In the neon-drenched underbelly of 1980s Las Vegas, where sin was sold like soda and fortunes were built on lies, there was a man who called himself “Dr. Chick Solomon.” No one knew if he had ever held a degree or even if he had a real name, but in a world built on deception, titles were as meaningless as a gambler’s last chip.

Chick was a smooth-talking Sicilian American with an insatiable appetite for the glitz, the women, and the thrill of the underground mafia market that kept the city’s pulse beating through the haze of cigars and slot machines.

Chick wasn’t born into power, but he learned how to take it. Originally from the mean streets of Brooklyn in New York City where, in the 1950s, he was a street thug in a Flatbush gang working on becoming a made-man, Chick made some egregious mistakes and ended up with a broken leg and a one-way ticket out of town. He was on the run from the New York mobsters. They allowed him to live but he would have to do it somewhere else. So he stole a brand new 1969 Gran Torino and headed west; destination Las Vegas.

In the world of the Mafia’s Vegas, power wasn’t about who you were but how many people believed in who you pretended to be. And Chick? He was a master at pretending. He wore silk suits and gold watches, and his smile could charm the coins out of a slot machine. It wasn’t long before he became a kingpin in his own right, swimming in dirty money. His friends—if you could call them that—circled him like vultures, feeding on his wealth, his influence, and the thrill of being close to the throne.

Among them was a 21-year-old downtown showgirl girl named Sherry, a young vivacious woman whose beauty was only outdone by her ambition. Chick loved her—or at least thought he did—and lavished her with diamonds and designer clothes. They were the king and queen of Vegas, reigning over a castle built on crime and lies.

But the grift culture of the Mafia was a hungry beast, and no one could outrun the law forever.

The cracks began to show in the late ’80s. The law tightened its grip on Vegas, and with every raid, with every federal indictment, Chick’s empire crumbled. His so-called friends—the ones who had eaten at his table, laughed at his jokes, and helped him launder millions—vanished into the night, taking with them whatever they could carry. Sherry, too, was gone, leaving nothing but a memory of perfume on his pillow and a cold spot in his bed.

The feds finally cornered him, and in one brutal sweep, Chick Solomon lost everything. His money was seized, his assets stripped away, and his properties confiscated. When the dust settled, the once-dazzling king of Vegas was nothing but a broken man, left with a cheap, beat-up car, a bag full of loose change, and the hollow shell of a life he no longer recognized.

For the first time in years, Chick was alone. No friends, no money, no power. Just the road ahead and a fading horizon. He’d always been on the run—from the law, from the truth, from himself. And now, with nothing left to lose, he started running again.

As the lights of Vegas flickered in his rearview mirror, Dr. Chick Solomon drove into the vast desert with no destination in mind, searching for something he’d lost long before the law ever caught up to him—his identity, his soul.  He was back on the run.

BACK ON THE RUN

LYRICS

La La La La
Nah Nah Nah Nah

Where did everybody go?
No one’s at the show
I thought we were friends
I thought the ride was never gonna end

On a day
When we had such fun
Jets skis in the sun
Red skies at night we danced moonlight
As you slipped on

By me
Somehow I didn’t see
That my day was done
And now I’m back on the run

I’m on the Run
I’m back on the run
Can’t find the sun
My day is done
My broken heart has come undone

La La La La
Nah Nah Nah Nah

Where did everybody go?
No one’s at the show
I thought we were friends
I thought the ride was never gonna end

On the street
Where my money was good
You said you never thought we could
Give up the life on the strip tonight why can’t we

Double down
Ah… this was our town
But my day was done
And now I’m back on the run

I’m on the Run
I’m back on the run, yeah
Can’t find the sun
My day is done
My broken heart has come undone

So where did everybody go
No one’s at my show
I thought we were friends
I thought the ride was never gonna end
On the streets
Where my money was good
You said you never thought we could
Give up the life on the strip tonight why can’t we

Double down
The joke was on me
And my days were done
And now I’m back on the run

I’m on the Run
I’m back on the run, oh yeah
Can’t find the sun
My day is done
My broken heart has come undone

I’m back on the run
La La La La
I’m back on the run
Nah Nah Nah Nah
I’m back on the run
La La La La
La La La La
Nah Nah Nah Nah

—————————————————
Written by Johnny Punish
Produced by Punish Studios and enhanced by A.I.

https://youtu.be/bA5MSXVCTvE

* Song available on all streaming services starting Oct. 12, 2024