Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Deke Rivers lives in Bellingham, Washington. As an architect, he has designed numerous recording studios and witnessed the birth of rock and roll and its evolution in his youth in Australia as well as during his teenage years in Canada and the United States.

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the singer and his songs

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Contents

1 The Beginning....................................................12 Life in Australia: The New Land..................................63 The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll.......................................124 April Stevens....................................................265 Chris Wild and the Concerts......................................436 The Move to Canada...............................................797 Life in Canada: College and Architecture.........................948 Music............................................................1049 Work in Toronto: The Recording Studio............................11210 Late-Night Performance..........................................12511 The Producer's Research.........................................13412 The Receptionist: Sarah.........................................14713 Jack and Stu Meet...............................................15214 Jack and Stu Meet Chris: Call to Australia......................15815 Stu's Trip to New York..........................................18016 The Midnight Sessions...........................................19317 Chris's Trip to New York........................................20618 A Record Contract...............................................21619 A Star Is Born..................................................22320 Chris Wild Hits the Charts......................................25021 A National Tour.................................................25822 The West Coast Scene............................................27323 Top of the Charts...............................................27924 The New Record Deal-Johnny Dark.................................29325 The World Tour..................................................30726 Australia and the "Welcome Home, Mate" Tour.....................31627 April and the Offenders.........................................34828 Sarah-the Homecoming............................................38429 Cabin in the Wilderness.........................................40430 The New Tour....................................................43131 The Threat......................................................43832 Tour Preparations-Buffalo Concert...............................44733 The "Wilderness" Tour...........................................45534 The Songs Have Ended............................................464About the author...................................................475

Chapter One

Chris Wild was a superstar. No, he was more than that-he was a megastar. Even at his young age he was already a living legend. He had reached the pinnacle of the music industry. He was in a class by himself, way above all the other entertainers in the world. He had conquered the world musically and now was acknowledged as the world's greatest singer, composer, guitarist, and entertainer.

Chris Wild's new North American "Wilderness" tour was running its course. The Atlanta concert at the Atlanta Braves stadium was sold out, as were all his concerts now. His records sold in the millions. His Wilderness album, a masterpiece, was destined to be his signature album. It was still selling at a record pace, already having broken all previous album sales records. Tomorrow night he would share the stage in Memphis with another legend, Elvis Presley, the original King of Rock and Roll. It promised to be a monumental concert and it was going to be telecast all over the world, including Australia. For Chris, sharing the stage with his own idol was a very special occasion, something to which he really looked forward. Elvis had been his initial inspiration, especially back in the early days in Australia.

At the usual after-concert party, Chris had made his appearance and mixed and mingled with the media as he always did. Chris was always very accommodating. But tonight for some strange reason his recurring headaches were bothering him more than usual.

With the party atmosphere in full swing, Chris managed to slip out of the crowded and noisy ballroom quietly and unnoticed. In the hotel's lobby (which fortunately was relatively empty at that time of the night), he managed without being recognized to slip into an elevator, which took him to the top-floor penthouse suite. Inside his expansive luxury suite, he headed straight for the bar, where he had left his prescription headache pills, and immediately popped two down with a glass of cold water. Then he mixed himself his usual Southern Comfort on the rocks and slowly meandered over to the plush leather couch that faced the six glass doors that opened out onto the outdoor landscaped patio. Beyond the doors he could see the brightly lit skyline of Atlanta in the darkened nighttime sky.

He kicked off his cowboy boots and slid onto the soft couch. He wore black leather slacks and his usual black T-shirt with a picture of Elvis Presley from Jailhouse Rock on the front. With his feet up on the coffee table, he sipped some of the Southern Comfort. The warmth of the liquor as it slid down his throat was so soothing. Chris felt very weary and tired, which was unusual for him since he always seemed to have plenty of energy to burn.

Tonight he closed his eyes, put his mind to rest, and allowed it to slowly drift back to where it all began so many years ago. His mind began to unwind and reflect on just how he had achieved so much in his relatively short yet phenomenal musical career and how he was where he was today.

It all began back in the spring of 1943 in the small town of Viljandi in the small northern European country of Estonia, one of the three Baltic states. Europe was in the middle of World War II, and Estonia at the time was occupied by the Germans. On the morning of April 19, 1943, Christopher Sepp was born to Mare and Peter Sepp. Christopher's brother, Eric, now four, had a younger brother.

By late 1944, the German position changed as the allied forces strengthened, especially when the United States entered the war. Finally, it was announced that the Germans were evacuating and heading back to the fatherland to defend the German border from the Allies. When the Germans left, the Soviets' undisciplined Red Army marched in.

At that point Peter and Mare decided to get out of Estonia as soon as possible. In the final days, the Germans were sending ships back to Germany every day, and they offered free passage back to any Estonian wanting to leave Estonia. But once in Germany, these displaced persons, or "DPs" as they became known, would be on their own to determine their own lives-where to go, where to move to, and how to survive again in Europe. Fate would now determine their lives.

So with their two small kids, Peter and Mare left Estonia. Their ship Moira slipped through the allied naval defenses and made Germany safely. It was 1945 when they arrived in Germany with just two suitcases containing all their worldly belongings, but they were grateful that they still had their lives. The Sepps were now without a country of their own, and they became vagabonds, moving around the remnants of postwar Europe trying to find somewhere to hold out, to live, to survive. When the war finally ended in Europe, the Allies set up housing apartment complexes for all the DPs, and the Sepps were finally able to find somewhere to live.

Once all the treaties were signed, the Allies withdrew all their troops from Europe,...