Johnny D’s B-Day

Electronically restrained, that’s the difference, we didn’t have that and a lot of the times when we went out, we made no decisions on what to do until we were three beers in, that was the magic. Yeah, we were free range that’s for sure. Melissa, my wife was waxing poetically.

Yeah, we didn’t have that, we went outside and did things, we made it happen.

We worked, we always had a job but we went out a lot. To the Star System (Merlin’s) Friar Tucks, After the Gold Rush or Mad Gardens, we would see a band, a lot of the time one of us was in the band but we would go. Things didn’t really get started until about ten and this is on a Tuesday or Wednesday, work the next day. I remember a few times, after shutting a bar down after the last set of a band, we weren’t done. “Let’s go surfing” fueled up we would go grab our trunks, wetsuit and strap the board on the racks, grab the cooler and go get gas and drive the six or so hours to San Diego or K-38, turn on the am radio, see if we can get K-15 and Johnny D. “I wish I was in Tijuana, eating barbecue iguana…”

But that thing, social media, I saw the flyer online, Johnny D’s Birthday 80th Party at the Dirty Drummer. Wow, cool, one of my favorite dives. It’s close to the house, I gotta go.

K-15 was Phoenix metropolitan areas first alternative radio station.

"K-15" refers to KDJQ-AM (1510 kHz), a notable, short-lived alternative rock radio station in Mesa, Arizona, that operated in the early 1980s and is remembered for its pioneering, low-wattage format.

Low wattage for sure, drive behind a building in the way and you lost the station but that was sort of the allure. There was nothing else on the radio at that time. You had a cassette player or you had K-15 and if I’m not mistaken, Johnny D played at night.

But here we were, some forty years later, we are our parents, many of us grand parents. I’m looking around and see Michael, an old skateboarding friend, he played in JFA. I felt like I knew everyone there but everyone was old.

I’m old.

Johnny D is old.

But we earned it and we are still doing it.