Whew! Time to slow down for a coupla months! The last few years I have traveled all over America and a little bit of Europe too. Still uncharted territories yet but we rest up by devoting all our time and energy to work. It had gotten to the point where Don could take his vacation and relax and leave his worries behind and I could too. We had the cemetery running like a top, a beautiful jewel in Central New York. A lot of blood and sweat and sometimes tears had gone into attaining these lofty goals and now we were reaping the benefits of our decades of hard work. The respect of our peers and the many thanks from the families we had befriended. Plus we had to save a little money for the next road trip!
Not much going on of Gooch interest in the world through the summer and it all began that Labor Day! The Raiders had left LA and had moved back to Oakland! I was elated and Hey I was not gonna miss the return to Alameda County Coliseum for nothing! Get me to the ticket line! Wouldn't ya know it. The Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland was opening that same weekend with all kinda festivities and a buncha great bands including The Pretenders; Cleveland kinda being this Akronite's backyard. Well The Raiders won out and I headed out to Oakland for the weekend. I could always see the HOF but I can never relive a sort of a Raider Homecoming! That Sunday the sun rose and it was a picture perfect California day. I raced down to Hegenberger and was met by a sea of delirious Raider fans. The parking lot was a Celebration, invoking Raider spirits and legends of bygone glories and when I entered the arena with the sun streaming and out the tunnel came the black-clad warriors with gleaming silver helmets backdropped by the green grass of Alameda, tears flowed freely. I could not contain my emotions. It was incredible and I never realized how much this goofy game with all these crazy people meant to me. What a moment! And we won beating up the Chargers. For that moment, The Raiders were home.
The Pretenders put out a live album with a string quartet which I liked a lot. Nothing new just an acoustic take on familiar songs, "ISLE OF VIEW"
and they did a mini-tour to promote it. Well I just so happened to be in California at the time and they performed at the Bridge School Benefit in the Bay area and the Wiltern in LA. The shows were ok but I need a non-sitting audience to really enjoy myself. So I am gonna settle for just ok! But I thought Chrissie still looked HOT! HAHA
One last trip out west this year. The Raiders move back home and break out of the gate with an 8-2 record. The city is excited and we are talking playoffs in Oaktown! Big game! The Cowboys are in town! A Super Bowl winner and a stern test. Surely they will wilt under the pressure of Raider mystique! NOPE. Dallas crushes them and the Raiders downward spiral begins. They lose 6 straight and reach absolute bottom a few years later and the Raider faithful are no more. The return did not go over big. Not many sellouts, a crowd distrustful of Al Davis and ridiculous ticket prices. Sports in America...
So much stuff happened in 1996 I don't know how I can possibly chronicle it in this sitting. Oh well what a life! Let's just dig right in. If I leave something out, please remind me. In the spring, Pete released a best of album and decided to do a mini-tour. "COOLWALKINGSMOOTHTALKINGSTRAIGHTSMOKINGFIRESTOKING"!!!! Sheesh! Even I hadda look that one up! No wonder it only sold 23 copies of which I bought two. And of course, ya must know by rote, on the plane I got and alit in sunny Southern California for two shows at the House of Blues in Hollywood. Incredible how the world is at your beck and call when opportunity knocks! Lenny was with me as we prepared ourselves for a day long battle in the trenches. By now that core of devoted Who fans had formed the line hours in advance to have the chance of being within earshot of a constant stream of Townshend insults. How we reap the benefits of Pete's admiration for his die-hard fans! (feel free to note tons of sarcasm there.) Needless to say I thought the show was.....yep you know it......INCREDIBLE! Pete would do stuff never attempted with the Who and when he picked up that electric guitar there was more than electricity in the air. Well as soon as the show ended we had to fly out the door to get back in line for the second one! Geez the stuff ya gotta do. And back in we flew to get a choice spot for round two. And it was here in between shows that the imfamous EDDIE VEDDER 
story occurred!HAHA Of which I am not gonna relate right now cause I have already been rambling for half an hour and I am only in April! Well the next day I hadda fly up to San Francisco for Pete at the Fillmore! Now this was an event cause The Fillmore was THE place to play in the '60s and its storied history is a part of my history cause EVERYBODY played there. THE WHO JIMI JANIS THE DOORS THE DEAD THE AIRPLANE
well ya get my drift. So along with Pete leaping out of his shoes during Magic Bus and the wonders that ensued, the magic bus transported me back thirty years! I was in awe! And by now, ya know I don't awe easy! Well off to New York City cause there were two shows in the Supper Club! PETE IS PLAYING PIANO!!!! Never done live before! SLIT SKIRTS THE SEA REFUSES NO RIVER CUT MY HAIR And then he straps on the electric and devastates everybody! Damn.... what more can I say except he digs out a rarity everynight, "THE SHOUT", whatta song! I had seen the future of rock'n'roll and why did he have to be such a jerk! But there is MORE! PETE MAKES THE STATEMENT: "YOU WILL BE SEEING THE WHO THIS YEAR!" Wow! Ya might as well carry me out!
Now ya must understand I promised Ed Ved I was gonna check out some Pearl Jam so when I rested up in Utica for a few days I bought the rest of the PJ catalog which consisted of VS. and VITOLOGY. GEE! There was some dynamic music being played courtesy of the guitars of Mcready and Gossard! I was impressed never realizing how good they were! And NO CODE had just been released with some "INCREDIBLE" tracks! I LIKED THIS BAND! And wouldn't ya know it...PEARL JAM TOUR IN '96! BUT FIRST.... THE WHO! They had just played a huge show in England and back to the states they came! FAREWELL TOUR??? How long ago was that! 6 shows were booked at MSG in NYC in July sooooooooooooo...off we go! The Quadrophenia Tour revisited! Well Pete was not inta playing electric, strike one, so a big disappointment! Strike two, Billy Idol and Gary Glitter! Nothing against these guys, but we are talking the Who here. Strike three, officially it is not the Who; rather a RD,JE,PT plays Quadrophenia! HUH!!! Now the thing that interests me the most; Ed Ved loves The Who. A major influence in his life and naturally he is there all week. So even tho the first show or two were pretty good, after 6 nights without an electric Pete, my enthusiasm waned considerably. But the highlight by now has gotten to be the loyal Who fanatics who are there everynight in force. I made some incredible friendships which will be acknowledged on the Who page elsewhere!
On another tangent for awhile. Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia visiting Jim and Karen. There was a World hockey series going on and Chris had gotten interested in the game so we were present at the inaugural event in the new Corestates Center. Mildly ok. Nothingearth-shattering. always a treat to hang out with Jim and Karen. FOOTBALL"96! Out to Oakland for Opening Day. I always loved that first game of the year and this season we waged war against the new team, the Jacksonville Jaguars. A Raider victory so I and the Raider Nation worldwide enjoyed the day. And while out west, wouldn't ya know it...up in Seattle, Pearl Jam was gonna highlight their new album and upcoming tour with a small gig at the Showbox Theater in Seattle!!! I had never been there and the incredible generosity of Jim Fromalbini, not being a big Jammer, who gave me his ticket will be forever greatly appreciated. Karen was there and I met her father who was in Seattle that week and I visited the grave of Jimi Hendrix, buried in Renton; a moving experience. All in all, just another weekend in the Life and Times...
And there was hockey news! How about Gretzky and Messier together again! The hockey world was a buzz as these two future hall of famers with 10 Stanley Cups between them would don the fabled sweater of the New York Rangers!!! An event I didn't want to miss when the puck would be dropped for their first Ranger games! Chris joined me that October Opening Night at the Fleet Center in Boston as the Bruins played to a 4-4 tie. And the following night in MSG amidst a sea of Ranger faithful, me and JB witnessed Gretz's debut in the garden! Sorry about that Messier character getting thrown out of the game 5 minutes in! ( JB's fave!!!) Oh well. Hockey history!
Well the Who?!? returned to play America and as long as I was out west, why not see a buncha shows. Portland, Tacoma, San Jose, LA and ya know, that was enough. I was not enjoying it and other things caught my attention! Raider games and The Bridge School Benefit starring Pearl Jam! And Pearl Jam was up in Seattle so we headed north. Had to show Dicky this great town and Jimi's grave and hey we met STAN!!!! The good old Anchor Bar or whatever with their wood chips and rain...And then there was Alison!
Who woulda thought...gee she only lived in Tacoma, I was in Utica; musta been a Northwest thing about her that attracted me! Hey Alison, how are ya! I went back westward for a Raider Monday night game and spent a coupla great days with her. Saw a Sonics game Saturday and a Seahawk game Sunday before zipping down to Oakland to watch a Monday night massacre of the Chiefs. I remember spending a summer thinking about her constantly!!! Oh well, the trials and tribulations of The One and Only...
While writing this stuff over the last few months, it is rather obvious I don't take too much seriously and hey, humor and laughter is the greatest medicine in the world. But on a sad note, I want to mention the passing of a dear friend in Nov. of '96. She meant a lot to me and she had a heart and soul of gold..
| To Mrs. L. |  | Always thinking of you I miss you |
And on that note we put this stretch in time to rest 'cause.. WOULDN'T YA KNOW IT....THERE IS A LOTTA STUFF TO GO EVEN THOUGH THE DECADE CREEPS TO A CLOSE! So continue on (Click Here!) if your eyes are not deceiving you or go back HOME if this tale has taken its toll on your fragile thought processes!