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    Any mention of the drummer for the Misfit Toys has nearly always referred to Mike Adams. Although 4 or 5 preceded him his style and taste      blended in so harmoniously that the other members of the band thought of him as the original drummer and Dennis Kapoyos as the original guitarist. Mike and Dennis were long time friends and school mates and had played together in the school band and with friends for a pick up jam. Mike had performed the duties of sound engineer for several shows so everyone in the band felt as if they knew him and he had a friendly demeanor that simply caused people to see he was non-threatening and had no apparent ego. His sense of humor fit right in with everyone else and musically he could discuss Deep Purple as easily as Echo and the Bunnymen. I asked him for an interview to introduce himself to the current generation of Misfit Toys fans. Over all the years of radio and TV interviews it is fair to say he received the least amount of attention, so of the four members of the Misfit Toys his interview comes first. This is a general ‘get to know him’ interview so there are no questions about what brand of drumstick he uses or why are his drums set up so strange in the mix? He, like the other original band members is from the Rockville, Maryland area, not far from Washington D.C. The area gave a lot of support to local music and there were a lot of live music venues and a lot of bands trying to get booked in them. Even a popular local radio station played local records and tapes  if - they liked them.

So without further introduction, here is Mike Adams in his own words.

(1) I’ll start at the beginning, when did you begin to play the drums? How did your parents feel about it since it is difficult to enjoy playing on practice pads and a drummer naturally wants to play loud?

Mike - I started playing drums in 1982. My parents put up with a lot of noise coming from our basement, which wasn’t really a basement, but a back area behind our den. There was only a thin layer of drywall between my drums and where my father sat and read all day long (he was retired when I started playing). With all of the various bands and noises that came out of that space, they never complained.

(2) Did you have any drummer idols at the time?

Mike - I learned mainly by playing to the radio and to various records. I borrowed a copy of the Rush album Moving Pictures from a friend and played to side one of that album on repeat. Neal Peart was one of my early influences, along with Bill Bruford and Alan White from Yes. Really, anyone that they played on the local rock radio station became an influence and I ate it all up as voraciously as I could. Later, Jerry Marotta’s and Phil Collins’s work with Peter Gabriel became a big influence on my playing.

(3) How did you manage to get your first kit?

Mike - I remember in elementary school I wanted to play drums but my mom had sticker shock when she saw what a real drum set cost. She wanted to buy me some bongos instead. I passed at the time. Later me and some friends decided to try to start a band and I was going to be the singer. The drummer we got to come over left his kit over night and gave me my first drum lesson. A friend that played saxophone and I jammed on "Rock Around the Clock" as the first song I played on drum set and I was hooked. I talked my parents into taking me to get a drum set of my own, and I was able to get an Apollo (cheap import) kit and a few cheap cymbals and I was on my way.

(4) School bands are a place where many musicians began and where many learned to read music, identify key signatures and tempo. Tell us about your school bands.

Mike - I had taken piano and guitar lessons in elementary school, so I had a very basic knowledge of music. I didn’t start playing in school bands until I got to high school where I joined the jazz band on drums. Many of my musician friends were in the jazz band so it was fun for me to play with them. I have always had a good ear and can pick things up quickly and that translated to playing big band music. I can usually hear the hits and figures and rely on my ears as much if not more as my reading chops.

(5) When did you first get together with other musicians to play in an environment outside of school and to attempt to play popular songs?

Mike - The band I decided to form with me singing was my first experience trying to get together and form a band. I knew people that played piano, saxophone, drums and guitar. I bought the music book for the Blues Brothers movie so I had sheet music we could use to play with. A friend and I were going to be Jake and Elwood Blues. Neither of us were any good as far as being singers but we were pretty fearless.

(6) What were some of the first songs you worked on with other people your age?

Mike - "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" from the Blues Brother’s soundtrack and "Rock Around the Clock" are probably the first two songs. A song we called Stray Cats making fun of them was also an early favorite. It was a 12 bar rock and roll song where every 4 bars we’d stop and yell “Stray Cats”. "Wipeout" was also a fun one to work on.

(7) Do you play any other instruments or do you sing?

Mike - Drums is my main instrument and probably the one I’m best at. I took piano and guitar lessons in elementary school. I learned all of the Cowboy chords during that time, but not much more. In high school I picked up the bass. I took Jazz guitar lessons in college. My goal was to get good enough on guitar to do gigs comfortably. As a music major in college percussion was my principle instrument so I learned Timpani, Marimba and solo snare drum among other percussion instruments. I still play a little keyboards on occasion.

(8) Was there ever a point in your life when you decided you wanted to become a professional musician?

Mike - I wanted to be a professional musician in high school. I loved playing music and the though of doing that for a living was very enticing.

(9) Did you grow up reading music or fan magazines?

Mike - Shortly after I started playing drums I subscribed to Modern Drummer magazine and it was a great source of knowledge not just about drumming but about music in general. It opened my eyes to so many different musicians and their music.

(10) Did you frequently ‘hang out ‘ at music stores or record shops?

Mike - I’m more of a hunter than a gatherer, so if I went to a music store, it was usually to spend money that was burning a hole in my pocket. I used to skip lunch at school to save my lunch money to buy cymbals.

(11) Once you were of age did you go to many concerts? Whom did you see?

Mike - My first ever concert was Air Supply. My sister and her boyfriend took me with them. Dennis and I became concert buddies and would spend a fair amount of time in the summer at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. We saw a wide variety of acts including the J. Geils Band, Rush, Yes, Santana, The Cure, Asia, King Crimson and many more.

(12) Did you have other interests besides music when you were a teen?

Mike - I was in the Drama Club and on the Wrestling team in high school.

(13) What did you know about the Misfit Toys before you first saw them perform?

Mike - Only what Dennis had shared with me. I heard a tape or two of either rehearsals or early shows.

(14) Their repertoire was a mix of covers and originals. What did you think when you first heard their original material?

Mike - I thought the songs were really good. It was hard to differentiate between the covers and originals, so I thought that was cool.

(15) Not long after you joined the band began playing out of town bookings in Baltimore and Richmond for example. A year later you were playing concerts in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, North Carolina along with better clubs in Washington D.C. Did you begin to have thoughts about the band long term or did you consider it just for fun? There certainly wasn’t much money coming in.

Mike - I thought we were good enough to “make it”. I think the songs were strong and each of us brought something unique to the table. The sum was greater than the parts.

(16) You wrote all of your own drum parts for the songs and had complete freedom to play as you saw fit. Did it come easily because you were into the same kind of music or did you really have to work hard at creating parts that fit neatly in with the other musicians?

Mike - I really tried to come up with interesting parts. I didn’t want to play typical drum parts, but had an eye to composition. I intentionally did not listen to certain artists because the rest of the band did and I didn’t want us to be pigeon-holed as a (fill in the blank) wannabe band. My interest in Phil Collins’s and Jerry Marotta’s work with Peter Gabriel really got me to explore using toms as part of a main drum part. That led me down a path to come up with something that was not a typical boom tap rock beat. Having been blessed with a pretty good ear, I was quick to come up with parts that fit the music but broke from the norm.

(17) Would you call the band a gathering of friends having a good time or were rehearsals more work than fun? Tell us about a typical practice.

Mike - Although we all got along well, rehearsals usually were more about working and involved a few different parts. We would work on old songs to hone them or brush up on them if we hadn’t played them in a while. Occasionally we would re-write old songs if we felt they no longer fit our direction. We would work on new songs which usually started from one of Ed’s demos. We’d work out parts and arrangements and would run through a new song a few times. Towards the end of practice sometimes we would just improvise/jam. Ed recorded some of these jams but I don’t remember if any of them ever became songs.

(18) Did the band ever have fights or major disagreements? Were the others open to working on songs that you wrote?

Mike - I don’t remember us having any real fights but I’m sure we had disagreements. Four strong individuals are bound to have disagreements. I think I only brought one song to the band and it didn’t fit the style so it’s no surprise that we didn’t work on it. What’s the last thing a drummer says in a band? Hey, let’s work on one of my songs. :)

(19) Many bands use a ‘jam’ method of writing a song as a group. One person begins by playing a hook or a good riff and the others slowly join in and jam on it until something feels right so they structure the song little by little. Did the Misfit Toys work that way or did they have another way of developing a new song?

Mike - Songs usually started with one of Ed’s demos. He’d play it for us and Elizabeth usually had a melody and words. Dennis and I would work out parts and we’d work on the arrangements together. Some songs came together quicker than others.

(20) It is very typical since guitars went electric for bands to get drunk or drugged before going on stage. Did the Misfit Toys have their own way to ‘loosen up’ ?

Mike - One of the rules the band had was to not do any drugs or drink before going on stage. In general, we were a pretty clean bunch. Although we all did drink on occasion, we were always sober for our shows. This is something that I took forward in the rest of my musical journey. It really taught me to respect the music.

(21) The Misfit Toys played many covers that few bands would attempt. They included songs by Ultravox, The Ramones, Nena, B-52’s, Icicle Works, Blondie and Squeeze, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Berlin. Which cover song was your favorite to play?

Mike - Whisper to a Scream by Icicle Works and 11:59 by Blondie were probably my favorites to play. Both have great energy and fun parts.

(22) The Misfit Toys worked hard at promotion and this included doing radio interviews live. How did you feel the first time a DJ singled you out to answer a question?

Mike - Having a background in Drama, I have no problems with speaking in front of people so it felt natural. I’m the most outgoing introvert you may ever meet.

(23) Tell us about the first time you heard a Misfit Toys song come on the radio.

Mike - It was pretty exciting. I was in my room listening to the radio and was surprised when "The Ordinary" came on. It was a surreal feeling to hear my playing come out of those speakers.

(24) The Misfit Toys played in some major venues in cities far from home. Did you ever feel intimidated or was it more like “ yes, this is where we belong” ? Did you find it intimidating?

Mike - I felt like we belonged on any stage we played from the smallest to the largest. I think we owned them all and if anything, the acts that played after us were intimidated.

(25) Once the band began to break out from all the other bands and people could hear and see how really good you were, did anyone ever approach you to join another band?

Mike - I played with friends on and off, but I had never thought of leaving the band to join another and no one ever asked.

(26) Was there ever that epiphany moment when listening to the band on playback you realized how good they were as a group and you thought the band had what it takes to go far?

Mike - Listening to the songs we recorded in the studio always gave me a sense of pride. I thought we were a great band and definitely thought we could go far.

(27) Were you ever ‘recognized’ by anyone as being the drummer for the Misfit Toys when you were not with them? Someone who just stared or even asked for an autograph.

Mike - No one ever recognized me in that way. I guess it’s the drummer’s curse.

(28) Is there any one Misfit Toys song you can point to that shows how really good a drummer you are?

Mike - I’d say either Lost Then Found or Invisible would be good places to “show off” my drumming. Both songs are very different from each other but display interesting facets of my playing.

(29) You were hidden from view unless the club had a drum riser so did you ever do anything outlandish to draw attention or dress the part of a rock and roll drummer?

Mike - I didn’t wear anything crazy. I usually just dressed in black. I do move around quite a bit for a drummer, but I wouldn’t call it outlandish.

(30) The Misfit Toys music is self described as “Gothic Rock” or “Dark Wave”. The norm for bands wearing that label is to wear a lot of make up on stage and to dress as if from a horror movie. Photos of the band show Dennis and Elizabeth dressed consistently nice and Ed in a long black frock coat.You were mostly out of the audience's vision even when on a riser. Do you believe the band had a specific look or was it happen stance how they appeared on any given stage?

Mike - I think we dressed with intention and certainly did not look like a bunch of bums off of the street. We had a look that fit the music. It was a cohesive package.

(31) The upcoming itinerary was announced to the band at practice so conflicts could be adjusted. How did you feel when a schedule was announced and you learned you would be performing several states away and far from home? Did you tell your parents about going to NYC or let them believe you were staying local?

Mike - I was excited to travel with the band. I don’t remember exactly what I told my parents, but I’m pretty sure I let them know I’d be traveling. It was part of the dream of being a professional musician to tour up and down the East Coast.

(32) What was your experience playing at CBGB’S, a world famous New York City club where many bands got their start. Did it hold any significance to you that the Misfit Toys would be performing on the same stage that had held Blondie, The Ramones, Television, B-52s, Talking Heads, Patti Smith and many more?

Mike - I think the idea of playing CBGB’s was better than actually playing there. Although it was a world famous venue, it was kind of a dive bar that could have been any number of dive bars between DC and New York. It was interesting that all of these ground breaking bands played there and got their break there so that part was cool.

(33) When you began attending collage one of your classes was jazz guitar. Did you have a desire to play guitar instead of drums?

Mike - I think that I enjoy playing various instruments but not exclusive to others. I’m still a better drummer than anything else, but I enjoy playing both bass and guitar. My goal with taking lessons again was to get good enough to gig on guitar and I accomplished that and have played in several bands as the guitarist.

(34) When you and Dennis were on a hiatus from the Misfit Toys you played in other bands. Did you find the way things were done in them was different from the way you were accustomed?

Mike - Each band is different. I have worked with so many different people in so many different situations. I got good at rehearsing a band and became a pretty good musical director for various bands I’ve worked with. It’s a role that comes naturally and I’m comfortable with. I also have learned to let someone else lead if that is what they want and to only offer suggestions that I feel are needed. While the Misfit Toys were a tad more communal, I have worked in bands that had a distinct leader that guided the direction of the band and worked well in those situations too.

(35) Did you keep in touch with Ed and Elizabeth even though you had been replaced in the band ?

Mike - Sadly, I lost track of them after I left. I always wanted to see how they were doing and didn’t even know they left the DC area before I left there.

(36) Had you wondered much about what had become of the Misfit Toys? Did you ever play any of the old songs?

Mike - I had a cassette of many of our mixes and the 12 inch single we released. I did listen to that some after I left. It was music I was proud of.

(37) Jumping ahead through the years, tell us about the letter you received from Ed.

Mike - In March of 2015 Dennis reached out to me and had found a web site owned by Ed that had some Misfit Toys music, pictures and videos. We talked a bit about how we didn’t remember some of the songs that were posted there. Later that year I got a letter out of the blue from Ed. He said some very complementary things about my playing and my time in the band and wanted to apologize for anything he may have said or done and gave me his email address to get in touch if I felt like it. We began emailing back and forth and that’s how we reconnected after all of these years.

(38) After catching up did Ed ever give you any impression he might want to perform together again – even if it was only to loosely jam on the old songs?

Mike - We talked about trying to get together and playing with the four of us in 2018. Dennis had recently come out to Atlanta from Seattle to jam with Steve (a friend from high school) and me and we had a great time. Dennis mentioned that it would be fun to do something similar with the Misfit Toys. I spoke to Ed about it and he was all for the idea. I reached out to Elizabeth and she said she would think about it. Unfortunately, it never panned out, especially with Covid taking over the world.

(39) You have been continually performing live and in the studio over the years, tell the readers about some of your other projects.

Mike - After Dennis and I left Misfit Toys, he formed a band called A Priori where he played guitar and sang, and I played drums. It was mainly Industrial music and we had 2 keyboard players. I ended up leaving because I got a job at Kings Dominion. I was there for 2 seasons. The first season I was the sound man for their theatre show and the second year I was the guitarist in the country show.

In college I was in the jazz ensemble playing both guitar and drums (not at the same time). After college, I joined a wedding band called Encore playing drums. We played 2-3 times a week every week and I made great money doing that. While it was fun and profitable, it was strange to be in a band that strictly did covers. During that time I also began building my own recording studio. Alesis released the ADAT recorder in the early 90s which suddenly made multitrack digital recording accessible to the masses. As a part of that I played with and recorded with many people over the next few years. I didn’t make much money doing it, but it was fun and I learned a lot.

One of the bands I formed during that time was Requiem. We were a 3 piece guitar bass drums playing what would now be called math rock or progressive metal, but at the time we were just mixing our influences. I was originally the guitarist and singer but when our drummer moved away I took up the drums also for recording. Recently Seth (the bass player) and I talked about re-recording some of that stuff and I actually wrote the beginnings of a new song that fits the Requiem mold.

In 1995 I moved from Maryland to Texas and gave up running my recording studio. I had a fantastic job opportunity that allowed me to progress in my work career that if I hadn’t taken, I wouldn’t be in the place I am now in my work life. After a few years I got the itch start playing again so I joined another cover band called Play.bak. We were a 5 piece guitar bass drums keyboards with a female singer and I was the only guitarist. We played bars, clubs and private parties around the Dallas Ft Worth area. We would play most weekends and played 4 hour nights which meant 4 sets a night, so we learned a ton of mainly classic rock from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. I played with them for several years and left them in 2000 when I decided I didn’t want to play bars anymore.

About the time I left Play.bak, I started playing at the church my wife and I attended. This was the start of me playing with various praise and worship bands. I played guitar, bass or drums, depending on which they needed and worked with a number of amazing people. I have played in the PnW bands of most of the churches we attended and just started playing in our current church’s band.

My work took me away from Texas and over to Nashville in 2003. I set my revamped recording studio there utilizing an audio interface and a computer to replace the ADATs and started working with people over the internet. One of the bands I worked with was Vertical Alignment. They were a part of the Christian Progressive Rock (CPR) movement of the early 2000s. At first I just recorded one drum track for them but eventually I ended up recording most of the drums for their debut album "Signposts". The leader Pete and I became friends despite not meeting in person for any of the time I was recording the album. We didn’t meet until after I moved to Atlanta. We recorded a second full length album called "The Trail of Tears Suite" in 2017. The sound can probably be best described as mid-70s progressive rock a la Gabriel era Genesis, Yes and Kansas.

While living in Nashville, my wife’s daughter Ashley, her husband Dave and their daughter also moved there from New Jersey. We had all met in Texas so it was fitting that we all moved close to each other again. Ashley and Dave had been writing and recording music in the northeast and when they moved to Nashville formed Sugar Lime Blue. Ashley sings and Dave plays guitar. I played either bass or drums with them during their first few years until my work took me to Atlanta in 2007. In 2010 they had written enough songs for an album and found a permanent bass player Russ but were having trouble with drummers. Junior, the drummer in the band when I was playing bass had recorded a few tracks but had moved on to other projects, so I came up to Nashville and spent a weekend recording the remaining drum tracks for their debut album "Far From the Tree" which was released in 2011. Over the years I have played with them live mainly when they’re between drummers and I have some free time. Their sound is more in the jam band/Americana vein with classic rock, blues and outlaw country influences.

After moving to Atlanta, I met a christian artist named Reeni who sings and plays keyboards. We started working together and I have been her guitar player for over 10 years. She used to do weekend long conferences a couple of times a year which involved playing hours of music. Covid put a stop to her conferences but we have been working on recording several of her songs for an up-coming release. Hopefully we’ll get back out to do conferences in the next year or so.

In 2018, Dennis and Steve (a friend from high school) met at my place in Atlanta for a weekend of playing and catching up. In high school, we were called Relayer so we considered this a Relayer reunion. It was a blast getting together to play all of those songs we used to play in high school in addition to some new ones we never played before. We even did a couple of Misfit Toys songs just for fun. Our plan was to get together every year but Covid got in the way of that.

In 2020, Pete decided to dissolve Vertical Alignment and formed the band Phoen1x which was the musical alias he used after his divorce. I played drums, Seth from Requiem played bass and Jake was brought on as the lead singer. We began work on the album "Immaterial Witness". We were signed to Melodic Revolution Records and the album was released in October 2020. We also released a 25 minute prog epic "Horizon’s Dream" in July 2021. Unfortunately Pete passed away in October of 2021. We had 4-5 albums worth of material that was written and I had recorded drums for. Some of that may still be released.

(40) Thirty years after leaving the band you are in constant contact with Ed and Dennis while working on a new album. Some of the songs were rehearsed but never or rarely played live. How did it feel to you, playing the old songs you had forgotten?

Mike - There were definitely songs I had no recollection of. It was fun listening to 20-something year old me creating cool drum parts and I enjoyed relearning them. Once I listened to them closely, I certainly recognized my playing and started to remember how I played certain things, or came up with something pretty close to what was on those old tapes.

(41) Do you believe the songs are as relevant now as they were when written ?

Mike - I think the songs are still very relevant. I think there is definitely an audience out there for this music.

(42) Tell us the story of ‘’The Haunt’’ music video from your perspective.

Mike - In June of 2019 I got an email from Ed where he described his idea for a video for The Haunt, which was one of the songs we all considered more of a set filler than anything else. We would pull it out if we were doing a long set, but it was not a song we regularly did. Ed had written out a storyline based loosely on the lyrics. He had asked if I would like to help with revisions of the music for the video, which I was happy to do. He hired an actress and shot a fair amount of footage. He was going to tackle editing it himself, but then decided to hire a video editor to do it. He had also found a singer local to him to redo the vocals. After almost a year of trying to find a video editor to work on the project, I offered to do it myself. I have done some video editing in the past and thought it would be a fun project. Ed sent me the footage he shot and I started assembling a rough take. After a little back and forth, we had a rough working version of the video and I started re-recording the music to fit the timing of the video. I laid down drums, bass and guitar so we could have a good idea of how things would fit together. In chatting with Ed, we thought it might be cool if Dennis would do guitars for it. I reached out to him and he was all for it. When he sent his tracks to us he had really gone all out and added several layers of guitars and keyboards. Ed redid the bass part and added a little cello. Suddenly, we had a new Misfit Toys recording, missing only new vocals. The singer Ed had found that was close to him sounded good on the demo she recorded on her phone, but we never could get her to actually record a decent studio quality track after chasing her for close to a year. Eventually as we started looking for a singer to sing the other songs we decided to work on, we had Victoria sing it as one of her audition songs and we all agreed that her version worked well.

(43) Will you be making more videos to go with the new album?

Mike - That is the plan. I enjoy video editing and creating stories.    

(44) You wear several hats in the band now. You have a greater role in the resulting album and things would often be at a complete stand still if you did anything less than what you do. Previously Ed tried to do it all himself and the results are a bit mixed. The way things were handled previously did you feel you had enough attention from the press and fans?

Mike - 20-something year old me was just happy creating music. I didn’t really get into the other aspects of being in a band or leading one until much later. I learned how to rehearse a band and get them tight. I learned much more about writing and arranging music. Every band I was a part of was part of my education and I ate it all up. In my work life I had a similar arc and learned how to manage projects and teams, so it was natural for me to help drive this project.

(45) A part of your individualism is displayed when you are given an opportunity to solo during a song and where most drummers go nuts and hit everything in sight you are more apt to solo on your cymbals.

Mike - It’s something that stuck with me and I did again on the first Sugar Lime Blue album. I like to approach things from a different point of view if I can.

(46) Many bands complain about following an album with a long tour. Of course things have changed from how they were but do you like the idea of going on a long tour performing if at all possible?

Mike - I love playing live and these songs were fun to play live. I love playing with Sugar Lime Blue and Reeni whenever I can but things have been tough in a Covid world. Even large bands do short stints instead of extended tours nowadays, but it would be a blast to play out with these songs.

(47) The music scene in general has been dying a slow, painful death with more people downloading or streaming older music than the new. Does this concern you since you logically want the record to be heard by as many people around the world as possible?

Mike - New music is always a tough sell. I have seen it with Sugar Lime Blue, Vertical Alignment and Phoen1x. SLB has been successful at touring the US and has built a grass roots following through that and their You Tube channel. VA did independent releases but never played live and while we got good reviews, didn’t reach as many people as we would have liked. Phoen1x was signed to a label but It didn’t seem to help with breaking out. It is a different world today than it was even 10 years ago and Misfit Toys will have to go with the new flow.

(48) Musicians, much like people in other professions tend to settle in their ways and find it difficult to make a transition to new personal or a new style. You have a long history in music and for performing in a number of bands as well as studio work. Do you personally find difficulty in playing what someone else – particularly a non-drummer, had in mind for a song rather than playing what you feel?

Mike - With the vast amount of experiences I’ve had with all of the various projects I’ve worked on and my immense love of all kinds of music, I bring a fair amount to the table. That being said, ultimately I enjoy playing for the song above all else. If that means playing a shaker for the whole song or playing a complex polyrhythmic part in 17/8 time that’s what I’ll do. I’ve been fortunate in working with people who like the way I play their songs.

(49) Do you have a personal favorite Misfit Toys song?

Mike - Heart of Sand and Dark House are my two favorite Misfit Toys songs. I always enjoyed playing "Heart of Sand " and still love listening to "Dark House". They are almost polar opposites but I think that’s part of the appeal to me.

(50) Last question: What is your favorite drummer joke?

Mike - A drummer is sick of all of the drummer jokes and decides to learn a new instrument. He goes to a music store and walks up to the counter.
Drummer - “Hello. I’d like to buy that red trumpet and that accordion.”
Clerk - “Excuse me?”
Drummer - “I said I’d like to buy that red trumpet and that accordion.”
Clerk - “You’re a drummer, aren’t you?”
Drummer - “Um, yes. Why?”                                                                                         
Clerk - “Well, you can have the fire extinguisher but the radiator has to stay.”