Episode 9
History and Rock and Roll: visiting Bret Michaels' Hometown
🎙️
Best known as the lead singer of the 80s hair band, Poison, Bret Michaels had a big impact on Jenn's life. We took an opportunity to do something a little different and film a Walk With History video from his hometown of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania!
Walking through small-town Pennsylvania was that much more fun as we explored where he grew up, went to high school, played, and eventually put his father to rest.
🚕 Google Map to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
🎥 Bret Michaels Hometown Tour (video)
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Transcript
[Music]
Speaker:greetings and welcome to the talk with
Speaker:History Podcast I am your host Scott
Speaker:here with my wife and historian Jen
Speaker:hello on this podcast we talk about
Speaker:history's continuing impact on us and
Speaker:our personal journey through YouTube as
Speaker:we continue to explore record and share
Speaker:our history locks with you
Speaker:real quick before we get into our main
Speaker:topic I want to lead off with our
Speaker:five-star question of the week
Speaker:and we're still looking for iTunes
Speaker:reviews out there we're a couple
Speaker:episodes ahead haven't gotten quite any
Speaker:uh five star reviews although there was
Speaker:a couple there was two nice ones left on
Speaker:there by myself and bye
Speaker:so if you want to have a question
Speaker:answered on this podcast I will do my
Speaker:best to answer it if you leave us a
Speaker:review on iTunes so please leave us a
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Speaker:this podcast
Speaker:[Music]
Speaker:now the 1980s was full of big hair neon
Speaker:clothes loud bands and louder rock and
Speaker:roll
Speaker:the band Poison helped Define the crazy
Speaker:culture around those 1980s hair bands
Speaker:and it had multiple big hits
Speaker:but did you know that the lead singer of
Speaker:poison was from a small town not far
Speaker:from Jen's hometown of Pittsburgh
Speaker:Pennsylvania
Speaker:it's no wonder that my wife has always
Speaker:had a childhood crush on the man that
Speaker:sang for poison
Speaker:and he came from a small town called
Speaker:Mechanicsburg PA so Jen why don't you
Speaker:tell us about who we are talking about
Speaker:today so we are going to talk about
Speaker:um Brett Michael's side check and you
Speaker:would know him just as Brett Michaels
Speaker:and I have always when it comes down to
Speaker:the 80s hair bands that I love poison is
Speaker:number one and because Brett Michaels is
Speaker:there you know their front man he's
Speaker:never one but did you even know who
Speaker:Brett Michaels was I I had zero clue who
Speaker:Brett Michaels was and now I have seen
Speaker:Brett Michaels in concert in person at
Speaker:least three times yes yes we actually
Speaker:saw him like third row in San Diego yeah
Speaker:that was pretty good the last time we
Speaker:saw him at his tiny little uh Casino
Speaker:somewhere in Mississippi yeah that was
Speaker:not very good he's he's getting a little
Speaker:long on the tooth yeah he was like
Speaker:coughing foreign
Speaker:because you know the audience his
Speaker:audience he knows his demographic so
Speaker:he's got to turn the music up a little
Speaker:bit louder but uh no I had no clue who
Speaker:Brett Michaels was so why don't you tell
Speaker:us who he was so he was just a small
Speaker:town Pennsylvania boy so
Speaker:I
Speaker:I am from Pittsburgh and Brett Michaels
Speaker:was born in Butler Pennsylvania which is
Speaker:closer to Pittsburgh but it's when he's
Speaker:five or six years old that his family
Speaker:moves to Mechanicsburg and Mechanicsburg
Speaker:is a little bit farther away from
Speaker:Pittsburgh it's more towards Harrisburg
Speaker:and Mechanicsburg it's a little bit
Speaker:better a little bit bigger city right
Speaker:yeah and it's it's some it's on the
Speaker:other side of the state so it's closer
Speaker:to
Speaker:Gettysburg the Eastern side of
Speaker:Pennsylvania where Pittsburgh is the
Speaker:western side of Pennsylvania so he's
Speaker:moving Eastern and uh and he moved there
Speaker:because his dad was in the Army Navy
Speaker:Navy okay
Speaker:oh there we go I I like Brett Michaels
Speaker:just a little bit more now
Speaker:so and so that is where he's living when
Speaker:he gets diagnosed with diabetes
Speaker:they take him to Harrisburg they take
Speaker:him to the hospital there he's sick at
Speaker:six years old and they can't figure out
Speaker:why he takes them to the hospitals in
Speaker:three weeks he's there and he gets
Speaker:diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and if
Speaker:you know anything about Michael's he
Speaker:he's pretty open about that yeah
Speaker:and so he that's where he grows up and
Speaker:he's just I just take him as a Small
Speaker:Town Pennsylvania guy I love sports
Speaker:loves the Steelers loves to hunt loves
Speaker:all those kind of Pennsylvania things
Speaker:and he gets a band together now we in
Speaker:the video
Speaker:we go to his house on Hemlock Drive
Speaker:which is easy to find the address yeah
Speaker:we've so we we drove to Mechanicsburg on
Speaker:our way back from Washington DC yes
Speaker:that's right and
Speaker:we give a little history about
Speaker:Mechanicsburg like why is it called
Speaker:Mechanicsburg that was actually really
Speaker:interesting can you remind the Conestoga
Speaker:wagons when they would travel West
Speaker:remind me what the Conestoga wagons were
Speaker:again you know when people would the
Speaker:wagons like when people would travel
Speaker:west across America to go Homestead okay
Speaker:so like back when people were actually
Speaker:discovering them yeah old wagons with
Speaker:Wagon Wheels Mechanicsburg is usually
Speaker:the place people would stop to get
Speaker:things fixed yep that's where the
Speaker:mechanics were yeah I thought that was
Speaker:so interesting because it makes so much
Speaker:sense yeah oh yeah that makes a ton of
Speaker:sense yeah very basic
Speaker:um but we go to his home where he grew
Speaker:up he was there from the age of six to
Speaker:the age of 17. so from
Speaker:1969 to 1981 because he's born in 1963
Speaker:March 15th 1963. so he does most of his
Speaker:high school there and everything and he
Speaker:doesn't live there now there's nobody
Speaker:connected to him there now but that that
Speaker:house faced a fire that's right so it
Speaker:was kind of rebuilt
Speaker:um since he's lived there but we just
Speaker:kind of stood outside there and yeah we
Speaker:found his house we found his old high
Speaker:school yeah so we go to his high school
Speaker:so he went to Mechanicsburg Area High
Speaker:School
Speaker:and he graduated he's class of 1981. and
Speaker:it's at that time he puts together a
Speaker:band and it's called Paris that's right
Speaker:and he gets some guys from high school
Speaker:um Ricky rocket and Bobby doll so now
Speaker:where were they from Mechanicsburg as
Speaker:well yeah that area yeah they were from
Speaker:the general area and then another guy
Speaker:too who eventually will leave
Speaker:to come back to Mechanicsburg from LA
Speaker:and that's when CC
Speaker:will step in okay and so they they he
Speaker:was a guitarist the guitarist where they
Speaker:have this huge it's one of those things
Speaker:that it's where the two people can't get
Speaker:along but they make magic together right
Speaker:so I think it's that
Speaker:drama that you know that anxiety that
Speaker:you feel with each other can be like
Speaker:amazing and can also be
Speaker:terrifying it's like riding a wild horse
Speaker:you just kind of like hang it on while
Speaker:you're hanging on it's like man that's
Speaker:incredible yes until someone gets [ __ ]
Speaker:off yeah and then it can be toxic yeah
Speaker:um
Speaker:so and then it's so it's 1983 so they
Speaker:graduated high school 81.
Speaker:hanging around the area playing with
Speaker:their band Paris in 83 then they had
Speaker:they figure we need to go for it we're
Speaker:gonna go to La so this is 84. yeah so
Speaker:this is like classic yeah 80s movie want
Speaker:to start a rock band make it big this is
Speaker:classic story this is like 100
Speaker:80s like hey I'm from nowhere
Speaker:Pennsylvania I got my band we're going
Speaker:to Hollywood we're gonna make it big
Speaker:we're living in the van we're going to
Speaker:the Sunset Strip and we're going to play
Speaker:these places and we're going to hope
Speaker:that we make it big and they do right
Speaker:and I so that's their guitar sleeves
Speaker:because he wants to go back to
Speaker:Mechanicsburg be with his girlfriend I
Speaker:think and then that's when CeCe steps in
Speaker:and becomes the guitarist and they just
Speaker:make it you know they start yeah and not
Speaker:only is their their music big and loud
Speaker:of the time and really good but they
Speaker:kind of have this a little bit of the
Speaker:Stick of like really kind of prettying
Speaker:themselves up like really that almost
Speaker:metrosexual oh so much you know so my my
Speaker:one of my earliest memories is seeing
Speaker:the cover of look what the Cat Dragged
Speaker:In and if you ever saw that cover it's
Speaker:the four of them but so androgynous
Speaker:right you can't tell if it's a man or a
Speaker:woman and I just I must have been like
Speaker:seven or eight like looking at this
Speaker:cover and I couldn't tell I knew they
Speaker:were guys because I heard their music
Speaker:but I'm looking at this cover going is
Speaker:is that is that a guy or is there
Speaker:wearing makeup they're all the stuff and
Speaker:Brett Michael's like and honestly like
Speaker:Brett Michaels kind of came up with like
Speaker:the pouty face look like that duck face
Speaker:that little like it was go okay look him
Speaker:up right some of his most famous
Speaker:pictures has that little pouty lips
Speaker:things that like women do today like
Speaker:that like he kind of came up with he did
Speaker:he totally does it
Speaker:um
Speaker:so we go we go to his house we go to the
Speaker:high school and then we end up going to
Speaker:like the park where he would do with the
Speaker:community park where the pool was where
Speaker:the high school football field was
Speaker:because before they had a high school
Speaker:football field at their high school they
Speaker:actually played at that Park so we go to
Speaker:that Park so those are the places we go
Speaker:in Mechanicsburg and talk about him but
Speaker:just
Speaker:the thing that I like about Brett
Speaker:Michael so yes we've seen him a lot I've
Speaker:seen him in San Diego I've seen him in
Speaker:Pittsburgh I've seen him in Mississippi
Speaker:with you and then I saw him in Memphis
Speaker:at Graceland that's right and I went by
Speaker:myself remember and I had met some great
Speaker:people there and I actually got to meet
Speaker:Brett Michaels and he actually brought
Speaker:me on stage for Something to Believe In
Speaker:because I'm a veteran I'm a Navy veteran
Speaker:yeah that's like kind of what that
Speaker:song's about yes and he loves veterans
Speaker:he loves the military and he was the
Speaker:nicest guy like
Speaker:you you can you know you imagine people
Speaker:are but he really is genuine nice cared
Speaker:about what I had to say was interested
Speaker:like listening to me talk like wasn't
Speaker:looking like he was done I needed to go
Speaker:somewhere like really was the nicest guy
Speaker:and even with the first time I really
Speaker:got a true introduction to Brett
Speaker:Michaels was when he was on Rock of Love
Speaker:Yes 2007 2000 we just got married we had
Speaker:just been married and so we just started
Speaker:watching the show like that we actually
Speaker:watched that show pretty ridiculous if I
Speaker:wasn't married Scott I'd totally be on
Speaker:yeah so he's on the show and he's like
Speaker:typical single like you know kind of
Speaker:still sort of a rock star kind of pass
Speaker:past that
Speaker:um you know and again that was early on
Speaker:with shows like that right there wasn't
Speaker:hadn't been too many shows no like kind
Speaker:of like a bachelor kind of show but it
Speaker:hadn't really been done but so he's a
Speaker:genuine guy and you can even see it on
Speaker:that show like he is in interested he
Speaker:likes women oh for sure he doesn't make
Speaker:that no he he's there's no bones about
Speaker:it yeah he was there for the pretty
Speaker:girls he likes women and he likes all
Speaker:women and he's very like equal
Speaker:opportunity women like her and he is
Speaker:open to talking to all of them and
Speaker:giving them all his time and he doesn't
Speaker:seem to like discriminate against any
Speaker:type of woman so it's no not at all he
Speaker:seems totally like chill about that he's
Speaker:done a lot of like he did cribs so if
Speaker:you watch his cribs okay I don't think I
Speaker:saw that he totally is again seems
Speaker:completely chill and he won Celebrity
Speaker:Apprentice that's right in 2010 with
Speaker:with then just Donald Trump yeah he got
Speaker:it that's right all the celebrities oh
Speaker:my gosh again I think that genuine
Speaker:goodness that he's just a good guy comes
Speaker:out yeah and he he won that whole show
Speaker:oh I forgot about that yeah so now Jenna
Speaker:I have to ask you something
Speaker:[Music]
Speaker:do you remember kind of my initial
Speaker:introduction to 80s music
Speaker:through you this is the CDs I bought you
Speaker:yes so for those who who are listening
Speaker:who aren't familiar with Jen and I right
Speaker:so she's she's a couple years older than
Speaker:me and so so she introduced me to 80s
Speaker:music and she gave me a couple CDs and
Speaker:one of them was Chicago
Speaker:I don't even remember six sticks and
Speaker:classic so so like of the time right
Speaker:when we first started dating right there
Speaker:nobody really had like iPods or anything
Speaker:like that yet and so we had CDs and so
Speaker:she was so she circled Hey listen to
Speaker:these songs these are the classic sticks
Speaker:ones these this is you gave me a couple
Speaker:CDs yeah so I'm driving up to see from
Speaker:San Diego
Speaker:up to Sea to visit my mom I think up in
Speaker:the LA area my mom or dad or something
Speaker:like that
Speaker:and I start playing sticks and you get
Speaker:one of the ones you circled was babe
Speaker:it's like this so it's the second song
Speaker:on the CD so first of all you picked
Speaker:that CD first and it's the second song
Speaker:on the scene and I don't I don't know
Speaker:any of these bands yes none whatsoever
Speaker:and so babe it's it's a it's a kind of
Speaker:power ballad love song yeah I mean it is
Speaker:styx's song right that song it sticks
Speaker:this thing it's a great song now that I
Speaker:know it but at the time we were
Speaker:relatively newly dating we had been
Speaker:dating for a month and this was
Speaker:Christmas I had gotten you these CDs for
Speaker:Christmas she had gotten me these CDs
Speaker:and said listen to them
Speaker:and so I'm driving down the 10 freeway
Speaker:I'm driving on the 10 West
Speaker:had this had this had the CD in I'm
Speaker:driving in my 1998 Pathfinder right I'm
Speaker:driving down the 10 West and if you know
Speaker:the lyrics and if you know the lyrics of
Speaker:babe and it's like babe I love you
Speaker:whatever whatever and so I'm hearing
Speaker:these lyrics and I freak out and I freak
Speaker:out and I'm like oh my God and here I am
Speaker:22 23 years old just dating you for a
Speaker:month and she I was like she's giving me
Speaker:love songs so I freak out so I take all
Speaker:two or three CDs and I literally throw
Speaker:them out of my window on the 10 freeway
Speaker:and I was just like I I panicked I had a
Speaker:little panic attack I got you journey I
Speaker:think I forget what other ones I think I
Speaker:got you meatloaf yeah I don't remember
Speaker:what you got me because they are dust
Speaker:somewhere on the 10 feet you're so funny
Speaker:so I think you called me and you had
Speaker:said something like that and I was like
Speaker:what and you were like yeah that stick
Speaker:song
Speaker:babe I'm like babe yeah it's a great
Speaker:song and you're like you know the lyrics
Speaker:and like yeah you know it's a love
Speaker:ballad it's one of those 80s love
Speaker:ballads and he's like I just didn't know
Speaker:will you try to say that to me and I was
Speaker:like no yeah I did not understand the
Speaker:music or the times or anything I was I
Speaker:was quite young and naive yeah I was
Speaker:funny um so that was my introduction
Speaker:really to to 80s music and then
Speaker:eventually we listened to it together
Speaker:more and I found the I found bands like
Speaker:poison and white snake and you loved
Speaker:Whitesnake and like so I found those
Speaker:like a little bit harder I wasn't as
Speaker:much as a power power Bella guy
Speaker:but this video was so much fun because
Speaker:it really honestly wasn't
Speaker:really for the history we did it just
Speaker:because we wanted to do it and that's
Speaker:and that's part of the fun of doing
Speaker:YouTube and doing these videos and if
Speaker:you're listening to this for some of our
Speaker:what we're learning through YouTube
Speaker:sometimes you just have to make a video
Speaker:that might be close right we we touched
Speaker:on some history Mechanicsburg right his
Speaker:life and his life and we even joked like
Speaker:hey we hesitate to call this history but
Speaker:here we are in the hometown of our
Speaker:favorite you have someone that you love
Speaker:like a band that you love that you're
Speaker:you always wonder where they started
Speaker:right where they
Speaker:you know all come together and that's
Speaker:kind of historic I mean you can think
Speaker:about big bands I mean the poison is by
Speaker:no means like a huge influencer like the
Speaker:Beatles or something but people want to
Speaker:know how those people come together and
Speaker:even Beatles songs right people will
Speaker:find out where
Speaker:those names come from and sure I mean
Speaker:it's a little bit of like VH on VH1 like
Speaker:Behind the Music yes it was a much it
Speaker:was very much like Behind the Music we
Speaker:were kind of doing Behind the Music and
Speaker:so when we go to the park
Speaker:Brett's father had recently passed away
Speaker:Wally psycheck I mean literally just
Speaker:like a year prior so he passed away the
Speaker:same month and year as my dad yeah and
Speaker:um
Speaker:and you can find these things online you
Speaker:can find what his father is buried you
Speaker:can and I didn't want to go there but
Speaker:you can and so I actually put the flags
Speaker:and his father was in the Navy so
Speaker:important to us and he did the same
Speaker:thing for his father's wake that I did
Speaker:told everyone to wear Steelers gear
Speaker:right and we did the same thing for my
Speaker:dad so I just felt this kind of
Speaker:connection so we brought some flags and
Speaker:put them in the Park yeah we didn't want
Speaker:to go to the Grave yeah we just didn't
Speaker:think that was appropriate
Speaker:um and his family still lives close by
Speaker:they live in Camp Hill which is close to
Speaker:Mechanicsburg so his mom and his stepdad
Speaker:they still live close by and he visits
Speaker:like all the time if you follow him on
Speaker:Facebook or Instagram like he goes to
Speaker:his mom's house a lot because he visited
Speaker:Sarah's grave a lot
Speaker:um
Speaker:but yeah I mean I followed him so much
Speaker:like so he Brett has kind of dabbled in
Speaker:things and he dabbled in movies and he
Speaker:made this movie called A letter from
Speaker:death row and I like own it don't you
Speaker:have like the poster of it or something
Speaker:I have I have the movie you have the DVD
Speaker:I have the DVD that's right and I have
Speaker:the DVD of all the poison videos this
Speaker:movie is terrible and it's funny because
Speaker:he's really good friends with Charlie
Speaker:Shane like they would party together so
Speaker:Charlie Sheen is in the movie and he's
Speaker:good but somehow they got Martin Sheen
Speaker:to be in it too
Speaker:and he plays Brett's dad and that's like
Speaker:the only good scene in the whole movie
Speaker:is where Charlie Martin Sheen said I'm
Speaker:like oh you can tell who the real actor
Speaker:are and um
Speaker:and but his wife is in it or his
Speaker:long-term girlfriend Christy is in it
Speaker:and that's also the mother of his
Speaker:daughters
Speaker:so when we saw him in San Diego I
Speaker:remember he brought his daughters out on
Speaker:stage they were yeah and then when I saw
Speaker:him again in Memphis his daughter she
Speaker:goes to I think Vanderbilt oh wow so she
Speaker:was there okay so I feel like I've grown
Speaker:up with Brett Michaels like you have
Speaker:yeah
Speaker:[Music]
Speaker:you've even made some friends that are
Speaker:kind of like Michael's groupies oh I've
Speaker:met some groupies and we still are in
Speaker:touch yeah and we still can't wait to go
Speaker:to another country that just cracked me
Speaker:up and uh but he's done a lot of stuff
Speaker:with the military I just really
Speaker:appreciate him and so I
Speaker:I like to just put the word out about
Speaker:him like don't forget him but I I know
Speaker:after you saw him in Mississippi I'm on
Speaker:my own now you are on your own if you
Speaker:ever want to go see Brett Michaels live
Speaker:unless he wants to do like something at
Speaker:a small bar that's more acoustic or
Speaker:something but you were you were on your
Speaker:own so yeah this was just a fun one to
Speaker:do because we drove around kind of a
Speaker:small town in Pennsylvania it was on the
Speaker:way back and it honestly was just kind
Speaker:of fun to do yeah we let the kids have a
Speaker:break yep right they ran around that
Speaker:Park and played on the playground and so
Speaker:we were able to film around yeah we
Speaker:celebrate Michael's like favorite pizza
Speaker:shop and you know we just it was it was
Speaker:very neat and so Brett Michaels so he
Speaker:started in a small town but he dreamed
Speaker:big and brought his dreams to life on
Speaker:the world stage that was the rock and
Speaker:roll of the 1980s and not only did he
Speaker:eventually capture Jen's heart
Speaker:but he continues to capture the heart of
Speaker:his fans and us through his support of
Speaker:the military his hometown ethics Steeler
Speaker:fandom and yes every time we hear him
Speaker:sing Every Rose Has Its Thorn we think
Speaker:of him and the man poison so thank you
Speaker:for listening to the talk with History
Speaker:Podcast today please reach out to us at
Speaker:our website talk with history.com that's
Speaker:talk with history.com but more
Speaker:importantly if you know someone that
Speaker:might enjoy this podcast particularly if
Speaker:they are Brett Michaels fan or a fan of
Speaker:1980s hair band music please share this
Speaker:with them that we grow through you our
Speaker:fans through our listeners
Speaker:tell them and look up the talk with
Speaker:History Podcast or better yet text them
Speaker:a direct link to today's episode
Speaker:anywhere that you get podcasts we rely
Speaker:on you our community to grow and we
Speaker:appreciate you all every day we'll talk
Speaker:to you next time thank you
