I forget how it all came together, but a group of us musicians who loved playing soccer were recruited to form a team that was booked to go over to Italy to play against one of the country’s national teams. I was excited to be included. I want to say it had something to do with Atlantic Records because the Average White Band and Brian Johnson of AC/DC were along for the ride. So was the actor Maxwell Caulfield (who beat me out for a part in the film Grease 2). And the band Ace, which had that great song “How Long,” also formed part of the team. Rod Stewart practiced with us in Los Angeles before we all headed over to Italy.
We were staying in a large Gothic monastery. One night I sat up late with Brian Johnson, AC/DC’s then new lead singer, drinking and doing cocaine. I was a huge AC/DC fan, so it was fun hanging out with him. As we got deeper into the night, we got deeper into various subjects. “What’s on your mind?” he asked me. I explained to him my general malaise about not being taken seriously as a singer or being allowed to grow as a singer. I wanted to improve. I was willing to pay my dues but nobody let me. Being around a real singer like him made me self-conscious, and I explained my whole dilemma to him. “I have no control whatsoever over my musical career,” I confessed. “It’s all smoke and mirrors and it’s killing me. It’s not how I want to be.” He listened to me seriously and told me I needed to figure things out quickly. “You need to grab the reins and take control. It’s your life.”
By the way, we beat the Italian national team, 1–0.