Steel Notes Magazine
February 2017
Weren ’ t they the ones who introduced you to Frank Zappa ?
Dennis : Yes , Miss Christine was Alice ’ s girlfriend . And the GTO ’ s at that point lived in the basement of the log cabin in Laurel Canyon where Zappa lived . When we met them , we were just walking down the street in Hollywood and they were walking down the street . We thought , oh wow we like them so we went over to them and they said “ Oh , well we ’ re going to a party do you guys want to go ?”, so we said “ well we don ’ t have a car or anything ” They ’ re like “ well , neither do we , we ’ re walking , come on .” So we went to this party and we became immediate kindred spirits with them , and we would see them at all kinds of gigs . They would show up and support us and they would be right up in the front of the stage screaming their brains out , [ Laughter ] it was great . And a lot of times , they were the only people in the room that seemed to like us . [ Laughter ] Miss Christine was the babysitter for Moon Unit , Zappa ’ s daughter . So we would try to talk Miss Christine into getting Frank to come and hear us play , and this happened a few times . He would promise to come and hear us . We wouldn ’ t see him . She would just tell us “ Oh , I told Frank to come and see you and he said he would be there .”, then he wouldn ’ t be there . So this happened like three times . The third time we played at an outdoor baseball park in L . A . and we had built this thing called ‘ The Cage of Fire ’ which Alice would get inside of this and we were going to light it on fire . He was going to sing while it ’ s on fire . [ Laughter ]
Alexxis : Oh wow !
Dennis : Anyway , Frank was there . He was sitting down on the floor up in this locker room with his Les Paul Guitar , and he ' s playing but it wasn ’ t plugged in . But that ’ s when I realized how amazing of a guitar player he was . So we were like “ Frank ! Great ! You finally came to see us . Cool !” You know and he said “ Well I ’ m just the MC here and I got to go .” So he still missed our show . So now we totally missed our scene . Oh we got this other gig , can you please get him to come and hear us play . We know he ’ ll like us . We know he has a new record company and we want to be on it . And so , she made the mistake of saying “ Frank will be here , he ’ s coming home tomorrow .” [ Laughter ] We ’ re like OK , we ’ re coming over , and she ' s like “ No , no he doesn ' t like people to come over .” So Alice started turning on the charm and saying “ Pretty please with sugar on it .” And all that [ Laughter ] So she finally gave in and said “ OK , let ’ s just say come over at 9:00 and if it ’ s not ok I ’ ll call you .” At the time Alice and I walked all the way from Topanga Canyon down through Hollywood and through Beverly Hills and up Laurel Canyon to this house and because of our Cross Country long distance running legs we could do that . People in L . A . didn ’ t believe we did that but we would do it . Well , walking all the way back to Topanga by the time we got there Alice had turned this whole thing around to we got to be there at 9:00 in the morning . Maybe even earlier . So the band stayed up all night boiling our strings to make them tighter again because we couldn ’ t afford to buy new ones . We had to think about what songs we were going to do and what we were going to say and all that . We showed up early in the morning , knocked on the door and told Miss Christine to open the door and she was in shock , because we were supposed to be there that night not that morning . We barged right in with our equipment and went right down the hallway to Zappa ’ s bedroom where he and his wife were asleep . We setup our equipment , drums and amps everything right in the hallway outside his bedroom door and started playing .
Alexxis : Wow ! [ Laughter ]
Dennis : The other guys in the group all remember that we went down to his basement and played but that ’ s not true , we were right outside his bedroom door . The next day we came back and we went down into the basement but we couldn ’ t set up down there , it was all full of all the Mother ’ s equipment . But anyway , we didn ’ t make it through the first song , because the door opened and Zappa ’ s hand came out and motioned for us to stop , and then he said “ Let me have some coffee and then I ’ ll listen .” Well , he liked us and decided he was going to sign us to his record deal , and invited us to come back the next day and talk about it . Then he said “ Do you guys have a manager ?” And we said “ No .” And he said “ Well you ’ ll need to . You ' ve got three days before I leave town . And if it doesn ’ t happen in three days , it ’ s not going to happen . So you guys need to find a manager or if worse comes to worse you can use my manager . But I would rather you get your own manager because I want him to do my stuff for me and not have too many other bands to worry about .
Alexxis : Sure .
Dennis : So in three days , Cindy found Joe Greenburg and Jeff Gordon . They came in her boutique ,‘ Inside Outside Boutique ’ in L . A . where she worked . Linda who was Cindy ’ s best friend at the time , and who still is a good friend , remembers the day they came in and Cindy told them , “ Well my brother is in a band and Frank Zappa is interested , and you guys look like managers , but they said they were , even though they weren ’ t . [ Laughter ]
Alexxis : [ Laughter ]
Dennis : They were looking for something to do besides what they were doing , so they said “ Oh yeah , we manage The Left Bank .” Well that ’ s because Joe Greenburg knew a guy who worked for The Left Bank and when they left he called the guy and said “ If anybody asks if we work with The Left Bank , tell them yes because of these two hot blondes . [ Laughter ]. The next day Cindy brought them up to our house in Topanga and we played for them and they didn ’ t care for the music much but they did care for the fact that Frank Zappa wanted to sign us if we have managers . So they told us they were managers and that ’ s how that came together .
Alexxis : Oh wow . Very cool . So did Frank have you under his label for only one or a few albums ?
Dennis : Well it depends on who you ask . Frank got sick and left
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