'Some nights I thought... "man, we're gonna get eaten alive"... but instead the crowd loved it... and it was all because of Cal...'
PART TWO --- Every Star Comes From Somewhere
'I'd just turned twenty when I first saw Comet and Slice perform... in some crud tavern on a bad street in the East Side... maybe ten people in the room but they loved it... the songs were weird but it was a weird crowd for weird times...'
The interviewer sipped his tea and scribbled down some notes.
'How did you become involved with the two of them?'
'It was real casual at first... maybe the third time I saw them perform... after the show I introduced myself... "Will Banes!" I declared in my most sophisticated voice... they howled with laughter... I told them I was a bassist and asked if they'd want to jam sometime... innocent enough inquiry... their sound was so unique especially with Cal as a front man... but with just two guitars and nothing else it was missing something... me, as it turned out.'
'When were you invited to join?'
'Right away after the first jam... I'd played mostly in jazz bands so rock pop music was a little strange to me... but even back then I was skilled enough to make it work.'
'How were the first few shows as a trio?'
Will Banes slicked his dyed hair back and raised an eyebrow. In the breast pocket of his silk white suit he fiddled with a harmonica he always kept there.
'They were rough... Slice and I were very different stylistically, to put it lightly... so there was a considerable adjustment period... I'm sure if bootlegs exist, the music is crude and ghastly... only Cal's stagemanship made us even slightly appealing... lord, if I could go back in time I would surely avoid those days...'
'Tell us about Galvin Dantley joining the group.'
'Oh Galaxy Dantley... the poor man... we'd been performing as a trio for a few months with middling success... I suggested recruiting a colleague of mine, Galaxy, to play drums and give us a more traditional setup. Both Cal and Slice were resistant, preferring our edgy "out there" experiments... but eventually I convinced them to try it out... and Galaxy was a fine drummer... he meshed with our sound instantly...'
Will Banes pulled out a handkerchief, dabbed his lips and meticulously folded it back into the side pocket of his blazer.
'Now we were set... ready to explode upon the world. Every show... our audience was growing... we went from twenty people in coffeehouses and pubs... to a packed seventy in small theatres... to hundreds in auditoriums. Summer '69 we were invited to an outdoor festival in Central Park, two thousand people... Cal came out in this neon green jumpsuit... spiky bleached hair... he looked like an alien... that is the day Calvin Comet came to Earth...'
'It wasn't long afterwards that Sterling Records signed you guys.'
'Correct... I met one of their people during the festival... we'd had Merlon White managing us, friend of Galaxy's... nice man but completely unserious. Sterling Records wanted a five record deal and we were halfway to the moon... even though Comet had written barely enough songs for a single LP... still, that man could literally shit out a better song than half the refuse on the radio today...'
'Let's talk about the band name a little bit.'
'Ha! That was the biggest issue Sterling Records had with us... they didn't much care for the "Drunks From Mars" moniker we'd performed under... Slice's invention I'm sure. Sterling wanted to make Comet the main attraction, so they suggested it be just his name... with us as just an unnamed backing band... I didn't much care for that at all. Then one night we were smoking after a rehearsal... Comet shouts out something about "Asteroids of Time" and starts up on that red guitar of his... writes the song and convinces us to meet the record company halfway... so from that point onwards we became Calvin Comet and the Asteroids of Time... and it's followed me and paid my bills ever since...'
***
I'm jolted awake by the car suddenly stopping, the papers in my lap spilling onto the backseat floor.
'It's just a highway checkpoint.' my sister Laurie whispers back to me. 'Nothing to worry about.'
My father grunts in the passenger seat and resumes reading his copy of MacLeans magazine. I stretch my legs as best I can, peek out the window and see only an empty highway layered with snow, surrounded by wilderness and a moonless starry sky. Laurie rolls down the driver window slightly and a rush of prickly cold air enters the car.
'Where ya all headed tonight?'
'Passing through Sudbury, about halfway to Sault Ste Marie.'
'You been drinking tonight, Miss?'
'Not a drop.'
'All right Miss, have a safe journey. Don't be staring up to the sky too much, clear night like this you can see all the constellations. Causes more accidents than you'd think.'
'Thanks officer.'
'Take care now.'
The car continues onward, the cold outside air still lingering within. My eyes droop and my vision fades, back to the warmer places where blankets shake your hand on the sidewalks.
(xxix) -- Two
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