Different Voices

Fojammi, Dominic and I were sifting through miles of Wax Theatricks videotape last week for our film about the reunion. Fojammi’s song Different Voices was about to start. I sing it and as I was introducing the song, Fojammi said, “Benet didn’t believe a word of your story.”

I was telling about the recording sessions I had been working on with Fojammi before he joined the band. He needed a drummer for the song, so I did it. I decided to try an easy disco beat with a straight bass drum, snare and high hat. Try keeping an even repetitive bass drum going for five minutes. I thought my shins were going to collapse.

As I was describing all this, Benet, sitting behind his drums, nodded his head and was generally intimating that none of this was true. From my new vantage point of audience, it almost seemed like Benet was sticking up two fingers behind my head. I guess he just can’t picture me playing drums.

It made me realize there were a lot nuances to the development of the band. Many were not shared by all members.

To start at the beginning, probably a year before Danny (Fojammi) joined the band we went on a road trip to Chicago.

My buddies Kent Gray and Michael Slay were chefs on a beautiful, antique railroad club car called the North Star. It was generally parked at Union Station but they’d do corporate parties. They would hook the car up to an Amtrak train and travel around the country. Most of their journeys were in the Northwest.

They ended up in Chicago after one of one of these trips.

I’m not sure who all went, but Dominic, Danny and I rented a van to get up there. The whole trip Danny was working furiously at some kind of poem in the back. Right as we were arriving at the train yard in Chicago Danny said, “Finished!” They were the lyrics to Different Voices.

We partied in the train yard for a couple of nights. The car was incredible. We each had our own bedroom and bathroom. Finally, we hooked up to a train coming back to St. Louis. We sat on a little back porch on the car shooting bottle rockets and drinking Bloody Marys.

I was still working at The Broadway Oyster Bar back then and the tracks ran right over the roof. Come to think of it, I had to go to work without sleep and drunk right off the train.

Years later, Kent threw my favorite party I’ve ever been to on the train; it was my bachelor party. There were boys and girls and a separate train car hooked up for a band. The only one I’ve ever been to that was even close to being as much fun was the one I threw for Tracy at Kent’s brother Mark’s warehouse apartment. Man, there was a great jam session.

Different Voices became my favorite song to play lead guitar to.

Promo pic of Wax Theatricks by Matt O’Shea around ’79 or ’80.

L-R front--- Dave, Fojammi, Dominic

back---- Tracy and Benet