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• My Stalker

  Sunday, Aug 17, 2008 6:27PM / Standard Entry / Members only
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  The Shadow of Ruth

   

  In the 80’s I toured in a band called High Heels, three female vocalists and musicians playing electronic music. It was in the mist of the girl disco band surge. Bands like, “The Bangles, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Banarama,  and the Go Go’s.” We toured mostly on the East Coast in the USA playing at venues like the grand opening for the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, The Jungle in Alabama, other large concerts and dance clubs.

   

  The Shadow:

   

  It all started one weekend in Dover Delaware. We finished our show and was approached by a woman saying that she liked us a bunch and that she worked at a newspaper in the city. She asked if it is possible for her to interview us for the local paper. We of course thought that it would be wonderful. Who doesn’t like free publicity?

   

  The next morning around 8 our phones started ringing off of the hook. It was Ruth, the woman from the night before. She was asking when she could interview us with questions like, “ How long have you played drums?”. We tried to explain to her that she contacted us way too early and the best time would be in the afternoon. So later that day she met with some of the singers and asked some non-professional questions.  Nevertheless we thought she was a reporter for the local newspaper and so we tried to answer them.

   

  That night while we were playing our next show, we noticed that Ruth was at the venue. She kept trying to be close to us and stand in the middle of the floor very close to the stage crying with excitement. We looked at each other and knew that something was up.

   

  After the show, she followed us to a restaurant and sat at a table close to us trying to listen to our conversation. The band ate our meal and traveled back to our hotel. Normally when a band plays shows, the hotel doesn’t give out personal information like hotel room numbers. So this woman went into the hotel room area, listened with her ear up to the doors and knocked on six flights of doors until she found our band rooms. I couldn’t believe it when I opened my door. I asked her what she was doing and how she found our room. She said that she had more questions for the newspaper article and listened for rooms that sounded like us. I told her that I was busy and unable to have an interview. I was agitated. Then I called the front desk to ask them why this person could find my room. They later sent someone up to remove her.

   

  The next show in this city she was camping in the same place, up front and center stage crying her eyes out. I was really worried about her now! A crazy fan! So I asked some of the staff about her. They said they were unfamiliar with her but they knew she wasn’t a reporter. So we asked Ruth if she was a reporter. She said no. She thought that she would write a story about us and submit it to the local paper! Very kind but strange.

   

  So we left Dover to go to our next gig in Salisbury Delaware. And guess what?  Ruth showed up! It’s like eight hours away by car! It was exactly the same situation, wanting our attention every second, crying like a baby with excitement and following us around the city like a private detective.

   

  Our next gigs in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Gadsden Florida were without a visit from Ruth. We thought that it was all over but to our surprise, it wasn’t.

   

  We then played in Atlantic City for the grand opening of the Taj Mahal. We were excited to play this big beautiful venue for the first time. Who doesn’t love Donald Trump?  So the curtain opened and bamm, it’s Ruth! Our mega fan! She was crying with stars in her eyes like we were the Beatles!

   

  So at this show we had backup singers and one was from New Jersey. She was a wonderful singer that had worked for many famous people. She noticed Ruth was there and said, “Oh my God! It’s Ruth! She is a crazy stalker for Ann Jillian!”. She went on to tell us that she somehow was able to get Ann’s home phone number in Hollywood and that she followed her around the country.

   

  So Wilson Lee, the singer for High Heels, approached Ruth and asked why she was there and where she was staying.  Ruth said that she loved our band and wouldn’t miss such a big show.  She decided to drive from Dover to Atlantic City.  Wilson asked, “but where are you staying?”  Ruth replied she was sleeping in her car! However Atlantic City is not the safest place in the world!

   

   

   

  We 100% percent knew that we needed to call our management company and warn them about her because we were curious how she was able to find our schedules. Come to find out she had been calling the agency and management companies asking for our show information. So it really looked like we had a stalker on our hands!

   

  Our next show in Ocean City I was the keyboardist and we had a new drummer. So now I am up front with the female singers playing a Roland Juno-106 synth. Guess what? That’s right!  Ruth was there! She was staring at me like a piece of meat.  Like I am a a dollar Tripple Whopper special.

   

  So after the show we did our normal routine, a meal at a local restaurant. And yes, Ruth showed up and wanted to sit with us. One of the female singers felt sorry for her and invited her to sit down across from me. After she sat down, she said to me, “Gary you were so great tonight. I could see the lights shine from the sweat on your chest hairs. It was so beautiful!” I could only say, “Well thanks!” as the other musicians said Whooo like Ruth and I were having a romantic connection. Then another singer asked, “Hey Ruth! You have a wedding ring. Are you married?” Of course this is the perfect time for me to get out of the romantic connection, “Hey you can’t look at me like that! You are married!” Then Ruth said, “Gary I might be married but I am not dead!”

   

  Our next gigs in North Carolina, Alabama, New York and Florida was without the shadow. But the second we returned to Delaware, Ruth found us again. She walked up to me and gave me a VCR tape. She overheard that I liked the Simpsons tv show and taped the first season for me! And get this, her husband was with her. He was a nice and soft spoken guy, very much like what people would imagine a Trekkie would look like. “I love Star Trek!  Don’t get the wrong idea!” He really didn’t seem to be bothered by his wife’s infatuation with the band at all.

   

  So after several more shows without an appearance from Ruth, she showed up at another gig hours away from Delaware in Maryland. She showed up to the venue and made a big scene crying her eyes out. So the venue ejected her from the show. She was kicking and screaming like a mental patient. It was sad.

   

  So after the show, we drove to our condo about two miles away from the venue. We were at the back of the condo relaxing on the deck. We were talking about what happened and how crazy she was. Then I had a weird feeling. I told everyone to stop talking and I began to look around the corner of the building. I couldn’t believe it, “it was Ruth!”.  She was scaling the wall with both arms up like the French Spiderman and trying to listen to our conversation. I yelled out, “Ruth! What are you doing?”. She dropped to her knees and said, “I lost my wedding ring.” I yelled out to her, “You can’t stay here! You need to leave!!”. So she did and I broke her heart!

   

  After that night, I never saw her again. That tour was over and I got another job in another band. That is why she was dubbed, “The Shadow of Ruth!”

  

  Wilson Lee -Left-Ruth-Right

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