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one hit singles. But things were not very rosy in Denmark. Flame and Dave Bristol, as we all know, were the best of friends and the worst of enemies. Due to that age-old excuse, ‘artistic differences,’ Hay Fever broke up. Millions of people cried themselves to sleep that night. The suicide rate jumped 150 per cent. The stock market plummeted to an all-time low. Women and children—”
    “Okay, okay, Remix, we get the picture,” Berenger said.
    “Sorry. Anyway, the fans weren’t too happy. Flame went on to try a solo career, simply as… Flame. By now, Liquid Metal Records was a goddamned industry and Al Patton was one of the demigods of the music business. Thanks to Flame and Hay Fever. Now as we all know, Flame’s solo career was very successful from a financial standpoint, but not necessarily from a critical one. It was hit and miss. His first solo album, released in 1977, was called, simply, Flame . That was probably his biggest solo album, wouldn’t you say, Spike?”
    “Yeah, I guess.”
    “That had ‘Keep On Rollin’ to Me’ on it and a few other hits. And that’s when the John Lennon and David Bowie rumors started flyin’.”
    Rudy spoke up. “John Lennon? What rumors?”
    Berenger hushed his partner and nodded at Remix to continue.
    “Yeah, in 1974, Flame was hangin’ with John Lennon and David Bowie in LA. That was during Lennon’s ‘lost weekend’ era, when he was separated from Yoko and was spendin’ his time with Harry Nilsson and May Pang. You know, Walls and Bridges . Bowie, he was in the middle of his Diamond Dogs period, trying to cope with super stardom and a nasty coke habit. There was talk that the three of them were going to form a supergroup, along with Nilsson and Dave Bristol. Nothing ever came of it, though. Man, wouldn’t that have been somethin’?”
    “I’ll say,” Suzanne replied. “Flame and Lennon together? And Bowie?”
    “They’d have knocked Wings out of the ballpark, that’s for sure,” Briggs surmised.
    “Now that you mention it, Flame was a lot like Bowie during those years, wouldn’t you say?” Suzanne said. “I mean, he had that androgynous thing going, too.”
    “Yeah, some Bowie and a little Rod Stewart thrown in,” Remix added. “Anyway, Flame’s career plodded along through the rest of the seventies and it wasn’t until—”
    “Better go over his first marriage, Remix,” Berenger said.
    “Oh, I was savin’ all the personal stuff ‘til after I got through the creative stuff.”
    “Let’s keep it chronological.”
    Remix wrinkled his brow and whispered, “You’re so anal , boss!” He continued at full voice. “Okay, so he got married to Gina Tipton in 1971, just as the first Hay Fever album was takin’ off. Gina was only seventeen at the time and I guess she started out as Flame’s groupie. Their son Adrian was born on May 4, 1973. A year and a half later, in 1975, Flame and Gina divorced. And it was nasty . Lawyers up the wazoo, money flyin’ this way and that, threats and counter-threats, you name it. Bottom line is Flame and Gina don’t get along too well these days. Gina never remarried and brought up Adrian by herself. She was often linked to a slew of other rock stars though, and to certain Private Investigators whom we will not mention .”
    This elicited snickers and catcalls from the group. Berenger smirked and motioned for Remix to move it along.
    “In 1982, Flame married Carol Merryman after being linked to a number of Hollywood actresses, Playboy Playmates, and supermodels. Some guys have all the luck, I guess. This marriage lasted until 1987 and the divorce was much more amicable than the first one. Carol remains a vice president of Flame’s company and has a hand in his business affairs. They had one son, Joshua, born March 14, 1983. Now—back to the guy’s career. After only four solo albums between 1977 and 1982, Flame formed the band that would surely secure his place in rock ‘n’ roll history if he