Tensions in The House of Representatives began to boil over in several ways. One was that Eric kept trying to shove us toward being more like The Heroes. He got into the habit of saying we might be playing a song wrong because it wasn’t the way The Heroes did it, and other nonsense like that. Again, I loved The Heroes, but I didn’t want to be The Heroes. After a blow-up along those lines, I was surprised that KK, the drummer from Mook’s Session, commented to me that he’d heard that I thought my band to be better than The Heroes. “Hell, man,” I said, “there are other bands on the planet.” He didn’t seem to think so. That was when I realized that everyone from Madisonville was expected to love The Heroes no matter what. Hey, I loved The Heroes, but then as now thought there was room for alternative opinion. I didn’t give a shit what anyone else thought, but found out that anyone who has an opinion that isn’t part of majority rule might get pounced on. All that shit just made me mad because I’m totally against orthodoxy in all its nasty, narrow minded, self aggrandizing concern. Eat me! The Pug-a-Nut had proven that The Heroes’ crowds wanted something new, but KK seemed to hate The Nut, and I guess he hated Billy D, too, because their friendship waned around that time.
Near the end of summer THOR hadn’t played anything but another free party, even though the members worked like demons to build an interesting and different kind of playlist. I like rehearsal and being with the guys and all, but my idea was that bands should play for other people, and my band just wasn’t doing that.
The final straw that sent me out of THOR was additional interference from Brillo’s family. One afternoon Billy D called to ask me if THOR would be available to play a Tuesday evening slot at The Nut. I couldn’t believe it. Billy D said he knew we were a little green, and said that Tuesday nights were generally lightly attended but that the band had some appeal due to the Talent Parade telecasts, and he thought it would be a good opportunity for us. I thought so too, while warning him that Brillo’s parents just weren’t going to go for it, though I would give them a chance to debate.
I immediately called Brillo and laid it out. He seemed interested in the idea and said he’d bring it up right away and let me know at rehearsal later that afternoon. I got to Brillo’s around 4 p.m. I heard everyone talking in the kitchen. I asked Crowbar, in front of everyone, if they were debating The Nut’s offer. “No,” he said, “that was decided hours ago. We’re not playing.” I was pissed. “That stuff in the paper’s all lies,” I said. “I’ve been there. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” Brillo’s parents didn’t care, and that was it. Fuck it! I thought to myself, I’m outta here.
The part that got me then, and gets me even yet, was the sheer horror of Brillo’s family that people of wealth from the First Baptist Church would look down on other people of wealth from the church whose son might be so bold as to play a venue owned by commoners. To me that’s as constipated as humanity can get, and is one of the reasons (certainly not the only one) I hate the church (all churches and religions) and its orthodoxy to this day.
Long story short, I left the band not long thereafter. I was getting ready for my freshman year in high school, and to play football, so I just wasn’t going to try to hustle for rehearsal time if the band wasn’t going to play gigs when they were offered on a silver platter. I know we once tried to play again after that, but it was dead and I really didn’t care. I was ready for something new.
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