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Joe had pulled himself together and after glaring at Lance who was staring at the table, continued. ‘As God is my witness, I hated those places, so did Chaz and we rarely went, preferring to hang out with the guys from the crew, and Steve had already hooked up with the air hostess from the private jet we flew in on. Tina, she was called, jacked in her job, and stuck like glue to him for years. She was a good lady, I liked her… but that’s all on Wiki, I need to focus on what isn’t.
‘Denny was our weakest link. Always was. Middle name: Arsehole. The one who caused fights for the sake of it and even in the early days he had a jealous streak, hated my role as lead singer and that NorthStar was my band, that I called the shots. We should’ve cut him loose the day we split up for the summer, and reformed without him but as Ace says, we can’t change the past.
‘Out of all of us, Denny was the one who craved the limelight the most, fed off it, hooking up with whatever A-lister came to town. And there’s no getting away from it but he was the pretty boy in the band, the face on posters pinned to bedroom walls but behind that angel face was a lowlife scumbag.’ Joe looked over to Gus. ‘What’s that word… starts with p… goes with anaemia?’
Gus. ‘Pernicious.’
‘Yes that’s it. Denny was pernicious, like an evil, insidious disease that he kept well-hidden so that everyone thought he was just a fun-loving rocker. His favourite haunt was the English Disco and that’s where he met Harlem, this cute kid who looked to be… older than she said she was that’s for sure, and they became a thing. She was his girl and by that I mean a girl. She must have been fifteen if she was a day.’
As soon as he said the words, the questions came fast and furious. Lance first. ‘Christ, Dad, are you kidding me?’
‘No.’
Ace sounded incredulous. ‘But if you knew, why didn’t you or Gus stop them? I can’t believe he didn’t get arrested.’
‘Who was going to snitch on him? Certainly not anyone in his social circle, or the pay of the record label, who did whatever was necessary to portray the band in an acceptable light, the boundaries we crossed stage-managed for maximum publicity. If we hit the headlines for staggering out of a club at six in the morning it nicely diverted attention from the fact that Denny had moved what the sunset-strippers referred to as a “baby groupie”, into his home.’
Maybe sensing that Joe was exhausted, Gus took up the reins and gave him a break.
‘Ace, you are looking at our pasts from a world and era that is, shall we say, more enlightened than it was back then. Nowadays, maligned individuals are finding the courage to speak out and can connect with other maligned souls who will stand with them. However, back then, attitudes, ignorance, misogyny, greed, avarice, you name it, was the undercurrent of the music world.
‘If you didn’t grab opportunities when they came along, someone would snatch them from you and trample on your body in the rush. Record labels were there to make money and would turn a blind eye to anything that might hinder that. They had fat wallets, clout, people in high places in their pockets who had daughters and sons who wanted a bite of the cherry. Sheriffs who were happy to take bribes and make sure squad cars glided on by, officers who had their fair share of the girls who didn’t make it into the VIP lounge.’
‘But you were the manager. Why didn’t you sack him?’ Ace’s voice had the ring of disbelief.
Gus sighed. ‘Believe me if I could, I would have bought him a one-way ticket home. He was a liability, and I was scared to death that if it got out then it would be the end of NorthStar or damage us badly, and mud sticks. So, I covered up for him and did my best to keep him in line. I saw how he dressed Harlem up like she was older, and paraded her like a pet who adored him but apart from telling him to keep it under wraps, not reveal how old she was, and curb any shows of affection in public because deniability was key, what more could I do?’
‘The right thing, report him, ring her parents. I don’t know but you should’ve done something.’ Ace sounded so disappointed.
‘I’m sorry, Ace. I know I’ve let you down. I let me down. In my defence all I have is that I was signing new artists all the time and I had my business to think of so the last thing I, or the record label wanted was a scandal. Even though Denny’s behaviour repulsed me, I looked the other way just like other managers turned a blind eye to the goings-on of their artists. And before you ask, yes, I’m ashamed.’
‘So, what happened to Harlem? I can’t imagine it’s going to end well, after all, everyone gets older, and I know from reading Denny’s bio she’s not mentioned in his story.’
The dots were all starting to join up and when Gus dragged a hand over his ashen face, Joe felt like it was his turn to come to his rescue so took up the inglorious tale.
