It was a new year and Boogie was working out better than we'd imagined. We worked up several hot new songs (for us anyway) that we never could do before. Boogie also sang lead vocals on a couple of killer tunes like "Purple Haze", "Skin It Back" and "Cat Scratch Fever." Billy Cook, Rick Webb, Rusty Boden, Danny Cochran, and Rick Jackson sat in. Crowds were picking up. My uncle Okie (from Louisiana Hayride days) was in town with Marty Robbins. Someone threw a pie in my face while playing on my birthday. It may have looked funny, but the whipped cream ruined the finish on my Stratocaster guitar.  

One Wednesday night in February we went to see Curiosity at the Alamo Club. It was Charlie Basham's birthday. Around the same night, a redneck followed Billy Cook from the club and ran his car off the road. The accident killed their soundman and seriously injured Billy and David Crockett's sister, Beth. Word filtered through the rumor mill at the "I" about who did it. Those tips paid off and the cops arrested a suspect at the "I" a few nights later. They escorted him out with a gun to his head.

Another big jam at the Hungry I consisted of David Crockett, Roy Robbins, Steve Hamkin, Rick Jackson, Lee Pickens, Mark Ballew, and Bobby Albin.  Crossfire also stopped by and sat in. Pam wrote me a letter, and mom and dad went dancing. Cabaret Booking Agency contacted us about doing a tour in Oklahoma for $325 per man per week! We really got our hopes up about that one. Of course nothing ever came of the offer. Mom and dad celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary on February 28th. 

As March of '78 rolled around, Lee Pickens and Danny Cochran came out again a second time in a week to sit in. Lee told me he really liked my Stratocaster. I'm sure I went home and slept with it that night.  A guy named Scott from the Record Shack gave us free albums. Mike Strelzick and Don Mordecai sat in. We were tipped off that narcotics agents were taking pictures in the parking lot...

I heard the first ice cream truck of the year go by. RJ and I got into a squabble over the cassette tapes we had accumulated from recording the band at the gigs. Mom and dad took a trip to Wichita Falls. On March 4, David Crockett gets a message to us that he is ready to go to work with us! Great drummer! But it didn't happen. He changed his mind. 

RJ and I took a trip to Houston in my VW bug to visit my older half brother, Mike.  While down there, we visited NASA. We visited several clubs and I bought some magic at Archie's Magic Shop. Thank goodness the car held up. We had a hard time finding a motel, and ended up out in Pasadena near the refineries. The smell was pretty bad.  

Upon arriving back home from our trip, we were tipped off that Lee Pickens was interested in possibly hiring Boogie to play with his band. This really worried us, since Boogie had only recently joined the Desperados. We had to get used to the fact that Boogie was a good player and a lot of bands wanted to hire him away from us. That is, after all, the nature of the business. But that deal fell through and things soon got back to normal.

The new Lee Pickens Group sat in on the 19th. The ex bass player from Edge was with them. The Keith Jefferies Band played the "I" and they were really good. Rumors got to us that drummer Danny Elliot (Tarbaby) might be interested in a gig soon. I dreamed that I was Clyde Barrow and my brother Chris was Buck. Chris was killed in the dream. (I don't make them up -- I just dream them.)  I visited with Jack, guitar player from Free & Easy. 

On March 21, Boogie called to tell us that his Granny was in the hospital and he couldn't rehearse. Later, Bobby Albin told a Savvy groupie, Margie, that Boogie had actually rehearsed with him that night. Even though Margie was a certifiable nutcase, we believed her. The next day after telling us, she freaked out and busted her husband's Les Paul guitar because she was upset with him. 

March 22 was Mom's birthday. Mom and dad were back arguing again. Sunday nights grew into big jam session nights. On the 25th we had a record number of people sitting in. RJ got his hair permed - again! My VW bug was giving me fits. And the neighbors next door to our garage apartment must have had their fill of our late night antics because he began revving his race car engine (parked in the garage below) early on Saturday mornings when he knew we were sleeping in! I had to get up at 9am and drive home to mom and dad's to sleep.

Back at the club, the band was getting tighter, but we all knew it was time for a new drummer. We'd been essentially auditioning various guys for weeks as they "sat in" with us. But none of them seemed to have the right attitude, or personality for our group.  It was becoming quite frustrating, until one night when Bobby Albin did something that made up for his trying to steal Boogie from us. He introduced us to a drummer named Wade Johnson.

Wade just sort of popped onto the scene without much fanfare. He had played in a band with Bobby, and Bobby was sitting in with us on a regular basis. We even did the "Bobby Albin Show" on weekends at midnight.  It was all in fun, but Bobby really was a great singer, and friend. He highly recommended Wade, and when Wade sat in, we knew he was the man for the job!

Wade Johnson was a nice, laid back, easy going, weekend athlete type.  He played on a local softball team and was friends with everyone.  He was really solid on the drums and had a great voice. Best of all, he was ready to go to work!  I always liked Ralph as a person, but business was business and it was time for him to go. On the 16th of April, a Sunday night, as we were tearing down our equipment, Jim told Ralph that he had one week's notice. The next day Ralph called us and said he'd decided not to play with the group anymore.  On April 20th, 1978, Wade played his first night with us. He went right to work without missing a beat. That was a good thing too, since he was our DRUMMER!  The band sounded better than ever before. 

Wade Johnson on drums at the Hungry I Club. Circa 1978.

RJ and I ate at Denny's with David Locke from U.S. Kids. Rusty Boden and Janice Lindsey split up after he got caught at Spencer's with another girl! RJ and Janice got back together. She was still living with Pam (who I still saw occasionally). Janice felt she needed to have a cat, so that was the end of my going over there. I'm deathly allergic!

Bobby Albin was becoming the unofficial 6th member of the band. He had some really funny lines:  "Who's not having a good time tonight? Then get the HELL OUT!"  "I hope your ass hole grows together!"  "Clap or we'll play it again!"  

RJ and I had lived at the garage apartment for 5 months before we finally got hot water!  I painted the bathroom and started cleaning up there more and going home less. On the 22 of April, me and Pam saw a Tornado at Benbrook Lake. Around that time I wrote the following entry into my diary:  "Wade Johnson is an all around good dude. I hope he stays with us a while. Flashy, solid, good meter, intelligent, and great voice!"

In addition to supplying a much needed solid beat to the band, Wade also brought a great personality to the table. He was a loveable, friendly guy who always seemed to be in a good mood. We had lot's of fun playing jokes and cutting up on stage. To this day he still calls me "Steve Larry", a silly nickname I'd picked up back in the Don Hudson days.

David Crockett started calling about coming to work, but he'd dallied back and forth too many times. We told him that we'd hired Wade.  I saw a professional ventriloquist dummy at Tanner Miles Magic Shop, but it cost $400.  I sure wanted it to enhance our floor shows. But I didn't have the cash. It would have to wait. I had a couple of other vent dummies to use for bits, but they were mere toys compared to the one I saw at Tanner's.  But as we discovered during our search for a drummer, all good things come in time!

Midnight Movies at Eleven