Bye Bye Billy

BYE BYE

BILLY

True to the form of the typical Amerikan power hungry super money freak, Bill Graham, owner of the Fillmore East in New York and the Fillmore West in San Francisco, loves to see and hear his name in the news. So on Friday, April 30, Graham called all the photographers and reporters he knew and got them together at a big press conference to announce that this summer he is going to close up both of his "rock palaces" for good.

Graham, whose insane ego could never be satisfied while rock and roll musicians got all the adulation from the fans for kicking out the jams on stage all the time poor Billy was stuck back in the ticket office all by himself counting his money, always dug getting into the limelight by mouthing attacks on the most popular "rock stars." This time Graham has outdone himself - he says that the "greed" of rock and roll musicians like Janis and Jimi and their "inability to cope with success" has made it just too much of a hassle for him to stay in the ballroom business.

Actually, it comes as no surprise that Graham decided to finally give up his position as number one rip off promoter - it takes a lot of work to put on rock and roll shows and old Bill's getting too rich to worry about things like the people's need to hear music anymore, Besides, Graham just started two big record companies last year and he already owns a California booking agency, so why should he bust his ass with the cash rolling in so fast even he has trouble counting it ?

The way things stand right now once both the Fillmores are closed there will be no big ballrooms open regularly in San Francisco and virtually no place to hear rock and roll on a regular basis in New York City. What's really jive about this mass is that Graham, the greed-head himself, tries to get away with passing the blame for the whole thing off on the people who make the music.

Hopefully the San Francisco and New York communities will unite real people's ballroom projects and make them work. Graham generally put on low-energy shows anyway, so now that we are rid of him at least at the ballroom level, here is a chance for the real rock and roll to be heard once again.