All of the lights in the arena were down. On the left side of the stage boxes and crates were stacked side by side, each of them placed so that the band's emblem faced the sea of empty chairs. On the right side stood a single solitary figure wearing a white ruffled shirt, leather pants size 28, and steel- toed snakeskin boots. It was 2:18 AM but nobody in the building knew that. nor did anybody know that 3 fresh inches of snow were on the ground and the rest of the band was on their way to Buffalo. At 2:18 AM in the Syracuse Arena, there was just a man looking at his hands.

His name was Walter Gordon, but everybody called him Flash. According to press releases, he picked the nickname up in college. The exact details, he chose not to discuss; how his friends used to steal his towel and clothes out of the shower house almost every day, and how people also called him the Blue Streak and Nature Boy. Those other names never really stuck. However, when Wally decided to become a Rock n' Roll star, the Flash was reborn. Flash Gordon would be superhero of the six-string, the fastest ax-slinger of all time.
For a thousand straight days, all Walter did was practice the guitar, and at night, he would look for women. Despite his solitude, brooding expression, and randomly arranged facial hair, he usually went home alone. For a thousand nights, Walter stopped by the same watering hole and spoke only to the bartender and Sheila, his 15 year old stepdaughter. Late into the 1,001st evening, he asked her to marry him. She shook her head and with a smile offered to sleep with him instead. The next morning, Flash emerged.

Word of his musical prowess spread like wildfire from the time he jumped on stage to jam with the Prawns at Graceland. A live album, "Once a-Prawn a Time," came out of that show and was the year’s biggest seller among males aged 14-24. His work on the themes to numerous kids' shows could be heard each weekday on independent TV stations across the country. It got to the point where Flash's phone was ringing off the hook. One Tuesday while he was watching cartoons and rewarming last night's pizza, he got a call from the lead singer of "Insert." It seemed they wanted to kick out their guitarist who had played with the band since their legendary "Quarter" album in '73. He could join in time for their summer tour. Flash had to think about it.
Venison Moore, the drummer from Lawrence, Anderson, Moore, and Esiason also called. He pleaded with Flash that despite their commercial success L.A.M. Esiason was stifling him as an artist. He assured Flash that the two of them would make a dynamite duo that could take off and corner the market on two piece instrumental adult alternative music. Flash did not have to think quite so hard about that one. He always felt the band was aptly named. The conversation ended with a firm, "I'll give you a call next week... maybe."

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