History and Rock and Roll: visiting Bret Michaels’ Hometown

[Music]

greetings and welcome to the talk with

History Podcast I am your host Scott

here with my wife and historian Jen

hello on this podcast we talk about

history's continuing impact on us and

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[Music]

clothes loud bands and louder rock and

roll

the band Poison helped Define the crazy

and it had multiple big hits

but did you know that the lead singer of

poison was from a small town not far

from Jen's hometown of Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania

it's no wonder that my wife has always

had a childhood crush on the man that

sang for poison

and he came from a small town called

Mechanicsburg PA so Jen why don't you

tell us about who we are talking about

today so we are going to talk about

um Brett Michael's side check and you

would know him just as Brett Michaels

and I have always when it comes down to

the 80s hair bands that I love poison is

number one and because Brett Michaels is

there you know their front man he's

never one but did you even know who

Brett Michaels was I I had zero clue who

Brett Michaels was and now I have seen

Brett Michaels in concert in person at

least three times yes yes we actually

saw him like third row in San Diego yeah

that was pretty good the last time we

saw him at his tiny little uh Casino

somewhere in Mississippi yeah that was

not very good he's he's getting a little

long on the tooth yeah he was like

coughing foreign

because you know the audience his

audience he knows his demographic so

he's got to turn the music up a little

bit louder but uh no I had no clue who

Brett Michaels was so why don't you tell

us who he was so he was just a small

town Pennsylvania boy so

I

I am from Pittsburgh and Brett Michaels

was born in Butler Pennsylvania which is

closer to Pittsburgh but it's when he's

five or six years old that his family

moves to Mechanicsburg and Mechanicsburg

is a little bit farther away from

Pittsburgh it's more towards Harrisburg

and Mechanicsburg it's a little bit

better a little bit bigger city right

yeah and it's it's some it's on the

other side of the state so it's closer

to

Gettysburg the Eastern side of

Pennsylvania where Pittsburgh is the

western side of Pennsylvania so he's

moving Eastern and uh and he moved there

because his dad was in the Army Navy

Navy okay

oh there we go I I like Brett Michaels

just a little bit more now

so and so that is where he's living when

he gets diagnosed with diabetes

they take him to Harrisburg they take

him to the hospital there he's sick at

six years old and they can't figure out

why he takes them to the hospitals in

three weeks he's there and he gets

diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and if

you know anything about Michael's he

he's pretty open about that yeah

and so he that's where he grows up and

he's just I just take him as a Small

Town Pennsylvania guy I love sports

loves the Steelers loves to hunt loves

all those kind of Pennsylvania things

and he gets a band together now we in

the video

we go to his house on Hemlock Drive

which is easy to find the address yeah

we've so we we drove to Mechanicsburg on

our way back from Washington DC yes

that's right and

we give a little history about

Mechanicsburg like why is it called

Mechanicsburg that was actually really

interesting can you remind the Conestoga

wagons when they would travel West

remind me what the Conestoga wagons were

again you know when people would the

wagons like when people would travel

west across America to go Homestead okay

so like back when people were actually

discovering them yeah old wagons with

Wagon Wheels Mechanicsburg is usually

the place people would stop to get

things fixed yep that's where the

mechanics were yeah I thought that was

so interesting because it makes so much

sense yeah oh yeah that makes a ton of

sense yeah very basic

um but we go to his home where he grew

up he was there from the age of six to

the age of 17. so from

high school there and everything and he

doesn't live there now there's nobody

connected to him there now but that that

house faced a fire that's right so it

was kind of rebuilt

um since he's lived there but we just

kind of stood outside there and yeah we

found his house we found his old high

school yeah so we go to his high school

so he went to Mechanicsburg Area High

School

it's at that time he puts together a

band and it's called Paris that's right

and he gets some guys from high school

um Ricky rocket and Bobby doll so now

where were they from Mechanicsburg as

well yeah that area yeah they were from

the general area and then another guy

too who eventually will leave

to come back to Mechanicsburg from LA

and that's when CC

will step in okay and so they they he

was a guitarist the guitarist where they

have this huge it's one of those things

that it's where the two people can't get

along but they make magic together right

so I think it's that

drama that you know that anxiety that

you feel with each other can be like

amazing and can also be

terrifying it's like riding a wild horse

you just kind of like hang it on while

you're hanging on it's like man that's

incredible yes until someone gets [ __ ]

off yeah and then it can be toxic yeah

um

graduated high school 81.

hanging around the area playing with

their band Paris in 83 then they had

they figure we need to go for it we're

gonna go to La so this is 84. yeah so

this is like classic yeah 80s movie want

to start a rock band make it big this is

classic story this is like 100

80s like hey I'm from nowhere

Pennsylvania I got my band we're going

to Hollywood we're gonna make it big

we're living in the van we're going to

the Sunset Strip and we're going to play

these places and we're going to hope

that we make it big and they do right

and I so that's their guitar sleeves

because he wants to go back to

Mechanicsburg be with his girlfriend I

think and then that's when CeCe steps in

and becomes the guitarist and they just

make it you know they start yeah and not

only is their their music big and loud

of the time and really good but they

kind of have this a little bit of the

Stick of like really kind of prettying

themselves up like really that almost

metrosexual oh so much you know so my my

one of my earliest memories is seeing

the cover of look what the Cat Dragged

In and if you ever saw that cover it's

the four of them but so androgynous

right you can't tell if it's a man or a

woman and I just I must have been like

seven or eight like looking at this

cover and I couldn't tell I knew they

were guys because I heard their music

but I'm looking at this cover going is

is that is that a guy or is there

wearing makeup they're all the stuff and

Brett Michael's like and honestly like

Brett Michaels kind of came up with like

the pouty face look like that duck face

that little like it was go okay look him

up right some of his most famous

pictures has that little pouty lips

things that like women do today like

that like he kind of came up with he did

he totally does it

um

so we go we go to his house we go to the

high school and then we end up going to

like the park where he would do with the

community park where the pool was where

the high school football field was

because before they had a high school

football field at their high school they

actually played at that Park so we go to

that Park so those are the places we go

in Mechanicsburg and talk about him but

just

the thing that I like about Brett

Michael so yes we've seen him a lot I've

seen him in San Diego I've seen him in

Pittsburgh I've seen him in Mississippi

with you and then I saw him in Memphis

at Graceland that's right and I went by

myself remember and I had met some great

people there and I actually got to meet

Brett Michaels and he actually brought

me on stage for Something to Believe In

because I'm a veteran I'm a Navy veteran

yeah that's like kind of what that

song's about yes and he loves veterans

he loves the military and he was the

nicest guy like

you you can you know you imagine people

are but he really is genuine nice cared

about what I had to say was interested

like listening to me talk like wasn't

looking like he was done I needed to go

somewhere like really was the nicest guy

and even with the first time I really

got a true introduction to Brett

Michaels was when he was on Rock of Love

just been married and so we just started

watching the show like that we actually

watched that show pretty ridiculous if I

wasn't married Scott I'd totally be on

yeah so he's on the show and he's like

typical single like you know kind of

still sort of a rock star kind of pass

past that

um you know and again that was early on

with shows like that right there wasn't

hadn't been too many shows no like kind

of like a bachelor kind of show but it

hadn't really been done but so he's a

genuine guy and you can even see it on

that show like he is in interested he

likes women oh for sure he doesn't make

that no he he's there's no bones about

it yeah he was there for the pretty

girls he likes women and he likes all

women and he's very like equal

opportunity women like her and he is

open to talking to all of them and

giving them all his time and he doesn't

seem to like discriminate against any

type of woman so it's no not at all he

seems totally like chill about that he's

done a lot of like he did cribs so if

you watch his cribs okay I don't think I

saw that he totally is again seems

completely chill and he won Celebrity

with then just Donald Trump yeah he got

it that's right all the celebrities oh

my gosh again I think that genuine

goodness that he's just a good guy comes

out yeah and he he won that whole show

oh I forgot about that yeah so now Jenna

I have to ask you something

[Music]

do you remember kind of my initial

introduction to 80s music

through you this is the CDs I bought you

yes so for those who who are listening

who aren't familiar with Jen and I right

so she's she's a couple years older than

me and so so she introduced me to 80s

music and she gave me a couple CDs and

one of them was Chicago

I don't even remember six sticks and

classic so so like of the time right

when we first started dating right there

nobody really had like iPods or anything

like that yet and so we had CDs and so

she was so she circled Hey listen to

these songs these are the classic sticks

ones these this is you gave me a couple

CDs yeah so I'm driving up to see from

San Diego

up to Sea to visit my mom I think up in

the LA area my mom or dad or something

like that

and I start playing sticks and you get

one of the ones you circled was babe

it's like this so it's the second song

on the CD so first of all you picked

that CD first and it's the second song

on the scene and I don't I don't know

any of these bands yes none whatsoever

and so babe it's it's a it's a kind of

power ballad love song yeah I mean it is

styx's song right that song it sticks

this thing it's a great song now that I

know it but at the time we were

relatively newly dating we had been

dating for a month and this was

Christmas I had gotten you these CDs for

Christmas she had gotten me these CDs

and said listen to them

and so I'm driving down the 10 freeway

I'm driving on the 10 West

had this had this had the CD in I'm

driving down the 10 West and if you know

the lyrics and if you know the lyrics of

babe and it's like babe I love you

whatever whatever and so I'm hearing

these lyrics and I freak out and I freak

out and I'm like oh my God and here I am

22 23 years old just dating you for a

month and she I was like she's giving me

love songs so I freak out so I take all

two or three CDs and I literally throw

them out of my window on the 10 freeway

and I was just like I I panicked I had a

little panic attack I got you journey I

think I forget what other ones I think I

got you meatloaf yeah I don't remember

what you got me because they are dust

somewhere on the 10 feet you're so funny

so I think you called me and you had

said something like that and I was like

what and you were like yeah that stick

song

babe I'm like babe yeah it's a great

song and you're like you know the lyrics

and like yeah you know it's a love

ballad it's one of those 80s love

ballads and he's like I just didn't know

will you try to say that to me and I was

like no yeah I did not understand the

music or the times or anything I was I

was quite young and naive yeah I was

funny um so that was my introduction

really to to 80s music and then

eventually we listened to it together

more and I found the I found bands like

poison and white snake and you loved

Whitesnake and like so I found those

like a little bit harder I wasn't as

much as a power power Bella guy

but this video was so much fun because

it really honestly wasn't

really for the history we did it just

because we wanted to do it and that's

and that's part of the fun of doing

YouTube and doing these videos and if

you're listening to this for some of our

what we're learning through YouTube

sometimes you just have to make a video

that might be close right we we touched

on some history Mechanicsburg right his

life and his life and we even joked like

hey we hesitate to call this history but

here we are in the hometown of our

favorite you have someone that you love

like a band that you love that you're

you always wonder where they started

right where they

you know all come together and that's

kind of historic I mean you can think

about big bands I mean the poison is by

no means like a huge influencer like the

Beatles or something but people want to

know how those people come together and

even Beatles songs right people will

find out where

those names come from and sure I mean

it's a little bit of like VH on VH1 like

Behind the Music yes it was a much it

was very much like Behind the Music we

were kind of doing Behind the Music and

so when we go to the park

Brett's father had recently passed away

Wally psycheck I mean literally just

like a year prior so he passed away the

same month and year as my dad yeah and

um

and you can find these things online you

can find what his father is buried you

can and I didn't want to go there but

you can and so I actually put the flags

and his father was in the Navy so

important to us and he did the same

thing for his father's wake that I did

told everyone to wear Steelers gear

right and we did the same thing for my

dad so I just felt this kind of

connection so we brought some flags and

put them in the Park yeah we didn't want

to go to the Grave yeah we just didn't

think that was appropriate

um and his family still lives close by

they live in Camp Hill which is close to

Mechanicsburg so his mom and his stepdad

they still live close by and he visits

like all the time if you follow him on

Facebook or Instagram like he goes to

his mom's house a lot because he visited

Sarah's grave a lot

um

but yeah I mean I followed him so much

like so he Brett has kind of dabbled in

things and he dabbled in movies and he

made this movie called A letter from

death row and I like own it don't you

have like the poster of it or something

I have I have the movie you have the DVD

I have the DVD that's right and I have

the DVD of all the poison videos this

movie is terrible and it's funny because

he's really good friends with Charlie

Shane like they would party together so

Charlie Sheen is in the movie and he's

good but somehow they got Martin Sheen

to be in it too

and he plays Brett's dad and that's like

the only good scene in the whole movie

is where Charlie Martin Sheen said I'm

like oh you can tell who the real actor

are and um

and but his wife is in it or his

long-term girlfriend Christy is in it

and that's also the mother of his

daughters

so when we saw him in San Diego I

remember he brought his daughters out on

stage they were yeah and then when I saw

him again in Memphis his daughter she

goes to I think Vanderbilt oh wow so she

was there okay so I feel like I've grown

up with Brett Michaels like you have

yeah

[Music]

you've even made some friends that are

kind of like Michael's groupies oh I've

met some groupies and we still are in

touch yeah and we still can't wait to go

to another country that just cracked me

up and uh but he's done a lot of stuff

with the military I just really

appreciate him and so I

I like to just put the word out about

him like don't forget him but I I know

after you saw him in Mississippi I'm on

my own now you are on your own if you

ever want to go see Brett Michaels live

unless he wants to do like something at

a small bar that's more acoustic or

something but you were you were on your

own so yeah this was just a fun one to

do because we drove around kind of a

small town in Pennsylvania it was on the

way back and it honestly was just kind

of fun to do yeah we let the kids have a

break yep right they ran around that

Park and played on the playground and so

we were able to film around yeah we

celebrate Michael's like favorite pizza

shop and you know we just it was it was

very neat and so Brett Michaels so he

started in a small town but he dreamed

big and brought his dreams to life on

the world stage that was the rock and

eventually capture Jen's heart

but he continues to capture the heart of

his fans and us through his support of

the military his hometown ethics Steeler

fandom and yes every time we hear him

sing Every Rose Has Its Thorn we think

of him and the man poison so thank you

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