When I was very young, I took piano lessons at the Cleveland Institute of Music, but when we moved my parents couldn’t afford a piano, so that went by the wayside.
When I was nine, I wanted to learn the guitar. I started out studying with a jazz guitarist; I studied with him until I was about 14. A lot of my friends were good at sports, but they weren’t really into musical instruments, so it was something I had that was a little different from everyone else.
My dad encouraged me to listen to all kinds of music, even if it wasn’t my cup of tea, and appreciate it for the art.
Dad and I both had our demons – his was alcohol and it probably kept him from really making it; mine probably did, too. My demons were alcohol and drugs.
All for one
When I was 14, I started playing in a band. I had a fake driving licence and fake union card because in Ohio you had to be in a musician’s union to play at clubs.
A scholar now, but at school he pretended to be intellectually challenged
A scholar now, but at school he pretended to be intellectually challenged
Just before I turned 16, I was offered the opportunity to audition with one of the best bands in the city, Reign. I turned it down at first because I felt a loyalty to the band I was in. I was young, and they’d taken a chance with me.
As it turned out, my band went with me to the audition and supported me. They taught me about camaraderie. It’s not just four or five guys playing music, you play as one.
Cleveland was a hotbed for music – you had [Eagles guitarist] Joe Walsh and [rock singer] Alice Cooper.
Road to the classroom
My problem was that things came rather easy to me, so instead of being as studious as I should have been, I relied on that fact.
In music, a lot of it is talent but some of it is luck. In some ways, that’s been the way things have worked out for me, being in the right place at the right time
John Prymmer
I left school in my senior year to go on the road touring as the opening act for [Dutch rock band] Golden Earring.
What was supposed to be a 10- to 15-city tour wound up being the whole of North America. I flew home from New York to graduate.
I carried on touring with Reign. We did a few early shows with Rush and Kiss as they were starting out. We recorded an album – called Reign – and recorded another on the road that was such a total disaster I can’t even remember what it was called. The band split up soon after.
His gran died – and ‘gave’ him the idea to do comedy. It became his career
His gran died – and ‘gave’ him the idea to do comedy. It became his career
My dad wanted me to go into the services and get some discipline, but I wanted to go to university. I’d been sending most of my money from being on tour to my grandmother, which was pretty much how I managed to go to Youngstown State University.
All through the academic year I grew my hair long and, in the summer, I’d have to cut it because I’d get a holiday job at Sea World and they required a marine’s haircut.
I started out wanting to teach history, but midway through my degree I changed my minor to business and graduated with an arts and sciences degree with a minor in business.
Right place, right time
I graduated in 1978 and got a job with Texas Instruments as a special projects buyer and moved to Texas – they took me on with long hair.
Slowly, I got into the music scene in Houston. My first gig was for six weeks covering for a guitarist who had broken his hand. I’m used to playing rock, but this was a country and Western band called Forty Miles of Bad Road.
There was no time for rehearsals, I was straight in at the deep end. This was deep Texas and they lent me a cowboy hat. The guys were great, they were very good musicians and it was a stroke of luck to get with them.
In music, a lot of it is talent but some of it is luck. In some ways, that’s been the way things have worked out for me, being in the right place at the right time. Music is something I never really walked away from. I’ve always done it alongside my regular job.
Sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll
I’ve been married three times – to Jamie, Katherine and Gina – and although I didn’t marry my last girlfriend, Bridget and I lived together for 13 years. I’m still friends with all my ex-partners.
‘Logic was out of the window’: giving birth in Hong Kong in the pandemic
‘Logic was out of the window’: giving birth in Hong Kong in the pandemic
I have no kids. In moments of sanity I’ve realised that my life was a bit too out there to bring a child into the world.
My first wife, Jamie, and I met at university and she came to Texas with me. That relationship revolved around sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.
I met Darla in Texas. She was a friend and we wound up being together for a few years.
I had a relapse in 1996 – I’d convinced myself that it was drugs that was the problem, not alcohol
John Prymmer
I was working and playing music. My demons were becoming uncontrollable and that was the reason we split up. She said she couldn’t stick around and watch me destroy myself.
I was taking contract jobs in procurement and in between my agent would find me a band that was looking for a guitarist and I’d go back on the road when my contract ended.
About a year after I split up with Darla, I’d just come back from a club tour in New York. I was a mess and weighed 100 pounds.
‘Do you eat dog?’: actress on racism in the UK, being an LGBTQ role model
‘Do you eat dog?’: actress on racism in the UK, being an LGBTQ role model
My best friend took all my gear out of my van, loaded up two coolers with water and food and drove me to a national park and stayed with me for 72 hours while I fought my addiction to speed balls – a mix of heroin and cocaine. Then he took two days off work and went to Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings with me.
One step back
One day I was late to an NA meeting. As I was explaining to my sponsor that to meet a work deadline, I’d hired a helicopter and delivered the goods directly onto a ship in the Gulf of Mexico, a guy beside him said: “That’s an amazing story.”
I told him that in all my years of purchasing, I’d learned that you do what it takes to get the job done.
It just so happened that he and his brother owned an electronics firm, Smith & Associates. They were persistent, and in 1986 I wound up working for them as employee No 13. As mobile phones became more affordable, I could go on the road and do my job.
I met my second wife, Katherine, at Smith & Associates. They were cool about letting me continue to play music.
I had a relapse in 1996 – I’d convinced myself that it was drugs that was the problem, not alcohol. I woke up the morning after a festival with no recollection of singing with a band, and Katherine and two friends were beside the bed.
Welcome to the Wanch
I came to Hong Kong just before the handover to check out the Smith & Associates’ office and moved here with Katherine and my cat at the end of 1997. I thought it would be a two-year gig, but I’m still here.
Bridget and I are both at a point where we are finding ourselves. I think Covid did that to a lot of people
John Prymmer
In 1999, I went to the Wanch and met a Filipino musician called Bambi. He surprised me by asking me on stage to play with him – I’d barely touched a guitar in two years. He got me into playing music again.
In 2002, I auditioned for a band, Don’t Panic, that was looking for a singer to do Wan Chai Live.
Finding himself
A ‘nightmare’ first date left her in a wheelchair – but now she’s thriving
A ‘nightmare’ first date left her in a wheelchair – but now she’s thriving
Bridget and I are both at a point where we are finding ourselves. I think Covid did that to a lot of people.
We reopened the Wanch at 90 Jaffe Road on May 30, 2022. We are still digging ourselves out of a hole; we knew that would be the case.
I’ve done a consulting job in Australia and have been asked to do others, but the Wanch is 24/7 and we are trying to expand. I’ve also started recording some more original stuff. It’s all good fun.