend and my once best friend had passed away from a long battle. Joe had been sick most of his life, yet if he would have taken better care of himself he could have lived into his sixties or beyond. The funeral was Saturday afternoon.
It was the late eighties and the four of us we inseparable. We all came from very different backgrounds, but you would have thought that we were family. The four of us were in a band. A fairly successful band and we all had high expectations of making it big. In a time where rock was being replaced by alternative, we all still lived by the motto “Sex, drugs and rock n roll”, literally. Sporting the long hair and the attitude we would head off almost every evening to play somewhere in the greater Southern California area. We played along the bars and clubs on the strip in Hollywood when they would have us or basically when there were no up and coming alternative bands headlining. We played the great gigs and the dives. The summer before our senior year we actually got signed on a promotion thing where we played the Pacific North west. All up through California, Oregon and Washington. We were actually on our way, or so we thought until hitting Washington, Seattle in particular. They would not tolerate the rock. Nirvana ruled although we had yet to know or ever hear about anything called Nirvana.
Our last year in school the gigs grew in size and distance we’d have to travel to get to them. The partying became more intense and the evenings grew into early mornings and sometimes late afternoons where we would clean up a bit, sober up a bit and head off to the next location. Joe and I considered ourselves the creative piece of the band as we both wrote and co-wrote all of the songs. Joe and I had known each other since diapers. Yet even in the ever so early stages of our life long dream of being rock stars, between the drugs, parties and chicks our egos where getting in the way. The friendship grew apart and we struggled to act like we were friends. Some days were better than others, but we had to stick to the dream. We cut a demo album and radio was actually giving it some playtime. That was rare because there were several hundred bands coming up at that time. There was talk that a then semi major label was interested in us. Jason and Erik were growing weary from the constant bickering and power struggle between Joe and me. I can remember my last time on stage with the band. It wasn’t fun. I felt like shit from the lack of eating and all of the speed and alcohol that had kept us going like the energizer bunny. After that night I turned my back and walked away from the band, the music and my dream. But I also walked away from my best friends. I immediately hit a recruiter and joined the Army. The only other thing I wanted to do besides play music, was to see the world and the only thing I knew how to do was write and play the guitar. Joe was furious and devastated. Jason and Erik soon followed suit. Joe went on to have a brief moment of fame in a sort of rock, punk, kinda rap thing. After that I hear he went down hill fast. I had talked to the others now and then soon after joining the Army but when I shipped out overseas, I left it all behind.
I sat there looking out of the window. My best friend was gone. He took with him the dream. It’s funny, as long as there were us four, even all of these years later, the dream was still alive.
“It’s gonna bring you down – HA”