Looking at the personality of K.K. in that Toys In The Attic video I like to think of JP as artists who's slyness at humor and upliftment was hidden in the most unlikely subject matter.
I had some very unusual experiences with JP in the late 1970's. It was '79, in the Fall or early Winter. I had just quit a very dangerous roofing job and also decided to leave school at the same time. It was a huge catapult of change. As I contemplated moving out of town, I saw an advertisement one of the small downtown papers. Within the next hour, who happened to be appearing within walking distance from my former employer? Judas Priest of course. I was a big fan of the early Priest as a voice for the misfits and non-conformists - who were not content to be lackadaisical - who weren't ashamed to express what was on their minds; being a guitar band, in a weird way they had picked up after Black Sabbath and had some new experimental rhythmic stuff - kind of refreshing. and also a little bit of that Blue Oyster Cult sort of energy - writing about stuff that had a bit of fantasy and ire. And humor. Sort of.
Rather than head for the subway, I figured I would just walk the dozen blocks or so and check out if there was a crowd outside the show; stay for a bit (who doesn't want to see an audience of a band they like?). The larger crowd that happened to be milling about was near one of the exits. I did not know it at the time, but apparently this was Ontario Theatre in Washington D.C. and from time to time the security was lax there.
Not sure why, but the crowd I was standing in was rushed by about 12 fans from further away from the building. I risked being trampled and bumped into the wall had I not gone inward (scraping concrete is no fun). There was no turning back as additional fans rushed in, and pushed down the narrow, dark hall. Suddenly I was there, standing about 10 feet from Mr. Halford and Co., as he wheeled onto stage on his motorcycle (which I hadn't heard of), as guitar feedback launched the opening of the title track of Hell Bent For Leather. Its difficult to imagine having to pull off some of the vocal stuff that Halford's parts entail night after night; In death I hope Freddie Mercury and Halford finally unite and do a show, maybe Freddie can try some of those screams, and Halford can do some "nother one bites the dust. Who knows, maybe B.O.C. can incorporate that into 7 screaming diz busters, now there's a guitar line for Dharma, May, K.K., and Tipton.
Where there was any intended satire in any of those bands, there was also the camouflaging of satire, Priest were at least equally successful at it if you could catch it. Tracks like Ripper that describe the vantage point of a maniacal killer, and tracks like Epitaph that sound like something Freddie Mercury would play after a big heartbreak, somehow ended up on one record (Reminiscent of something B.O.C. would do). The edge between the release of irony, and the righteous vibe of bands taken in sincerity, is walked differently by different listeners - perhaps disagreed upon. Although I was never on Lithium, at times I felt like I could relate to being straight-jacketed and hauled and confined. At the same time I could see the humor and irony in topics that B.O.C. wrote about, taking fun in the occult, conspiracies and the hidden dark influences the rest of the world seemed determined to miss, while secretly nodding to their existence. Is it inappropriate to expect that Halford and Mercury can share a stage in the afterlife and trade numbers and do a duet of Epitaph? The injustices are all there, everywhere one looks. There is a point where the only thing keeping a person from madness is peering down that tunnel and seeing the joker/jokeress, and laughing and singing with him/her. If K.K. never performs again, and the new guitarist doesn't haunt the part with the same energy, it is again a proven case of artistic chemistry so fleeting and beautiful (if sometimes drug-influenced).
Rob Halford did keep me sane during some rough times, in a sense taking the extremes of their music as a kind of levity. Rob Halford and Dana Carvey - never noticed, but isn't there a resemblance?
No offense to the Halford - just seeing a comedic gift there. Beautiful being. Just can't ignore the wry humor that wrings out all that angst and social awareness.
