1990-1991
Not yet realizing a tradition had begun, I neglected putting on a holiday show for the following 2 years.
The first one had been a blast. In 1989, I was pretty busy doing the Slaves of New Brunswick’s weekly Wednesday gigs at the Melody Bar in New Brunswick, going on the Marshall Crenshaw tour, playing with my own band and working on my songwriting career (I owed Warner/Chappell Music a certain number of songs that year).
However, 1990-1991 was an even busier time for me. I became immersed in the making of Styx’s EDGE OF THE CENTURY album, hired to take ex-member (at the time) Tommy Shaw’s position in that successful group. I spent much of those couple of years commuting in the air to and from Chicago, working with this band. Styx toured and promoted the record while during this time I also wrote and recorded the SLAVES OF NEW BRUNSWICK album.
Christmases came and went, each one with a faint tugging from the recesses of my wintertime sentimentality lobe. I was happy to be home spending time with my family and friends but I did notice the feeling of something missing at this time of year. I had a cassette of the ‘89 Extravaganza, which I put on around the house along with the other usual Bing Crosby and Vince Guaraldi stuff. The Slaves of New Brunswick even played a few Christmas songs at our show in ‘91 at the Court Tavern but I wanted much more.
And so, in the style of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, I had ambitions to put on a 'Big Show' in the years to come.
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