'The Roar of L'Amour'

STRYPER - To hell with the DJ 

Taken from a Facebook post

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Stryper played the club in 87.

I was never a big Stryper fan and it had zero to do with the lyrics.

Some bands hit; they didn't with me.

But they were popular and sold-out the venue.

I get to the venue and George the owner goes "we need to talk to you".

That was not unusual, so I respond with "what's up?"

He says, Stryper is concerned about your playlist and your mic work.

HUH? WHAT?

Now it was 4 decades ago and even then, I was told confusing stories.

Stryper were playing theaters on that tour. They controlled everything.  They played the music they wanted before and after the opener, but now they are at L'Amour in Brooklyn and here is what supposedly occurred before I got there.

The band or crew or management were talking about music in-between the bands and they were told there is a DJ.

They didn't like that and supposedly suggested they give me guidelines or tell me what to play.

John (stage manager) was like "nope" that will never work with Chuck and one of the local crew members told them I am known for cursing and playing music that doesn't fit their show.

Now, I spun on Ramones, John Waite, Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies nights as well as White Lion ... I was a pro and always put audience first. I knew what to play and what not to play.

But its L'Amour and the club and my rep are out there, and an issue is growing.

By the time I got to the club, I don't know the exact conversations that happened prior, but George told me about Strypers issues

I was being told "no devil worship" songs ... I wasn't planning on any, so I can agree, then I was told don't play songs with "hell" in them and watch my cursing and keep the mic work to a minimum"

Now I am pissed, the mofo bee looking posers are telling me what to do?

ITS ON BITCHES

Now again, I don't know who said what to whom officially, but I am irate

The owners are asking me to play nice because the club is sold-out, so I agreed to it.

I get to the booth, and the stage manager goes "want to talk with them?" ... now in all honesty, I should have, we probably would have laughed about it but now I am not having any of it, so I tell him "Tell them to fuck off".

I have Jeff the bar-back do the first 90 as I do phone calls, bookings and drink about 2 six packs of beer.

I get to the booth, and I never realized how many records had "hell" in them.

So, every time I had to say to myself "I can't play that", I am getting angrier.

Hells Bells? Nope.

Big Balls? Who knows, maybe there is a testicle clause in their contract?

But I make it through the night and Stryper is almost ready to play.

Stage manager comes to booth and goes are you good with 2 more songs? I said yes and tell them I will fade out the second, I won't say anything on the fade and the fancy boys can play their intro and I will be by the back bar drinking by the time they come on stage.

So, first song ends and I grab the mic and say coming soon to the L'Amour stage will be Stryper (place goes nuts) and then I dedicate the next song to them ...

HELL AIN'T A BAD PLACE TO BE

"Hell ain't a bad place to be

I said, hell ain't a bad place to be

Hell ain't a bad place to be

You know that hell ain't a bad place to be"

I played about a minute and faded it out and let Stryper do their thing.

The crowd went nuts for them, again certain bands move certain people, and the night was a huge success, but I hated that night and hated being told what to do.

I could have handled it better, but you know what it's like when you walk into a tense situation unexpectedly ...

I admit I was a handful at times, but F IT ... I earned it.

Chuck Kaye

Ah Yes Indeed

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