Yea, Yea, Yea!!
YEA, YEA, YEA!!
JOE SCALZO
“KEEP A-KNOCKIN’ but you can’t come in; keep a-knockin’ but you can’t come in; keep a-knockin’ but you can’t come in — come back tomorrow night an’ try it again! . . .”
In the dimly-lit Mirage Club on Santa Monica Blvd., the Aladdins, a blasting Surf Beat/Pop Rock quartet, recklessly blow the roof off the place six nights a week. Dancers, doing the Jerk, Swim, Dog, Pony, etc., get so thick it’s almost impossible to see the electric guitar-equipped Aladdins. But you can always hear them. Particularly the long-haired lead guitar player, whose ear-splitting, deafening chords are audible for blocks. Maybe miles. But on weekends the leader shucks his Fender guitar for a silver Cromwell crash-hat with a dollar sign painted on the front and, low behind the fairing of his green Manx Norton, he races as fast or faster than anyone on the West Coast AFM/ACA circuit.
AÍ Krupa, 27, can’t decide which he favors more, his music or his racing. “It’s okay with me to do both. I can race Sunday afternoons and still be back in time to catch the 5 o’clock set here.”
Among the die-hard western road racers Krupa is a rarity, and not just because of his sounds. He has actually raced in Europe, including the TT and GP of Germany. In 1960 he bundled wife, fivemonth-old baby, and Manx in the back of a panel truck and raced eight months on the European circuit. Living like a gypsy between race meets, he ran up front enough to earn over $500 in purses, including being the first private rider to finish at the Nurburgring, where the race was held in a driving rain. But mounting expenses - nearly $1,500 counting his plane tickets — finally sent him home.
Krupa’s Manx now sits lonely in his garage much of his time, save when there’s a rare California road race. A year or so ago he picked up a 250cc Honda for a lightweight ride, but now it’s his street transportation.
In his seven-year career, Krupa has had his “moments.” In a race that has become legendary, he fought for the lead with Johnny McLaughlin (G-50 Matchless) during the entire 30-minute feature at Reno, losing finally when a rider being lapped clipped his back wheel.
And at Willow Springs he once borrowed an Aermacchi at the last minute and nearly chased Ron Grant’s Honda into the ground dueling with him. “Oh, is he ever cool,” Grant marveled afterwards. “We went into the sweeper just flat out. And his bike went into a great bloody wobble and almost threw him off; and he just kept the throttle on, then looked back at me and grinned!”
After “fooling with the violin” for 13 years, Krupa switched to Big Beat guitars four years ago, and has been playing professionally for the last two years. He has as much as $5000 tied up in his musical equipment, including one $600 Mosrite guitar (“for ballads”) and another Fender worth $300 (“for the Surf Beat”). And practically all the amplifying equipment the Aladdins use is his.
“Really — it’s the truth — you’ve got to be awfully ape for this kind of music to play it. Probably a little crazy, too. Aw, you know — just like racing a motorcycle.’”
