in his home town Windsor, ON back from, uh, 1952 (the TV sets were called "Venus") began to hang around Rochdale College in the '70s, maybe even LIVED there , I don't remember... well, he bought a (new?) gold-top Gibson Les Paul
Standard gtr. for us all to jam on at the 2nd Floor Lounge jam sessions that
happened 1 or more? nights per week. ~ now, there was this African-Canadian
Sheldon "Shelly" Miller,(a drummer) from Montreal, I guess, who began wearing
a sash or call-it-what-u-will, a headband, u could say, Which made him look kinda like Jimi Hendrix, but shorter, who after the gtr. had been around 'Rochtown, The Vertical Village', as I liked to call it, for about a month, STOLE it and vanished.
Everyone thought, "Shelly Miller is the biggest f-cking asshole we've seen this year!" ~ However, 3 weeks later, Shelly Miller RETURNED (from Mtl., apparently) with... A WHITE FENDER STRATOCASTER, new-looking, and
handed it to Sid Stern, so that he, Shelly, could strap it on @ the jams,
and look "very Hendrix" with his headband and all. It seemed that drummer
Shelly could play SOME guitar, rhythm and some simple leads, so WAO, WHAT A TALE, HEY? ~ When I lived in Rochdale with
my Rochester, N.Y.-born lady Sandie Bishop in the "14th-floor commune"
then later by myself on the 4th flr., rent discounted or FREE, I 4get which,
I owned a biz there which I called "CJ's Videoland" (I was known as "CJ"
back then until June '84 when I 4ever DIVORCED MYSELF from the
nickname and became "Lee" John Feeny. ~ In CJ's Videoland I sold used
TV sets for $30 - $40 each. They cost me $7 ea.! ~ I bought them from out of the bsmt. of Len Weinberg's TV and stereo store on Dundas St. W. near Keele St. ~
I had 2 techs who worked waay affordably on a piecework basis if the sets needed fixing. FACT: most problems w/ old tube-type TV sets were usually just
a matter of replacing a tube or tubes. I knew a guy w/ a electronic repair shop who had a "tube tester" machine, who sold me used tubes for a buck apiece.
Ah, those were the days, my friend! ~ Now a funny story about Len Weinberg
and I. I wasn't supposed to test the basement TV's, just "take my chances", BUT
I always arrived @ Len's with a 9-ft. extension cord wrapped around my waist
under my sweatshirt, and a 'thang' that could screw into any light bulb socket
that one could plug any 2-prong plug into. In Len's bsmt. there were 2 basic light
fixtures hanging from the ceiling -- I'd remove the lt. bulb from one, screw my
'thang' into it, plug in my xtn. cord and if a TV set showed a "raster" (which
means that the screen lights up), I would buy it! SO, I was never caught w/ a set
that had a burned-out picture tube. Yay, CJ! ~ By the way, Sandie Bishop Ashley
and I are still great friends as is her longtime husband Ross Ashley. Some day
I'll invite the Ashleys to a TapinJam night @ Melange, and they WILL come
if its the 1st 5-6 days of a month. ~ Footnote: Sandie's the only T.O.-based
friend of mine who's on good terms with, and socializes with, my lady from
Thornhill ON, Sherri Rhodes. ~ Sandie's 5'2" as is my 1st wife Donna, mother
of my daughter Debbie (Donna and I are still great friends, too!). After Sandie, I made myself a RULE: I will not date any woman under 5'6" . My 2nd wife Patti,
(may she RIP) was 5'7" and DEAR Sherri is 5'9". ~~ Next topic: IF ONLY
back in '84 I knew of performers who used their middle name as a 'stage'
surname, like Vince Neil or Robert John, I NEVER would have adopted
Van Leer as a stage surname! I would have been "Lee John" --
Rock on, Lee John! A month ago I thought of a name: Johnny Joy.
If I'd have thought of THAT one in '84, the nom d'etage of Lee John Feeny
MIGHT have been !JOHNNY JOY! ~
 |
| Tall-ish, aren't we? |
TTFN, y'all!
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