An Unconventional Plan

As the music began to materialize, my confidence grew. I felt like this was going to work. I had always believed that a band should be like a family, and after my experience in Detroit, I was determined to make sure that this band was going to reflect that. It was mid 1977, and at that time, the "conventional" wisdom was that if a band was good, it would be noticed (if they were very lucky), then signed to a major label, which would then provide the funds for equipment, recording, employees, etc. I had a different view. I was going to take "luck" out of the equation. I believed that if I didn't take the band seriously, nobody else would either. So my plan was to do everything that bands relied on record companies to do for them... myself, before the band ever appeared in public, so that instead of tip-toeing onto the music scene, we would explode onto the music scene, attracting so much attention, that we'd have to be signed. That kind of approach was unheard of in 1977. And to do that, I was going to need a lot more concert and recording studio quality sound equipment. Just by doing that, I knew that the consistency and quality of the band's live shows would be totally in my hands..I wouldn't have to worry about cheap sound, or bad equipment, or poor technicians, preventing audiences from hearing what we were really capable of. I completely believed in "quality control". And that was going to require an extremely large amount of money to accomplish..but as I have already stated, I knew how to make money. And with no heroin habit to support, I got to work making the money I would need, and when I wasn't writing music, I was dealing. Five of my business associates,who were also very close friends, ended up working in the band as roadies... I guess my enthusiasm and conviction were contagious. These guys knew something powerful was afoot, and they wanted to be a part of it. When they weren't helping me with my dealing, they were involved in the behind the scenes stuff with the band..and one friend in particular was very, very good at what he did...