 |
| Giver of all good gifts March 19, 2004 I acknowledged more than a few times in other stories that after I moved to Florida and Rich soon followed suit by moving to San Francisco, we usually communicated by email. During our phone conversations, Rich didn�t say much and I usually forgot everything I wanted to say. So it was better for us just to send the occasional cluster of emails to complete our thoughts. It was also cheaper and faster�ahh, Electronic Mail, the sweet technology. On this particular day, November 24, 2003, we were in the middle of a discussion about another trip to Vegas. I was planning a surprise for Amy for our 10th wedding anniversary, which was supposed to take place this summer. Rich confirmed that he was coming for the party and would reenact the famous toast of 1994, but Deni might not, it just depended on sitters for Madi and the new baby. I was excited to see that he was committed. I was disappointed that Deni could not partake in the festivities too, but at the same time, I completely understood the reasoning. Amy and I are repeatedly forced to turn down great opportunities because of a lack of supervision for the kids. At the time the Vegas trip was being anticipated, we started talking about our old buddy, Shawn and his new band. I told Rich that they had a website he could visit and this lead to the next topic of interest. I�m not sure if this subject sparked his memory or this gave him the initial idea, but his next email stated, �I gotta get the jets site up and running. Are there any pictures of us playing together?� To which I replied, �I don't think I do have any pics from those days...are you serious about the Jets site or just joking (and remember, don't toy with my emotions, I am not still a big rock star like you two, so all I have left is this).� The follow-up message was a detailed record of our musical projects together. It was as if part of my life passed before my eyes. I checked my pulse to make sure I was still alive and I did not continue to go toward the light, which turned out to be my desk lamp. It listed every band and band member from 1983 up through 1999. He remembered even the most obscure band-mates by describing them to me even though we may have only played with them just the one time. During the beginning of our career, Rich, Shawn, and I searched long and hard for a match to our likes and musical tastes, so we played with many versions of the same bands. Rich had done a good job and kick-started my memory by using imagery of the many part-time musicians in our early projects, but he didn�t remember some of the exact names and dates so he asked me to fill in the blanks. I was happy to oblige then and now. This is the reason I finished what he started on my website pages as a small token of my appreciation to him. I pieced together our musical r�sum� from the notes we passed back and forth in our emails on that day. It was intended to be posted in the �Music� section of his website, but it now lives on the pages of my �Music� section under �Dan�s Musical Resume�. See the PSA at the bottom of this page to visit the site. Of course, it doesn�t include the more popular Pittsburgh bands that he was in without me because I don�t have the accurate dates and names from those days, but otherwise it is pretty complete. Because after all it is my site, it does include a band that Rich introduced to me with his many musical connections, but he was not in with me. I decided to only include the �major players�, but it was nice to remember all the others that helped Rich and I get to where we are musically, even if it was only in our minds. I will now mention their names here, as they do in passing at the Grammys and using the words Rich did in the email. �BF Band: (1983) Dan Rembert, Rich Rust, Tim Lanz, Donny Bradfield, anyone else? (maybe Matt Rust, but he may have been too young)�, �The Saints: (1983) Rich Rust, Dan Rembert, Tim Lanz, Eric Jacoby, and Shawn Cray�, �Kous (1985) or was this also the Jets (nope, it was Kous): Rich, Chris Cray, Dan, and Shawn�, �ISSE: (1984 - 1985) Dan, Shawn, Rich, Eric, and that kid who's house we did the Van Halen videos in (Brad Graham)�, �ISE: (1986 - 1987) Dan, Rich, Shawn, and wasn�t Ron Stetz (and a guy named Mike that played bass) in the band for a week or so (this line-up was the second attempt at making ISE a household name)�, and �oh, yeah - we played with those keyboard guys once or twice (Len Costa and Reagan Geismen)�. Thanks to Shawn who summoned up Brad's, Mike's, Len's, and Regan's names. As I stated in my initial email answer, Rich engulfed me with memories of my celebrity life in the 80s. Since my textbook �mullet� locks were cut off in 1992 like some pseudo rock-star version of Samson, all I had left were these great memories of fun and camaraderie and of our collective strategy to conquer the world with our superstar status. He also included the efforts of our �wanna be� stardom of the 90s with me, Rich, and Matt, which were side projects to all his popular bands of the day. This is why Rich was such a great friend. He regularly amazed me with gifts of this nature. Just when I thought that he wasn�t paying attention or didn�t seem to embrace our alliance, he would present to me a detailed, well-thought-out gift from his heart. It was always some trivial gift that meant a great deal to me and he always recognized it as the ideal present for me. Throughout the years he also gave me, among other things, a guitar for his wedding, a Daniel the Striped Tiger puppet because of our mutual love for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and the last gift this past December for my birthday was a 6-in-1 Casino House because of our history in casinos and my well-documented love for gambling (I was going to also use this to teach him how to play craps). You will notice the common thread was that they all are gifts with meaning. These were all great gifts, but the favorite act of his kindness was given to me for my 30th Birthday. It had been a while since the last visit with Rich. We were both working downtown (dauntaun for all your Pittsburghers out there), so we decided to meet for lunch one day. We ate and then sat on the corner across from his work at RealPittsburgh.com to catch-up for a little bit before it was time to get back to work. A month or two had passed since my birthday, but Rich still had my present waiting for me. In the middle of our conversation he pulled out this cardboard box exactly like the ones you get from all the mail-order CD clubs. I said, �You didn�t have to get me a membership to BMG, I�m already a member.� He just looked at me with anticipation dripping off his face like he awaited a grand response. I opened the box, which was authentically sealed, to find my name written beside the cover art of the jewel case, which was shrink-wrapped. It read, �the dan rembert collection, volume one�. My first comment after my jaw returned to its normal position was, �Wow, so when do we start on volume two?� The next thought was this is just a facsimile of a CD case with no music, but I opened it and was pleasantly surprised to find a CD inside. My next question that came to mind was �Is the music just a collection of my favorite songs?� Rich�s answer was �Well, yes and no�, it was our music compiled from performances of the Jets/Jet Fighters. The CD was accompanied by liner notes, photos of us and a catalog of past albums. It had the complete appearance of an actual �Best Of� CD. It was filled with all of his favorite songs from those days. The songs were transferred from the old tapes to CD to preserve in theory for an eternity. All I continued to think about was how much effort and creativity went into this gift. This CD is now one of my prized possessions. I show it off on special occasions and listen to it frequently. It helped me on our trip back to Pittsburgh for Rich�s funeral and many times since then. It helped me practice for the Tribute Show and will continue to help me for the rest of my life. Thanks for the gifts of our memories together, Rich, I will cherish them forever. Of all the caring gifts he gave to me, the greatest gift was his friendship. Public Service Announcement: To read Dan and Rich�s Musical Resume, go to the Dan�s Musical Resume web site. |
 |
 |
| Richard John Rust |
| March 9, 1971 - January 13, 2004 |
| My Best Friend and Cousin, I will Love and Remember you Forever. |
 |
| Stories about Rich |