As most of my readers already know, I am a good friend of Dennis "Machinegun" Thompson's of the MC5, The New Order, and more.. I work with MGT on his blog and other promotions. This past weekend I received an email from KJ Knight the first drummer of The New Order! Yet another piece of the puzzle! I have heard MGT, Jimmy Recca, Dee Gilbert (Dave's widow) and now we get to hear from KJ! Below is an excerpt from KJ's up coming book he generously sent to me to share with my readers. THANKS SO MUCH KJ
Written by KJ Knight:
I found out that one-of-a-kind front man Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, and bassist Jimmy Recca, of The Stooges, were living in West Hollywood at the Coronet Apartments on the Sunset Strip. When I played with Ted Nugent, our paths had crossed a few times, but I never really got to know them personally. One afternoon, I just went up to their fourth-story apartment, knocked on their door and reintroduced myself. They recognized me and remembered and invited me in.
We hit it off well, and before I left, they informed me that Doors manager, Danny Sugarman, was searching for someone to take the place of the late and great Jim Morrison, and he felt that Iggy could be Mr. Mojo Risin’s heir apparent. They added that they were going to jam with Doors keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, at Sugarman’s residence later in the week, and asked me if I wanted to come and rock out with them. Naturally, I said yes.
A few days after that, we met at Sugarman’s house, which was located on the later infamous Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon . (In 1981, the gruesome murders involving pornstar John Holmes, better known as Johnny Wadd, took place at a house on this notorious street.) Iggy, who at the time was hooked on heroin and extremely undependable, never turned up, but we went ahead and jammed without him.
It was a unique honor to play with the likes of Manzarek and Asheton. These two legendary rockers each had his own recognizable and distinctive style. Ray, with his endless array of improvised melodic lines, crossed with Ron’s raw simplified driving riffs, took the music through some wondrous twists and turns.
It was a unique honor to play with the likes of Manzarek and Asheton. These two legendary rockers each had his own recognizable and distinctive style. Ray, with his endless array of improvised melodic lines, crossed with Ron’s raw simplified driving riffs, took the music through some wondrous twists and turns.
We didn’t finish playing until after midnight and I was pretty beat, so I left my drums overnight at Sugarman’s house. The next day when I came to pick up my set, I found that someone had been playing on them, and had placed a large and heavy dirt-covered boulder inside the bass drum, evidently to prevent it from sliding.
This could have easily damaged the drum, and was a disrespectful and stupid thing to do. I demanded that Sugarman tell me who had done this, and he sheepishly admitted that it was Hunt Sales (one of Soupy Sales’ kids). I’ve never forgotten what that dumb ass did and if I ever catch up with the bastard, I’m gonna smash a shaving cream pie in his fuckin’ face!
This could have easily damaged the drum, and was a disrespectful and stupid thing to do. I demanded that Sugarman tell me who had done this, and he sheepishly admitted that it was Hunt Sales (one of Soupy Sales’ kids). I’ve never forgotten what that dumb ass did and if I ever catch up with the bastard, I’m gonna smash a shaving cream pie in his fuckin’ face!
Asheton was in the process of forming a new band, a hybrid version of The Stooges called The New Order, and he already had someone in place to manage the group. He invited me to join and I was thrilled. The band consisted of Ron, Iggy, Jimmy Recca and me. To Asheton and his manager (I can’t recall his name) this was serious business, and they had me go with them to a bank and sign a personal management agreement witnessed by a notary public.
The band rehearsed on a regular basis, but we never knew when or if Iggy was going to show up, which was extremely frustrating. We worked on three or four original numbers that Asheton had written, and I remember thinking to myself that these songs, musically speaking, were very basic and hardly a challenge to play, but I also thought that there was a genius to the simplicity of his material. One of Asheton’s songs was entitled “The Mombasa Flip.”
One day, following an early afternoon band practice that Iggy actually attended, I persuaded him to come with me to Hollywood Park . In order to do this, I promised that if I won anything I’d split it with him. Iggy had on a pair of jeans that were ripped wide open from his crotch to his knees and he wasn’t wearing any underwear. When he leaned forward you could clearly see his package.
Inside the racetrack, while I made my selections, Iggy wandered around the clubhouse drawing curious stares from those members of the betting public he encountered. We were only there for maybe three races before I lost all my money.
Inside the racetrack, while I made my selections, Iggy wandered around the clubhouse drawing curious stares from those members of the betting public he encountered. We were only there for maybe three races before I lost all my money.
Ron Asheton in his New Order Shirt
On the way back to Iggy’s we stopped at my dad’s apartment to get something to eat, and I told him he could help himself. Right when Iggy was in the kitchen holding the refrigerator door open, my old man happened to walk into the room and saw him standing there, raiding the fridge with his dick hanging out. In shock, my dad blurted out, “Who the fuck are you?” Then he grabbed me and took me aside and said, “Get this fuckin’ weirdo outta here!”
Ron and Iggy
I was more than conscious of Iggy’s potential and star power, but due to his ever-present drug addiction, and erratic and unreliable behavior, I opted to bow out of the band after only a couple of short months. Asheton was fed up with Iggy as well, and made it known to me that he wanted to find a replacement. So I recommended vocalist, Dave Gilbert, with whom I had previously played in The Amboy Dukes.
I didn’t learn until many years later that Gilbert, in fact, joined The New Order and that in 1977 the band released an album on the Fun Records/Isadora Label (distributed by RCA Records) entitled Declaration of War. As for Iggy Pop, he eventually beat his heroin habit and went on to have an amazing career.
PS: This is a fantastic band I played with in 1968 based out of Cleveland. We performed at the Grande with Buddy Guy in November of '68. After I left the group Dale Peters went on to play with Joe Walsh in the James Gang.
THANK YOU RICHARD FOR THE VIDEOS!