It's been 20 long years since the last Terry Waters: Undercover episode aired. That's a long time. Many of the fan sites have speculated about my whereabouts, my supposed controversial disappearance... and the like. There was a veritable cornucopia of theories put forth by the media and the self imposed conspiracy "experts" - silenced in one way or another by the likes of the White Castle Corporation, Neil Glaze, drug cartels, even by that dirty hippie Jerome that fell victim to the sting that Zeke and I put together. Others looked at supernatural forces, I'm sure due to my constant push of the spiritual envelope.
The fact of the matter is really quite simple.... I lost my vigor for undercover work. When a man's life work early in life exceeds the boundaries of his dreams, it can make him complacent and he can lose that "thirst" for his vocation.
This was only one element of my journey into obscurity. The drug addiction was another. In a way, the drug cartels DID silence Terry Waters. It started with a simple, innocent skim off the bushels at Glaze Rope... after all I was planning on attending a Ratt concert. But that benign puff of hemp started a hurricane inside me that gained strength with each passing year.
Soon I was banking on celebrity status and "insider" designation to obtain massive amounts of cocaine at discount prices. By early 1989, I was playing synthesiser in a Kajagoogoo tribute band outside of Blaine, Missouri. My 6'2" athletic frame carried only 124 lbs.
The next thing I remember was late 1990, I discovered Ecstacy, through my friend and band roadie Jerome. Luckily, combined with copious amounts of LSD, amphetamines and barbituates, the ecstacy was had broken my cocaine addiction. I could now limit my cocaine use to weekends, weekdays between 6pm and 6am (with the exception of summer). I was had hooked up with a band called EMF from the UK and things were looking up. That is until I was let go prior to the release of their first album for my drug use. All, I could say was "Unbelieveable".
I spent the next few years hitting the US rave circuit under the pseudonym Crayon Sandwich. I was a favorite of trance music originator Paul Oakenfold - which was odd because I was in my late 30's. But I was a slave to the rhythmic pumping of the rave circuit. Following the Sioux City Icky Thump Fest... I found myself floating in the septic tank of local trailer park. I knew I needed help. I was taken in by a man named Skeeter and his common law wife Phadera. I was going through some physical & psychological withdrawal from the drugs. I asked where I could score some cocaine, but the market is awfully slow in Iowa. Skeeter did, however, told me that he makes his own drugs. I skeptically watched him mix thousands of cold and allergy pills with common household products. It yielded a a substance called Methamphetamine and it became my new best friend.
The Meth allowed me to obtain employment at small business near Omaha. It was an appliance repair shop. But that endeavor was cut short when it was discovered that I had taken apart and put back together the exact SAME blender every hour of of the 3 weeks I worked there. I was shocked... never had I been this focused.
I hitchhiked to Southern California in early 1996 and was working as a roadie for a band called Sublime. My friend Bradley, told me that the meth was bad for me and turned me on to his drug of choice heroin. The heroin took hold like nothing else. By May Bradley had died of an overdose. I had shot him up. I joined the Long Beach Dub All Stars as French Horn player (Mother did tell me the lessons would come in handy someday). On a 2001 tour stop in Germany I told the band I was running out for a new lip reed and some brass polish. On my way to the music shop, I scored some 90% heroin and never returned to the tour.
It's a bit burry, but I know I was in Amsterdam in early 2004. I had let the heroin take over my life. I was working a window in the "Pink Light District", a gay prostitution area adjacent to the Red Light District. Since the heroin and meth had taken most of my teeth.... I was what they call a "natural" for this type of work. I lived under the Amstel Bridge when I wasn't in my window.
Then, one day in 2005... I was trying to bike jack the owner of a Tulip stand, when I heard a familiar voice: "Terry.... is that you Terry?" It was my old partner Zeke, he was in Amsterdam for the International Cameraman Congress at the Hotel Krasnapolsky. Initially, I attempted to fellate him and steal his wallet. But, Zeke would have nothing of it. He took me in and cleaned me up. Before he left Amsterdam (business class on KLM) he handed me a ticket for a 3rd class steamer berth on a Amsterdam to Los Angeles sailing. Sure, it would have been easier and cheaper to send me to NYC rather than take the trip around Cape Horn.... but, Zeke had a plan. The steamer was full of a bunch of Christian Missionaries... leaving me no chance to get a hold of drugs. Lord knows I tried.... injecting squid ink into your veins DOES NOT get you high... mostly very sick.... and purple splotches for a few weeks.
But the time I got to LA... Zeke had arranged for a rehab program for me. One year later, I was cured of the drug addiction, but I had rediscovered a love for food. I tipped the scales at 537 lbs. The excess weight caused chronic back pain and has led to two knee replacements. But, with the bariatric surgery I am now down to 276 lbs. And.... I am free from the grips of addiction. I only take Tylenol... and a regime of Morphine, Oxycontin, Lortab, Norco, Codiene and various patches and suckers to manage my chronic pain. I feel like a new man.
I have recently been evicted from the Sober Living facility and have moved in with my dear friend Jeff Conaway and his wife.... you know, from Taxi and Grease. Together we are staying clean and I am looking to make a comeback soon.
Thanks to all my fans and family for your support. And to Zeke... I couldn't have done it with out you.
Terry
