...18 years ago...

Set my alarm for 9 - had to go to Consolidated at 10 to pick up my last check up. Overslept - up at 10:15. shower - still drunk from last night. Take Dave R.'s car and pick up check and deposit in the bank. Home - wake up people. Dan Mapp our roadie for the Fall arrives. Rodney arrives. Joe decides to do his laundry one and a half hours before we leave.

I went back to working part time at my old job at a printing company after the first tour. This was to be the last of my 'real' day jobs for 6 or 7 years while we made a go of doing the band full time. Here's the entrance of Dan M. our roadie - soon to become our tour manager for the next half dozen years. Dan learned the ropes and began doing sound for us too. He's still at it to this day - out on the road most of the year with one band or another. Joe has impeccable timing!

He gets back - I take him to the post office to drop off Newzletters - 800 of them. We had spent the last 2 days stapling, folding, stuffing envelopes, stamping return addresses, stamp licking, envelope sealing, address sticker affixing (Joe did most of the work) and bundling by the bulk rate code. Post office people help us.

The Dead Milkmen Newzletter was a big help in getting our name out and staying connected to the fans. The list got so big that we eventually hired our friend Hugo T. Bone to manage the mailings for us.

Back to 44th street - van is loaded - we leave at 3PM - 1 hour behind schedule. Drop tapes at Dave Wildman's pad - he's a cool dude. To Princeton University for a radio interview. Fun - "Life's Rich Paisley" jokes - "Eat Your Pagent" jokes. Leave - to Hoboken - "Maxwell's".

Not sure what tapes are being dropped off at David's. After he produced and co-directing our video for "Hippies", Dave W. and Dave R. hit it off and became business partners and our management team. They called the company "Raw Ltd." and worked with a few other bands over the years. They also promoted shows and supported the Philadelphia music scene.

Arrive at 6:30 and set up. 'Green' from Chicago is opening. We check. Rob Norris - the bass player from the 'Bongos' is sound man - cool guy. Dave B. is happy to met him. Sound is OK - not great - very loud and "live" room. Hang out - club gives us free dinner - great Italian restaurant. Jonny Wurster and Phil from NC show up and hang out. Jeff Fox, Mick Yuk, David Doris, Pat Smith, Dana Penny, hang out. 'Green' play - crowd has shown up - we were a pick in the 'Voice'. 'Green - OK band - very loud. We go on 12:50 - GREAT show - packed room - cranked a great set out - kinda loud. Sound was OK. Encore - Dave Doris played soprano sax on 2-feet and the Fez. Cool show. Bartender gave me free brews. Saw Tia Palm - drummer for 'Gut Bank' after the show - she liked the show - I like her. We only talked for a minute or so but she's cool. Pack up and load out. Stay at Adam and Dave's place - to bed at 5AM after a meal at a diner. I didn't sleep well. Hot sun through the window. Thoughts - a great show to start off this 3-4 month tour. I hope that things will continue to go well. I'll see if I can cut down on the beer and cigarettes this Fall. I'll miss a lot of folks back home. Hope this year is the year. See you tomorrow.

I think we played a few show with 'Green' over the years. Here's the lowdown on the 'Bongos'. Look - "that Jonny Wurster Kid" is in the house! Jeff Fox would later do a stint with us as roadie. You see him playing second guitar on the live DVD version of the Fez. Mick Yuk = Dean Ween. Here's what Joe says: "Micky Yuck or Micky Yuc - I'm not sure. He signed his letters "Micky" back then. He was doing Yucassettes, his home-made tape label, which released the early Ween recordings, and he was doing the Yuck fanzine, for which we were interviewed. He also had a weekly radio show on (I think) WTSR (Trenton State). He changed his Ween name to Dean Ween sometime around then too (86 or 87?)." Here's a very short blurb regarding 'Gut Bank'. Here's info on their album. After reading ahead a few pages of the diary I have to laugh at my "Less beer..." crack.