Rock and Roll High School: Growing Up in Hollywood During the Decade of Decadence

by Marisa Tellez

  GREG WARKEL: We’dalwaysstartthenightatCecil’s.Hewas anolddrunk.Ifhepassedoutwhileweweretheredrinking,we’djust go behind thebarand getourowndrinks.

  DAVE ZINK ( Blackboard Jungle): Cecil was a 65-year-old bartender at the Olympia Inn on Victory Blvd. Although the only legible sign outside the bar said, “BEER”. He was from Arkansas and drankCoorsina bottle.Hehad a weird habitofslammingthebottle capsinto theceiling.Hewould takecount of what he drankthatnight by laying on the floor before passing out and counting the caps that wereintheceiling.

  K ENNYPRICE (BlackboardJungle):I thinkitwasEricwhofound Cecil’sbar.Hewould dopitchersforlikea buckortwo.Wewould get so fucked up there.We’d drink allnight long and then at the end of the night Cecilwouldsay,“Uhhhyeah,just give me tenbucks”.

  Blackboard played thereonenight,andwehadsomeguy Jeffon the drums because Joel had just left the band. We only had like 60 people there. Joe Howard was going behind the bar to bartend, and some guysaidsomethingtoJoe’s wife. SoJoegrabbed theguy,pulled him outside,andslammedhisheadintoa car. He pulled the guy back andhadrippeda chunk ofthe guys hair out. Heheldtheclumpofhair intheguysfaceandsaidsomethingsosimple andfunnytohim.Damn I wishI couldrememberwhatitwas.

  JOE HOWARD: It was my wife’s birthday at the time, and Blackboard was going to do an acoustic set at Cecil’s bar. Everyone was there withtheir girlfriends whensome biker guys came walking in.They weresittingatthebar,anditwassupposedtobea private night.ButwewerecooluntilInoticedthemcheckingoutsomeofthe girlsweweretherewith,andthey madea fewcomments.SoIsaid, “Hey man, this is kind of a private thing. So if you’re gonna be here justdon’tbecreepin.”Oneguytoldmetofuckoff,thenwalkedbehind the bar to pour himself a drink. I said something to him, he hit me over the head with a mug, so I pulled him over the bar and started whoopin the shit out of him. I took him outside, grabbed him by the head,andendeduprippingabigclumpof his hairoutasIsmashedhis face into the side of his ‘66 Malibu. When I was done I said, “Hey man,here’syourhairback.”

  DAVE ZINK ( Blackboard Jungle): I remember we were playing when one of the bikers said something terribly rude to Kristi, who was my girlfriend at the time. Beaubien took the guy, flipped him downonto theground,jammedhisbootintohisneck,andtoldtheguy, “Don’t move.” A bar fight broke out, and all of a sudden, I see Joe Howardrunningoutofthefrontofthebarwithsomedudethatwas justhelpless.Theguy hadtobeat leastafoot taller thanJoebuthad noideahowtodealwith him. IwatchedJoetaketheguyoutside,and he starts yelling at him, “Which one is your car!” the guy wouldn’t answer, so Joe yells again, “Which one is your car asshole!” and the guy points to a ‘66 Ford 2 door. It was sapphire blue, beautifully repainted.Joe takes the guys head,smashes itintotherightsidefront fender, and dents the fender with the guys head. I never saw anythinglikeit

  It was right when I was feeling at ease with everything that an unexpected blast from the past walked through the doors of the Burbank house on a random evening, Spencer.

  Although Spencer had always been nice to me in the past, I really didn’t know her that well. She was never a regular at Cassidy’s house, and I hadn’t seen or talked to her since the days of me dating Sebastian.

  When she walked into the Burbank house, she gave me a friendly hug, and we talked a little bit over the course of the evening. Although she didn’t bring up my falling out with Cassidy, I was still very weary of letting any girls from that group of people back into my life.

  While my overactive paranoia had me keeping tabs on Spencer, Kennedy and I had heard through the grapevine that Blackboard and Faster Pussycat had a show coming up at The Palace in Hollywood. My heart began to flutter at the very thought of encountering Brent again. Especially since our last encounter was such a flop due to Faye’s excessive beauty getting in the way.

  The night of The Palace show, Greg got us passes. We were hanging out in one of the dressing rooms when Brent walked in with a petite blonde.

  “That is girlfriend Selena,” Ramie said in her broken English.

  DAMN. A girlfriend. Of course he would have a girlfriend. Selena had long blonde hair and thin-pursed lips to match

  her skinny frame. She was a standard kind of pretty but nothing stunning as far as I was concerned. Brent and Selena walked up to Greg and Ramie, exchanging hellos and hugs. Greg introduced Kennedy and I, to Brent and Selena. They politely said hello and got caught up talking with other people that were hanging out in the dressing room.

  The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. Blackboard and Faster Pussycat put on a great show, but I didn’t have any further interaction with Brent the rest of the night. I knew it was for the best since he had a girlfriend, but it didn’t curb the fact that I was crushing on him big time. Although our encounter was brief, I was floating on cloud nine when I went home that night. I couldn’t wait for the next outing when I’d get a chance to run into him, and luckily, I didn’t have to wait very long.

  The following weekend was Kenny’s 25th birthday. The plan was to have a party at Britt’s, the bass player of Blackboard Jungle, who had an apartment on Larrabee right near The Viper Room.

  The night of Kenny’s birthday party, I hitched a ride with Kennedy, Ramie, and Greg to Britt’s. I scanned the living room when we walked in and recognized a few familiar faces that hung out at the Burbank house. I also noticed one that used to hang out at the Cassidy’s, Vaughn from The Beautiful Destruction.

  I hadn’t seen him since my falling out with Cassidy. Although most of the guys we hung out with had stayed neutral, Vaughn and Cassidy had always been really close, so I was hesitant on going up to him. I felt it was best to keep my distance and figured if he wanted to say hi to me he would, which he did just moments later.

  While I chatted with Vaughn, I sporadically glanced around the room, hoping for a glimpse of Brent. I finally spotted him standing in a corner of the room and barely recognized him. He wasn’t gussied up like he was at The Palace show. He was wearing a long-sleeved, black button up shirt, and his long dark hair was covered up by a green fedora with a little feather sticking out the side.

  Vaughn walked off to chat with a few other people, and my gaze at Brent was broken when Greg handed me a beer. He handed one to Kennedy and Ramie as well, then walked off to the kitchen. I noticed an uninhabited couch in the center of the living room, so Ramie, Kennedy, and I walked over and took a seat.

  “I’m so excited Brent’s here. The only thing that could make this night better is if Nikki Sixx walked through the door,” I said.

  “Oh my god. Do you see what I see?” Kennedy said to Ramie.

  “I swear if you tell me Nikki just walked in, I’m going to

  walk down to Sunset and throw myself in front of a car,” I said

  holding my stomach.

  “No, it’s not Nikki. Ramie did you notice?” Kennedy asked. “Yes, I did,” Ramie said with a big smile on her face. “What? What did you see?” I asked.

  “Brent keeps looking over at you,” Kennedy said. “You're so full of shit,” I said rolling my eyes.

  “Ramie, am I lying?” Kennedy asked.

  “No, he is,” Ramie confirmed.

  My back was facing Brent, so the only way I could look at

  him was to completely turn around, which was a little too

  obvious. Kennedy and Ramie were sitting on either side of me at

  an angle, so it didn’t look completely obnoxious if they took a

  simple glance in his direction.

  “What’s he doing now?” I whispered to Kennedy. “He’s just talking to some people, but he keeps looking

  over here.”

  “Damn it. I wish I could be facing him right now,” I said. I thought back to the first time I met Brent in front of The

  Whisky with Faye. Is it possible that he recognized me from

  back then and that was the reason he kept staring at me? Not a chance in hell.

  He was all about Faye that night. I could’ve walked out of

  The Whisky with a purple tail and shot glitter out of
my ass, and

  he still wouldn’t have remembered me.

  Ramie and Kennedy knew about my longstanding crush on

  Brent, so I figured they were blowing smoke up my ass by saying

  that he was staring at me. I just had to check it out for myself. I turned around and pretended I was doing a casual glance

  around the room to see who was there. When my eyes met with

  Brent’s, he gave me a little smile, raising one corner of his mouth

  ever so slightly. I smiled back and slowly turned around. “I’m going to die,” I whispered to the girls.

  As people began to slowly pile into the apartment, I became

  paranoid of anyone overhearing what the girls and I were talking

  about, so I developed a plan.

  “Listen, anytime Brent looks at me, you guys gently snap

  your fingers okay?” I whispered to the girls.

  Kennedy and Ramie immediately snapped their fingers at

  the same time.

  “Stop it! I said only when he looks at me,” I said. “What? He just did right now,” Kennedy whispered. A few minutes later, Jamie Scrap walked in. He spoke with

  Brent for a few moments and they both walked out together. “Oh no, he can’t be leaving already!” I whispered to the

  girls.

  “No way, it’s still early. They are probably just making a run

  to the store,” Kennedy said.

  Ramie, Kennedy, and I speculated on where the guys

  could’ve gone. About an hour later, Jamie walked in with Brent

  and his girlfriend Selena. She walked off and said hello to a few

  people while Brent hung out near the front door talking with

  Kenny and Britt. Despite Selena’s presence, the girls resumed

  snapping their fingers just moments later, which totally caught

  me by surprise. Their sporadic snapping continued for another

  fifteen minutes or so when suddenly it came to a standstill. “What happened? Why are you not snapping anymore?” I

  asked sadly.

  “Brent walked into the bedroom,” Kennedy said. “Well I do have to go to the bathroom,” I said with a smile. The three of us got up and walked into the bedroom, which

  had the only bathroom. Brent and Selena were sitting on a bed

  and both were talking with a few people that were standing

  around them. While I waited in line for the bathroom, I could

  feel Brent staring at me. I didn’t make eye contact with him

  though, I just couldn’t. I would've melted onto the floor, and the

  girls would've had to scoop me up in a bucket.

  When the bathroom door finally opened, the three of us

  piled in. We shut the door behind us and started jumping up and

  down, squealing like wild piglets. Although music was blaring

  throughout the apartment, I was still paranoid about anyone

  knowing of my crush on Brent. I was still traumatized from

  being 86’d at the hands of Cassidy and had just gotten used to

  having a social life again. I wasn’t about to start making enemies

  in my new circle of friends and do something stupid to piss

  people off. Or would I?

  When we walked out of the bathroom, I could feel Brent

  looking in my direction. I avoided all eye contact and stared

  straight ahead. Kennedy gently snapped her fingers by my ear as we passed him, and I giggled as we continued our way back into

  the living room.

  “You see Brent look?” Ramie asked, as we sat down on the

  couch.

  “The question is did you see Selena glaring at her?”

  Kennedy added.

  “Oh no! Are you serious?” I asked.

  “She totally noticed Brent staring at you when we walked

  out of the bathroom. She was NOT happy,” Kennedy said. “But I didn't do anything, I didn't even look at him,” I said. “Yes you did, you caught her boyfriend’s eye. That’s quite

  enough,” Kennedy said.

  As the night went on and the girls continued snapping their

  fingers like they were at a hipster poetry reading, my thoughts

  went back and forth on how to handle Brent. If I was going to

  continue hanging out in the Blackboard circle, being around him

  was inevitable. I couldn’t very well run out the door every time

  he came around. So until I could figure out a game plan, I

  decided it was best to avoid any further interaction with him for

  the remainder of the night.

  I was about to get up and grab myself another beer, when

  Greg waved us over from across the room and asked if we were

  ready to head out. We gathered our things and walked over to

  Greg, who was talking to a few people by the front door. Brent

  suddenly strolled up, said hello and mentioned he remembered

  me from The Palace show. He smiled as he shook my hand and

  didn’t let it go. He just held on to the tips of my fingers and

  lightly swung my arm back and forth as he asked me random

  questions like where I was from, how I knew Greg, etc. I was

  freaking out beyond belief, but I felt I did a pretty good job at

  keeping up a cool demeanor as I answered his questions.

  Although Selena was nowhere to be found at the moment, I still

  felt uncomfortable talking to Brent. Especially after Kennedy

  mentioned she was giving me the stink eye when we left the

  bathroom earlier.

  I slowly pulled my hand away from Brent’s as we continued

  to chat. A few seconds later, Selena walked into the living room from the bedroom. The close call completely freaked me out, so I quickly wrapped up my conversation with Brent. He kissed the back of my hand, smiled and said it was great seeing me again.

  *sigh*

  We said our goodbyes to everyone, walked out of the

  apartment, and I held in my excitement until we reached the

  street, at which point I performed the Snoopy happy dance. “Oh my god, Selena hates me,” I said as I stopped dancing. “Yeah, but Brent obviously likes you,” Greg said. “Oh my god, what did he say?” I said charging Greg. “Earlier in the night he told me you were really cute.” “SHUT UP!” I yelled.

  “Okay, I’ll shut up.”

  “Don’t you dare! What else did he say?” I said clawing at

  him.

  “Nothing really. You happened to walk by when we were

  talking. He asked who you were, and I said you were a friend of

  Ramie’s. That’s when he mentioned you were cute, that’s all.” It seemed like just yesterday I was a 14-year-old freshman,

  slobbering over pinups of Brent Muscat on my wall. Now five

  years later, I find myself at a party with him just a few feet away,

  staring at me like a lion eyeing a steak. Finally, my baked squash

  days were behind me! Everything had come full circle...well

  almost. The day I’d come face to face with Nikki Sixx would be

  the final step in reaching the Holy Grail.

  The next morning, I grabbed my typewriter and pounded

  away on the keys as I described every detail concerning the party

  at Britt’s in my journal. The obnoxious amount of finger

  snapping between Kennedy and Ramie was too good to be true.

  It seemed more like a fictitious story I would’ve written when I

  was 14, rather than something that could’ve actually happened. I wondered when I would see Brent again. I knew

  Blackboard and Faster Pussycat would be leaving soon to go on

  a mini tour of the east coast. Something had to happen before

  then to bring everyone together. Luckily, it only
took one call to

  Ramie to get my answer.

  About a week or so later, a bunch of us went to Cecil's bar

  to hang out. I ended up going straight to the bar and got there

  before Ramie and Kennedy did. Greg, John, and Eric were there

  along with a few guys in Blackboard. Brent was there with Selena

  too. He greeted me with a big hug hello while she gave me the

  stink eye once again. After saying hi to Brent, I walked off and

  chatted with Kenny for a little bit about the upcoming tour. Two

  beers later, my bladder was acting up, so I went to the bathroom.

  While I was washing my hands, Ramie and Kennedy walked in

  and greeted me with hugs.

  “We noticed Brent outside. Did you get a chance to talk to

  him?” Kennedy asked.

  “Not really. We just said hi and exchanged a hug,” I said. “That’s it?” Kennedy asked.

  “What was I supposed to do? Give him a lap dance? Selena

  was right next to him shooting daggers at me,” I said. Selena kept a very tight leash on Brent for the remainder of

  the night, and anytime I did talk to him, I could feel her eyes

  burning into me. She must’ve sensed something was up at

  Kenny’s birthday. Now she was out for blood.

  I ran into Brent a few more times before the guys left on

  tour, and Selena continued to mad dog me every time I saw her.

  In an attempt to ease the tension, I’d try to avoid Brent when

  we’d all be out and about. But he’d always come up and talk to

  me, which I’m sure pissed her off even more. I smiled at her

  once, but she didn’t even crack. She just shot back another one

  of her many dirty looks. After weeks of trying to extend the olive

  branch to Selena, it hit me that she was going to hate me no

  matter what I did. So I figured if she already had issues with me

  for doing nothing, then I might as well be my normal friendly

  self with Brent.

  A few days after the boys left for tour, things were way too

  quiet in the Burbank house, downright boring actually. The only

  interesting thing that happened was that a verdict had finally

  been reached in the Rodney King civil trial. Throughout the