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CPP: So, just to recap…you got you ass kicked by a cop at a bra burning and you met Jesse Ramirez in jail.
Frank Modesto: Yeah, Jesse…There was some thought at the time that Jesse got pulled over because he was Mexican. Driving while Latino… all that crap, but he was wasted that night.
CPP: So what happened?
Frank Modesto: I slept a little, he slept a little. They let us out on our own recognizance, I was hungry and he was hungry so we went to Zim’s and had some omlettes, greasy harbrowns and coffee. Good fucking stuff. Margorie hooked us up. She worked there till it closed in the 90’s.
We both thought it was bullshit that we had to spend the night in the can. Frankly, we were just tired of being pushed around. Doesn’t everyone reach that point at some point.
Jesse got what he deserved, he was a menace that night. But I didn’t think I deserved to get the shit kicked outta me because women were taking their tops off.
What were these homos thinking???
CPP: So this is…when?
Frank Modesto: September …1968
CPP: Gotta a big election going on then…
Frank Modesto: Yeah I voted for Nixon. In fact I voted for Nixon twice.
CPP: You voted for Nixon… TWICE?
Frank Modesto: Fuck you and your self important hindsite. JFK and LBJ started the war. Nixon wasn’t that bad a guy. New deal for Xmas, right? HE had vision and goals…”I will go to China” that’s a goal. “Tear this wall Down” that’s a goal. There are great men on both sides. Nixon lowered the voting age. Hunter Thomspon said….
CPP: I want to talk to you about Hunter Thompson.. you mentioned,..
Frank Modesto: We will get to that, what is this Internet geek sweeps?
But the point I am making NOW… is that Hunter Thompson said “If Nixon was running against Bush and Kerry, Nixon would be the liberal” and I believe that.
These pussified politicians they have now…No Goals.. they just wanna make some cash. Not that there is anything wrong in making cash. We all want to make cash. When Politicians are concerned about stockpiling cash…they must know something we don’t. You need cash. I once knew a mafia accountant that said “Credit Cards are a Communist plot to get rid of cash” It CAN’T BE all about Greed, because when you are doing something you love, the endorphins are your payoff. Some people like to screw others….the endorphin rush is in the screwing, not in the cash.
CPP: Can I have one of you Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?
Frank Modesto: Sure, knock yourself out.
CPP: So what did you and Jesse do? Is this when you started the People’s Peace Movement?
Frank Modesto: No, we started a band called “The People’s Thunder,” we later renamed it to “The People’s Peace Movement” We knew that was the best way to reach the people was through the music. We are all about the music. We played wherever we could … the Mad Dog, the Long Hair Coffee Shop, Big Al’s, the Condor Club and this place on Clement Street that always smelled like fresh puke. It still does to this day. You have to admire the power of sawdust. I sang my words and Jesse played guitar, a screaming Flamenco. We had groovy shirts, but the truth was….the community shunned us. They didn’t get us. We opened for Peter, Paul and Mary at free show in Hunter’s Point. People were talking about how they got ripped off and shit, throwing crap. It was a big gig at the time, Peter Paul and Mary opened for MLK, if you know your history.
CPP: I do.
Frank Modesto: Well all these people are throwing shit at us and Jesse Starts vamping. Kinda of like what Manzerick used to do for Morrison but we did it first.…. Just play that organ while Jim spoke… Jesse played the Flamenco…beautiful music, beautiful people, and the grooved on that.
CPP: What did you talk about?
Frank Modesto: I talked about stuff that was buggin me. I spoke what I said…uncensored…” jackass freedom” total jackass freedom.
CPP: Is this were the “big quote came from” the Hunter’s Point People’s Park show?”
Frank Modesto: Yeah that’s where the big quote came in and I never said it again. …after that we got to play the Whiskey. That was cool we were on the bottom of the marquee under a bunch of nobody’s. And I spoke to the people and the people got excited. I was hangin with big people.
CPP: an example please..
FRANK MODESTO: So I was performing at the Whiskey. My leather was chafing...so I stop to whizz in their oh, so glorious crapbucket and hear whimpering...whimpering.. Whimpering that crossed that fine line between telling the truth and wiping your tears on your chiffon.
There at the bottom of the stall curled in a ball was John Wayne in an SS uniform. Between the stench of whiskey stained tears...I kept hearing "I'll never win an Oscar for Mommy"
All I could think was "Join the fucking the club, jackass" Merv Griffith agreed with me... then Chuck Barris snorted my last line and kicked that pussy Wayne's gut... He spit up blood and we all laughed.
What an asshole.
Our Interview with 60’s Radical Frank Modesto…will be continued….
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