For a short period in my life, I had the absolute pleasure of playing drums in a rock band. Much like my time as a radio DJ during my college years, it was yet another childhood fantasy fulfilled. I have to be honest in telling you that I never thought we would go on to make albums, tour the world and spend months in recording studios crafting out one epic after another while toiling away with adventure after adventure of rock and roll excess. I didn't really entertain those thoughts, other than in my deepest fantasies, terribly often. But, then and especially now as I reflect, it was a time that was more precious to me than I think any of my bandmates ever really knew.
I am writing about this period at this time because there seems to be some misconception of when and how this all occurred and while I cannot even begin to give the complete, official oral history of Ground Zero, I think I can toss my hat into the ring and even invite my former bandmates to chime in.
This is how I remember things...
1. GROUND ZERO DID NOT BEGIN IN THE FOURTH GRADE
Despite what the lovely and amazing Nina Rosa Contreras may claim, Ground Zero absolutely did not begin when we were all in the fourth grade. I began my life at the University Of Chicago Laboratory Schools located in gorgeous Hyde Park in the fall of 1977. It was third grade and I was eight years old. It was the year I had met Michael Bateman and he had a certain impetuousness and rambunctiousness that made my parents a tad fearful of my association with him and it led to many arguments at home.
By 1978, in the fourth grade I met Gully Weiss in Mrs. Abrams' class. I remember I liked him immediately. I loved his name and he just had this nearly Zen-like attitude to everything and it was simply inviting and always fun to be around. My memory does get to be quite hazy when I think of Eric Sussman and when we actually met. It may have been in that same class or even my amazing year of fifth grade in Mr. John Wilson's class. But, like Gully, Eric was someone I liked right away. he was always so good natured and friendly. What was not to like about him?
As for Sam Perlman, I didn't meet him until I was invited to join the band. I knew of him and I have to admit to being extremely intimidated by him. I am certain that if he reads this he may laugh out loud and wonder why I felt that way but it was just because he was one of the UPPER CLASSMEN! I don't think that I was worried about becoming the target of standard high school bullying. It was that he seemed to run with a group of people that appeared to regard anyone younger with such terrible disdain and an assumed nasty indifference. It was as if you were just invisible. They didn't know you, didn't want to know you and didn't care if you were there anyway.
There was also one other factor. When I arrived at Lab School, I was gripped with that feeling of intimidation as I met the people who would become my new classmates. In addition to trying to figure out a way to get myself included with a group of children who already possessed a deep history (and race was also a minor issue as this was the first time I was in the minority and I just didn't know how people would treat me), I noticed that there was something almost intellectually accelerated from other kids I knew. Perhaps this is just how it is for children who grow up in a university community. But I noticed the way they spoke. The way they related. The games they played. Their vocabulary. Their sense of humor. These kids were fast thinkers with quips and quotes sailing through the class with such velocity. I even learned my first curse words with this group! It was almost like joining the cast of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" and the crew from Second City and I just didn't know where to begin. Thankfully, my first friend was Jeff Gould. I do not remember how we even met or even how we became friends but through his graciousness by allowing me to hang with him, I gained friends and began to find my Lab School footing. If those kids in the third grade seemed to be that accelerated, then imagine how I felt when faced with the prospect of meeting Sam Perlman and the potential of having a doorway opened to his circle of friends! Sam and his classmates seemed to be worlds upon worlds away.
Much to my surprise, Sam was nothing like how I feared in any way and I may have even eventually felt a slightly closer bond to him. I did indeed look up to him as his musical knowledge was deeper than mine (I remember car rides listening to The English Beat and Oingo Boingo and an afternoon at his home watching U2's "Under A Blood Red Sky" video) and he just had a...way...about him that was just cooler than I could hope to be and perhaps, I hoped some of that would rub off onto me by osmosis.
So, in addition to not even knowing all of the principal characters that would make up this band by the time I was in the fourth grade, another major reason I know that Ground Zero didn't begin at that time was because I didn't even own a full drum set by that point. It was the only set I ever played on and that very set now resides under the basement stairs in my parents' house in Matteson, IL. (insert peasant era violin--preferably performed by Mr. Itzahk Pearlman-- here)
So, for a quick recap, Ground Zero began as a functioning musical unit sometime in 1982 during 8th grade (and for Sam, his Freshman Year of high school) and to the best of my knowledge, it may have been Gully Weiss' original idea. I never really knew how it all may have begun and I also do not remember who even asked me if I was interested in joining but the original lineup consisted of...
GULLY WEISS: chief songwriter/guitarist
MIKE BATEMAN: guitar/bass/saxophone
ERIC SUSSMAN: lead vocals, acoustic guitar (possibly co-songwriter with Gully)
SAM PERLMAN: keyboards
ME: drums!
2. PRESENTING...THE GENERICS?
I do remember that we struggled trying to think up a name for our band. We had tons of ideas of which none of us could agree upon and at some point, we secured our very first gig at an 8th grade "dance" (such as it was) in our school cafeteria. We needed a name and fast! I think either Eric or Gully or both of them came up with "The Generics" as something to tide us over until we came up with something better. In fact, I vividly remember either Eric or Gully introducing us as "The Generics" and also announcing that we would arrive with a more enticing name soon. Somewhere in my odds and ends, I think I may still even possess a note written to us from Middle School Principal McCord thanking "The Generics" for their performance--of which I think we only played either two or three songs...
3. THE SET LIST
In addition to "Shake It Up," a deathly slow version of "Riders On The Storm," a particularly strong version of "Should I Stay, Or Should I Go" if I do say so myself and a few other cover songs, there were some songs that Gully wrote.
"Living In Darkness" (I can still sort of piece together the chorus..."Living in/Darkness/No reply...")--that was so much fun to play. It was loud and fast and gave everyone a moment to have the spotlight, including me--even though I dreaded the moment. One reason I loved playing drums was because I precisely did not have the spotlight. People could easily know I was there but not focus on me. But, it was insisted that I play a drum solo. This prospect terrified me as I felt I was NOWHERE near ready or even contained the ability I would have liked to have had in order to really pull off a good solo. So, I did what I had to do. I completely cribbed my favorite drummer Ringo Starr's solo from The Beatles' "The End." It was a solo I knew and I knew how to play it and after many times of playing "Living In Darkness," I could stretch out a little...but who really knows if any of that was successful at all or if it was just cacophonous bashing. But..it felt so good!
I do remember that another song Gully wrote was called "Magical Woman." Don't ask me what the lyrics were, or who the titular woman was. I don't think that I ever knew but it was also one of the first songs we played--also loud and fast with a great keyboard solo by Sam in the middle.
Regardless, in my mind, I felt that the band was Gully's and I think he may have wanted us to really try to craft as much of our own songs as possible. I don't recall Gully having that many songs over the course of Ground Zero but I did know he was steadily trying to write them and there seemed to be something new fairly consistently, although I couldn't even tell you any more song titles. I was really just happy to be there so it really touched me when after our first performance and the fellas were taking a bow, I remained behind the drum kit until they waved me over to join them. I believe it was Gully who said, "We ALL wrote the songs!" in regards to the original tunes. I knew that I didn't do any actual songwriting but I suppose my drum part was a contribution to make the entire thing come to life and I appreciated that statement more than he ever knew. I felt for the first time that perhaps I wasn't just tagging along. That maybe this was my band too.
4. FINALLY...A NAME!
I wish I knew who came up with "Ground Zero," but I can tell you when it happened, we ALL knew that it was the right name. It had an element of mystery, force and power that I know I thought was just perfect. We even made T-shirts for ourselves in a printing class. I do remember designing a bit of the band logo, if not the entire thing, and someone else came up with the nihilistic mushroom cloud image. (Yes, I do still have that shirt--although I could of course never fit into it now!) But, we now had a name and we stuck with it and held it like the proverbial badge of honor.
5. ALMOST FAMOUS
-We performed quite a bit, as I remember. (And as many times as my Dad grumbled about loading up the station wagon to cart me across town to play, I know the amount of performances was a larger number.) In addition to a few tunes at a school dance or during one of Mr. Abernathy's band concerts, we also played a few times in the school cafeteria during lunch time and even at a few house parties (I remember one in particular at Hannah Rosner's house, where we even tried an acoustic "Stairway To Heaven"!).
In Freshman year of high school, Principal McConnaha actually allowed us to perform at some school during the day. He chartered a bus for us, let us out of school for much of the morning and even indulged us as we had Ben Kulikowski and the lovely Nina accompany us as "roadie" and "groupie," respectively.
There was even one night time gig we had at a different school along with The Bearded Clams (a group which included Jeff Gould's older brother John Gould), whom I remember to be more synth driven and REALLY LOUD.
It was during those times when I met musician friends of my bandmates. Hyde Parkers who had such a proficiency that I was nearly afraid to play in front of them. John Krug immediately comes to mind as he was and remains the drummer I never was. That cat could PLAY!
6. WHERE'S ERIC?/ONWARDS/FINALE
Sometime during early high school, I arrived to a band practice session (possibly at Gully's but I'm not sure) and Eric was nowhere to be found. I asked where he was and I was simply told, "Eric's out." Nothing else was said. I have no idea if he quit or was asked to leave or a merging of the two but he was gone and God help me, I cannot remember who took over lead vocals!! It was probably Sam come to think of it or even Sam and Gully--but we certainly didn't become an instrumental band.
We played some more and for reasons I cannot even recall whatsoever, the band just kinda faded. As high school wore on, I don't think Eric did any performing again. I played drums if I was asked and I played with Mr. Piane's Stage Band (a group that consisted of Clara Hsu, Peter Hendrix, quite possibly Sam as well and myself--for some reason, we never went past a few rehearsals), and I also played for the Rites Of May productions of "Bye Bye Birdie" (I still shudder at the thought of some of those songs) and the rock opera version of "As You Like It" (with Mr. Adam Moore on blinding guitar and Micah Jackson stuck very close to us as well).
Mike Bateman and Gully Weiss both dropped out of Lab and while I held no ill will towards either of them, I do remember feeling really sad about it. I guess I just missed my friends and I didn't want them to go.
Gully did make an astounding return to Lab about a year or so after he departed with John Krug in tow with their new band, Mind Release. It was like witnessing a brand new musician. Of course John Krug blew me away but Gully, in my memory, had taken a quantum leap with his talent. I had not heard him play like that and I was filled with pride, awe, admiration and I was happy that my final high school memory of him was that one. Seeing him at the 20th reunion two years ago was the biggest and best surprise I could have had. I just hung onto his every word as he informed me of his life post-Lab School and his west coast musical adventures and subsequent return to Chicago. I have since been enthralled to discover what I can about his legendary band Imprasia--also with the masterful John Krug--and I am so anxious for their return!
I have not heard from, heard about or even seen Mike since he left Lab but have thought of him often and I hope he is happy wherever he is.
I should let Sam himself talk about his musical pursuits since his graduation from Lab and I am happy to say that his pursuits have been nothing less than I would have hoped for him!
As for me, I have not played in a band since high school. Don't feel sad. I don't. I think what I miss most is just playing drums and having the opportunity to play them whenever I want to. So, I make occasional trips to music stores and bash away when I can. I do have to say that I have my eye on this snazzy electronic set which I could play with headphones, so as not to disturb the wife, cats and neighbors. Maybe one day...it's a lot of loot to acquire something like that!
In my preschool teaching life, I have passed on my passion for music in as many ways as I can think of, including to begin taking up the guitar. I have performed with other teacher/musicians for school fundraisers as well. For one of them, I fulfilled another wish as I stood onstage with my musical teaching compatriots (Casey Day, Erica Neis and Julie Mazer), played an arsenal of percussion instruments like Ray Cooper did for Elton John's 70's concerts in Russia, sang a little bit and I even played some guitar too! That was really a special day (I remember listening to the other three harmonize and I thought to myself as I tapped the congas, "Damn! They sound as good as Fleetwood Mac!") and it just re-confirmed that elusive feeling that exists when connecting with others through music and of course, I was transported back to those days when we all just played and played and it never, ever felt old or tiresome..
7. CODA
As I think about it, I am reminded of my feelings during the 20th U-High reunion. Since graduating from Lab School, I have rarely set a toe into Hyde Park. Not for anything negative, although by 1987, I was more than ready for something new. Beyond that, life just never led me back there. By the time of the 20th, I walked around Hyde Park with Kristy Rice after many, many years of not having been there and it was like certain synapses began to ignite within me. Certain sights and the overall feeling of Hyde Park set off long dormant emotions and it was for the very first time I realized how lucky I was to go to that school at that time with those people.
As I walked around Lab that day, as school was still in session, I marveled at all of the activities these kids were into and it took me back to what we were all into as well. It just hit me that we were part of an environment that supported and encouraged our pursuits and it was also a time when there was a musical spirit in the air that I was fortunate to be a part of. It was something you couldn't really touch or see but could definitely feel. There was one night I will never forget because I think it illustrates this point best. It was the night of another cafeteria gig during a school dance and as the cafeteria was being decorated, the band went through a soundcheck of sorts and just hung out. A friend of Gully's appeared and sat around a corner where I was not able to see him and began playing his guitar. I remember a variety of bluesy licks that compelled me to play along with him. I have no idea if it sounded good or not but I know that the sensation I felt, playing music with another musician and one I couldn't even see for that matter, was as good as any emotion I could possibly experience. THAT is what that time was like for me, and how I imagine it was for all of us.
Maybe it was partially because we were in a time when the DJ culture hadn't taken off and the electronic nature of hip-hop just wasn't that big of a reality just yet (as this was pre Run-DMC) and at least, the technology wasn't as accessible to us. We didn't live in a "Guitar Hero" culture, where some may expect to be rock stars through some entitlement of holding a plastic guitar with multi-colored buttons instead of strings. We actually picked up real instruments and devoted ourselves to learning them to express ourselves. Hopefully that game will inspire people to try to learn something real.
Perhaps that spirit still exists. Walking around Lab School the day of the 20th reunion, Kristy and I sat outside in the mall between the high school and Sunny Gym and watched the proceedings known as "Labstock," a play on the almost 40 year old and increasingly mythical musical festival Woodstock. We watched a band called, in that "only-at-Lab-School" fashion, The Inconoclasts! It was a performance of mostly atonal pieces combined with recited poetry. It was absolutely awful and absolutely heart lifting! It didn't feel like a put-on or public joke. It felt real.
When we were in Ground Zero, we really weren't screwing around. We really wanted to be a good band. We practiced, by ourselves or together, with the hopes of sounding even better than the previous time. And it was just great to just bond over something as glorious as music!
Now that my own musical horizons have broadened greatly beyond anything I listened to back then, I just feel that it doesn't even matter how music is created or even what genre it is...just as long as the intent is pure and something new is brought into the world, that's all that matters to me.
So after all of this time, I thank Eric, Sam, Gully and Mike for allowing me to join and have that time together where we were part of that process for a little while. If there is ever a reunion, would you please join us and cheer us on?
One last thing...I know some people have this memory of me with my drum sticks hanging out of my back pocket. Well, that has still remained to a degree. Ever since college, I have compulsively kept a pair of drum sticks in my backpack or satchel wherever I go. Why? You just never know when someone, somewhere is going to need some drums and I wanna be ready!!
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