TODD: "I remember just before we left for Detroit, the band purchased a junk mini-puckup bed with shell modified as a trailer. I remember going to get it somewhere way west of Salt Lake City at a junk yard. I got a trailer hitch on my yellow Opal to pull the darn thing. It was ugly enough as it was... Anyway, two days before we leave, John and Ward! paint that thing all psychadelic, with flowers and all; a complete 60's 'flower child' motif. And for effect, they painted the words 'DON'T LAUGH, YOUR DAUGHTER MAY BE IN HERE' on the back."

WARD!: "I have absolutely no recollection of this trailer. None what-so-ever. I do not remember painting it, I do not remember a daughter in it. Does anyone have a photo of it?"

TODD: "We got honks from truckers all across I-80 from Utah to Iowa, who apparently had no problem at all with such an idea. I remember one morning in the middle of Nebraska, we stopped the cars and layed down in the middle of I-80. There was no traffic coming in either direction as far as the eye could see...."

TODD: "One other time travelling through Nebraska we got pulled over by Officer Newnan, 'Easy Rider's' Bad-Ass-Cop of the Year. Apparently one of the band members (we all know who, the same guy who used to take a leak with the bathroom door open - even if YOUR girlfriend was in the other room) was taking a wizz on the side of the freeway. I got a ticket in my car for not having side mirrors, probably because I was associated with that scofflaw. The psychadelic colored trailor probably didn't help the cop's demeanor either. In the end, the ticket was waived when we had side mirrors installed at the local K-Mart. "

MIKE: "Most of the work was at the Meadowbrook Music Festival, summer home of the Detroit Symphony. Several name bands appeared also, I couldn't say who exactly."


DARRIN:"Here's a pic we received just before heading off to michigan. it was "the beatLes" card wishing us weLL!!!

WARD!: "Correct me if I am wrong but I believe we catered a show by Wayne Newton. When we were not working we did go to some other concerts. I saw Cheap Trick with Krokus, I made Mike late for The Guess Who and we also saw The Cars. These three shows were at outdoor venues."

TODD: "The trip to Detriot and other stories - 'Where the Buffalo Roam with free Aretha wine, Darrin an asshole in the theater, falls down the stair with a beachball' ..."

DARRIN: "What was this about me being a "asshoLe?!?" i was drunk-what did you expect? then came the beachbaLL from APEX mart. that's what i get for drinking & waLking in the wet grass before descending down the stairs of heLL!!"

TODD: "The Oakland music festival... Secrets of Masturbation.... Flight Deck in Charlevoix (happily shitfaced drunk with John - Ward! was pissed. I'm amazing that way - can't stand up, but can still play guitar/bass ), The Old Detroit, and one other club I can't remember..."

MIKE: "Played at the dive in downtown Detroit with a parrot."

TODD: "It was owned by some Viet Nam war veterans."

JOHN: "Remember the Vets LOVED us. They wanted autographs 'cause they knew we'd be famous. Someone had blown up the wall to get in and steal the parrot not long before we played there. Wow. Scary place if we hadn't had heavy cover provided by guys that had experience in Viet Nam."

WARD!: "I believe that bar was named 'The Green Parrot'. The owner had a large green parrot on a pole by the bar. We all got Green Parrot t-shirts from that show."

TODD: "No, Ward!, I think you're confusing it with the ever-so-trendy 'Green Parrot' in SLC. Yes, the logo of the club in Detroit was a parrot, but the name was 'The Old Detroit'. I'm sure I'm right - I'd bet a full sixer of Buckhorn on it."

WARD!: "Maybe you are right. Does anyone have the T-shirt anymore?"

WARD!: "What show was this? Is this the one with the parrot and the Viet Nam vets? Is this the infamous "Cass Corridor"? Is this Detroit?"

TODD: "Yes! I think this is the place with the Viet Nam vets near ground zero Motown... I incorrectly called it the Old Detroit. So, as it seems, we were BOTH mistaken on this Ward! Well, at least I was correct in thinking it was named after a city, so my memory isn't totally shot...."

DARRIN: "i was teLLing my wife about that fun evening @ 'the miama'. that seemed Like the first time we pLayed "rebeL-rebeL" Live?!? i can't remember-were there any women @ that show that night?!? that's when we thought cLove cigs were reaLLy cooL smoking them @ the bar!!"

TODD: "Wasn't it near 3-mile road, Mike? I remember we went to 'White Castle' afterward for the weirdest burgers I'v ever seen in my life - or probably WILL see for that matter....."

MIKE:"I wasn't able to attend the gig in Detroit, I just came by after to help tote and carry. Roughly 3 mile road, but the miles aren't as used that far down. White Castle burgers are more like meatloaf than hamburger, I enjoy them greatly."

MIKE:"Got an agent on Woodward, she landed the gig at the street fair in Bloomfield Hills(?)"

WARD!: "I don't remember her name, it was an unusual one for a woman. But anyway, she claimed to have been Bob Seger's agent on his way up to fame."

TODD: "Wasn't our agent in Detroit 'Del' or 'Dell'? I have matches with her phone number. I remember her husband was a judge, and she managed Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, and other big name stars - she got us our gig in Charlevoix. Remember she took us out for a boat ride and bought us drinks at her exclusive lake club?"

WARD!: "That's right. I ordered a martini and it nearly killed me. I don't remember the boat ride though. She was very nice to us. Considering she probably made very little money if any promoting us."

MIKE: "Most of the time was spent scooping ice cream and washing tables. Not bad work if you can get it. A very mellow summer job."

WARD!: "We played at another place in Detroit. Some rock club with a great big stage and Rock and Roll lighting. That show was fun. We played maybe three or four songs. I do remember playing 'Naked Fakir/Round The World'. It was really cool because for the first time there was lots of space between the four of us and we could really walk around and do various dramatic rock poses. It felt like the big time."

WARD!: "Our agent got us a show upstate in Charlevoix, several hours drive north."

MIKE: "My cousin was running the kitchen and he absolutely forbid me to go to the gig in Charlevoix. Absolutely could not spare my talents for one night. It rained and he sent me home early. Dickhead. Up North the band ran into someone who had attended a SLC Urge gig. 'Small world (but I wouldn't want to paint it)' as someone was heard to remark several times.

TODD: "John, one of my best memories of the URGE was you and me drinking on the beach at Lake Michigan before our gig at the Flight Deck.  Ward and Darrin were into their own thing, angst or women I believe, so you and I went to the beach by ourselves. We had a great day flirting with the babes and drinking I don't remember what. We came back to the hotel stinking drunk about an hour before the gig. Ward was totally pissed, but I remember we thought he was sooo funny. We couldn't stop our grinning and snickering. Did our diminished state affect our performance? I honestly don't remember 'sucking', so were were probably tight."

JOHN: "Todd, you're so right! I remember that day in Charlevoix. I lost my love beads swimming that day and took it as a sign that I had graduated to being my own person, not a Jim Morrison clone anymore. Man, I still remember the feeling of diving into that cool water and just having the BEST day. Then we played that night and that guy came running from the back and did a knee slide screaming 'YEAHHHHHHH!' or whatever he screamed."

JOHN: "The guy at the Flight deck gave us as much beer as we could carry, remember?"

TODD: "Yes. I remember the Flight Deck gave us a bunch of beer as a tip.  We couldn't hardly drink it all."

JOHN: "I have to give it Ward for being the professional one. I know it must have been like herding cats, Tomcats at that, but Ward always reminded us that there was some integrity to what we were doing and we had better do a good job. Those were some of the best times of my life."

WARD!: "Note to self: Try being less uptight going forward..."

JOHN: "I know we probably were worse than we should have been, being drunk (I can barely remember the words sober!) and all. But, we were SOOO rock and roll. The crowd loved us, if I remember right. That guy with the knee slide sure did!"

DARRIN: "i do remember going across the bridge from Windsor to Detroit & we had to stop & taLk to the port authorities & i  had to say something. 'Look guys-it's a picture of margaret Thatcher!!!' & the guard responded with, 'that's the queen!!!' boy-if i couLdn't bury myseLf any deeper!?!?"

WARD!: "We had been in Detroit for awhile and somehow arranged a gig at LXA in Utah for the following Saturday. So we had to pack everything up and get from Detroit to Salt Lake City in the next 5 days. John and I decided to drive together in his Ford Fiesta. I think it was named "The Crystal Ship"? We had the P.A. taking up the entire back of that tiny car. We sat with the 4-track on my lap and started recording the trip. We were in Chicago when John decided he wanted to visit an old girlfriend in Texas. I think it was Sunday or Monday. He figured we would have enough time to go from Chicago to Texas then to Utah in time for the upcoming gig 5 days hence."

MIKE: "The trip in the Crystal Ship was worthy of a chapter itself. Windows that required vise grips to operate, heat like the face of the sun, a sound system that required headphones (illegal in most states) and a car so jammed the final packing had to be done after the occupants had gotten in."

WARD!: "On the way back from Detroit to SLC via Texas John and I decided to record our hallucinogen fueled 'conversation' using the box of Urge demo tapes. We laughed pretty hard thinking about how Darrin and Todd would react when they discovered us doing it. We would return with a box of gibberish. We recorded with the 4-track in my lap. We ran the tape at the slowest speed possible in order to maximize the recording time. When it is played back our voices sould much higher. We sound like little kids on helium. Pretty damn funny I must admit. In fact I have found two of these tapes in the old storage box. I'll have to make them into CDs for you guys soon..."

MIKE: "Made the epic trip back to Utah with Darrin in Brutus (1967 Plymouth Satellite). All that drum equipment sagged the car but we still cruised. Took us 24 hours and 3 minutes. The longest stop was for dinner in Wyoming, less than 18 minutes. Fell asleep in Wyoming and just barely kept us on the road. Whoever invented Rumble Strips saved our lives."

continued...