[Michael Schaerer's] life didn't turn out the way fans expected, but chances are neither did theirs.

In the early 1990s, Michael Shaerer was the frontman for Pale Divine, the biggest band in St. Louis. They played sold-out shows on Laclede's Landing, they had a record deal with Atlantic Records, and the radio stations even played some of their stuff sometimes.

But Atlantic didn't promote the CD, the CD ended up in cutout bins, the band eventually broke up, and that was that.

The Post-Dispatch story isn't exactly how I remember it going down. I know Pale Divine toured with the Psychedelic Furs. Guitarist Rich Fortus got along better with Furs frontman Richard Butler than with the frontman of his own band. The Furs were winding down, and Butler and Fortus started a new band, called Love Spit Love.

But I'm pretty sure Pale Divine went back to St. Louis, got another guitarist, and tried to soldier on for a while. I saw them play Kennedy's on Laclede's Landing in late 1992 or early 1993, and I'm pretty sure someone other than Rich Fortus was on guitar.

What I can't remember is when the farewell show was.

In college, I know some people a few years older than me really missed the band and hated how it all went down. I'm seven years younger than any of Pale Divine's members, so I missed the band's rise.

I have a copy of the record around here somewhere, but I haven't listened to it in years. As I remember, "My Addiction" was the kind of song that bands build careers on, and I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else that came out in 1991 that was even in its league, frankly. "Straight to Goodbye" was a good song but very easy to misunderstand. The rest of the album was quirky and often amusing, but there wasn't anything on there nearly as radio-friendly as "My Addiction."

I think for a lot of people, that was part of the band's appeal. Nonconformity. But it was probably also the downfall--aside from personality conflicts, of course.

Now Michael Shaerer has a day job, and presumably the bassist and drummer do too. Rich Fortus ended up playing guitar for Axl Rose's current incarnation of Guns N' Roses. How's that for unexpected twists?

And I get Michael Shaerer. The mood swings, creative bursts, and difficulty getting along with people all sounds familiar. Too familiar. Being that way definitely helps when writing material. But I'm glad he got treatment and is feeling better. It probably closed the door permanently on becoming a rock star (it's hard to write good rock 'n' roll material when you're mentally stable), but being happy is more important than being successful.

There was a time when I thought being successful made you happy. But now I think it's usually the other way around.

All that said, I doubt I make the reunion show. Part of me would like to be there. But it's on a Monday, I do have to work the next day, my wife missed the whole Pale Divine thing, and we have a very young son that we're still reluctant to leave with a sitter. I guess you could say I've moved on.

But I do hope they play the occasional reunion show from here on out. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing them again someday. Now just isn't a good time.

But hey, for people six or seven years older than me, it might be the perfect time. I don't think I'm really the target audience. Maybe I never was.