It was the summer that would set the wheels in motion for the rest of my life.
We played as long and as often as we could that summer. Billy was driven to reach as many people as possible; all walks, races, ages...he was driven to touch all of them with his music.
Between rehearsals, shows, photo shoots, writing, Karen, etc; Billy had no time to himself and I think this energized him even more. No matter how busy he was, Billy always had time for people and that brilliant smile just got bigger and brighter each day.
Steve (the manager) was doing a great job. He had landed our biggest gig yet: opening for Peter Tosh at a REAL concert hall on the 29th of August! THIS WAS HUGE! We all knew that this would mean more openings with big names for us, larger audiences and bigger paychecks.
The week we were due to open for Tosh, Billy started having pain in his groin. He was seen by a Doctor friend who found a tumor in his testicle. The Doc did not feel they had one day to waste and scheduled him for surgery immediately.
None of us were really worried at this point. Karen, on the other hand, was in shock. She was great though. She spoke for Billy when he couldn't find his words. She laid it out but in the most reassuring way: dealing and upfront.
When Karen and I got alone, she broke down and let it all out...she needed to cry in the worst way, yet not show her fear to Billy. I held her; she finished, wiped her tears, composed herself and became his rock again.
The really bad part was, the surgeons wanted to be aggressive and take lymph nodes out at the same time the tumor excision was being performed. Billy wouldn't do it. He wanted that Tosh concert SO bad. He did however agree that after the Tosh show, he would go back in for the lymph node surgery.
They took a testicle. Billy would not disclose to anyone what he had gone through, or what he was going to do after the Tosh show. If he had told the public, it likely would not have made a difference anyway.
It was heartbreaking. The show was an utter and complete flop. We were booed off the stage by 3000 snarling Tosh fans who didn't appreciate enduring these white people while they waited for what they came to see...Mr. Tosh.
Not only that, Billy had this one song that really was great, called 'Black Man.' Billy wrote the song as a tribute to African Music. Well, it wasn't received in the context it was offered...not even close.
(Black Man - Peter Tosh opening performance)
The absolute WORST part is that Tosh wasn't ready and we were instructed to lengthen the performance while on stage. So we did this long-ass rendition of another tune and by the time we were given the 'coast is clear' sign, this audience HATED us.
We would need bodyguards to get out of the hall. All any of us wanted to do was watch Tosh perform. We did so from the wings until we were asked to leave. I was NOT about to go out into the audience...it was a very, very baaad vibe.
As he promised, Billy checked into the hospital and had the lymph node surgery. Our magical summer had ended with the slash of a scalpel.
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