You might say tape Y is two-faced: one side rocks while the other side makes you want to dance. It's a TDK SA90 like all the other ones and while the intended recipient didn't fill out the J-card, it looks like I did. But there is a slight problem almost thirty-three years later. That's right, based on our research, we are somewhat confident that tape Y was dubbed in the third or fourth week of September. Plus, who writes their Y's that way?
Since tape X, a Tom Petty affair recorded after seeing him and his Heartbreakers along with Lone Justice and Stevie Nicks, in concert on July 30, 1985, we attended at least four concerts before tape Y happened apropos of nothing.
Our first show was just 48 hours post-Petty but it was in town and not a two-hour drive so it was a more laid-back affair. Ratt was touring in support of their second album, just released in July 1985, titled Invasion Of Your Privacy and I was a big fan of both of their albums but the thing that sealed the deal and made me haul ass down to the Dillard's ticket window back on July 1 was the announcement of the opening act, who were also touring behind their sophomore release, 7800° Fahrenheit. They were a little band from Jersey calling themselves Bon Jovi - in a little over a year's time, they would be the hottest band in the land. It probably goes without saying that my girlfriend was extremely excited to see the show, but in a different way than me. It was a great concert, one of the last well-behaved rock shows I would attend, and, while we never witnessed Ratt live again, we saw Bon Jovi twice more as headliners in their prime. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Eighties Bon Jovi shows drew some of the most attractive women I have ever seen in my life.
On Labor Day 1985, we drove back up to Compton Terrace, leaving at 3:00 in hopes of getting a decent parking place in the parking desert, before a band called Victory was scheduled to take the stage at 6:00. We did not get a decent parking spot and had to park a little over a mile away from the venue. Victory had finished their short set and left the stage before we even got in though we heard them on our long walk from where we parked. I was in the bathroom when the next act, Autograph, hit the stage followed by a recently reunited Aerosmith, gigging in support of their upcoming release Done With Mirrors. Their set was sloppy and embarrassing and they seemed to leave earlier than planned. In between sets, the voice on the PA would urge everyone to stay hydrated as temperatures there in the desert were in the high Nineties and people were dropping like flies. There was a huge medical tent set up to the right of the stage and it was full during the entire show. Several ambulances and school buses could be seen leaving throughout the whole concert. We'd read the next day that one fan had died at the show. Finally, the Scorpions came on and the long day was worth it. The band, oddly enough, were touring behind the release of their double live album World Wide Live. I remain a huge fan of the Scorpions output from 1980-1990 and we saw them live a total of three times including this Labor Day gig.
I don't have the ticket stubs for them but the other two shows we attended were Mötley Crüe on August 27th in Tucson and Don Henley with opening act Mr. Mister on September 20th up in Phoenix at ASU. The Crüe show was our second one and it was the Theater Of Pain Tour and I think they had Y&T opening. Henley was on his Building The Perfect Beast Tour while Mr. Mister was touring ahead of their breakthrough album, Welcome To The Real World. It was the first time we heard "Kyrie" or "Broken Wings" though the latter would break on the radio the very next week. To this day, my wife swears Henley busted out "Love Rules", a little-known favorite of ours from the Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack.
See what I mean by slight problem? The only way you're seeing my writing on the J-card is with the filters I applied to the image - to the naked lie, you can barely make out the indentations where I wrote in pencil. There is another issue with my scribbling as well - I wrote "Carry On My Wayward Son" instead of the proper "Carry On Wayward Son" and am surprised that "Teenage Wasteland" isn't the final song on Side A.
*It was probably on purpose that I put the two Isley Brothers covers back to back on Side B.
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