That Time Joan Jett Bought Me Pizza at CBGB

The pizza at CBGB was vile, but I was desperate. That’s when Joan Jett stepped up.

Sigh.

In retrospect, it was the single most punk-rock moment of my life. And it being 1992, there were no cellphones to capture it.

Joan Jett had recently befriended Fugazi. Curious about what other kinds of music Dischord Records was putting out, she asked for suggestions. Someone or other put her on to an informal showcase at CBGB, the legendary rat haven and rock club, featuring Jawbox, Shudder to Think, and my band, Circus Lupus.

The “showcase” part of the evening didn’t really pan out for us. (Much to my surprise, the market for angular, grinding post-punk wasn’t quite as white-hot as I’d been led to believe.) But we made a friend that night, and it led us down a strange avenue. You can hear about it on the latest episode of the “End on End” podcast, embedded below. I haven’t heard the whole thing yet, but I do know that Chris and I drop in around the 2:08 mark.

The conversation was a lot of fun, and the hidden gem—at least for me—was getting to sit down (virtually) with my bandmate Chris Thomson, something we haven’t done in decades. I’m looking forward to more of that in the future!