New Jersey Stage Issue 43 | Page 19

So I’m about to go on the road and we’ve got a hit record. “Blood & Roses” was on the charts for rock nationally. An- other creepy horror movie title - a song called “Behind The Wall of Sleep” and “Blood & Roses” - and my parents don’t give a shit. All I ever wanted to do was please them and make them happy and prove that I wasn’t a failure. Because occasionally I’d hear my mother on the phone with her older sister, Florence. “Antoinette, how’s Patrick do- ing?” She’s say, “I don’t know. That god damned kid living in New York is a fuckin’ bum. He’s 31 years old. He’s not married. He’s no good. I don’t know what I’m going to do with this kid, Florence.” So we’ve got a hit with “Blood & Roses” and “Behind The Wall of Sleep” from our first album, Especially for You. We’re about to go on tour with The Ramones and I’m living in New York City in an apartment that I still have (which is probably an eighth of Watch a video for “Sorry” by The Smithereens NJ STAGE - ISSUE 43 INDEX NEXT ARTICLE 19