I was two years out of school at this time and the ripe old age of 20 when all this “rebellion” was going on, so I can’t speak to much of it.

But I can say this…I was in the studio doing the video (see photo above of me with camera). This was an actually pretty nice camera but it came with a free VCR. Camcorders were not that hip at the time, or the ones that were actually all one unit were WAY too expensive. So this camera I had came with a “portable” vcr and really little tapes – that you couldn’t buy anywhere. Once recorded, you then had to actually dub the tape onto a VHS tape to actually watch it.

Another comment. Yes, Ms. Klein was a bit of a psycho freak. What made her so annoying was that she kind of considered herself a drama teacher (or so I think) when we had a fine drama teacher in Ms. Eling. What this meant was that Ms. Klein would show up at our drama rehearsals and give us feedback. This wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t bring along her daughter who she dotted over like some little princess.

Her daughter, being treated like a little princess, would strut around on stage and get in our way and her mother would NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. And she whined…oh did she whine… We would all grit our teeth as Ms. Klein would wipe her butt up and down the theater.

One afternoon during a rehearsal Ms. Klein showed up again with her daughter. This time her daughter had brought a bunch of balloons filled with helium. When they went out to lunch Ms. Klein, surprisingly, let her daughter leave her balloons at the theater tied to a chair.

Moments later we untied them from the chair and let them float to the ceiling just to see the reaction. Well…it was priceless. We, of course, pleaded innocent of the crime of untying balloons but little Ms. Klein Jr. went ballistic, screaming, crying and carrying on. Ms. Klein promised to get her more balloons and we all watched as the Vice Principal became this little girl’s Bi-YOTCH. “sweetie, it’ll be okay, we’ll get you more balloons, please don’t cry, stop crying, it’ll be okay, baby” Of course, this also meant them leaving – which was our ultimate goal anyway.

Years later (we’re talking 10 years later) I have a co-worker named Gina who grew up in the North End and I’m chatting with her about this episode and she says to me: “Elaine Klein?” And I’m like, uh, yeah – “I KNOW HER! Her daughter was a friend of mine in High School.” So I explain the spoiled rotten thing and she concurred that it continued long after the “balloon incident” and there was another story she told me about Ms. Klein and some hook-up with some guy in Hawaii but I won’t get into that story here…

Lastly…Jason, if it’s not too much trouble, could you point out who the people are in the photos, as best as you can remember (I don’t need no recognition) but isn’t that Ms. Klein standing at the back of the gym with ?? next to her? (with arms folded).

One last question: Was Eric using the doctored guitar through all these initial stories? In the gym, in the cafeteria, in the studio?

Great story.