These are the Best Years of Your Life

When she stool a KISS T-shirt, Courtney was put on probation. She ran away so she than went to Reform school where she lived next to teenage killers and other menaces to society. After being in Reform school for several months, her biological father, Hank, came and got her out. She than went to live with him. Her first words to him after being apart since she was a year old were “Why did you abandon me?” Courtney and her father did not get along, so Courtney soon went back to reform school.

Courtney started to get interested in the music scene in England. Bands like the Clash, the Pretenders and the Sex Pistols made her decide she wanted to be a rock star; or at least hang out with some of them.

When she was finally let out of reform school, Courtney went to Japan to become a stripper. Stripping gave Courtney a stage. She liked the attention she got while stripping. She was 14 years old when she left for Japan. Six months later she returned to America and went to live in Portland. She bounced around more foster homes and continued to strip for money.

When Courtney was 16, her new social worker requested that Courtney be given legal and financial emancipation from her mother after learning she was an heiress. Courtney began receiving $800 a month when she was 16 from a trust fund set up by her maternal grandfather.

Courtney again went to stay with her father, but this time it was in Dublin, Ireland. She saw a band she liked and followed them to Liverpool. Courtney pushed her way into the Liverpool music scene by pushing her way into conversations, crashing parties and inviting herself to shows. One thing Courtney always had was a great nose that led her into all the happening scenes. But people always got annoyed with Courtney for her constant scenes and her loud confrontations.

In 1982, when Courtney was now 17, she returned back to Portland. She again forced her way into the music scene. Her reputation got so bad while she was there. “Years ago in a certain town, my reputation had gotten so bad that every time I went to a party, I was expected to burn the place down and knock out every window.” (Spin Magazine.) It was in Portland that Courtney announced to everyone that she was going to start a band and someday be a rock and roll sex symbol. Everyone laughed at her.