My tribute and unearthing of the lost 2001 tape of Mike Peters of The Alarm inviting me on stage to sing my favorite song, “Spirit of ’76.” Listen to it here and crank it up.
Last week, the death of my lifelong friend Mike Peters of The Alarm came quite hard, if not completely unexpected given his never-ending battle with blood cancer. His wife Jules, family and loved ones and musicians all over the world have hailed his work and paid tribute to all he stood for and the power of his music and magic to change the world through Love Hope Strength, which impacted me personally through my wife’s two battles with leukemia.
When celebrities die, we all have an emotional if only ambient, connection. But when the BBC and the whole of the United Kingdom takes note of the loss of a beautiful minstrel man whose heady nights of post-punk music in The Alarm still conveys messages and mantras that matter 40 years later, you begin to realize the impact of his life and work and words far beyond his home in Wales.
In the aftermath of the loss of Peters – and I’m always in a state of disbelief and denial whenever one my lifelong music voices leaves us – I’ve been searching for what the powerful music of The Alarm has meant to my life and the value and meaning it has as my pal Peters is gone and I’m still here living the words, marching on and singing the dawn chorus.
Indeed, Mike Peters went out in the absolute reality of a blaze of glory.
The depth of my friendship with the band began with guitarist Dave Sharp, who I interviewed in 1987 and later spent time with in New Orleans when he became a bit of a troubadour. But it was in December 1989 when Mike Peters and his beautiful wife Jules Jones Peters and the whole band joined me for dinner at Nichi Bei Kei below The Belvedere Hotel when I was a music critic for The Baltimore Sun.
I had just turned 21 and five years into interviewing rock stars was so jaded that I only attempted to greet and meet the musicians whose music I really loved. I thought The Alarm was special from the first note and the bizarre opening slot for Pat Benatar at Capital Centre in 1986, a show I reviewed as a 17-year old.
I saw the band at Lisner Auditorium two months later and then saw them dozens of times in their prime all over the East Coast and had a laminate pass to show up anytime.
I tell anyone who asks: the show on that night of December 6, 1989 at Hammerjacks was the greatest concert I ever saw. This was backstage after the show with all of my Dundalk pals. I had just turned 21.
About a decade later, when Mike played a show at Jaxx in Springfield, I told him I’d been singing in a band and he invited me up to sing the first verse of “Spirit of ’76” in the fiery middle of the set. He also recorded it and gave it to me a on CD that I still have. I was a little bit pitchy but we kinda rocked it, really! And I made him smile that smile of approval that I’ll never forget. This was way before the camera phone was invented and some random nice fellow shot pictures of me ripping up one of my favorite songs with a friend and a human who lived a life worthy of rock star hero worship. His music is timeless. His memory is eternal. And if I ever write the book of my rock and roll life, this here was one helluva night.
A quarter of a century after a lifer thrill I’d almost dreamily forgotten even existed, I found the long-lost CD and audio board recording of the night Mike Peters of The Alarm invited me onto the stage at Jaxx in Springfield, Virginia to walk an acoustic high wire (with no soundcheck or rehearsal) and sing a daring version of “Spirit of ’76” with him. (It’s a Top 10-ever written kind of song for me so it’s simply astonishing that this ever happened or that there’s evidence beyond a snapshot.) If it sounds dangerous, it was! I’m pretty sure I’ve never played the CD for anyone – and my wife just previewed it for the first time since the 400 people in the club witnessed it. I sat her down with a headset (while I ran into another room and cringed, thinking it might’ve sucked). BUT, #JennStrong just said: “You should put that up for people to hear it! It’s really good!” So, it’s coming soon with something that feels like a proper tribute in the aftermath of hearing this gem and rummaging through my rock and roll memories and bleeding heart. Love, Hope, Strength and a blaze of glory in the presence of love. The night I sang with Mike Peters.
Mike Peters lost his courageous battle and the world is a little darker from his loss. I am living on the knife edge and making a stand of memories with every other fan of the great, kind man of music. All of our strength and love to Jules Jones Peters and everyone who loved him. His music will walk forever by my side…
And 24 years later, I found this final gift from Mike Peters.
Listen and crank it up.
I’ve never heard him sing it better…once you get through the first part.
I loved Mike Peters.
Everyone did…
