Moz is intelligent, quick, and often very humorous. And he doesn’t suffer fools lightly. When you are sitting with Morrissey you had better be prepared and bring your A game; if not, he will rip you to pieces, but if you do your homework and preparation you will be rewarded by an incredible verbal tennis game from someone who is justifiably known as a wordsmith.
Our interview was scheduled for twenty minutes but that Friday as we went back and forth about his career, the way his fans loved him, his songwriting process, etc.., it became obvious that both of us were enjoying it so much that the clock on the wall was ignored and Morrissey stayed in the studio with me going one-on-one for more than an hour and a half.
In studio with Morrissey 2/9/90
When the interview wrapped up we both knew that something very special had just occurred. All across Southern California hundreds of thousands of fans had made their own personal recording of the interview on cassette and a limited-edition CD of the Morrissey interview was released. It was a moment in time that lives on.
A few months later I was hosting a Morrissey look-a-like contest at Fashions Nightclub in Redondo Beach. The commercials for that Saturday evening ran every day on the radio and on the Thursday before the big night I received a call from Howie saying Morrissey was in town and had heard the ads on my show. What shocked me was that instead of being mad, Morrissey asked if he could join me at Fashions that night and judge the contest.
Of course I said yes without hesitation. The only caveat was that I keep it secret and not announce it on the air. That was no problem and we put the wheels in motion.
That Saturday Fashions was even more packed than usual. The club was located underneath Redondo Beach’s famed harbor pier and the only way in and out was down a single, wide staircase.
As Morrissey arrived and joined me in the DJ booth, Fashions was pumping. At least forty other Morrisseys were in the house all ready for their big moment on stage which would be coming up in a couple of hours, around midnight.
There was a constant ebb and flow of dancers making their way through the crowd to the DJ booth to make requests. When they saw Morrissey standing with me they inevitably nodded their heads in approval and made comments like “Good job, you look just like him” or “You’re one of the best here tonight.”
Slowly a buzz began to develop in the club; you could feel it growing. Now it wasn’t just the dance floor that was packed; the area in front of the DJ booth had a large crowd standing, staring at the two of us.
Every time Morrissey would give his fans a shy wave through the low Perspex surround that ringed the booth they would wave back then turn to each other with a “Do you think that could be….?”
Moz and I talked and agreed I had to say something. I picked up the microphone and flipped it on.
“Hope you’re having a good time so far tonight here at Fashions. Thanks to everyone who came dressed up as Morrissey. It’s going to be a fantastic contest.” I paused for a second. “If you all promise to stay cool I’ll let you in on a secret. Who out there can be cool?”
I held the mic out and 500 people yelled back, “We can!”
I glanced at Moz and he nodded in approval. I continued on the mic, “Okay, cool people. We have a special judge for our look-a-like contest tonight. Remember, you are all cool, because this,” I pointed to the famous singer from Manchester standing next to me, “is Morrissey!”
A hush dropped over the crowd and I had never heard Fashions so silent, not even during the early evening hours when the club was still closed and the only people inside were me and the bartenders. Amazingly everyone was being cool – for exactly one second!
Then a roar erupted. The crowd pushed forward as one and a tsunami of bodies surged at the DJ booth, shattering the Perspex surround and everywhere there were hands and arms reaching in, grabbing, pulling. The two security guards by the booth were overwhelmed and Morrissey leapt to the rear of the DJ area in an attempt to find shelter among the vinyl albums and record crates.
Two more security guards rushed downstairs from the door and together managed to hold back the crowds. Lance, the owner of Fashions, knew it would be impossible to get Morrissey up the stairs and out of the club so he yelled to the security, “Take him to my office now.”
The four burly guards encircled Moz and shoved their way through the crowd to the comparative safety of the windowless office. A few minutes later I joined them there. There was a constant hammering on the door from desperate fans while we talked.
We came up with a plan. I would start the look-a-like contest right away and hopefully that would distract enough people for a couple of minutes that they would be able to safely get Morrissey extricated from the office and out of the club.
Morrissey and I exchanged glances right before I squeezed my way out of the door and back into the crowd; for all the chaos and mayhem we were actually both having fun.
The diversion worked and by the time the contest was over and the number-one Morrissey wannabe was crowned the real article was safely on his way, virtually unscathed, heading north back to his place in West Hollywood.
Just over a year later, Morrissey and I would be thrown together again after another crazy mob situation, this one at Pauley Pavilion on November 1, 1991.
Morrissey was on the road on tour supporting his brilliant Kill Uncle album and decided to do a special show at UCLA. Normally Moz would play –and sell out – venues like the Hollywood Bowl or the Forum, but on that night he decided on a much more intimate show on an indoor basketball court at Westwood’s famed university campus.
The packed crowd had been on their feet since the opening number, “November Spawned A Monster,” an ironic choice to start with considering the date and what happened, and as Morrissey tore into the ninth song of his set, “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful,” he was feeling the love from his fans and said into the microphone “Get up out of your seats and come on down here.” Unwittingly it was an invitation to unleash the Gods of Chaos.
The crowd yelled their approval and heaved forward, overturning the folding chairs that had been placed on the floor of the basketball court and trampling others as they charged the stage. Morrissey was visibly upset and rushed into the back of Pauley Pavilion for his own safety. Riot police and paramedics were called and in all, forty-eight people were injured.
Morrissey called me on the air the next day to say how sorry he was about the incident. The concert had been going so well up to that point and he had been overcome by the energy from the fans. Over the years so many had made their way onto the stage to hug him and give him flowers but never anything like this. He was truly shaken by what had occurred and distraught that anyone might have been hurt.
Five months prior to the ill-fated Pauley Pavilion show, Morrissey and I spent an unforgettable evening together at the Capitol Records building in Hollywood.
Morrissey wanted to do something special for his fans in Southern California so he came up with the idea of putting together a special EP for his followers there. He contacted me at KROQ and said that the plan was that he and his band - Spencer Cobrin, Boz Boorer, Alain Whyte and Gary Day - would go into the studio at Capitol and record three tracks for the CD. He then wanted me to go on the air the next day and talk about the experience of being in-studio with Morrissey and produce a segment to be included on the CD that would feature listeners sharing their thoughts and feelings with me on Morrissey.
Scott Mason and I arrived at Capitol Records around 7:30 on that Monday evening of June 3, 1991. Scott made sure all the gear was hooked up correctly including multiple DAT machines for backup, and the very talented Ian Horne was on hand to mix the set. The amazing thing about that night was that as the band played, Ian would mix it live to tape. There would be no re-dos, overdubs and inserts; it had been decided that what went onto the CD would be exactly what they played and laid down on tape that night.
Morrissey and his band had come ready to rock and after a ninety-min
ute rehearsal and practice session they played the three songs live, “There’s A place In Hell For Me And My Friends,” “My Love Life” and “Sing Your Life,” as Ian worked the mixing board and Scott recorded the session.
When everything was done, we all hung out for about an hour afterwards, talking and slowly coming down from a natural high. None of us were in a hurry to leave; we knew that this had been a once-in-a-lifetime night that had just happened for us in the same Hollywood studio where legendary acts like Sinatra and the Beach Boys had recorded their own timeless music.
Morrissey signing a poster to commemorate the recording session
After hearing the three tracks the record company knew they had something special on their hands and changed their plans on how they were going to release the CD. Instead of it being limited to Southern California it became an official Sire/ Reprise worldwide release and a part of Morrissey’s catalogue nationally and internationally complete with my eight-minute produced feature on it. And the live version of “Sing Your Life,” recorded that night, became the definitive version of the song for radio stations around the world.
Part Two – NEVER TEAR US APART
How I miss Michael Hutchence. In many ways, of all the musicians and performers I was privileged to know over the years, I would have to say Michael was the epitome of the ultimate rock star. He had it all. The voice, the looks, the moves, the talent, the song writing ability and most of all, that rare, intangible thing – the charisma. When he walked onto a stage or into a room, he owned it and all eyes followed him. It was like he wove a magic spell and transfixed the audience with his presence.
Understandably women found Michael’s charms irresistible. I often joked that if you were to come home and find your wife in bed with Michael that instead of breaking into a furious rage you would completely understand and simply say, “I’ll leave you two alone for an hour.” To which the wife would probably reply, “Could you make that two hours, honey?”
I first met Michael on Thursday, March 31, 1983 when I was scheduled to introduce INXS on stage at their show with Adam Ant at Raincross Square in Riverside, California. All the attention was focused on Adam at the time but I was curious about INXS. I was playing their video “The One Thing” on my TV show and thought they would be worth checking out.
Hanging backstage with them before the concert I was swept up in the sheer energy that this band of brothers had. Technically only three of them were brothers - Jon, Tim and Andrew - but all six of them felt like they shared the same blood. They were excited to be in America and were eager to make their mark here.
After I brought them on stage I watched their performance and all I could think of as Michael strutted, danced, sang and won over the fans who had flocked to the hall primarily to see Adam, was that it was like seeing a young Mick Jagger in the early days of The Rolling Stones. He was that good.
Over the next three days Michael and Tim spent a lot of time with me as we did radio interviews and TV shoots. They had no walls or reservations about them and we became fast friends.
With Tim and Michael in the Video One studio, 1985
Two months later I waited with them backstage at the US Festival as they wiped the sweat from their bodies after battling both the huge crowd and the nearly one hundred degree heat. They were tired and exhausted but thrilled. It was the biggest show they had played to date.
Over the next few years I would always get a call from Michael when he was coming to town and we would go for drinks and talk about the next step for INXS.
As INXS got bigger and bigger Michael didn’t change. He remained that excited young Aussie I first met and was always happy to join me at the station or on Video One or VideoBeat for INXS week.
Just two months after the above picture was taken I was with Michael in Sydney when he turned up to meet me at one of Spandau Ballet’s infamous parties.
One of my biggest regrets in music is that I was unable to make it to London for the INXS concert at Wembley Stadium on July 13, 1991. I already had commitments for a TV shoot in Los Angeles and had to tell Michael I couldn’t accept his invitation and come to England for the show. I knew it was an important milestone for the band to sell out a legendary arena like Wembley which exactly six years before to the day, had been the UK home to Live Aid on July 13, 1985, and Michael wanted his friends and family there to see their triumphant show in front of 75,000 fans.
The band knew how significant this concert would be for them and had it recorded and filmed, and released it on album and video as Live, Baby, Live.
Less than two years later in March of 1993 Michael called and asked if I could help with the promotion of an upcoming show they were planning at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica for their “Get Out of the House” tour. I was happy to do it and Michael suggested that as it was being held in an airplane hangar we should make a statement and fly in together in a helicopter and meet the press as it would look great on camera.
We left from Van Nuys airport early in the morning and soared over Mulholland Drive and the Sepulveda Pass before touching down for the live broadcast in Santa Monica. After we concluded the radio show we boarded the helicopter again and flew back to the valley.
Michael was 100% right with his idea for getting the word out for the concert. When the tickets for the show went on sale all 4,000 were gone in just three minutes. It was a chopper ride that definitely paid off.
With Michael at Barker Hangar, March 1993
In July 1997 the band was touring to promote their latest album Elegantly Wasted. They reached out to me about doing some kind of a special performance for their fans in California. I suggested to Michael that they do a pre-show party outside of the Greek Theater before their scheduled concert on July 11, 1997. Michael loved the idea and we set it up and broadcast the live event as a special “Richard Blade’s Flashback Lunch with INXS.”
July 11, 1997
After the show Krista and I had lunch with Michael behind the Greek and we talked for nearly two hours about his recent month-long trip to Bali, his hiking in the hills there and the time he spent with the monks in the mountains. He was looking forward to the band’s upcoming shows in the US and Europe in just a few months. He laughed, joked and was in great spirits.
Just four months later, on November 22, 1997 I received a call from Australia. I thought it was Michael, but tragically it wasn’t; instead it was about Michael. He had been found dead in a hotel room in Sydney. I couldn’t believe it. This vital, wonderful man was dead at the age of thirty-seven.
The coroner ruled Michael’s death a suicide. I don’t believe it and neither do many others close to him. I think it was a terrible accident. But whatever it was the world was robbed of a great performer and I lost a dear friend with a precious heart.
Part Three – BEING BORING
Who are the nicest guys in music? The answer to that is simple, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. The two guys make up the Pet Shop Boys, the single most successful music duo in British history, but you would have no idea at the scope of their success by talking with them. They are down to earth, open and unreserved, and just fun to be with.
I fell in love with their first single “West End Girls” in April 1984. It was the Bobby O mix and I played it every night in the clubs and every day on my radio show. No other stations in Los Angeles were playing it but for me it just worked and I thought it sounded amazing on the air. And it’s crazy who else happened to hear it. These are Neil Tennant’s own words that he sent me:
Richard Blade was one of the first supporters of Pet Shop Boys on the radio anywhere. In 1984 we had released our first single, “West End Girls”, and seen it get a little airplay in the UK, become a minor hit in Belgium and France and then apparently sink without trace.
Months later our then manager, Tom Watkins, flew to LA on a business trip for the design company he also ran. Getting into a cab at LAX he was astonished to hear “West End Girls” on the car radio and asked the driver which station it
was. “KROQ” came the answer and the DJ was an Englishman called Richard Blade.
Tom was so excited that when he arrived at his hotel he phoned up Richard Blade and was not only put though to him but told that “West End Girls” was his “Pick of the Week” at the station and then interviewed live by Richard on the radio.
Through the support of Richard, the ground was laid for “West End Girls” and Pet Shop Boys to achieve mainstream success in the USA when the song was later released in a different version.
On our first visit to LA in 1986 we appeared on Richard’s radio show and attended a massive record-signing in Westwood where thousands of listeners mobbed us and we signed autographs for hours with Richard beside us. A few weeks later “West End Girls” was number one in the USA and our album was in the Top Ten.
What Neil fails to mention in his modesty was that the Pet Shop Boys were scheduled to be at Music Plus in Westwood for ninety minutes to sign autographs. When they saw how long the line was they told their management and record company that they wouldn’t leave until everyone got a signature. They stayed for more than five hours, something that won them the love and loyalty of every person there.
It wasn’t just at record stores where Pet Shop Boys met their fans. In 1986 they came with me to my gig at the massive club where I DJ’d every Friday, the Florentine Gardens. That night I brought them onstage and they were mobbed by nearly 2,000 people who’d come to dance but instead used the opportunity to meet this incredible duo from England.
With Neil Tennant in 1985
World in My Eyes: The Autobiography Page 41