"It Was Great When It All Began"
"Didn't We Pass A Castle?"
"Not An Equal"
"Unconventional Conventionists"
"Superheroes"
"To Absent Friends"
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I
first heard about ROCKY HORROR in 1974.
I saw this album cover at the Superama. I thought it looked pretty cool. |
In
1976, I found this in a JEM records catalog.
My sister told me that it was a great movie. Little did I know... |
I had spent the last 8 years living in New Jersey. We had moved there from Arizona in 1970.
I was fresh out of high school, and I had a very hard time adjusting my new environment.
The "California Lifestyle" that I saw for years on TV certainly did not apply to me.
I was, at the time, fat, unattractive to girls, and awkward. I was also very smart, talented, and clever.
I didn't fit in with anyone I met, and I did not know how, or had the means to express myself artistically.
My only solace was the radio.
Dr. Demento was broadcasting his Sunday night radio show from K-MET 94.7 FM in Hollywood.
("Pico & Sepulveda...Pico & Sepulveda!!!"..."And Remember To STAY DEMENTED!!!")
He would regularly play songs from the film soundtrack. The first song I heard was "Sweet Transvestite".
Tim Curry's voice blew me away. A Shakespearean baritone singing rock 'n' roll was new to me.
I heard some other songs, notably "Science Fiction Double Feature", "The Time Warp", and "Rose Tint My World".
I fell in love with the music. It was simple and fun.
To me, it sounded like everyone involved in making the music was having a great time.
I knew that I had to see this film, if only for the music.
But word was that there were some rather strange and bizarre things about "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW".
Creepy things. Disturbing things.
On
February 2, 1979, the film opened at the United Artists Theater 4 - Tyler
Mall in Riverside CA.
The house was SOLD OUT. And there were LOT of pretty girls. I knew this
was gonna be good.
I was a Virgin. I went out of curiosity and my interest in the music.
It was to be a night out that I was going to remember for a very long
time.
I had never seen anything like it. These were some very brave and creative
people.
I call it having "The Spirit". The Spirit is evident when people
are really enjoying themslves at ROCKY HORROR.
There was life and energy in that room. It was easy to do "The Time
Warp".
"Over At The Frankenstein Place"
United Artists Theater 4 Tyler Mall - Riverside CA - 1979
I
really got hooked on the music. I bought the soundtrack started learning
the songs.
The music in ROCKY HORROR is classic, traditional rock'n'roll music.
I felt like I had found something that would allow me to express myself
creatively.
I was
not allowed in bars yet, and I knew of no bands or musical theater groups
in my local area.
Going to ROCKY HORROR gave me the opportunity to sing a regular set of
songs and give myself a solid,
enjoyable vocal work out with an audience that is familiar and appreciative
of the music itself.
Back then, "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" played on
both Fridays and Saturdays.
It was possible to see the film more than 100 times in your first year.
I went back every week, attending both Friday & Saturday nights at
Midnight.
My first costume was a Transylvanian knock-off with a face full of cheap
greaspaint.
I learned the response dialog, and I was starting to make people laugh
with some of my own.
And I didn't give a rats-ass if anyone thought what I was doing was "strange"
or "abnormal".
I was experiencing a sense of freedom that I had never known before.
JULIE FORD
Riverside CA - 1979
The
first person I met at ROCKY HORROR was Julie Ford.
The first time I saw Julie, she was dressed as Frank 'N' Furter with the
leather jacket and whip.
The next time I saw her, she was Columbia, and she was with David James.
David was dressed as Frank, and I was blown away by the fact he was in
a really good costume.
David and Julie made a great team.
They had The Spirit, and they were brave, inspiring, and very creative.
A nice fellow named Matt Patterson started hanging out with us, and he
was our first Riff Raff.
DAVID JAMES, JULIE FORD, MATT PATTERSON
United Artists Theater 4 Tyler Mall - Riverside CA - 1979
When I realized that it was the album cover that I had seen 5 years before, I felt I had made a connection.
I found the Original Roxy Cast Songbook in a sheet music store in Corona for $5.95. I still have it.
The Original Roxy Cast Album is still my favorite stage version of "THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW".
The album is an experience in itself.
Members of L.A.'s studio elite, "The Wrecking Crew" were the house band for the show.
And their names were...
Tommy Tedesco, Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel, Dean Parks, Joe Osborn and Jim Horn.
When I attended MI, I got know Tommy Tedesco, and I did him a big favor.
I met Bruce Scott, the actor who played Riff-Raff in the Original Roxy Cast at Squeeze's, a Riverside punk club.
He had a band called "Riff-Raff", and he was opening for another band called "Numbers".
The soundtrack
of "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" is still my favorite
version of the music.
I love the mix and the arrangement of "The Time Warp" that
was used in the film!
The guitars are much more prominent in the film mix, as opposed to the
album where the horns are louder.
Count Ian Blair played some of my all-time favorite guitar parts.
Columbia's tap dance is great, too.
Then of course, comes almost everyone's favorite moment of the film...who
doesn't love Frank's entrance?
You can tell that Tim Curry was having a lot fun with his performance.
Watching him never fails to make me smile and laugh.
It's also great to listen to the girls scream.
In those early
days, ROCKY HORROR was not without it's down moments.
People used to throw eggs, drinks, and other objects at us while we
would do "The Time Warp".
One night, some jerk threw an entire sealed cup of soda at David. It
burst on impact, and David got soaked.
Being the trouper he is, he continued to perform, and the crowd cheered
him on.
Another time, some rube walked up to the screen an extingushed a lit
cigarette on it.
And one night, some angry-surfer-dude threw a bottle at us. He missed,
but that brought the cops in.
The theater got shut down twice because of the rowdiness.
"The Song Remains The Same" crowd hated our guts. And I mean
they REALLY hated us.
It was really hard sometimes having to deal with these In-bred-tweaker-assholes.
They would show up at the theater before the show and they just wanted
to kick your ass.
Still, I refused to let a bunch of idiots ruin my new-found fun.
After standing up to them a few times, they left us alone.
RICHARD GIFFORD
Riverside CA - 1979
He was wearing a Transylvanian tailcoat, and a top-hat that was signed by Dr. Demento.
We were both trying to scam the same girl. He succeeded. I did not.
Julie was there, as was David, and they were both "dressed-up for Rocky".
I was really happy to meet others that were willing to take participation to extremes.
The next weekend, we statred hanging out at Denny's.
We met Sherri Johnson and Cindy Okert.
We started hanging out at Cindy's house. It was fun for a while.
More people were getting involved. It was like they were being converted. It was great!
Each week, we saw a few more people coming to the show in costume and participating.
It was if we were destined to be drawn together.
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