RON HEATHMAN of THE SUPERSUCKERS - The Underworld, London ,
September 2002
"….Gambling’s For Fools….!" - so states that wise old owl Lemmy in the
classic ‘Acs Of Spades’……but some 4 years ago I would’ve gone against
that advice and bet my bottom dollar that The SUPERSUCKERS were actually
going to make it big and enter the mainstream. The signs were all there:
Their brilliantly catchy, user-friendly album, ‘The Evil Powers Of Rock And
Roll’ was wowing critics & fans alike with it’s full-on, well produced sound
and come-of-age lyrics, Plus glossy colour ads ensured Astoria sized gigs
were full. Man, you could smell the sweet aroma of success. Only…..some-
how it wasn’t to be and slowly but surely the wind was sucked out of their
sails and…..well, everything went back to how it was before. For along time
silence……then the rumours and half-truths began. Affable Guitarist RON
HEATHMAN stepped down from the band, replaced by some other bod -
‘temporarily’ like. Seemed RON was a Daddy, but the kiddie was born with
a really bad heart defect and naturally all his time and energy was given to
the Babs. Lotsa people all over the shop emailed RON (yes, we did at HBM
too) saying they were thinking of him and the family, wishing him all the
best. AND all this time a new solidarity was rising within the SUPERSUCKERS
camp via a new Website and Label. A Fan Club even started up - a proper
real Fans-Come-First-No-Bullshit Fan Club……one so good, two old punks
from England sent cash and joined - Yep, myself and ROB !! Then news
came of a European Tour WITH RON BACK IN THE BAND and we couldn’t
be held back - we were there !!
And so you join us in the boozer above The Underworld in Camden,
London. Fate has dealt a strange hand once again. It’s a Tube Strike Day
and nothing’s moving. No trains means the cars and buses don’t move
much either and some people (oh yes !!) have walked miles and put up
with a lot of crap to get here tonight. A time is arranged and RON joins
us bight-eyed and bushy-tailed, obviously glad just to be here and very
eager to talk. Handshakes over RON immediately gives Rob some advice
of his own….!!
"Don’t get thrown out this time…..!!"
(ROB DOESN’T ANSWER, STILL ALITTLE
SHEEPISH ABOUT AN INCIDENT EARLY
ON AT THE ASTORIA LAST TIME WHEN
A MIRCOPHONE GOT ERM, TRASHED !!)
ME: I’M SURE HE’LL BE A GOOD BOY !!
"He’s already too pissed !!"
ROB: IT’S THIS MAGIC JUICE (HE’S
DRINKING NEWKIE !)- IT TURNS ME INTO
AN ASSHOLE ! I’LL HAVE ANOTHER ONE…!!
"What did Steve Mariot used to say….!?! Er…..
Newcastle Brown will sure scrap you down !!"
I DON’T WANNA START ALL SERIOUS BUT
IT’S SO NICE TO SEE YOU HERE TONIGHT -
COZ THERE WAS A CHANCE WE’D NEVER
SEE YOU AGAIN….!!!?!!
"Yeah, there was…...!!"
….BUT WE WOULDA TURNED UP AND
SEEN THE BOYS PLAY WITH ANOTHER
GUITARIST AND STILL ENJOYED THE
SHOW !?!
"….But it woulda sucked !!"
WELL, YEAH…!!?!! (BIG LAUGHS !!)
"So….But they finally came to their senses
and realized that…. So there was abit of a
row as you guys call it !! Y’know, like all
bands that have been together for a long
time we worked it out - and we’ll be a
better band for it !"
I MUST SAY I LIKE THE NEWSY / GOSSIP
STOPPING EMAILS YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN
PUTTING OUT LATELY THRU YOUR WEB-
SITE AND LABEL, ETC…..
"Well thanks ! That’s what we try to do….
like, I didn’t wanna really put anything on
the Website about it. What happened was
……and I’m not gonna get into the details
(they’re no-ones business)……but I had
some health issues with my daughter and
some health issues with myself….. But then
I was ready to go again and they decided I
wasn’t ready - and so they were gonna
make a record without me and that was my
bottom line - if you make a record without
me I’m done, FINISHED…..and I think they
got worried about that and so y’know we
figured it out. In the meantime what hap-
pened was this European tour was set up
and I got a call from somebody in Europe
and said I’m his favourite guitar player and
somehow he got hold of me & I happened
to be at home and I’m like, Well I’m not
going - at that point I was OUT !! And he
immediately got on the email and started
the rumour - which was TRUE you know ?!
So I had to go in there and sorta clear it up.
Y’know, I didn’t want that to happen but I
had to sorta go it’s this new information
age y’know and I say one more thing and….."
.….. BITS FLY AROUND…..
"….And it was the truth - and y’know what
shoulda happened really - and I think…..
it was the bands fault not putting out a
statement….EARLIER. Like this is what we
are doing…."
ALL ABIT OF A POKER GAME REALLY !!?
"Yeah, it was weird ! So anyway - enough
of that ! I….I…We worked it out. We still
have our differences but….."
SORTED !! NOW, WE GOTTA ASK YOU,
HOW’S YOUR DAUGHTER AT THE MO !?!
"As healthy as can be….!!!"
WELL THAT’S GREAT !! IS THERE ANY
MORE CORRECTIVE SURGERY COMING ?
"Er, just replacement surgery really - and
not until she’s about Five and a half. She
had a very, very serious heart condition
when she was born and she had surgery
when she was 8 Days old……like one of
the most complex surgeries done in
Washington State and brilliant surgeon
y’know….. and 7 Weeks in ICU…..and I
lay by her bed 24 Hours a day. Me and my
wife just slept right next to her…. And the
nurses were really nice….!"
DID YOUR MEDICAL INSURANCE ER,
COVER IT ALL !?! WE KNOW THINGS
ARE SOMEWHATE DIFFERENT OVER
THERE….!!?
"It was covered by the state - it was well
over…..the operation and recovery cost
the equivalent of a Million Pounds !!"
ROB – LIKE MY MISSUS HAS 4 WEEKS
TO GO TIL OUR BABY AND I JUST
CAN’T IMAGINE IT ALL - YOU KNOW,
EVERYTHING APPEARING FINE BEFORE
THE BIRTH, ETC, ETC….
"Oh yeah - we had no idea….NO idea !
Her pregnancy was so normal - her
delivery was. She was a big baby……
she appeared healthy and they had no
idea at the time. Some people do find
out ahead of time….. and I volunteer at
the Swedish Medical Centre now. I do…..
I wouldn’t want to say councelling, but
people who’s infants are having heart
surgery, I go up and let them know -
because there isn’t gonna be one for
hopefully quite awhile that’ll be as
serious as hers…."
IT’S THAT RARE….!?!?!
"About 1 in….. General heart disease is
the most common defect among people
all over the world and in America there’s
about 40,000 cases every year, and of
hers it’s about 0.4% of that 40,000……
about 300 in America a year. That’s not
very many - there’s about 300,000 kids
born in America every year - more than
that probably….."
BUT IT’S GREAT YOU’RE HELPING
OUT COZ YOU’RE NOT TOTALLY OUT
OF THE WOODS YOURSELF YET…..
"I can’t think of any other….. I mean I’m
not trying to cue my own horn but it’s
the only thing to do y’know…..it’s THE
thing to do ! And everyone’s experience
is different y’know - we were lucky
enough to have a really feisty kid. There’s
kids with way less defects….I’ve been
with people when their kid has died
y’know, and they didn’t have as severe a
defect. Certain kids recover. Some don’t
so we’re really fortunate - really, really
fortunate. I feel like BLESSED - I don’t
feel like this was a bad thing at all."
I WAS GONNA SAY, WHEN YOU WERE
AT YOUR LOWEST EBB WHEN THIS
WAS HAPPENING, WHAT DID YOU
CLING TO - WHAT DROVE YOU THRU
IT ALL….?!?!
"Really like some weird newfound belief
in, er….in….like….I hate to use the word
‘God’, but more like a spirituality…..like
clinging to the idea that y’know we really
don’t have control over what happens in
our lives. We think we do, you know what
I mean - but really there’s this path that’s
already pre-laid out for you and you don’t
really know….. It’s like you can make plans
but you better f**king be prepared to be
flexible coz you don’t know what’s going to
happen !! And that was like the biggest
detour I’ve ever experienced, and I had to
change my whole….. It’s changed me…..
profoundly changed me - you know, as a
person - as a human being. It’s….y’know
I’m not more serious, I’m just more gentle
than I used to be. It changes you. KIDS
change you anyway. Then something like
THAT, F**K !! Y’know, it’s like……All this
other stuff is like bullshit !!"
…..AND THAT WAS ALL SERVED UP IN
ONE BIG LUMP !!!
"Yeah…..I know….yeah !!"
THERE - DEAL WITH THIS !!!
"It’s like all these old sayings like: You
are never given more than you can
handle ! Bullshit !! F**k maan !!"
YOU SAID IT MAAN !!! THANKS FOR
THAT……WE’RE SO GLAD EVERY-
THING’S LOOKING GOOD !! SHALL
WE TALK ABOUT ROCK AND ROLL
NOW….!?!
"Sure Maan - Yeeeeah !! Rock ‘n’Roll
is still a fantastic thing y’know !?! It’s
great therapy too…!!"
THE LAST EMAIL FROM THE SUPER-
SUCKERS SAID YOU WERE IN THE VAN
LISTENING TO THE NEW ALBUM’S
ROUGH MIXES…..!!?
"Yeah. You’ll be hearing 5 or 6 of them
tonight. We can’t play all new ones coz…"
…..YOU’D PISS PEOPLE OFF…!!?!!
"Er, Yeah…!!" (LAUGHS)
"We’d love to coz it’s really fun for us -
but you know….. and there’s still some
arrangements that we’re still not sure
about and we’re gonna go back to the
studio and make sure, but we’ve got
most of the basic tracks now recorded
finally. I know we’re slow but we’ve
had a lot going on !!"
THAT SPLIT THING WITH ELECTRIC
FRANKENSTEIN WAS HOT…..!!
"Yeah ! I think we blew ‘em away !!
Those were kinda tunes we had laying
about - they’re good ones on there but
we didn’t think they were quite….. I
thought we did a really nice job with
their songs. That was all live y’know -
like one take !"
I GUESS THE NEW ONE IS IN THE
SAME VEIN AS ‘THE EVIL POWERS
OF ROCK AND ROLL’…!?!
"It’s RIGHT !! We hope it’ll top ‘The Evil
Powers’ ! It was fantastic. I hate to
speculate coz I don’t know how it’s
gonna come out. There’s three songs
on here that…. We’ll do a couple of
them tonight. There’s one called
‘Pretty F**ked Up’, one called ‘Sleepy
Vampire’ that are absolutely…..they
should be huge !!"
ROB : OH MAN, I DON’T WANNA
BE CHUCKED OUT !!
"So stay sober….!!?!" (MORE LAUGHS !)
WE FELT FOR YOU LAST TIME……
BIG ALBUM, BIG TOUR….EVERYTHING
SEEMED TO BE GOING REALLY WELL
AND THEN IT ALL SEEMED TO TAIL
OFF ALL OF A SUDDEN…..?!?!?
"Yeah, I know !! ….Yeah….I don’t
know…?!?"
THEN THE HIVES APPEARED TO TAKE
OVER EUROPE !?!
"Yeah, well the cruel thing about that
is is there’s these bands like The Hives
…..and it’s weird coz we’re sorta like
granddads to those bands - coz they
like us…. and that’s ok - it’s always
gonna happen….so….We still have a
career and we don’t care and we never
have….!!"
YOU STILL ROCK THE BEST ANYHOW !
"Yeah - that’s our job - and it’s like
F**k, you could really get caught up in
that bullshit of like why this, what that,
…..and all that does - and we did for
awhile - and what that does is it causes
a lot of like…..it’s depressive…..you
know, why bother !?!"
YOU’VE GOT SOMETHING ALREADY
THAT A LOT OF BANDS HAVEN’T
GOT AND THAT’S LONGEVITY - AS
FRIENDS, AS A UNIT - AND PUTTING
OUT GOOD RECORDS. THERE HASN’T
BEEN A DUFF ONE !!
"And that’s really like….that’s more than
we ever expected ! We love what we do
y’know - and we see no reason to stop -
coz this is what we like doing - playing
rock’n’roll for everybody."
PLUS YOU’VE GOT THE STRENGTH
TO DO THE COUNTRY STUFF WHEN
YOU WANT TO….!!
"I don’t expect people…..We figured that
when we get to be too old - like y’know,
the Stones…. They shouldn’t be going on
tour ! I don’t know why….y’know, WHY !?
Why bother….!?!?! They don’t want the
money - they have money……!! They’re
doing Ok…!!"
YEAH, BUT WHAT ARE THEY GONNA
DO !?! THEY GET BORED LIKE EVERY-
ONE ELSE…..!! (WHAT AM I TALKING
ABOUT - THEY’RE F**KING MULTI-
MILLIONAIRES….!!!)
"I guess they do…!! Yeah, yeah….that’s
true….!!"
NOT TO MENTION THEIR EGOS MAY
NEED MASSAGING FROM TIME TO……
"Well our brand of rock’n’roll, I can’t see
us doing much past a certain age before
it becomes like cartoon-ish !?!"
I’M FILLING UP….!!!
"Oh I think we’ve got another good 15
years !!" (PHEW !! HOORAY !!)
"But then we have a whole other career -
our retirement planned….our ‘Country
Music Retirement Plan’ that we can just
……coz it just takes a little amp and one
guitar and you can just stroll in and I
can have a walker and la-de-da-de-da !!
And we can still tour and make records !
But we don’t have to like (PULLS PAINED
CLICHED METAL FACE !) - C’mon - how
long can you do that….!?!"
IT’S HARD TO SAY, INNIT !?!?
"I mean Motorhead still does it. I think
50 is pretty….pretty good you know !?
Phil’s only 41…..!!"
HE’S A YOUNGSTER….!!
"Lemmy’s up there now. But y’see, you
can’t compare yourself. There’s not many
Lemmys or Keith Richards in this world !!"
THEY DON’T NORMALLY LAST AS
LONG !?!
"Yes - He’s kind of a…..that’s not some
sort of ideal you wanna hold yourself up
to - coz you’re not f**king - I’m not
made outta cast iron - you know, I know
I’m not !"
THEY’RE THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE !
"Exactly ! I have to accept the fact that I
know when I’m Lemmy’s age I’ll be playing
Country Music - that’s fine - I’ll still be
playing music."
YOU RECENTLY PLAYED ON A TOUR
WHICH WAS A FANTASTIC TRIPLE BILL.
YOURSELVES, WITH NASHVILLE PUSSY
AND MOTORHEAD !! ANY ANECDOTES
YOU CAN SHARE FROM THAT….!?!
"There’s a coupla funny things….! Y’know,
being on tour with Motorhead of course is a
story in itself. You get to see that this band
is not - is not as we say in America - not
perpetrators - THEY’RE THE REAL F**KIN’
THING !! Like anything that’s in their words,
like ‘Stone Deaf Forever’ - all these things,
they’re not f**king joking !! (LAUGHING)
Y’know, like Jesus Christ, they are like…..
it’s insane !! I mean it’s an absolute circus
every night. Just him plugging in to these
two giant Marshall Stacks, ‘GGRRNNNGG’ !!
Are you really gonna play it that loud !?!?
I got to stand up…..Eddie and I got to play
His Bass - he let us - I’m like, Now I know,
This is FUN !! I wanna play places that big.
They play like Astoria sized places over
there & that’s the perfect size - like 2,000
…..any bigger than that it’s kinda stupid
and stuff - no intimacy. This tonight is a
little too small. Let’s get that medium venue
y’know ? But as far as stories go, I remember
Phil, the first day of the tour we hadn’t met
him yet and that and it was really nice - he’s
a NICE guy and he loves talking about The
Beatles, which is fun - and I love the Beatles
and my wife is one of those like crazy Beatles
collector type people - so she’s a freak for
The Beatles !!"
WHAT, SINGLES & ALBUMS & SHIT.…!?!?
"Oh yeah - Bootlegs & books and she could
tell you when John Lennon took a piss in
1962 - that type of shit y’know….. But Phil
walked up - I was like introducing myself:
Hi, I’m Ron from THE SUPERSUCKERS, and
Phil said to me, It’s nice to meet you Ron -
Hey, you don’t want to get to know me….I’m
a pretty sick bastard !! (LAUGHS) But I think
it’s only when he’s on tour, y’know !?! He’s
really funny and I, y’know……I didn’t really
see much of their shenanigans. One of the
greatest stories though was they cancelled a
show and they maybe can afford to do that -
I don’t know - we couldn’t - and Nashville
Pussy was gonna cancel coz they’d cancelled
…..and we took to calling them The Nashville
Pussies !!! We were in Philadelphia and the
promoter was like, if you still wanna play,
we’ll drop the ticket price and let people in.
You know - on our own Nashville Pussy
and The SUPERSUCKERS could still draw
pretty good crowd ! It’s not Motorhead,
but…..it’s not bad !!"
IT’LL DO…!! (BIG LAUGHS)
"So it was a good bill still, so we did the
show anyway. So the next night the Motor-
head guys like were pissed off with us for
still doing the show, so Eddie (I was standing
right there !) and Lemmy was like, We need
some f**king solidarity man - what the
f**k….. all this stuff…. And Eddie’s like,
Look man, I LOVE Motorhead - our band
probably wouldn’t even exist without f**kin’
Motorhead being around - but Motorhead’s
Not the boss of MY band !!! He said, We
could not afford to lose Fifteen Hundred
Bucks. If you gotta get to the next gig, you’d
do the same f**king thing…..so don’t try to
boss us around…!!!"
WELL YEAH - THAT’S THE HONEST TRUTH !
"After that they couldn’t have been nicer !!
Like, Right On !! They were like, These kids….
F**king…..They’re not taking any shit !!!"
YOU WERE STANDING UP FOR YOURSELVES !
"Yeah, and Lemmy was like, C’mon back…..
let’s have a party !! They loved us after that
….loved us, y’know !?! It was so funny !! And
it’s true, y’know - we had a show to do !!"
MUCH RESPECT TO EDDIE….
"Their reason….. They pulled the show coz
the monitors weren’t meeting the 130 DB
limit that they need to have for their monitor
system !!"
JUST THE F**KIN’ MONITORS…..!?!?!?!
"Yeah !! (LAUGHING) Yeah !! Truth be told
the monitors went to about 120 DB and I’m
like, Well….that’ll do for me !!! It’s like
playing inside of a jet engine, y’know !?!?!
I think what happened was they had a big
damn party in Toronto, they were way
burned out & they probably couldn’t find
any drugs and they said, y’know, F**k It !!"
(REMEMBER, HE’S JUST THINKING THAT,
OK READERS…..AND MOTORHEAD !?!?!)
"It was one of those weird, y’know….coulda
gone either way. But I don’t know - it was
such a f**king blast to stand on the side of
the stage and watch Motorhead every night !
And I did not miss A show !! I mean there’s
some bands you go on tour with and you
see a coupla times and then…er…."
THEY’RE STILL GOOD THOUGH, AREN’T
THEY…..!?!
"Fantastic !!! They’re a ROCK’N’ROLL Band !!
Some nights are better than others - just
like any good rock’n’roll band - you’re not
gonna be great every nite - coz you’re not
playing the tapes, y’know - you’re plugging
in and playing your songs and some nights
things aren’t going well……but that’s alright
too…..!!"
HOWS YOUR EUROPEAN TOUR BEEN !?!?
"Good !! We went to a coupla lame spots in
Europe. Good crowds but some don’t get
rock’n’roll !?! Like Switzerland !! Y’know…..
it’s too COMFORTABLE in Switzerland…..you
don’t really have anything to get worked
up about !!" (BIG LAUGHS !)
NO TUBE STRIKES CERTAINLY !?!?
"They’ve all got money…..and if they don’t
have money then somebody gives ‘em
money and it’s all very Swiss, y’know !?!
They say, Hey you guys were really good -
and you’re like, Sure…! I don’t think any-
thing really fazes you up here y’know !?!
Nice people…..good crowds all turned up.
Surprisingly, a city that has never been
great was Paris. London has at least that
good rock history - London, New York,
L.A., Seattle - good rock histories. Paris,
you’d think for a big metropolitan….
was the last great rock revolution !?! It
hasn’t happened, it’s never gonna happen
……so surprisingly enough it’s not like
you can say from Paris came The Clash…..
NO ! The…..NO ! I can’t think of any !?!"
WELL NO, THERE ISN’T ANY….!?!
"Les Thugs…..well…!?!"
GATHERING DUST AT THE BACK OF THE
COLLECTION MATE !! NOT EVEN PLASTIC
BERTRAND CAME FROM FLIPPIN’ FRANCE
DID HE ?!?! HE WAS F**KIN’ BELGIAN !!
"So, surprisingly a really great show in Paris !
Packed, people going crazy…..and it was
nice to see…..!!"
AND ENGLAND…..!?!
"Good - the U.K.’s always great ! One that
was sorta disappointing, though enthusiastic
and alittle smaller than I thought it would
be was Glasgow. I thought it would be alittle
better ! We usually have pretty amazing
shows up there but it was a Sunday night
and y’know, there had been a lot of bands
through……Nashville Pussy, etc, etc, - so
people might’ve been alittle worn out …..
From going back to school and everything,
so I don’t know why !?! It was good but it
wasn’t as crazy as I thought it would be.
Leeds was fantastic - we played The Cock
Pit. Nottingham was good - lots of people,
enthusiastic - we pretty much ran out of
merchandise unfortunately by the time we
got here….!!"
YOU’RE JOKING !?! OH, BY THE WAY, DID
YOU GUYS FEEL THE EARTHQUAKE THE
OTHER NIGHT !?!
"We were driving ! We were near it in the
Midlands. We had a huge one in Seattle about
a year and a half ago. It destroyed my apart-
ment absolutely ! F**king I had to almost
move out !! I live on the side of a hill and my
wife and I ran out of the apartment and we
came back in and everything was in the
centre of the apartment ! EVERYTHING !! I
mean there wasn’t one thing on a shelf !!
(PUTTING ON HIS VOICE) MY RECORDS !!
MY COPIES OF HERE BE MONSTERS !!!
(ROB PISSES HIMSELF AT THAT ONE !!)
"My records…..my CDs….. I have 700 CDs……
like 1,200 albums - everywhere. It was 7.0 !!
Big !!!"
OURS WAS LIKE 4.2 WASN’T IT….!?!
"Yeah, it goes ten times each point !"
LETS ROCK !!
"The earthquake happened 60 miles from my
house ! So down in Olympia buildings fell over
and it was f**ked up. There was old rock clubs
in Seattle - that are old for Seattle, but not
old over here of course !! Like built in the late
1800’s - y’know, brick. There’s still like rope
around them….teetering !!"
(QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE ARE PLAYING
AND RON HEARS IT….)
"Queens….!!"
YEAH - THEY CAN’T DO ANYTHING
WRONG AT THE MOMENT…..
"Don’t seem like it !! They could record Nick
taking a crap and it would be a Single !!"
WITH THE QUEENS NEW CD AREN’T THEY
PUTTING OUT A DVD WITH IT ?!? WOULD
YOU THINK OF EVER DOING THAT….!?!
"We want to…. The thing is we have our own
record label now so we have to take out a loan
from a bank, finance the recording and the
pressing ourselves, then have to sell it to re-
coup the loan - so that’s expensive to do.
So I think it might be alittle bit risky for us at
the moment. We would do a DVD that was
separate from the record. We’re gonna do that
.….that’s in the works, sure. Actually we’re
gonna film tonight ! If you make yourselves
known (!!) we’re doing a 4 camera show of the
new songs, which might be one of the videos
from the show tonight !?!"
COZ WHAT WE’VE ALWAYS WANTED FROM
YOU GUYS IS A LIVE ALBUM….!!
"Yep - that’s gonna happen ! I think we’re
gonna record it next year - this is tentative -
a Double Live !!"
THE ONLY WAY…..!!
"We wanna do it in a coupla different places -
probably in San Francisco. There’s a really
great room there and we might set it up and
and play there. It’s about a thousand seater
and we feel if we get money together we’re
doing a New Years…. So that’ll be off the hoof
…..so we’ll see ! Yeah, Double Live - that’s
gonna happen !!"
ROB: I THINK IT’LL WORK. THERE’S ONLY
A FEW LIVE ALBUMS THAT’VE WORKED.
‘LIVE AND DANGEROUS’, ‘IF YOU WANT
BLOOD’, ‘NO SLEEP TIL HAMMERSMITH’…
"The thing about ‘Live And Dangerous’ is
it’s really in the studio, y’know !?!"
OH YEAH….!?! (WE’RE ALITTLE STUNNED !)
"Yeah, it’s like basically they kept the drums
and went and re-recorded everything else…."
YOU’VE SHATTERED OUR ILLUSIONS.
TALKING OF ELVIS, IT'S HIS 25th ANNIVER-
SARY THIS YEAR ISN'T IT !?! HAVE YOU
EVER COVERED ONE OF HIS SONGS !?!
"No - er, Eddie and I have acoustically but…..
that would be fun. I met James Burton…..!
OH YEAH….?!?!?
"Yeah ! I have a great story about him and
Elvis if you wanna hear it…!!?!?"
NAH (SARKY !) LETS TALK ABOUT SOME-
THING ELSE…. ‘COURSE WE WANNA HEAR
IT YOU TEASE !!!!
"We played a show about 6 years ago with
Jerry Lee Lewis…."
NO WAY !! YOU’RE SAVING THE BEST
TIL LAST….!?!?
"It was a Festival - a Festival they have
every year in South California called The
Hootenanny …..abit of a rockabilly thing.
For some reason that crowd loves our band.
I think coz we’re on the edge of where they
can like….. It’s cool for them to say they like
us so we do really well at these Rockabilly
Festivals which always has the Reverand
Horton Heat, The Cramps, etc. And at the
festival they always have one big legend,
sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s Chuck
Berry !!" (BIG LAUGHS - WE PISS OURSELVES !)
"Believe me, I think Chuck Berry is the true
king of rock’n’roll ! He never kept a band
together - he comes out with this….
Anyway, he’s no good anymore - it’s sad….
it’s sad to see !! Anyway, one year it was Jerry
Lee Lewis and I couldn’t f**kin’ believe it -
and not only was it Jerry Lee Lewis - f**king
James Burton was playing guitar for him ! So
I’m backstage and there’s James Burton
walking around. Jerry Lee was nowhere to
be seen…. He pulled a Limo straight through
the f**kin’ crowd Jerry Lee did ! It was SO rock
’n’roll ! So James Burton was just walking
around so I just had to be a dork and walk
right up to him and I’m y’know, I couldn’t be
a bigger fan and he was so nice and I was like,
You gotta show me a lick, and he showed me
one guitar lick and I’m cool……that’ll keep me
busy for the next Ten Years (!!)…..and he had
all these diamond rings on his fingers -
beautiful, huge…..like every f**king finger…..
and I’m like, You’ve got a nice set of rings
there !!!! (LAUGHING) And he’s like, Yeah…..
y’know it’s a funny story that !! He said, I got
draws full of ‘em ! When I was playing with
Elvis in the Seventies he would get too loaded,
pop a buncha bills and get all f**ked-up and
think the band was f**king up !! Now let me
tell you James Burton does not f**k up. I saw
him play with Jerry Lee and I was standing
about this far from him on stage next to a big
Fender Twin & I never heard a guy play music….
a musical guitar like that - I was blown away,
you know !?! And he goes, Every night Elvis
would fire the whole band…..and then the next
day in the afternoon - and he said, We got
used to this - he’s like he’d come around and
he’d have his guys sent out to go buy us a
10,000 Dollar Diamond ring to apologise !!"
F**KING HELL
"Five nights a week in Vegas y’know……he said,
It got to be like the rings were more than well
I was making as playing !!"
(WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY !!)
"Well that’s a pretty good gig !!!" (THEN
RON ADOPTS A GOOD ELVIS VOICE…..)
"Ah maan….I’m sorry maan - I’m all messed
up maan, y’know…. And present the whole
band with these jewel boxes and they’d be a
different diamond ring - and he had shit
loads of them ! One of these rings would buy
you a house !!"
INCREDIBLE !!
"So I went, Wow - that’s a level I probably
won’t see !?! But y’know, I appreciate the
Lemon drink !!
ROCK’N’ROLL !! YOU MADE IT !!
"The new record from THE SUPERSUCKERS is
tentativelty titled ‘Muthaf**kers Be Tripping’ !!
NO !!?!! WE LOVE IT !!!
"It’s hopefully - and this is a loose quote -
out the middle of May. I think the new record’s
gonna HAPPEN…!!"
(IT'S ABOUT THIS POINT THAT HERE BE
MONSTER MARK TURNS UP AND SAYS HI
AND TELLS RON HE'S GOING TO VEGAS
VERY SOON AND DOES HE KNOW OF ANY
DECENT MUSIC VENUES THERE….!?!)
"Check out The House Of Blues - it might be
a mellow show but they have good line-ups
there. We were there and in one week when
we played The House Of Blues there was us
and ‘X’ ! Do you know them !?! Lotsa people
don’t know ‘em over here - it’s really weird -
they were one of my all time favourite bands."
OH YUSS - WE KNOW OUR STUFF AT
H.B.M…..!!
"So we played - and the next night it was
James Brown, night after that it was Etta James
and then the next night it was Al Green !!
Pretty much a…."
AN ECLECTIC MIX !!
"Ya !! I have the Billboard !! There was a bill-
board outside The House Of Blues that says:
SUPERSUCKERS, James Brown, Etta James…..
and I have a picture of myself outside !"
NAH - YOU’VE MADE THIS ONE UP !!
"I’m not kidding….!!"
OH, GO ON THEN….!!?!!
"But go to Benny Binions. My Dad used to
work the crap tables there. My Dad saw Elvis
on his ’68 Comeback’."
NO……!?!?
"Yeah, he’s got pictures of him there ! My Dad
was cool !! He saw Frank Sinatra in ’62 in Vegas.
My Dad lived in Vegas for a year - he was a
professional gambler - lived in Vegas, sup-
ported his family !! A pool shark - you never
played against my Dad !! Yeah, for about 7
years I was there and my Dad was in the
American finals for Nine Ball pool. To get in
he had to win like all over The States and stuff.
He was one of the best 250 players in the
country. Yeah, he was pretty good - especially
at 68year of age !! And he’s still driving !! He’s
got a 65 GTO ! Y’know, I go out and drag race
with him sometimes…..!!"
IT MUST BE HARD TO KEEP UP WITH HIM !?!
"He’s 73 now…!!"
ADOPT ME !!!
"He lives in Arizona so it’s a good place to
hang out….!"
END

A Bitter Lemon !! It’s the least we could do !!
We certainly know how to party at HBM !!!?!!
But that’s what RON asked for and that’s what
he got ! Maan, if he had asked for a lager –
shandy we probably would’ve got it for him !!
But seriously it was great to see him looking
so well and STRONG after all he’d been thru.
Let that be a lesson to you all. Before the gig
review we’d like to thank Mr HEATHMAN
again for over an hour of his time. Three Qtrs
of the way through I did suggest that he may
be had better things to do, but hey, no - he
said he was doing just fine talking to us sad
nutters !! RON, you’re a Gentleman !! All the
very best to you and your family. See you next
time…..


CLIVE MONSTER, Here Be Monsters Fanzine.
www.herebemonsters.com