What is your first musical memory?
I remember watching that Beatles cartoon that was on Saturday mornings. It
was pretty cheesy and didn't even use the Beatles' voices. But I was three
and to me it seemed like the first reality show. And it was my introduction
to rock music and What Bands Do.
What was the first album you owned?
My mother was newly divorced and this one date came to the house and
brought me a copy of Sgt. Pepper WITH the cutout mustaches. I was seven, the
album had just come out and I was very impressed and immediately gave the guy my
thumbs-up. They got married two years later. Smart guy.
Were you not a musician, what would your profession be?
I hear that the Rhino Record store, the site of my last day job back in 1982, closed down a few weeks ago so I have no idea. Probably a sailor or a travel agent or a professional ballplayer. I do well on the road.
What song do you wish you had written, and why?
This one changes from day to day but I'd say “The Last Time I Saw Richard�
by Joni Mitchell. Just busts me up every single time. It's a good song about betraying your ideals and becoming bitter… which really is a tragedy.
What was the first concert you attended?
Delaney and Bonnie at Royce Hall (UCLA) in 1969.
Who would be in your ultimate three-band, live performance lineup, dead or alive?
Miles Davis, Lenny Bruce and Peter Laughner. Man, they would go to some weird places. They were in the afterlife even while they were still here on Earth.
What instrument would you like to play, that you currently cannot?
Alto saxophone. In my mind, I can already play it even though I've never picked one up. I hear the solos in my head. I know where the melodies would go. But I'm sure that my hands and mouth might not agree.
With whom would you like to collaborate?
I'd like to spend three weeks in the studio with Dr Dre and Martin Scorcese.
Which one of your songs would you put in a time capsule?
“The Days of Wine and Roses� (Dream Syndicate). It's a pretty good template
for what I did and what I still do.
What album can you not live without?
Marquee Moon. It sounds new, different and somehow impossible every time I hear it.
What was your first pop star romantic crush/fantasy?
Veronica. From the Archies. Before she went into rehab.
