The Day Pete Invited Us Over For Pizza & Jack

The great part about FB and the internet is getting back in touch with people who know you as a teenager. (Well, I guess that could be good and bad). Peter Steele's niece, Marie got a reminder recently from her high school friend Debbie about the day Peter invited them down to the basement to watch him create the inspiration for JACK DANIELS & PIZZA.

                                                                   Summer of 1984


Tara, Marie and Debbie were hanging around at Nettie's, when Peter asked them if they wanted to see what he was doing in the basement. He invited the 3 girls downstairs to the kitchen area. He had the sink filled up with water, multiple canned tomatoes were open on the counter, and he had a microphone and a recording machine hooked up near the sink. The place was a mess with tomato pieces and sauce all over the counter. He looked like he was starting to cook something. But he wasn't.

He asked them did they know what Jack Daniels was and how badly it goes with Pizza. Peter started telling them about a time that he was hanging with his friends drinking and eating, until he felt the undeniable tell tale sign that the food and drinks were going to make a reappearance in the form of projectile vomiting. So, that day, he was trying to recreate the experience without having to deal with the hangover.

Peter told the girls to be very quiet. He started the recorder, put his fingers in his mouth and started to make retching noises. Then with the other hand, he grabbed crushed and whole tomatoes in his hand and poured it into the water-filled sink. Between the retching noise and the tomato dunks and water splashing, Peter would try to stifle a laugh.

It took several takes for Jack Daniels and Pizza to get recorded, because the girls couldn't stop squealing and Peter couldn't hold his laughter back. But it was fun ! They also did the recording in the bathroom too, dropping tomatoes and sauce into the toilet while holding the recording device nearby. Peter wanted to see if there was a difference between the sounds between the sink and the toilet. Of course, the girls had to try the retching too (but that didn't get into the recording). Peter used up lots of cans of tomatoes that day, and the kitchen was a watery red mess by the time they finished the recording.

Now, everytime Marie, Tara or Debbie hears the recording, they know they were there for the inspiration. And no one can even go near Jack Daniels without thinking about the afternoon they spent with Peter dropping tomatoes and making musical history.