One Memorable Moment In The Story Of 'X' Was The Ceremonial "signing Party" When They Signed Their Contract

Then we graduated to the Starwood. What a great room, what a great rock'n'roll place. Nothing like it. Backstage, upstairs in David Forrest's office with David Lee Roth and Danny Bonaduce and that guy from Three Dog Night, what's his name, and Brian Wilson...Ah, yes...those were good days. That was the next step up. Then came the Whisky, thanks to booker Gaylord, then the Roxy, thanks to Mario, then the Greek Theater.

"X", c. 1979, Starwood 

Don Bonebrake is a fine percussionist. His parents died when he was young, and he and his brother went on living on their own. His last name was really "Bonebrake" and he went by "D.J. Bonebrake", which sounds like "bone break" which everyone thought was a punk rock 'nom de plume' like Rotten or Vicious, but that was his real name.

Don was drumming with a band called "The Eyes" that regularly played in the earliest days of Brendan Mullen's Masque. That place is a whole story in itself. He was a very powerful drummer and his kit was unique in that he used a marching band type of snare.

Continuing on the wedding theme...DJ Bonebrake and Dinky dance backstage as John Doe watches, during the celebration of Billy Zoom and Denise's wedding onstage at the Whisky, right after it closed during 'hard times' in 1982. Of course we felt privileged to be a part of this celebration, in a private world where Ray Manzarek played the strains of "Here Comes the Bride" himself.

John, Alpha Male, leader of the pack.

The arrival of Ray Manzarek was the equivalent of sitting under an apple tree and having an apple fall to the shady grass right at your side. Ray's presence showed them all that "X" was just an edgy, darker, literary rock band in the same tradition as the Doors, a link in the same chain. Maybe John and Jim had something in common.

Merry Christmas to all, and a rarely seen image for those still seeking time on the internet. Here's a self-portrait, from Backstage at the Whisky, in '81, with my true love at the time, Danuta. I was at pretty much every 'X' show for those years, with two Pentax cameras, one loaded with Tri-X B&W film, and one loaded with Ektachrome.

Poetry is how it started. Regular attendance at the Venice Poetry Workshop in the early-mid 1970's was the equivalent of a Masters degree in modern post-Beat poetry. Every single Wednesday night for years we would sit on folding chairs, couches, and worn out easy chairs in a circle in a storefront on what is now called Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. Back then it was Washington. Everyone would read a poem and then the rest of us would hack it to pieces. If you stuck it out and didn't storm out yelling, "What do you idiots know?", and went on every Wednesday night to submit your work, you could learn to write.

Happy Birthday to Billy Zoom! Here's one more photo from his wedding at the Whisky with Denise, in '82. This is the corner room upstairs, that looks out over Sunset Strip. Billy's powerful rockabilly guitar riffs set 'X' apart as a serious rock'n'roll band, and that smile garnered him many fans. He had already recorded several albums before joining 'X' and contributed quite a presence to the energy they created.

Exene at the Roxy, c.1980

"X" reached the degree of success they did because there was a need for them. LA rock fans had to have their own hometown answer to the substantial changes in music that were coming out of CBGB's in New York, and in London. They made very intense songs with intelligent lyrics expressing urban angst that gave LA folks just what they were looking for. X just happened to be the best of the rock'n'roll bands that formed in LA at that time.

Entitling their first album "Los Angeles" with "Mr. Doors" Ray Manzarek producing didn't hurt, that's for sure. My favorite song was their first, "We're Desperate". They wailed, "We're desperate, get used to it." I liked that line.

Mr. and Mrs. at the time, Billy and Denise Zoom. "Well, you're a rock'n'roll queen, you know what I mean, and I'm just a rock'n'roll star".

They were married on stage at the Whisky. We all wore tuxedos, and Ray Manzarek played, "Here comes the bride..."

Ray Manzarek. The Doors. Who doesn't love the Doors. What an act. Those albums, those big round pieces of black polyvinyl chloride made a huge impact on everybody I knew. Remember those keyboards behind all those killer tunes? That link with top of the line 'Whisky A Go Go' 1960's rock history was priceless.

Remembering Ray Manzarek, here at the mixing console at Cherokee studios with sound tech Clay, and Billy Zoom, John Doe, DJ Bonebrake and Exene, of the band "X". c.1981