irezumi

Not neccessarily the first zap you got, because I am sure I'm not the only one here who couldnt or didnt get one the first time they went in a shop.

My friend took me to a Peter Tat2 on Long Island in '90, where she had got a dragon around her thigh and was going back for a consultation for her next one.

There were 2 people working when I went in; where my friend introduced me to Eddie & Alex. Eddie was working on the most amazing thing I had seen in my life up to that point; a entire ride/side panel of a crawling tiger that is still to this day indescribably awesome. What I saw there was worlds above the average crap I saw on all my punk & skinhead friends.

Alex was the hottest woman I had ever seen. Not just because she was a cool punkish sorta chick with cool tats, but she was really beautiful.

We chatted for a while, and by sheer coincidence, they had just moved up to LI from Baltimore, which was where I was headed in less than a month to go to school there. Excellent first time impression. At that time I did not realize that not all tattoo artists were so awesome and talented. Being 17 and broke I wasnt able to get a tattoo, but I was hooked instantly.

A year or 2 later I find out through a tattootime book who they actually were and it boggled my mind that I had met 2 serious heavy hitters and had just assumed they were regular tat folk.

This one made me laugh when I saw it

It could be anything really. From what I've heard, the pre-Prozack Jack was a bit different (and difficult) to deal with. These days he's just a retired guy that likes to sail his boat.

Great photos thanks for sharing!

I didn't realize that Jack worked in Columbus before Savannah--- I worked in Columbus too and Oak Grove (one town closer to post than Hopkinsville)

I wasn't sure if anyone on this forum (besides the 2 people that have worked here in town, one of which worked with me) would've heard of or met Jack before. Vey cool Deb.

He has an amazing treasure trove of classic shit. Just yesterday he showed me an original painting Don Nolan had made to put on Jack's back.

I'm in the back wearing the hat. I think that was '83. I'm 19 but look 12!

Holy crap Bill I just noticed that. You DO look about 12.

Yeah he had another panther jam in there that kicks ass also

My boss (Jack Witt) used to zap at a couple of different spots on the Pike (Lee Roy's, Long BeachTattoo) and has a killer scrapbook of vintage photos and business cards. I scanned all of them the other day. Being an ex-HA(apparently not an easy club to quit) and working on the Pike in the mid 70s, he has a boatload of great stories.

I can't give ALL of the gems away, but here's some decent ones I can post.

When I drive somewhere it takes me a certain amount of time. It might take 15 minutes, or it might take 2 hours. Depends on where I'm driving to.

Hoggy, for some reason I want to think theres a vid of you getting poked by him at a musuem or something? Didn't he color your sleeve at an exhibition?

Wow I didnt know Sonny passed on. RIP.

I dont mind sharing this one because just about everyone has seen it already.

Bill, you are correct. Brain tumor.

And Hogg is correct, I spent a lot of time at Tux's, both as a client and a friend. He did a lot of my first tattoos and a proud to have a lot of work from him, and among other things he was also a very major influence on my outlook & my early impressions in Our Thing.

He was the first person to put a machine in my hand, was the one to introduce me to both Higgs and DeVita, and always freely gave me info or answers to anything I asked. I dont know why he bonded with me or my old housemate Poppy, but for some reason we clicked. He was such an asshole to so many other people.

The very epitomy of the old grumpy tatbro, I saw him mercilessly & cruelly shoot down so many ideas of walk-in customers (including myself; he saved me from a lot of stupid tattoo ideas I had when I was 18/19) with the ol' "thats a stupid fucking idea. Thats not a tattoo". I can only assume this is where Dan got his phrase 'mine is not the only way, but the only way you'll get from me'.

I can not speak with complete accuracy on this, but if I'm not correct, I think Seth might've asked him for a job way way way back? If what I remember is correct, Tux treated him like a heel and told him to split; in so many words. Only Seth could verify this for sure. Seth if I got that wrong, my bad.

Not that Seth was the only one. I'm pretty sure the same thing happened when Dave Waugh was at his shop, feeling out a job if my somewhat shakey memory is correct. All of this happende back in 93 or 94, so if anything is incorrect on the Seth or Dave story, plz understand.

I was really bummed when I heard of his passing. It happened when I was living in Minneapolis and had no way to come back to Bmore & visit or pay my respects.

Jeff, you did a lot for me, and can be responsible for much of my appreciation of our culture. Many thanks. RIP

*nevermind

I notice that hardly anyone ever mentions Tux when Higgs or DeVita are brought up.

Is he that slept on?

i have a couple tattoos from dan all of which come with a story of course and i have i think 5 paintings from him. i will try to post pictures of them up when i get a chance one of my favorite paintings is a three foot tall cross with a bunch of images painted on it. it sits in my entry way and am stoked on it everytime i see it.

scott

Would love to this/these.

I'm really loving all of these stories. And

?

Just surprised that it doesn't happen more often.

I've wanted to do this several times at shop meetings.

I've never had one go over the free 50lb limit, but thats just me.

i guess this is a matter of your intention. if you rip it off cuz you dont want to have to draw it i think that sucks but using it to further your kill is somthing everyone does. i ripped off jerry roses till i could draw my own.. but i can draw my own, simple example but its the intention.

I agree completely. Using what you learn to jumpboard off of that into your own thing.

Extremely difficult.

Fortunately a little bit of interneting will get you the recent re-release of the 7"

Good luck on finding the purple album.

is there a difference though between using someone's style and copying a specific piece? just throwing this out there.

Definitely. But they are certainly not far apart.

Appropriating Ideas vs Biting/stealing/personal style?

Filip Leu on biting/stealing;

".. it's like blues songs; they all use the same chords and progressions, the same foundations."

"I try to think of it another way. Let's say I'm working on a water style, and I'm having a hard time cracking it. but a bunch of other guys pick up on the same kind of water and they crack it, and figure out how to put it on the arm all perfectly. When I see it, the first thimg I'm gonna do is rip them off and use what they figured out because I didn't manage to do it on my own."

"As far as people doing 'my style', well, the practical side is there's no way to stop people from copying, unless you decide not to publish anything and then that's a shame because you are not sharing your work with the rest of us. So you really can't stop them."

I'm feeling generous today. I give you 2 photos not available on any internetz anywhere.

Well, maybe you can find the single cover somewhere but I really doubt it.

These are from Dan's first band call Reptile House.

I am having trouble getting this up. Sorry. If you go to the same flickr account it is there, but for some reason it is not in the Dan Higgs set. It is on the third page of photos. There are two different ones. It looks like they are from an interview or video of some kind.

Gotcha. Found it.

How odd. I just recently scanned that same article for a friend. Except I scanned it large to read without going blind hahaha.

In fact that whole issue is a gem in the rough. Very early interviews with Marcus, Rassier, Hoyer, Elio.. for a already-dated publication at that point, this issue has some knowledge jewels.

In the Higgs interview, one of the things I identify with the most is where he talks at length about his experience at Tux's; what he says can pretty much sum up word for word my experience as well with him as well, to almost every detail. His description of the shop, its unique atmosphere, the mood it set, etc.

beardless

I must've missed this pic.

very true. if i was coming up into canada i would take a lot of extra precautions. when I was in a band and did a lot of touring in canada i had to go through a lot of that shit with our merch. the border actually seized all our merch and we had to buy it back.

Pretty sure this is why The Melvins almost never play in Canada anymore.