he
immediately fell for) and her fiance, Rankin Hogarth, who she was
pregnant by. She had the child in 1968 and named him Franklin Westin
Hogarth II after Rankin's congressman dad, who attempted to destroy
his son and Althea's lives. The couple fought violently over his dad
and their son, leading to Rankin fleeing with his son and forming a
commune with James Diablos and others in 1969. After the couple's
divorce Althea took in the couple's son, whom his dad had renamed
Wesley Francis Garth, whose nickname was “Scrapper”. With Vance's
role unknown to Rankin, Hogarth was soon reinvented as Desi
Decadence, a 'shock rock' superstar. Rankin was pushed to the extreme in a chaotic spell that ruptured his persona. This was Vance's first real working, so perhaps his
sloppiness can be forgiven. But he did it forlove and, after all,
made Rankin a rock star (which Vance differentiated
from being a musician).

Rankin/ Desi and Vance lost
touch, to Vance's relief. Vance pursued Althea and at last
consummated their attraction (Vance was 23, Althea 19). They wed soon
after, and had a child, Anjou Faustine Parminter (b. 1972). Vance
busked, playing acoustic blues, and wrote and sang poems of a
Lovecraftian bent. Althea waited tables and Wes, Anjou, and their
parents eked out a meager existence. Musically, Vance was offered to
jam in 1969 with Opal Masque, the German progrock band led by Glu Volker and
Hercule Fogg. Volker had heard a crude demo recorded a
year earlier and dug Vance's concepts. They recorded their premiere
album, La-Bas (Down There) in early 1970; Parminter was 21. He then
adopted his famous cowl and white mask, covering his 3rd
eye,