It's about (the) Time

So, I went out with the band to a flick the other night, on a night off. We caught the new Ben Stiller-directed comedy "Tropic Thunder". Not bad at all, but you'd have never known it from the reaction of Dannii Lee Damage. He was incensed from the opening scenes. Apparently, he'd not seen any trailers for the film and wasn't aware that Robert Downey Jr.'s character was supposed to be a white man who'd gotten skin-pigmentation surgery to play an African-American. Seems Damage thinks he should get some kind of royalty from the film's producers. I can see you all going..."What the f**k are you talking about...?"

It seems that it's a well-kept secret (there seem to be a lot of those with this band) that in the 80's Damage had a brush with a condition that was thought to be similar to that of KISS's short-term guitar player Mark St. John. For a time Damage had limited dexterity in his hands and was unable to play guitar. He'd been in Minneapolis, hanging out with childhood friend Prince, and the Purple One wanted to do anything he could to help. He gave Damage the opportunity to contribute in a non-musical way to a new project he was overseeing. Thus arose Damage's uncredited run as Jerome, the guy who holds up the mirror for Morris Day to check his hair onstage in the film Purple Rain. While also acting as Day's chauffeur, Damage was able to spend some time sharing the spotlight, dancing to the hit "Jungle Love", and assist in maintaining Day's aesthetic and sartorial impeccability. It might not have been the most glamourous career move, and the repeated darkening and lightening of his flesh may take years off of his life, but how many of you can say you've worked with both Broken Toyz and Prince...and been a part-time African-American (and we hear he was able to pull off the deception due to good genital genetics...).

I'm not sure there's much chance that Damage will ever receive any compensation, or even recognition, for being the obvious inspiration for Downey Jr.'s character. but I've just found a new reason to respect the accomplishments of Damage and all the Toyz.

Shalom...

Eli Finkelstein (Cy's kid)