FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK: STAY CLEAN

I love rock 'n' roll. I've been listening to it for 45 years and playing it
35 for years. My love of music has been a good way to engage with teens.

Many teens have musicians as role models that evoke the angst of the
current generation. It isn't any different now than it was when I was a
teen. My parents hated the Rolling Stones and were forever telling me to
"turn down that god-awful music!" The Rolling Stones are now a good 20
years older than my parents were in 1965, and they are still playing rock
'n' roll - something they probably never imagined they would be doing all
these years later.

Too often, however, rock musicians lead excessive lifestyles, using alcohol
and other drugs at alarming and life-threatening rates. I've been thinking
of all the losses we have suffered as a result of the excesses of the
musical lifestyle. I think it is important to remember these losses and to
be truthful about how these talented individuals were taken from us.

Elvis, the so-called king of rock 'n' roll, died in 1977 at age 42 in his
bathroom at Graceland. He was bloated and so full of prescription
painkillers that the autopsy had difficulty sorting them all out.

Elvis once visited President Nixon at the White House. Elvis wanted Nixon
to make him a special DEA agent so Elvis could help fight the war on drugs.
If you look at the pictures taken of this meeting, Elvis clearly appears
under the influence. This is the power of denial.

At age 29, Jimi Hendrix overdosed on barbiturates and alcohol in his hotel
room in London in 1970; he choked to death on his own vomit. Imagine what
Jimi would be doing musically if he were still with us.

Janis Joplin overdosed two weeks after Hendrix, on heroin, in a sleazy
hotel room. She was 27. In addition to her heroin addiction, Joplin was
addicted to alcohol. One of the greatest female blues singers ever, she
just couldn't get past her own low self-esteem. Loved by millions, she
despised herself.

The Doors lost their avant-garde charismatic leader, Jim Morrison, in 1971.
Morrison, 27, was an alcoholic and a heroin addict. He expired in a bathtub
in Paris, although some say he faked his death. Morrison was on a
self-destructive path many years before he died.

Keith Moon died of alcoholism in 1978 at 32, leaving The Who without the
person some consider the greatest rock drummer who ever lived. Moon was an
alcoholic - a wild man, known for his drunken rampages, trashing hotel
rooms and driving his car into a swimming pool.

In 1980, John Bonham's overdose death on alcohol and barbiturates at age 32
ended Led Zeppelin; the rest of the band decided they could not carry on
without him. The Grateful Dead have lost five of their members to
alcohol-related deaths and drug overdoses, starting with Rod McKernan, who
drank himself to death in 1973 at 27, and ending with Jerry Garcia, who
died in 1995 at age 53. Garcia's heart attack was the result of years of
heroin addiction.

Nirvana lost Kurt Cobain in 1994 at 27 to heroin addiction and suicide.
Cobain was an innovator, creating a new sound that paved the way for a
whole new generation of bands influenced by his raw power and honesty.

Let's not forget George Harrison, who died this year of throat cancer, the
result of his addiction to tobacco.

I could go on and on. as the list is much longer.

I miss the artists who are no longer here, but I don't idolize them. I feel
sad, angry and cheated. To offset the loss, I often think of those who
survived their addictions and were given second chances.

The members of Aerosmith are some of the fortunate few who are clean and
sober and playing better than ever. David Crosby survived his best attempts
at self-destruction, got a new liver, and has been clean and sober ever
since. Crosby is playing better than ever and grateful to be alive.

Eric Clapton is another guy who survived heroin and alcohol. He made it
through the death of his young son without drinking or drugging. He
channeled his pain into a beautiful song, "Tears in Heaven." Clapton held a
benefit concert and opened a treatment program in Antigua.

Stevie Ray Vaughn made it to sobriety after years of alcohol and cocaine
addiction. I saw him play a week before he was killed in a helicopter
crash. It was the best I ever heard him play. The last record Vaughn made
before his death had a number of original songs about his battle with
addiction; he wanted others to learn from his hard-fought lessons.

The old philosophy of "live fast and die young" has been embraced by far
too many talented people. I like the new movement that is afoot. It's
called "Straight Edge." Whether they are musicians or kids doing extreme
sports, they have a philosophy that embraces staying away from alcohol or
other drugs.

They have the same rock 'n' roll attitude, they still play hard and play
loud, but they do it straight. They can still express their angst, but they
don't have to self-destruct doing it.

Rock 'n' roll has always been about rebellion and change. To change the
injustices of the world, you have to stick around long enough to be part of
the changes. To all of you parents out there, the next time you want to
tell your kids to turn the stereo down, think back to your own teen years.
Instead of shutting out your kids' music, go hang out with them and listen.
Ask them to share what they like and why they like it.

You may forge some new connections. You may find out that the generation
gap is not as wide as you think. In the words of Chuck Berry, one of the
greats - who, by the way, is still alive and kicking - "Hail, hail rock 'n'
roll."

Until next time, stay safe out there.

Barry Timmerman is coordinator of substance abuse services at The Youth
Council in Nashua. He has been a substance abuse professional for 15 years.
Readers with questions may e-mail them to mistert90@hotmail.com. Questions
also may be mailed to The Telegraph, Straight Talk with Mr. T, PO Box 1008,
Nashua, NH 03061, or faxed to the paper at 882-2681. Timmerman is unable to
answer letters individually, but readers with further questions or concerns
are invited to contact The Youth Council at 889-1090.

The advice in this column is intended to provide an understanding of
chemical dependency issues, but is not a substitute for treatment. It does
not reflect the opinions of The Telegraph or The Youth Council, and is in
no way a replacement for the services of a licensed professional counselor.

In addition, the youth council is mandated by state law to report any
suspicion of child abuse or neglect. Should a letter to "Straight Talk with
Mr. T" raise such concerns, the agency will report the information to the
state Division for Children, Youth and Families or the Nashua Police Department.