He was a Heartbreaker with Johnny Thunders before jacking it in for Wall Street. Now he’s returned to the rock’n’roll fray.
Until recently you were a stockbroker in New York. What happened?
I retired in February. So instead of a career in finance and asset management, I’m now gigging around playing music and a bit of golf. Music has become more of a gig again now, like it used to be, rather than just playing one-off shows. In the last ten years I’ve gone through a revival, because before that I’d only really do shows in New York.
Is there more of an appreciation for The Heartbreakers these days?
It seemed to skip a generation in the nineties, but I get kids coming up to me now who are in their teens, saying: “Man, you changed my life when I was fourteen!” And I’m going: “When was that? Last week?” They come in with the albums from back then and ask me to sign them. In Japan especially, when I was over there, there are all these kids who are fanatical about The Heartbreakers.
What can we expect from these shows?
We won’t have time to rehearse because I’ll be just coming back from Japan before we play London. But I might throw in some of Johnny [Thunder]’s old songs, like You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory or Leave Me Alone.
Do you have plans beyond this tour?
There are no real recording plans, though I’ve done a few songs with a collection of people in New York, like Binky Philips, and Randy Pratt who plays bass in heavy metal bands. This UK tour is seven dates, which is the kind of thing I haven’t done since the days of The Heartbreakers. I’ll probably need oxygen afterwards. I think we might be doing something longer next April, including dates on the continent.
