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...... Ed. note: Of all the military brat Bad Boys who ever graced the shores of Old Edo, one stands out as a beacon of hope to those individualists who fought the System, those anti-establishment rebels who chafed against the “military son” reins, those whom the military-directed, military-financed school regime and the Air Police slanderously labeled as “juvenile delinquents” .. there was then a revolutionary against which all others must be measured: Travis Beckham, Narimasu (almost, but not quite) Class of ’61 .. here is his story .. |
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I cannot praise your editorial skills enough, and thought you might
appreciate some additional information. I did leave Tokyo with some records
and notoriety; however, Dr. Hay and most of my teachers, including Coach
French, liked me.
Some of my more notable experiences include:
Only dependent to accrue 5 each
DR’s and 5 each IR’s in 18 months.
(DR = Delinquency Report; IR = Incident Report)
Only one to puke blood on the
Wash Heights Provost Marshall.
If there are any readers who attended that party, I think my date
was Karen Cappell. Please tell me if I had a good time .. besides coming
within 20 minutes of dying from alcohol poisoning, which was the last straw
that punched my “go home” ticket.
Only dependent who got a DR for punching out some general’s kid on the school bus after hopping off the bus and shoplifting the Akadama wine, when he threatened to “squeal” on us. I think all you other guys only got IR’s.
Only dependent to get caught stealing the spare tire off of a Fuchu Air Police jeep, and was apprehended rolling said tire down the street.
One of five or six members of
the famed Fuchu “Rocket Club.” To this day, I just remember
that there was Bob Johnstone, Mike Murphy Tommy Maxwell, Tim Stinson and
some other guys had access to a room in one of the buildings on Fuchu,
may have built rockets and plotted “World Domination” or something and
I was supposed to be a part of it. That earned me an IR.
...
Only Narimasu student that got
suspended three times in four weeks. 3 days because
John Dougherty punched out a guy in the hall before school, because we
wouldn’t let him in our “fraternity.” Suspended again the following week
because Mr. Lay and Mr. Marshall made me go home to get a belt, and I came
back with a rope tied around my waist.
Green Park
Arriving in Japan in the summer of 1958, on the trip from the airport
to Green Park, I giggled every time I saw someone taking a “benjo break”
on the side of the road.
When we first came to Japan, like almost everyone else, we lived in Green Park. My first night at Green Park, I was famished; my father gave me a $10.00 U.S. Greenback, and the cashier would not accept it. My sister, who was six at the time, freaked until someone offered to exchange the “Sawbuck” for the equivalency in MPC.
I met a guy named Mickey (something.. all I remember was he had red hair) my first week and slipping out to a local bar just outside of Green Park and “havin’ a few.” Mickey had been there three years, and they were soon rotating back to the States, so he knew his way around. He talked me into going on my first “uh-oh” escapade. There was a very exclusive trout resort about 90 minutes from Tokyo by train.. You paid 720 yen ($2.00), they gave you a cane pole, some salmon eggs and invited you to fish from a dammed-up trout stream that was waist deep and teeming with trout; however, they were not attracted by the salmon egg bait.
Mickey and I had been sipping a few Asahis, so I made the comment that I would have better luck diving in and catching one with my hands. The place was crawling with American officers, their wives, high Japanese officials and their wives. Mickey bet me that I couldn’t catch one with my hands. I took off my shirt, shoes, and socks, jumped in feet first, managed to catch one under my left armpit, hooked my fingers in its gills and climbed out with my trout. I was immediately arrested; my fish confiscated, and received 2 IR’s for indecency in front of the women and drinking beer as a minor. That was the beginning of my thirst for the DR/ IR record. Mickey went back to the States soon thereafter.
Fuchu Paddies
Every day I would walk to the road to catch the bus and walk past
the odoriferous fertilizer storage bins, vats, or whatever. I never
became accustomed to that smell and still remember it to this date.
It was so strong it would burn your eyes.
There were some amazing one-hour bus rides to Narimasu High School
(before we were provided our own personal weapons carrier) and non-stop
poker games that “Jazzbo” conducted in the back of the bus with his bunch
of Filipino suckers, who inevitably lost their lunch money and a lot more
.. well, they just had to flash a roll of bills .. they shoulda
known better .. they would play until the bus rolled up to school
.. and then start again on the way home.
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I remember accruing my first two IR’s during the Fuchu tenure. The first one was from stealing the spare tire from the Air Police Jeep on Fuchu, and being apprehended rolling it down the street. (A dare from either Bob Johnstone, Mike Murphy, Tom Maxwell or all three.) The second came from an altercation with a guy named Bill Hayes who lived in the Tachi Paddies, but always seemed to hang around Fuchu with the Filipino guys. He was playing with a catsup dispenser in the cafeteria and some of it got on me. I took it from his hand and squirted in his face and that was it. We fought for a while inside, and then a bunch of GIs moved us outside, where we continued for a while. We both ended up with stitches, but remained friends. (As a matter of fact, I ran into him in 1962 in Biloxi, MS while I was attending Air Traffic Controller School.) I think Wink Cummings was with me during this episode. Still no IR. |
| Travis was a troublemaker at a young age.. |
The School Bus/Akadama Wine Episode
I remember that the school bus/liquor store incident was kind of
an unplanned spontaneous incident that was without malice. We were bored
from the ride, knew that the bus was making an in route loop and would
be back
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in 10 minutes, so we decided to get off. There happened to be a liquor store on the corner where we got off, so we “window shopped” for some Akadama wine, from the inside, and in our haste to re-enter the bus, neglected to stop at the cashier. Some of the other bus occupants began taunting us (I was innocent) about turning us in, and I pushed/punched (who knows?) one of them, which resulted in a minor injury. It was a general’s kid, and the rest is history. “Jazzbo”, Tommy Maxwell, Bob Johnstone, Mike Murphy, Terry Milne and Wink Cummings were some of the riders (I think). We were sentenced to ride to school on a weapons carrier for the remainder of a very cold winter. |
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| I took over as the Teen Tops drummer from Terry Shane. Tom Robinson
was still the bass player (string) and was replaced by Jim McConville (electric).
Tom at one point had a custom-made, shocking pink electric bass made that
looked just like a toilet seat, and he endured comments ever after about
his lack of color sense.
Sue and Grant were the only two back-up singers I remember when I became a member. I am the hidden drummer in the photo to the right. That picture was taken at Camp Zama NCO club for a Saturday “Teenagers on Parade” radio segment. We made several visits on the “Mickey Curtis Television Show" on Wednesday night. |
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| In the years following World War II, Japan
fell increasingly under the spell of American popular culture, due to the
strong presence of GIs and other Americans in Japan during the years of
occupation (1945-1951). While rebuilding their bombed-out cities and war-devastated
economy, Japan looked to the west for inspiration. It was against this
backdrop that American rock and roll hit Japan in the mid 1950s.
Like many countries around the world, Japan took a shot at producing their own homegrown rock, which came to be called rokabiri (rockabilly). Early Japanese pop stars were quite a motley crew; not uncommon were such strange east/west hybrids as Izumi Yukimura's recording, "Hi no Tama Rock" (1958), in which Ms. Yukimura sings Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" in Japanese, accompanied by a big band! Many of the early Japanese rockers started out performing in country & western dance bands, which were popular with young people in Japan in the early '50s. |
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Before long, rokabiri clubs in Tokyo's Ginza district, such as The Tennessee Club and the always-packed ACB Club (the big favorite with American teenagers from the military housing in Washington Heights) were being filled with young people dancing to the sounds of these Japanese cowboys crooning songs like "16 Tons" in Japanese! The Japanese rockers also established themselves as youth fashion leaders, and soon groups of leather-jacked, pompadoured Japanese greasers, called rokabiri zoku (rockabilly tribe), were to be seen hanging out on the streets of Japan's cities. |  |
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From February 8-14, 1958, the first Western Carnival was held at Tokyo's Nichigeki Theatre. It was this week-long festival that gave rokabiri its first shot at major nationwide exposure. 45,000 fans showed up for what was to be Japan's first rock festival. Appearing on stage were the top three rokabiri stars in Japan, Hirao Masaaki, Keijiro Yamashita and Mickey Curtis, who so excited the audience that fans screamed, danced and rushed the stage, and some of the more excited young ladies in the audience even threw their panties at the gyrating Japanese rock stars on stage. If you think American parents were disgusted with rock n' roll then, just imagine the horror of Japanese parents! | |
| Mickey Curtis at the Nichigeki Theatre
Western Carnival, 1958, a watershed event in Japanese rock 'n roll. |
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| Outside of Japan, the best known
of the early rokabiri stars was Kyu Sakamoto, formerly of the band
Paradise King. In May 1963, Sakamoto's recording of "Ue o Muite Arukou"
("I'll Keep My Head Up When I Walk") was released in the United States
under the title "Sukiyaki," and topped the American charts for several
weeks, the only Japanese record in history to have ever accomplished such
a feat.
After the wild scenes at the Western Carnival were reported by the media, a negative backlash was inevitable. The older generation, already concerned by the perceived deterioration of traditional Japanese values amongst the youth of Japan, hated the music, and opposition to rock music increased. Rokabiri artists were banned for two years by the TV networks, and it became extremely difficult to obtain permits from local authorities to stage performances of rock concerts. Japanese rock and roll, for the time being, faded away, to be replaced by idoru kashu (idol singers) - clean-cut, wholesome pop performers, whose images were carefully manufactured by the country's talent agencies. |
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| [Ed. note .. now back to Travis' story] |
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A New Years eve gig in Yokohama...unbelievable!
The Fuchu Airmen’s club, a regular gig.
Ray Clauson’s dad did all the bookings and he told me one week that
he would turn down 8 to 10 gigs a week, because we could only play two
per weekend. The worst part of my affiliation, were the bus trips I had
to make from Grant Heights to Washington Heights for rehearsals. When Jimmy
took Tom’s place, we started having some rehearsals in Grant Heights. The
other thing that really pissed me off was I had a full set of trap drums
and I always had to get there 45 minutes early to set up. Then, Ray, Charley
and Jimmy would show up, plug in their amps and off we would go. When the
gig was over, they would unplug, and I would be there another 45 minutes
tearing down. Suzie liked me and usually helped me tear down.
Playing the ACB club in Tokyo. Awesome club! Built in the
round and the bandstand would rotate and rise and lower automatically.
As we played we would orbit and move from the first floor to the third
floor as we played. A drummer is the best slot in a band. We don’t have
to remember words. Only another drummer can detect a mistake, and we can
interact with the audience.
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I spotted two “drop dead gorgeous” girls on the second level and began flirting with them. Close to the break, I nodded for them to come back during the break. During the break, someone knocked on the door and I think Sue answered and told me to come to the door. As I was about to ask them in, one of them spoke and I realized they were “Sister Boys,” or female impersonators. (OK, drag queens!) Took me a while to live that down. Sue really had some fun with that, and I deserved it. Never made that mistake again. |  |
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The Mickey Curtis television show was a gas because we were treated like royalty and were a bunch of high school kids. By the strangest of coincidences, I have a member of my current church in Texas named Michiko, who was a very popular singer during that period, and remembered us. She was a regular on the Mickey Curtis Show. She is currently fighting cancer, and the prognosis is not good. Oh, well.
| Some Teen Tops trivia:
When we would play NCO and Airmen’s clubs, Charley Brown would perform 3 or 4 Johnny Cash numbers. He sang more like Johnny Cash than Johnny Cash did, with that rumbling bass voice, and playing the guitar parts of the Tennessee Two all by himself. He would bring down the house every single time with these Cash numbers:
Half-way through the second set at most clubs, Charley would start out on a song called “Wipe Out”, (Ed note: an instrumental by the Surfaris about 1959) and I would do a 15 to 20 minute solo in the middle of the song. Ray, Jimmy, Grant and Suzie would leave the stage, go out in the audience and talk to the guys. When I became tired, I would do a couple of “rim shots”, and they would all come back on stage, plug in their “axes,” and we would finish the song. I think I was 16 at the time. |
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That was one of the special periods in my life.
Personalities:
Ray Clauson: Mature and talented beyond his years.
Charley Brown: Talent personified, shy, soft spoken.
Grant Williams: Always smiling and very friendly and had a good
voice.
Tom Robinson: Always laughing and helped me keep Ray from his tendency
to speed up.
Jim McConville: Pretty OK musician, quiet, and somewhat insecure.
Sue Clauson: My “bud,” shy, unassuming (give me a break, she was
15 years old), laughed at my jokes, and was a joy.
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Gigs:
We played to a wide variety of audiences - Officers’ clubs NCO clubs Airmen’s clubs ACB Club in Tokyo Copa Club in Tokyo Mickey Curtis Television Show Teenagers on Parade radio shows on Far East Network A wild New Year’s Eve show for the Base Exchange people in Yokohama |
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Grant Heights
Not only did my Fuchu activity follow me to Grant Heights, but the Grant Heights AP’s were also keeping tabs on me. At Grant Heights, I was finally living in a suitable environment, and having lotsa friends – those who lived in our compound .. Terri Milne and Wink Cummings.. the Fuchu clique .. John “Mike” Murphy, Bob Johnstone and Tommy Maxwell .. and "Jazzbo" and his Filipino gambling buddies. VW stuffing contest
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Travis is the one inside, on top, with the striped
shirt. On the roof, in white socks over passenger door, is another Bad Boy - William Milton Cooper. The notorious anti-government radio ranter was finally done in by the cops, in a shoot-out at his remote compound. His
website details all.
Photo from Len Walker '62 |
This is really vague. I came up with the idea of starting a fraternity
and don’t have a clue what the name was.
[Ed. note: the creative name
that several from the football team came up with was .. “The Fraternity.”
No "jocks" comment .. heh, heh .. but two pages previous .. Bad Boys 3
.. chronicled the Editor's run-in with several from the Fraternity, but
not Travis. ]
Things escalated and I drew up some by-laws and we picked 12 initial members. The only ones I remember, for sure, were me, Eddie Cox, Aki Yamada, Jim Sawyer, Tim Minor, Tommy Roberts, John Dougherty, Smokey Edwards and Norman Nishihira. Our first pledge class was Ray Clauson, Roc Rodgers and, I think, Craig Norton and Wink Cummings.
Don’t remember how many meetings we had, and don’t remember any social functions we had; as a matter of fact, I can’t remember anything that we did except buy sweatshirts with a detachable patch that had a sword and surrounding hands with hands surrounding the sword with the motto, “In Unity There Is Strength”.
From the beginning, we began getting flack from Mr. Marshall. The
point of contact was always me. Eddie was the Pres. and Aki and I were
VPs, but I always got the flack.
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I tried to lower our profile after the meeting with Mr. Marshall,
until Tommy mentioned in a meeting that his brother Russell was running
for the President of the Student Council, and maybe we could help him with
his campaign.
We (I?) came up with the idea of having a parade throughout the gym, and end with an endorsement for Russell. I borrowed a parade drum and a bass drum from the music room and tried to teach Eddie Cox how to play the bass drum. Great athlete .. but no musical talent. Anyhow, we did this parade, the gym came unglued, Russell was elected and the rest is history, almost. Mr. Russell called me in again and told me to disband the fraternity...we ain’t done nuthin’. |
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Friday morning (after my three day suspension), I reported to the office for re-entry, but Mr. Marshall was not in, so I had to report to Mr. Lay. I had forgotten to wear a belt (honestly!) and Mr. Lay made me go home to get a belt before he would re-admit me. The more I thought about it, the more it irritated me, so I found a piece of twine and cut it to about 30 inches, looped it through my loops and tied it into a bow knot and returned. Three more days of suspension until the following Wednesday. Now things get hazy and vague. If anyone was present at this party, I would appreciate knowing what actually happened.
The next day after my second suspension, someone had a party somewhere
near Wash Heights. There were a lot of people there, but I only remember
Eddie, Aki, and Karen Cappell. We were all drinking beer and having a good
time when Aki came in with something called “shochu.”
(Ed. note: that rat fink Aki! He was the one whose little "initiation" joke was to hand you a glass of clear liquid and say, "Chug this!" He did it to me; he did it to everyone. Big joke. Ha ha! I got yer joke .. right here!)
(Another
ed. note: in a search with www.google.com for Akiyoshi Yamada, some hits
came up with stories about a Medicare scam artist from Miami who is now
in federal prison. Hmmmmmm? The ULTIMATE
Bad Boy? Well, judge for yourself (click on Edit/
Find and type in his last name): Story
#1 (US News & World Report), Story
#2, Story
#3, Story #4, Story #5 and now a book.
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I later found out that it was 90% alcohol, or 180 proof. I “chugged”
two 8oz. glasses of the stuff, and the last thing I remember was passing
out while I was dancing with Karen. I then remember throwing-up blood all
over the Wash Heights Provost Marshal and waking up in an ambulance with
my mother crying and two medics trying to keep me alive.
Monday morning my Dad came home and informed me that I had forty-eight hours to leave the country, and was being sent to a reform school in California. My Dad and the 5th AF commander were big buddies, and they allowed me to attend a military school in Mississippi. When my grandparents picked me up in Jackson, Ms. I talked them out of taking me to Port Gibson and eventually finished high school in Jackson, MS. My major regret was that I never had the opportunity to say “Goodbye” to all of my friends and Teen Top fans. |
| Epilog:
I still sit in with bands occasionally when they are playing “oldies”, and someone in the group knows that I am a drummer. I really enjoy playing the congas and the bongos. I bought an old trap set and rebuilt it for my youth group at the church, but I can’t find anyone who wants to play them, except my son, and he leaves for college next month. The Teen Tops was my favorite musical experience. I will go to my grave believing that my brief visit to Tokyo were the best 18 months of my life...so far. |
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