San Francisco was buzzing during the early mid 80's with a punk community deep in the politics of the day. MDC were very much in the center of that community.
before the Dicks even moved to SF MDC had sort of taken over an old brewery and turned it into a living and practice space. It was so odd to think you were standing in a Hamm's beer vat. long yellow tiled hallways with big round doors all the way down the hall....doors that were once holding vats for brewing beer. Somehow sweet talking Dave had talked the land lord into letting the punks use the place and pay a little rent and there it was---the center of an underground community of the hard core punks of SF. The Dicks showed up and wow, it was a sight to behold. a 6 or 7 story tall skinny building sticking up from a parking lot in the boarder of the Mission district. we used the space of different bands. since nobody had jobs we practiced almost every day. Teh Vats became a huge part of the scene in SF. Thanks to MDC we fast became part of it.
Drugs and drinking and loud music were boiling over in the day and night happening. It was sort of a scary place that i loved. But thanks to Phillip, i never had to live there. leaving at the end of the day was good for me. Phillip saved my sanity more than a million times.
Talk of a big tour was starting to be passed around. Rock Against Reagen.
There was even talk of us going MDC was already planning to join up. DRI, also transplants from Texas were going too. At first it seemd too much to even think about. three months on the road with a big caravan of punks, hippies, and yippies, kids, dogs, and playing almost everyday. I was pretty lazy and loved my comfort zone of home, tv, and a clean place to sleep. However the Reagen erea was insane and meeting up with people around the country who felt the same way seemed like a great idea. plus, though a lazy guy on the outside , i did live for the music. i really did live for the shows and the song and meeting people so i was on board. Glen, Pat, and Buxf wanted to go too. It became a decision for the Yippies to make. the real Yippies from NYC were the ones putting the whole thing together. Dave was trying to talk them in to letting us on the tour.
We needed a van, and we needed a manager too. someone to do business and deal with these people. the fact that nobody had drums or amps or mics didn't stop us from wanting to go for a second.
soon Dave told us the big guys in NYC said yes...we would be dded. they would feed u two meals a day. a place to sleep at night and gas money for the van we did not have.
i was about to began the tour of hell.