As a child local musician Michael Patrick's hair was very curly. It might even have had something to do with him winning a contest and becoming a Gerber Baby. His face was plastered all over Gerber Baby food products for an entire year.
Today, Michael"s hair is still a winning commodity.
"They pull on it,” he says of people who encounter his 'fro at its maximum. “Most people are polite. They ask first. They’ll give it a tug and then scream to their friends ‘it’s real!’ People even make bets. I’ve had one guy win $10 off of me one night.”
While Michael’s hairdresser friends are anxious to get their hands, and their scissors and their products, on his do, they may never experience the pleasure.
“I love it. I get to live my youth all over again.”
Michael can be seen playing in Wunderbread, a 70’s disco theme band that’s often on stage at the Queen’s. You can also catch him the Michael Patrick and the Brothers of Soul band. There’s no doubt that music is his life and it must be fate that he’s got the hair to go with it.
“Everybody says that I’m this 70’s guy but no, I’m a sixties guy when the afro was big. In the 60’s it was more of revolution thing and a rebellious thing and then in the 70’s it all became fashion.”
Whether it’s fashion or a fashion faux pas, it definitely fits into the quirk category.
Published in the Nanaimo Daily News on Thursday, May 20, 2004. Copyright (c) Kait Light, kaitsquirks.com, Nanaimo, BC, Canada. All Rights Reserved.
