Elvis Costello Ticket
One of the numerous fun aspects of the early Scorgie’s days, and the music scene in Rochester at that time, was that the whole new music trend really had not caught on yet. There was a small dedicated group that went to the club to listen to the custom stocked juke box and drink Bass Ale on tap. It was like a hidden secret clubhouse for a short while. So it was not uncommon to run into celebrities there, or invite them to drop by.
One night worth mentioning was after seeing Elvis Costello perform at the Auditorium Theatre in early 1979. A few of us knew where he was staying and stopped by the hotel lounge after the show (thanks to John Pusateri, a man in the know!). We told him we’d love for him to stop by Scorgie’s where he would probably not even be recognized and have a drink, listen to the tunes and hang out. So, well, he did just walk over to Scorgie’s with a small entourage, came in the door and went quickly downstairs. They ordered drinks, sitting at a table conversing amongst themselves. Elvis was quickly recognized and people started commenting and asking for his autograph. He was not thrilled about this (actually somewhat annoyed by the attention) and pushed people off with a simple “f*** you.” The people near me complained that he was being rude. I said, “I bet you $10 I can get his autograph.” I was dared to do it. So I walked up to him and told him I bet someone ten bucks that I could get his autograph. He calmly responded, “f*** them” and graciously signed my ticket stub from the show. Then he went back to his conversation and hung out for a while longer. I went back to my table with the autograph, got my $10 and enjoyed another drink or two.
Later that year I walked into Scorgie’s with some of the members of Devo under similar circumstances. Of course no one recognzed them without the yellow paper suits . . .
Ticket Back with Elvis' Autograph
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I remember seeing Elvis during spring break and I stopped by Scorgies after the concert to check out the scene (I picked up a New Math flier outside the Auditorium Theatre and wanted to see what this place was all about). As I was by myself not with friends I left after a quick Genny draft. Little did I know how much time I would be spending there in the future…
As for Elvis’ reticence to engage the fans… Rochester’s show occured immediately after the infamous “dust up” Elvis had with Bonnie Bramlett at the Columbus Hotel (right down the road from OSU). Elvis and his crew were getting drunk and wound up engaging Bonnie and Steven Stills in an inane argument over the merits of American Music. Purportedly, this is the reason he opened the show in Rochester with “I Stand Accused.” So, I can see why Elvis might have been a bit standoffish.
link to Google books for the reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=N438isc2m78C&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=Elvis+Costello+bonnie+bramlett&source=bl&ots=VRHMdI5xjA&sig=7ujZr3PUPlou3vru1JDG7xHO4Jg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result
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re “Later that year I walked into Scorgie’s with some of the members of Devo under similar circumstances. Of course no one recognzed them without the yellow paper suits . . .”
I remember dropping some of those DEVO guys off at their hotel out by the airport after the show. The airport Holiday Inn had a little disco where the polyester crowd from Gates used to boogie-down.
They took one look in there & exclaimed “Spud Girls ! ! ! ” then ran up to their rooms to put on the disco clothes they carried with them so they could pick up chicks in hotels.
Duane
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THAT made me laugh, Duane… When Shawn and I made our trek to the CMJ we hung out for a bit with Jerry Casale. He was wearing a suit and had a “Spud Girl” on either arm. He wasn’t the slightest bit interested in anything either of us had to say… no wonder!
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Hmmm. Guess I was naive. When they invited my friend Urvashi and I to join them at the hotel that night we thought they wanted to talk about de-evolution. Thats all they wanted to talk about at Scorgie’s! No matter – we ended up with some of their stage clothing (which we considered to be the ultimate prizes). That’s right – sweaty paper suits.
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