Mean Steve Piano was a strange guy, to me anyway. We just didn’t have much in common despite both being pianists and on the scene of Toronto’s Queen street once upon a Ned. I liked the thing he did, I don’t know what he thought of me though it probably tickled him a bit that we were both pianists and in our own way, showmen. He was maybe three years older than me and dedicated to the Jerry Lee Lewis type of playing. I doubt he ever expected Jerry Lee Lewis to outlive him by twenty years. I think Steve died twenty years ago. I heard mixed stories about him being in Europe then and taking his life. I have no idea, but I know a woman who had a love affair with him and she talks about him in a way reserved for someone, who to be paired with even if only one night, changes your life. Tonight, reading the obituaries for Jerry Lee Lewis, thought of my first encounters with his 1950s music which always included liner notes telling us he was a sexual deviant, marrying his cousin that was 13 when he was 21. Something like that. Those stories never added he himself was married earlier at 16 or two of his sisters were married as young teens. That was where he came from and how it was. Early examples of death by newspaper. I noticed news on both the Kari Lake campaign and the Candace Owen documentary about Black Lives Matter, blame the media. Attribute distortions of reality on their doorstep as if they, the media, are something with a mind that is changeable and self reflectable. It feels to me like they’re asking hormones to stop being hormones. Blueberry pie was consumed and suddenly there’s a lot of insulin jumping up and down. You can complain to insulin all you want but it doesn’t care, it’ll keep following the program.
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You should listen to Sam Harris’ podcast where he debunks the BLM movement. He makes points that every conservative person already knows, but he puts it in a really clear, digestible form. The media IS to blame for racial conflicts in North America because the mainstream media has become nothing more than a Left Wing propoganda tape player on repeat. The counter arguments to the: “police are targeting black people and black people are systemically oppressed” narrative are not being heard. But you, or the general public. Because there are 2 kinds of people. People who think for themselves and think critically, and people who don’t. The ladder group are easily swayed by the one sided Left Wing dominated media. The people who think critically are also mentally strong enough to listen to the uncomfortable counter arguments to their own positions. That’s why the internet is so important. Because we can freely spread our talking points. And hence why Left Wing authoritarian lunatic politicians like Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh are trying so hard to censor the internet.
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Mean Steve was friend of mine. Drinking bloody Mary’s in the morning for gig in the afternoon. Wasn’t the greatest gig but it was fun. I was FOH. This was all in the Czech Republic in 1993.
Last I heard of Steve he was hit by a bus in Toronto. He certainly didn’t take is own life. I miss him. He was a great guy. He played in a band, from memory guitar players from Chicago, philly drummer from the Czech Republic. No idea about the bass player. Rip Steve.
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Steve was in Europe for a time in the 90’s. He met a woman in Czechoslovakia who was a US citizen. They married and lived in Nashville for a time. Basically Steve bailed on his wife and came back to Toronto. He was there from the late 90’s until around 2002-2003. During that period he dealt with a drinking problem and quit cold turkey. He also sought help for psychological issues while in Toronto. He then moved to South Korea where he played and taught English. He made a number of attempts to remain in South Korea. He was in the midst of being deported when he took his life. He jumped from the 18th floor of a building in Seoul. I am sure I don’t have to tell you how much pain you have to be in to do that. That was in the final days of 2010. I don’t think he could face starting over yet again. That and Steve’s father and grandfather both ended their own lives. He was the funniest man I ever met. I knew him from the age of 11 or 12. I knew he had psychological issues from the time I was 16 or 17. He spoke of suicide more than once. I always tried to convince not to, but if there was no other way, pick a high spot to jump. I guess he listened. I still think to this day, if he had made the jump to China, he could have had a good life. I miss him very much.
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I interviewed Steve after he had joined the Paladins (in the back room of the Cameron before a gig there); he
actually got quite irate when I compared his playing to Jerry Lee’s, so I wrote something a little different in the article (that got published in Shades in 1982, for those who care). I’d see him around until I left Toronto in 1985; too bad he’s gone (like quite a few from that era, unfortunately)…