It's kind of a silly story, but here goes... I was working at a record store in New York called the Musical Maze at 23rd Street and 3rd Ave. We carried a lot of import 45's at the time (1979), and one that caught my eye was for "Can't Stand Losing You" by the Police. It was a black and white cover, with a man's feet danglng from the top of the frame. Beneath him was a nearly completely melted block of ice, and beside that was a space heater whose coils were glowing red (the only color in the picture). It looked like an amp to me, and then everything followed suit. I wrote the song walking from the Music Building where we rehearsed to my apartment on 2nd Street and Bowery, not a pen or piece of paper in sight. But that's when the best inspiration comes... The guy in the song was Johnny, originally, but we decided to change it to Danny in honor of our friend Danny Amis (former Overtone and Raybeat, now one of Los Straitjackets).

That's really funny Peter. Tracey & I were just listening to the Police - and I made the comment to her that I wondered if that song could have been an inspiration for Amplifier.

We've been listening to Elvis Costello & the Attractions quite a bit lately - particularly "Armed Forces". Did this have any influence on you back then?

Hi peter, I have a semi-funny story to relate to you about "Amplifier". I was a DJ on the local station in Lawrence KS KJHK 90.7 back in the early-mid 80s. "Like This" was a big hit in our freeform rotation (in all candor, I got a bit sick of Amplifier after a while!) Well, a decade or two passed, and about five years ago (2000-2001) I was doing a spring-break alumni show, and pulled "Like This" from the stacks. It probably hadn't been played in several years, but when I played "Amplifier" it was a hit with the listeners. Maybe too much of a hit--because the next time I visited KJHK studios, the vinyl copy of "Like THis" was severely defaced by what looked like a can opener, with the locus on the last track on side one....."Amplifier." Well, I guess it must have hit a bit too close to home for one person!

mike