Back in the late 80s, early 90s, Anthony was one of the best street musicians on the Telegraph street scene. Always reminded me a bit of Sly Stone. Could hit that funk rock sweet spot of melody and beat. And he had the gritty streets of Oakland ingrained in his sound. But he could play to the white hippies too. Whenever he was busking and I passed by he’d start playing “White Punks on Dope” by the Tubes in my honor. Ha ha (it was an inside joke between us).
In 1995 one of the DJs at KPFA radio invited me and all my street musician friends to come down to the radio station for a 4-hour late night jam session (I was promoting the release of the TELEGRAPH STREET MUSIC CD). So about 30 of us showed up at the radio station. And we did interviews and played live music and played cuts from the CD.
Anthony showed up with his guitar and his hot girlfriend (he was on top of his game at that point). And while he was waiting for his turn to play live over the radio airwaves he went into the KPFA restroom to get into the mood. But whatever he was smoking in the boys room set off all the fire alarms. Ha ha. The general manager of KPFA had to come running down to the station in his pajamas at 1 in the morning to investigate what the disturbance was. Ha ha. He was pissed.
But whattaya expect inviting a bunch of crazy street musicians into your radio station in the middle of the night?
I recorded the 4 hour radio show off their board (excellent sound quality). I haven’t had a chance to listen to the tapes in 30 years. But I’d love to hear it. To see if the show was boring. Or if it was as fascinating as it is in my memory.
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Acid Heroes 