Part 1
"It Was Great When It All Began"
Part 2
"Erotic Nightmares"

Part 3
"Absolute Pleasure"

Part 4
"Didn't We Pass A Castle?"

Part 5
"Not A Sequel, Not A Prequel,
Not An Equal"

Part 6
"We Return To Transylvania"

Part 7
"Perhaps Even Time, Itself"

Part 8
"Superheroes"







 

ROCKY HORROR
"IT WAS GREAT WHEN IT ALL BEGAN..."

I first heard about ROCKY HORROR in 1974.
I saw this album cover at the Superama.
I thought it looked pretty cool.
In 1976, I found this in a JEM records catalog.
My sister told me that it was a great movie.
Little did I know...


In 1978, I was a punk weirdo living outside of Riverside CA. I love rock 'n' roll.
Dr. Demento was broadcasting his Sunday night radio show from K-MET 94.7 FM in Hollywood.
("Pico & Sepulveda...Pico & Sepulveda!!!"..."And Remember To STAY DEMENTED!!!")
He would regularly play songs from the film soundtrack. The first song I heard was "Sweet Transvestite".
Tim Curry's voice blew me away. A Shakespearean baritone singing Rock 'N 'Roll was new to me.
I heard some other songs, notably "Science Fiction Double Feature" and "The Time Warp".
I fell in love with the music. It was simple and fun.
To me, it sounded like everyone involved in making the music was having a great time.
I knew that I had to see this film, if only for the music.
But word was that there were some rather strange and bizarre things about "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW".
Creepy things. Disturbing things.

On February 2, 1979, the film opened to a SOLD OUT house at the Riverside Tyler Mall United Artists Theater 4.
I went out of curiosity and my interest in the music.
I had never seen anything like it. These were some very brave and creative people.
There was life and energy in that room. And lots of pretty girls. It was easy to do "The Time Warp".
The first person I met at ROCKY HORROR was Julie Ford. She was dressed as Frank 'N' Furter.
I went back every week, attending both Friday & Saturday nights at Midnight.
My first costume was a Transylvanian knock-off with a face full of cheap greaspaint.
I learned the response dialog, and I was starting to make people laugh with some of my own.
Around this time, I met David James.
He was dressed as Frank, and I was blown away by the fact he was in a really good costume.

In those early days, ROCKY HORROR was not without it's down moments.
People used to throw eggs, drinks, and other objects at us while we would do "The Time Warp".
In-bred-tweaker-assholes would show up at the theater just to harrass us before the show.
These creatures just wanted to kick your ass.
The theater got shut down twice because of the rowdiness.
Still, I refused to let a bunch of idiots ruin my new-found fun.
After standing up to them a few times, they left us alone.

I bought the soundtrack from the film, and started to learn the songs.
I found the Original Roxy Cast Album of "THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW".
When I realized that it was the album cover that I had seen 5 years before, I felt I had made a connection.
I found the Original Roxy Cast Songbook in a sheet music store in Corona for $5.00. I still have it.
The Original Roxy Cast Album is still my favorite stage version of "THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW".
I don't like the arrangement of the guitars in that version, but you can't go wrong with Tommy Tedesco, Hal Blaine, and Jim Horn in the band. Besides, the album is an experience in itself.
Later, when I attended MI, I got know Tommy Tedesco, and I did him a big favor.
I met Bruce Scott, the actor who played Riff-Raff in the Original Roxy Cast at Squeeze's, a Riverside punk club.
He had a band called "Riff-Raff", and he was opening for another band called "Numbers".

The soundtrack of "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" is still my favorite version of the music.
I love the mix and the arrangement of "The Time Warp" that was used in the film!
The guitars are much more prominent in the film mix, as opposed to the album where the horns are louder.
Count Ian Blair played some of my all-time favorite guitar parts.
Columbia's tap dance is great, too.
Then of course, comes almost everyone's favorite moment of the film...who doesn't love Tim Curry's performance?
You can tell that he was having fun doing it.
Watching him never fails to make me smile and laugh.

In August of 1979, I met Richard Gifford in front of the Tyler Mall United Artists Theater 4 in Riverside.
He was wearing a Transylvanian tailcoat, and a top-hat that was signed by Dr. Demento.
We were both trying to scam the same girl. He succeeded. I did not.
Julie was there, as was David, and they were both "dressed-up for Rocky".
I was really happy to meet others that were willing to take participation to extremes.

After the show. We wound up at Winchell's Donut on Magnolia Blvd.
The next weekend, we stared hanging out at Denny's.
More people were getting involved. It was great!
Each week, we saw a few more people coming to the show in costume and participating.


 ROCKYMUSIC.ORG
The Musical World of
Rocky Horror



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