It was chemical winter in New York, and the kind of job I usually get from those prima donnas in Detroit — collecting a piece of garbage someone else has turned down. Check out these punks from Boston.

"Aerosmith," said Detroit's doyen of the underground, "We got to have the information."

"No way," I said. "It would be easier to interview Howard Hughes, and more fun."

"Hughes is dead," said the voice from Detroit.

"So are 'pop stars' and the 'Mersey beat,"' I said. But tell that to Aerosmith's management. I tried to get this done last year for another organization. Called for some product. This chick with a voice like a Catskills Rona Barrett put me on hold for a fortnight then told me she was just too bizzy bizzy bizzy to be bothered with me. You'd have thought Princess Radziwill was in her office, keeping three balls in the air at the same time.

"You gotta try," said the voice on the other end of the line. "These people can't be all that bad."

"Look what they did for the New York Dolls!" I said.