Mid-80's Gooch!

The shadows make the beard look thicker than it is!!!

January of '83 and Pete is announcing that The Who were done with. He was leaving the band cause.... who knows!!! And he had such a stupid haircut! Rivaled Gary Condit's!!! And then he started whining about his hearing and dislike of guitar playing and the fact that The Who weren't that good anyway... in other words...there are no other words. He was being the jerk that he was turning into. Had to hobnob with the rich and famous while losing touch with what got HIM rich and famous. As you can tell, from here on there are not that many positive things I can say so I won't!!!!! And wouldn't ya know it...this band called U2 release their third album, a stunning hunka guitar work from The Edge, and I have the fortune to see the "WAR " tour in Auburn, NY in Apr. of '83 with Dan Happ and they play "Gloria" and I realize I had found what I was looking for!!!! A band playing with passion and fire and PLAYING!!!! Cause they wanted to play and such a unique sound courtesy of the Edge and.....I WAS HOOKED!!!! NO WAY!!!! I had the other U2 records and enjoyed them. As I said earlier, the first time I heard "I WILL FOLLOW", I knew something was there and sure enough, they were the next big thing!!!

As the '80s rolled along, the old gang that I used to hang with was no more. People moved, got married and explored different avenues for their thrills and I was off with my own agenda blazing trails that spanned the globe. Naturally, new faces and friends appeared, amongst them Donny R. and Joe D., Chuck D., Dan Happ and a bunch of his relatives and Simon and The Dogger and Ski and Fredbabe and Tom L., Scott, Joe Z. and Joe M. and I am sure a multitude of others, yeah like Ray J. and George J. and Roach and oh well...softball was still being played tho the old enthusiasm was waning due to the cursed "Gooch Syndrome" that could strike(yeah, right) at any time. But it was still some good old recreational activity and it still had its' merits in regards to meeting new people and leading to some gosh-darned honest to goodness fun! Duff doing the worm at Voss's, getting politely asked to leave the Club Monarch for being too loud?!? and even Bob's Big Beef- I think, oh well, I geuss ya hadda be there. In November I witnessed my first Raider game. On a glorious sunny day in November me and Jim K. and hmmm, don't remember, went to Buffalo. Fantastic game as Jim Plunkett took the Silver and Black down the field in the last 5 minutes to win it 27-24. What a thrilling finish in this Super Bowl season! Around this time I kinda sorta met a friend of Duff's sister Maureen named Gayle. And by January of '84 we were dating regularly and hey, she was kinda neat! Hmm, tho she was much younger than me she still shared in a buncha Gooch adventures. Ended up going out with her for three years! Wow! long time in Gooch years! Gayle dreamed of having lots of children and the proverbial picket-fenced house. Cherished dreams undoubtedly, but not quite my cup of tea. I was sad when we broke up but such is life; it was for the better. Amazingly I never saw her again. Even though she only lived a coupla blocks away! Hope it wasn't because of the few thousand dollars I let her borrow that she never paid me back! HAHAHA hey gayle if you ever read this I am only teasing ya! My mother always liked ya and always used to talk about ya. Sorry! I don't have any pictures. But she had kinda strawberry-blonde hair and got in the nursing profession and had a buncha children and I hope everything is OK! Hey Gayle! How are ya!

Let's Go Raiders!!!

YEP!! IT IS FOOTBALL TIME!!! JANUARY 1984 IS ONE OF THOSE RAIDER MOMENTS!!!! In Tampa, the Raiders crush an ill-prepared Redskin eleven and celebrate their third Super Bowl victory in 7 years. Led by Marcus Allen and Jim Plunkett, the Raiders regain the NFL championship! The Raider Nation is alive and growing!

The fall of '84. U2 release their 4th album, an Eno-inspired "UNFORGETTABLE FIRE". The Edge's guitar playing attains new heights and many jaded Who fans realize the torch being passed to this Irish band. A short tour ensues and I have the fortune to witness a coupla landmark U2 concerts in Philly, NYC and Wash. DC. Me and Pete W. risk life and limb in a post office jeep to witness opening night at the Tower Theater. Two nights later U2 annihilate Radio City in NY with a performance heralding the arrival of the greatest band in the world!!!!! WOW!!! These guys were good! Another show in Constitution Hall and I get ready to spend some major time in '85 U2ing!

By now, I had really started to listen to the Pretenders. Chrissie and James Honeyman Scott had developed that guitar style that I could listen to forever. After "Pretenders" and "Pretenders II", the band releases THEIR masterpiece LEARNING TO CRAWL. And tho not as fervant was I with the band, something about that Chrissie!!!

Spring of'85 and off I go U2ing! Up to Ottawa with Wam, Snake and Chuck. A coupla lumberjacks? And off to Toronto with Mark and his brother from Record Realm days. And then my first trip to Florida, visiting Jim K. in Tampa and catching 3 shows in Tampa and Hollywood twice. Note!!!! It was here or soon after that the era of the wool hat came to an end! After 15 years, I put the old cupalini to rest! and out came the bandana! Ain't that something! A few weeks later back to NYC to see some more U2 shows with Chris G. Chris R was going to school at Wagner and we stayed with him and what a weekend! I saw some major events. Three U2 shows in the Meadowlands, a Met game won by a Carter homer in the ninth and a Ranger playoff crushing by the Flyers and Tim Kerr's 4 or maybe 5 goals. Gloat if you want Jodi and Cal! Pete Townshend puts out a ...running out of unused adjectives, dynamic record "WHITE CITY". He can't write for the Who but he can still write! And the highlight of '85.....a trip to England to see LIVE Aid!!WOW Thanks to Dan Happ and Flowers by Ruven I spent a week in London and it was fabulous. Became friends with Marty here and hung out with Marc C and he showed me some Who sights. Live aid- The Who got together with U2 and a buncha good and bad bands and hey,...Chuck and Di were in attendance. Unfortunately, I was very disillusioned with the Who. Technical problems affected their show and Pete fell trying to emulate a young man! SAD. And I hadda sit thru Queen!!??(bad news, McCoy!!) and ADAM ANT!!! WOW!! But it was worth it and I would love to go back again. Someday. Hello Mr and Mrs Hurley! And Gary, too. Hey I been typing a lot for you people to read so I will jump to 1986 and make mention of the METS World Championship and the appearance of the cat with no name in the Piekielniak household. I was really into the Mets that year and saw a buncha games culminating in one of the greatest Games in World Series history-GAME 6 and the imfamous Billy Bucks! Sorry, Mike M. maybe next millenia. And here is THE CAT that runs this house!

OK enough is enough for now! But I will continue to the late '80s or take a break and go home or home.