I often wonder why I never seem to run into any famous people that I actually recognize at airports. You hear the stories all the time, but not from me. I know I've seen athletes, football players inpaticular, but out of uniform, unless they are sporting a Kiesel like beard, I have no idea who they are.
Last week I saw this cut dude with long straight hair walking through Dallas/Ft Worth, and for a minute I thought it might have been John Petrucci from Dream Theater, but I was mistaken.
I always seem to be seated next to other salesmen off to the next assignment. It makes for good conversation sometimes, but just once I'd love to find myself next to Phil Anselmo, Nancy Wilson, or George Clinton. Someone famous for being a musician. That would be fascinating. Maybe Bob Seger? Idk. That's assuming that any of those people actually fly coach and fly during normal business hours.
A safer bet would be someone on the "C" list grinding out a living playing music. Like a Don Dokken or Dickey Betts.
I heard once that you could hire Don Dokken to play an Acoustic Event for $2500.00 + expenses. For >$5K, you and your poser co-workers can sing along to intimate acoustic versions of "Into the Fire," "Alone Again," and "In My Dreams."
At the time, I actually wanted to do it just to say I did. Mortgage be damned, Dokken is playing my quarterly sales meeting! Alas, it never came to pass. I had a little more $ to throw around back then, but never would have actually pulled the trigger, or would I? I never confirmed that you actually could hire Don at this discounted rate... So don't send me e-mails calling me an asswad.
Am I really blogging about Dokken? Wow.
Maybe the price tag has gone up, as Dokken has been in the news lately. George Lynch was recently featured on Counting Cars, Jeff Pilson is killing it with his Foreigner cover band called "Foreigner," and Mick Brown was touring with Nugent.
The current Dokken buzz is the possibility of a "Classic" Dokken lineup reunion. I'm sure the Rocklahoma crowd is losing sleep with anticipation.
Dokken is an interesting story. At their peak, they were on par with the hair bands of the day, opening for the same acts that Bon Jovi and Ratt were opening for, yet here in the states, they just couldn't get to headline status. The material wasn't the problem. "Tooth & Nail" and "Under Lock and Key" are both very good albums, and who can forget "Dream Warriors?" That riff was probably on par with "Smoke on the Water" to beginner guitar players for a few years.
They had a frontman, a guitar god, music videos and decent sales, but they just couldn't get to headline status.
And then, they broke up. It was well documented and in general a very amicable split (at least in the Press).
Lynch started Lynch Mob, and got right back to making music. Don put out some rubbish solo LP and his star started the rapid decline into fade away status.
Pilson stayed busy. He's a worker. His path took him in interesting directions, including a role in the Mark Wahlburg move "Rockstar," and eventually becoming a fixture in today's version of Foreigner. He's been sober for over two decades and is doing well.
At some point, Don took back the band name Dokken, and started on the cycle of nostalgic touring to grind out a living. When I think about that circuit, I have to assume that LA Guns, Great White and other bands from the era must really love what they do. It's got to be a pain in the ass, but maybe there are hints of life being an endless summer? A Tribe of Lost Boys that never have to completely grow up.
Society in general puts musician stars on strange pedestals. The well grounded ones can deal with it with dignity, some don't. Coming down from the height of popularity has to be strange. In today's market, bands have to actually work to make money. Million dollar deals just don't happen anymore for 99% of working musicians.
And that's what the heroes of past generations are today, working musicians. The market for hair metal ebs and flows, but in general it's very much a shrinking market, which makes it that much harder to earn a living worth a damn. The smart ones saved money, but they still have to work.
According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, Don Dokken has an estimated worth of 10 Million dollars. Yeah right! I'd have to see that bank statement to actually believe that. They haven't had a hit anything in 30 years. That one really made me spit out my coffee. Haha.
Lets assume that Don Dokken at one time was a millionaire. If he invested his money, he probably wouldn't be available for a dude like me to hire off the street to play a birthday party.
I'm pretty sure pissing away a million dollars is pretty easy if you are famous. I've known normal people that pissed away fortunes, and the two new trucks eventually broke down, as did the 4-Wheeler, and the big new house needs a big new roof.
So back to work they all must go because the roof won't fix itself.
I'm a road dog, and like it that way, but it's not for everybody. There is something about being away from home for long periods of time that grows tiresome. Some assume that it's all dinners and socializing, but it's not, and even if it was, that gets old. You have to be solid in your home life, you have to be disciplined enough to not drink away your evenings, and you have to be comfortable in just about any setting. You sometimes have to really dig to find something good about the hotel off of I-64 in the middle of nowhere, where the menu consists of hotdogs from the Circle-K and a bag of Doritos.
You miss events, ball games, supper and TV with the family. You're not around for emergencies and every relationship in your life is somewhat long distance. Sometimes the rewards don't come for long stretches, and you burn out.
Working musicians know this grind better than anyone, and worse yet, they get to sleep in a bunk (at best) or sitting up in a van (at worst). Makes my life seem simple and comfortable.
Back to Dokken, if Don Dokken were sitting next to me on a plane. I bet he would tell me that getting paid a few thousand dollars for 2 hours work with all expenses covered ain't working, that's the way you do it. Pull that off once a week and you're generating six figures. You can't support a mansion in Beverly Hills, but you can afford a ranch house in Vegas.
Money for nothin' he may say. He also may tell me that he invested well and is worth 10 million dollars. I'd call him a liar.
Nago
No comments:
Post a Comment