Wally George Punks Out of Metal Debate

Did Wally George narrowly avert a sinister end, plotted by drug-crazed, satanic heavy-metal musicians? Or did he simply wimp out?

Either way, the abrasive Orange County talk show host refused to take the stage at Bogart’s for his scheduled appearance Thursday night. According to the Long Beach club’s management, he also walked off with his $1,500 fee for the show.

George, who has built a small following through his cartoonish, anti-liberal tirades on radio and television, had been publicly feuding for months with Thrasher, a popular disc jockey on heavy-metal station KNAC-FM.

On Thursday, the two finally were to settle their differences on heavy-metal music: Is it the work of devil-worshiping deviants out to brainwash unsuspecting children (George’s view), or just a wholesome kind of fun for the kids of today (Thrasher’s position)? At Bogart’s, about three dozen people were willing to pay $10 apiece to find out.

After a brief set by a heavy-metal group, the Marshes of Glynn, George entered the club. Dressed in a double-breasted blue blazer and surrounded by no fewer than four of his private security guards, the silver-haired George surveyed the scene: a handful of tables occupied by clean-cut young couples, and several others by the leather-clad fans of Thrasher, some of whom chanted “Wally! Rock ‘n’ roll! Wally!”

George scowled, turned and left.

In the lobby, George argued loudly with the club’s management.

“I can’t go on--I heard three people say they’re going to kill me!” George proclaimed. After taking a swipe at a reporter who was observing the scene, George, followed by his security detachment, stomped out the door, got into his white limousine and drove off.

His sudden departure left the club in some confusion. The night manager, Tim McRaven, said George had complained that the audience was “drunk and drug-crazed.” Colin Christopher, the Marshes of Glynn guitarist, reported that George had “peeked in the window, looked at us, and figured we’re drug-crazed hippies. Actually, I think Wally was intimidated by our straightforwardness, and he just wimped out.”

Said Thrasher, who was left with nothing to do on stage except tear up the promotionalpamphlets George had brought with him: “I guess I win, eh?”

For what remained of the evening, discussion turned from the relative diabolicalness of heavy-metal music to the peculiar personality of Wally George.

“Maybe he’s been a misfit all his life. Maybe when he was a kid, everybody hated him,” suggested Jim Colquhon, a club bouncer.

McRaven, speaking for the club, vigorously denied there had been any plot on George’s life. “We were with him all the time, and we heard no threats of any kind,” he said. “If he really feels someone is threatening him, he has delusions. Apparently, he doesn’t understand the joke he’s created.”

George could not be reached for comment Friday, and his security firm, Dynamic Protection Services of Orange, declined to elaborate on the alleged threat to George’s life.

Bogart’s management was succinct in its analysis, however.

“We paid him $1,500, and he just ripped us off,” publicist Steve Zapeta said.