Underground newsletter Soul Club sat down with brothers A.E. Simon and Sam Simon at downtown Detroitâs The Fire House. Also present was Danny Partridge, bass player for the hit machine The Partridge Family.
SC: First of all I want to thank you cats for having me down to The Fire House.
Sam: Solid, brother.
A.E.: The Fire House is always open for motherfuckers.
Danny: Hey, do you got a nickel so I can buy a soda?
Sam: Danny, we already gave you a bunch of sodas.
A.E.: (laughing) Danny is just messinâ with you. He enjoys doing that. Heâs been here all weekend.
SC: Well, thanks for having me down to The Fire House. Apparently this place has drawn a lot of heat, pardon the pun. What gives?
Sam: Well itâs a very simple situation. The world is extremely polarized right now to the point that itâs like watching a cartoon play over and over again.
SC: Yeah, things are heavy right now. What do you think we should do about it? How can we correct this imbalance?
A.E.: Well maybe we can correct this imbalance if we stop acting like motherfucking pussies. Like goddamn fuckinâ crybabies that canât handle Mother fuckinâ Nature in all her motherfuckinâ glory.
Danny: (laughing)
Sam: A.E., Câmon. You shouldn'tâ be swearing around a ten-year-old kid.
Danny: Sam, I invented swearing. You have to remember I am a god.
Sam: Yeah, Danny youâre right. You are a god. One of those things itâs hard to wrap your head around.
SC: So how did you cats meet again?
Sam: There was a complete mess up. We thought The Temptations were going to do their thing but there was a miscommunication and The Partridge Family ended up showing up at The Fire House. We werenât sure at first if they would go over well but everyone really got their groove on with The Partridge Family. Those cats are solid musicians.
A.E.: Not to mention Danny invented fire. So I thought, this is going to work out just fine.
SC: So with all these riots, protests and general unease whatâs next for The Fire House?
Sam: You know The Fire House got their name because weâre a firehouse. But not only that itâs what we believe in. The great flame that burns away all the illusions and lies.
A.E.: Sometimes motherfucking forests have to burn so we have new growth.
Danny: My freckles are so hot I can incinerate the whole planet if I wanted to.
SC: Your mother is Shirley Partridge? Sheâs stone cold fox.
A.E.: Did you just call Dannyâs mother a stone cold fuckinâ fox? How much weed you smoke today?
SC: Oh, man I didnât mean no disrespect. I dropped a couple tabs of acid before cruising by.
Sam: Thatâs cool. This is the thing, right now everyoneâs flipping out about old Tricky Dick being president. Everyone acting a fool. What they donât realize is this is all supposed to happen. Nothing on this planet happens unless itâs supposed to. You like cancer?
SC: No, my grandfather died of cancer.
Sam: Well, cancer likes you. Cancer loves this whole planet. Loves to eat some good food!
A.E.: And that bitch cancer is always hungry. Lookinâ for a little taste all the time. You know why? Because thatâs the way the cookie crumbles, motherfucker.
Danny: And I hate when cookies crumble. But what are you going to do? One day my mom cooked cancer in the kitchen and left it on the windowsill for everyone to eat.
Sam: Basically what weâre saying is everyone is blaming Nixon for this and that. And thereâs sure a mess of blame that we can lay on his doorstep. But one thing we cannot lay on his doorstep is the sin of being imbalanced. When you let your emotions stoke that confusion fire the only thing cooking is sleepwalking fools.
SC: But people have a right to be angry and protest.
A.E.: But motherfuckers donât have a right to be idiots! All these fools talking about free speech, anti censorship. Man, these fuckers are the first to do it. If they only looked in the mirror theyâd see that pig looking back at them. Theyâd see that pig looking back at them with that oink oink truncheon.
Danny: I always wonder why people that hate cops so much act just like them. Maybe they ate too many jive turkey sandwiches.
A.E.: Danny, there ainât no thing called a jive turkey sandwich. But Iâm hip to your rap.
Sam: All weâre saying in this firehouse, we burn away all that insect tree rot. The tree that grows in the firehouse is the most beautiful tree that youâve ever seen. And it grows right in the middle and supports the roof. And this firehouse will never be divided. You dig?
SC: Man, I think the acid is kicking in. WhoaâŚâŚâŚ
End of Side One
Interview transcribed by The Partridge in the Pear Tree Partridge to the People! poster by Whale Song Partridge
