Author Information
"CCC"
by Jeph Johnson
When I was still in college
(Clackamas Community College)
I used to drive my friend Jeff
to school with me in a Chevrolet
(notice how I now
spell my name
differently than his?)
I used to make him listen to music
he probably would not have chosen
had he been driving;
mostly rock
with a syrupy "pop-ness"
that happened to be
popular back then:
REO Speedwagon
and Journey.
He liked his rock
harder with a bit more grit:
Kiss and Van Halen.
Strangely we settled on a
one-hit-wonder British band
with pre-Chili Pepper
poppin' bass,
post-Duane Eddy
twangy guitar,
and
frantic Burundi
drum rhythms
pounding behind a
teen-aged girl
named Annabella's
Euro-Burmese
lolita hiccups.
Bow Wow Wow's
first UK hit
was about the joys
of home taping.
Their song,
called "C30 C60 C90 Go!"
inspired us to compile
mix tapes of their music.
After a few years of meandering
we both dropped out of CCC
and Jeff became a barber.
He installed a supped-up
stereo system
(complete with CD)
in his Volvo
(or maybe back then it was a Toyota)
he has a Volvo now...
See, Jeff was better
tinkering with gadgets,
I, with words.
In that first year at CCC
for instance,
I was a writer on the newspaper staff
and Jeff was a photographer
so we'd wander around the campus
telling the hot Reagan-era
CCC babes
that we were doing articles for the
CCC yearbook
(but there really
was no yearbook for
Clackamas.
For Christ's sake,
it was a community college!)
I'd get to
ask them
about Apartheid
and tax cuts
while taking notes
about their bra size
and hair color.
Jeff documented
all of this with
smiling pictures.
We still joked
after he got his car
like how
now he had
wheels for his stereo.
My Chevy was hit
by a drunk driver
one early morning
coming home
from a strip joint
and I soon learned to
rely on public transportation
and Jeff's mobile stereo for rides.
I swore off the strip clubs for ten years.
Our music continued to diversify
Jeff discovered Depeche Mode
and I got lost in Amy Grant's
Contemporary Christian crooning.
The fact that I was
extremely busy
"giving my life to Jesus"
had a major influence
on many of my musical decisions
but it was Jeff's car
so I learned to
catch up with
Depeche Mode.
There was however
this one CD
Jeff and I both
listened to
in-between
"Blasphemous Rumours"
and (sometimes)
"Sing your Praise to the Lord"
called
Bachbusters,
that was synthesized
bass-heavy
classical-disco
recorded digitally
by this keyboard wizard
named Don Dorsey
(probably no relation
to Tommy or Jimmy).
He played directly into
his musical computer.
Our rendering of
the liner notes
had us believing
this music was never heard
by the naked ear
until it finally boomed from
Jeff's speakers.
This wowed us
and we found it
cool for a time
but fifteen years later
digital "ain't no thang."
In fact,
I sit here and type these words
directly into
my television computer
never seen or read
until it prints out on
someone's naked cranium
Bow Wow Wow's
1998 reunion tour
was not successful
despite the contrary beliefs of
two men named Jeff(ph)
their twangy guitarist died,
Annabella was now in her 30's,
they had a new drummer,
and their Chili Pepper
poppin' bass-man
has been overshadowed by
a Flea
