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Chapter 71
After Bob Dole's phone call and surreptitious Vice Presidential promise, he called a press conference in his home state of Kansas where he graciously endorsed Vice President Bush but, as the Bush campaign requested, did not mention anything about his forthcoming nomination.
With his status as lone frontrunner cemented and the remaining slate of primaries extremely favorable to him, Vice President Bush felt he could finally sit back and relax after months of the back and forth between the campaign trail and Washington. Lee Atwater knew better.
"You thought that call from Dole was nerve-wracking?" He asked, smoking a cigar. "You have another one coming from your ol' pal Dan Quayle very soon, and I'd bet that it's going to be in regards to an already filled position." The Vice President's face began to redden.
"He can't possibly expect to be my Vice President after all he's done to hurt this party!" Atwater shook his head.
"Quayle isn't insulated by political wizards, but it wouldn't exactly take an expert to see that their campaign still has plenty of leverage. He'll tell you that it's for the unity of the party, but if we let them in now, they'll take apart everything we have worked for."
"So what do we do?" Bush asked. Atwater nodded at him.
"I have an idea..."
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While the music-going public continued to scarf down the commercially comfortable hair metal that had dominated most of the 1980's, some of the major labels had begun to see that the writing was on the wall and a change in sound was vastly approaching.
That's why, when Seattle-based Soundgarden's Screaming Life EP (released through independent label Sub Pop) landed upon the desks of the major record companies, multiple companies came calling for this new sound. The dirty, Do It Yourself attitude and sound of Soundgarden stood in aggressive contrast to the commercially driven albums that had dominated the music scene for most of the decade.
The decision came down to two choices for the pioneering band: SST Records, an independent punk record label formed by Black Flag leader Greg Ginn touting alternate rock released by the Minutemen and the Meat Puppets, or A&M Records, a far more commercially successful label that had bolstered their rock credibility with bands like The Police. The decision wasn't an easy one, and the individual members of Soundgarden agonized over the idea of abandoning their independent roots, but ultimately they chose to join A&M as a means to reach a greater audience.
The band got together with producer Terry Date, who had worked with heavy metal bands like Metal Church, and commenced work on their debut studio album, Ultramega OK. The album, which was mixed with a heavy sound, is due for release in the fall of 1988.
Seattle was alight with bands being courted by various record labels. Mother Love Bone, an offshoot of the alternative band Green River and fronted by the flamboyant and charismatic Andrew Wood, was close to signing with a PolyGram subsidy. With the departure of Soundgarden from Sub Pop, founder Bruce Pavitt was looking for more local talent, and had prospects in a group that had been previously known as Skid Row, Ted Ed Fred, and Fecal Matter, but was going by a new term: Nirvana.
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"Vice President Bush," Dan Quayle's voice squawked over the phone, "this has been a wonderful campaign." Bush tried to hold in his angry laughter.
"Senator Quayle," he said as coolly as he could muster, "congratulations on running a.... interesting campaign."
"Well, I think my time is about done in this race. There is just one thing I would like to ask of you before I officially withdraw..." Quayle's voice trailed off and Bush looked over his words carefully before responding.
"I think I know what you are referring to... and, Senator Quayle, I can promise you that we will definitely keep you in mind."
Senator Dan Quayle, and Jerry Falwell beside him, both grinned with the knowledge that he would be the next Vice President. Vice President Bush grinned too, with the knowledge that Quayle would never be his Vice President.
With his status as lone frontrunner cemented and the remaining slate of primaries extremely favorable to him, Vice President Bush felt he could finally sit back and relax after months of the back and forth between the campaign trail and Washington. Lee Atwater knew better.
"You thought that call from Dole was nerve-wracking?" He asked, smoking a cigar. "You have another one coming from your ol' pal Dan Quayle very soon, and I'd bet that it's going to be in regards to an already filled position." The Vice President's face began to redden.
"He can't possibly expect to be my Vice President after all he's done to hurt this party!" Atwater shook his head.
"Quayle isn't insulated by political wizards, but it wouldn't exactly take an expert to see that their campaign still has plenty of leverage. He'll tell you that it's for the unity of the party, but if we let them in now, they'll take apart everything we have worked for."
"So what do we do?" Bush asked. Atwater nodded at him.
"I have an idea..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While the music-going public continued to scarf down the commercially comfortable hair metal that had dominated most of the 1980's, some of the major labels had begun to see that the writing was on the wall and a change in sound was vastly approaching.
That's why, when Seattle-based Soundgarden's Screaming Life EP (released through independent label Sub Pop) landed upon the desks of the major record companies, multiple companies came calling for this new sound. The dirty, Do It Yourself attitude and sound of Soundgarden stood in aggressive contrast to the commercially driven albums that had dominated the music scene for most of the decade.
The decision came down to two choices for the pioneering band: SST Records, an independent punk record label formed by Black Flag leader Greg Ginn touting alternate rock released by the Minutemen and the Meat Puppets, or A&M Records, a far more commercially successful label that had bolstered their rock credibility with bands like The Police. The decision wasn't an easy one, and the individual members of Soundgarden agonized over the idea of abandoning their independent roots, but ultimately they chose to join A&M as a means to reach a greater audience.
The band got together with producer Terry Date, who had worked with heavy metal bands like Metal Church, and commenced work on their debut studio album, Ultramega OK. The album, which was mixed with a heavy sound, is due for release in the fall of 1988.
Seattle was alight with bands being courted by various record labels. Mother Love Bone, an offshoot of the alternative band Green River and fronted by the flamboyant and charismatic Andrew Wood, was close to signing with a PolyGram subsidy. With the departure of Soundgarden from Sub Pop, founder Bruce Pavitt was looking for more local talent, and had prospects in a group that had been previously known as Skid Row, Ted Ed Fred, and Fecal Matter, but was going by a new term: Nirvana.
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"Vice President Bush," Dan Quayle's voice squawked over the phone, "this has been a wonderful campaign." Bush tried to hold in his angry laughter.
"Senator Quayle," he said as coolly as he could muster, "congratulations on running a.... interesting campaign."
"Well, I think my time is about done in this race. There is just one thing I would like to ask of you before I officially withdraw..." Quayle's voice trailed off and Bush looked over his words carefully before responding.
"I think I know what you are referring to... and, Senator Quayle, I can promise you that we will definitely keep you in mind."
Senator Dan Quayle, and Jerry Falwell beside him, both grinned with the knowledge that he would be the next Vice President. Vice President Bush grinned too, with the knowledge that Quayle would never be his Vice President.
- Gentleman Biaggi
- Word Count: 690