December 8, 1980, is one of those nights that many people of our generation will always remember. 25 years ago I was a 21 year old college senior at American University in Washington DC. Lifewas good. I was living in a house with 3 other friends in BethesdaMaryland, had a decent car that took me to and from school, hadlots of friends and a good part-time job working at a restaurant inthe district.
On the night of December 8 I remember I worked until closing andgot home a little after midnight. The house of quiet as my housemateswere either out or sleeping ( I can't recall). As per my usualroutine after my shift I took a quick shower and then settled in myroom to listen to some usic and relax a bit before going to bed. Backin 1980, FM radio in DC was excellent, with stations ranging from thepopular DC101 to the eclectic WHFS. I remember putting on DC101 andsitting back to relax, and smiled when I heard a Beatles song beingplayed.
Back in 1980 my musical tastes were varied but still a bit limited. Iwas totally anti-disco, loved the Beatles, liked our homestate boyBruce alot, and was still very much into the Progressive music of the70's (Yes, ELP, Genesis, etc), and 'southern' rock artists such as theAllmans, the Outlaws, Marshall Tucker and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In fact, itwas the tragic deaths of Ronnie Van Zandt and Steve Gaines in thatplane crash a few years earlier that was my first taste of losing anartist that I loved. I still remember that day, and how it had such aprofound effect on the music that I listened to. However, it wasnothing compared to what was about to happen.
I really wasn't paying that much attention to the music playing on theradio, until I noticed that they had just played 3 Beatles songs in arow. I thought it was kind of cool and by the fifth song or so I wasgetting into their unannounced 'Beatles Block'. If you can remember,back in the 70's and 80's, many radio stations would play 'blocks' ofsongs of an artist, or have special times for artists or styles.Breakfast with The Beatles", "Bruce Juice", "Things From England",'Beatles A to Z", all are constants in the radio memory of thosedays, along with the inevitabable year-end (or sometimes labor dayweekend) top 100 songs of all time countdowns. I figured DC101 wasdoing something like this.
About 20 or so minutes into this Beatles/Lennon block a song ends andthe DJ begins to talk about the music, slowly and I felt with a bit ofsadness. He is talking about Lennon and The Beatles, and how muchtheir music means (or meant) to him nd I was beginning to sense thatsomething was going on. The Beatles getting back together was myfirst initial thought. However, that was soon crushed when the DJthen repeated the news that others had already known, that John Lennonhad been shot and killed earlier that evening in New York City.
At that very moment, the phone in the house rang. This was 1980, thewere no cell phones, no portable phones. We had one phone, in thekitchen down the hall. I ran to get it and I remember it was a friendof mine who went to school with me and she was crying hystericallyover the phone to me. The news hadn't even sunk in with me and thereI was trying to calm her down over the phone. It wasn't working andso I asked her if she wanted me to come over. She lived in a housewith a couple of other girls a few miles away in Chevy Chase, so itwas really a no brainer, and I had a feeling that I needed to be withpeople as well.
I arrived at her house about 15 minutes later and she and herhousemates were all sitting in one of their rooms listening to theradio, which of course was still playing Lennon/Beatles music. Therest of the night is really a blur, as it WAS 25 years ago, butfrom what I remember we sat around until after dawn listening tomusic, talking, singing, and just being together. None of us wantedto be alone and we all needed to talk, and that is what we did. Iremember falling asleep for a few hours in a corner and waking up tofind the listening/togetherness party still going on.
The next couple of days were a blur also. Nobody could reallyconcentrate on classes and studying for our upcoming mid-terms. Iremember going to a memorial service on campus, and another one in DCsomewhere. A few of us thought about going up to NYC, butfunds were low, and it just didn't work out. So, we did what collegestudents all accross America did....we studied, we sang, we partied abit, and we grew up some more and lost a little bit more of ourchildhood.
Time passes though, and wounds do heal. However, this is one thatnever seems to. If it wasn't for Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles wouldbe the number one band in my life. When I was 12 and first started tocollect music, Beatles albums were the first ones I ever bought, andI quickly knew the words to dozens of their songs. As my musicaltastes have grown, changed, and varied over the years, The Beatles areone of the few constant artists in my life thatNEVER stray off of my musical radar screen. As a piano player, I cansit down with the twoBeatles Compleat books and play the songs from the first one in thebook to the last. If I werein a band, I could play Beatles songs all day, I never get tired ofthem, just as I never tire ofBruce Springsteen songs. Their songs, along with Bruce's, have becomethe soundtrack ofmy life, my constant musical companion for the last 30 or more years.
It saddens me to think about this loss. I know it sounds selfish.John's family and friends didnot know me, and they are the ones most affected by his death.However, as an artist John wasa friend of all of us, and the fact that he was finally getting hismusical/artistic life back in track andthe possibilities of what could have come next is so upsetting knowingthat those plans werecrushed that day. I read an article last month in which he had saidthat in early 1981 he wasgoing to get a band together and go back out on the road, and then goback into the studio andrecord some more music, and then go back on the road and tour again.This blows me away,thinking about what a Lennon tour could have brought us, the songs hecould have played, andthe songs that were never written because Mark David Chapman (who Ihope by the way nevergets out of prison) decided that he wanted his own 15 minutes of fame.Shame on your Mr Chapman, shame on you. Shame on you for cutting down an artist in hisprime, and artistwho was just getting his legs again, who still had alot to say, andwhose death had a profound effect on millions of people around the world.
I think John would have found the last 25 years very interesting. Ican't imagine what his music would have been like, but it couldn't have been bad. We mighthave even seen somecollaboration with him and the other Beatles. Paul has even said hewould have liked to havewritten with him again. I think John would have embraced the personalcomputer age, he wouldhave been excited with the IPOD, and he would have probably been angryat our governmentfor all kinds of things, right or wrong, and that is ok because thatis what being an artist andan citizen is about. Question things that you don't feel are right.Express yourself in ways toget your message across, and do it in a civilized and rational manner.
We miss you John. The world has moved on and you will never beforgotten, at least not bythis writer and millions of others. While you would not have made adifference in how thingshave gone over the last 25 years (good and bad), I think you wouldhave had an interestingtime and we would have liked to have gone on the ride with you. Thepotential that you hadthat was taken from us will never be realized, and that is the biggestcrime your death hasbrought. What if.......?
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Bravo Bruce.......
Well! A couple of Bruce thoughts.
1. The BTR 30th anniversary box set. Bravo!! The 'new' CD sounds great, with a cleaner sound and more of a speration of instruments than ever before. Gary's bass is awesome in some of the songs. The Hammersmith DVD is worth its weight in gold. Could this be a sign that the vault door is starting to open? I truly hope so!!!
2. The end of the tour. I was strong. Despite 5 offers from folks to join them at one of the two CAA shows this month (including free tickets) I stood my ground and politely declined....even when Bruce brought out Thundercrack and Santa Ana in Philadelphia. I wanted my final show of the tour (Trenton #1) to be THE SHOW for me, and Bruce did not disappoint me at all. Trenton was a great show and the night would have been perfect if it didn't rain the WHOLE way down and back. Atlantic City, Spare Parts, Meeting Accross The River, Fade Away, DRIVE ALL NIGHT, Santa Ana, Thundercrack!!!!!, This Hard Land, and SONGS OF THE ORPHANS!!!!! As we left the arena I told Sue Potters that "I'm good, no need to come back for the final show". Yeah, I know, I would have heard Fire and Zero And Blind Terry and Mansion and Backstreets but you know, you can't have them all!!!! 139 songs on this tour. Bravo Bruce.....you did a fine job.
3. What I have learned - As on The Rising tour, the last month or so on this tour was totally different than how it started. In September 2003 Bruce started performing songs from Tunnel Of Love, Human Touch and Lucky Town, which made the September and October (Shea) shows that much more enjoyable. At the end of this tour not only did Bruce start to play songs for the first time from his official releases, but songs that never made the light of day until Tracks (if that) and songs that can only be found on various studio bootlegs and outtakes, plus songs he has not performed live in ages.
4. 139 songs!!!!!! I know I said that already, but who would have thought he would play that many? I know, its easier for him to say one night "Let me see what's in my notebook that I haven't played in awhile" and rehearse it a bit in his hotel suite, soundcheck it so the sound guy can mix it right as opposed to having the band learn the song again. However, to boldly go down the path he did on this tour with some of the songs is mind boggling (to me at least). Thank you!!!
5. What's next? Only Bruce knows for sure, and its a good possibility that he doesn't. Hopefully we will see a return to the Convention Hall Christmas shows this year. These have always been personal favorites of mine. As for what is next starting in 2006 lets hope we have a new release that rocks, followed by another ESB tour. The clock is ticking on how much mileage he will be able to get out of this band, especially with Clarence. However, if the Stones can do it and do it well then I believe Bruce and the ESB should be able to do it as well.
1. The BTR 30th anniversary box set. Bravo!! The 'new' CD sounds great, with a cleaner sound and more of a speration of instruments than ever before. Gary's bass is awesome in some of the songs. The Hammersmith DVD is worth its weight in gold. Could this be a sign that the vault door is starting to open? I truly hope so!!!
2. The end of the tour. I was strong. Despite 5 offers from folks to join them at one of the two CAA shows this month (including free tickets) I stood my ground and politely declined....even when Bruce brought out Thundercrack and Santa Ana in Philadelphia. I wanted my final show of the tour (Trenton #1) to be THE SHOW for me, and Bruce did not disappoint me at all. Trenton was a great show and the night would have been perfect if it didn't rain the WHOLE way down and back. Atlantic City, Spare Parts, Meeting Accross The River, Fade Away, DRIVE ALL NIGHT, Santa Ana, Thundercrack!!!!!, This Hard Land, and SONGS OF THE ORPHANS!!!!! As we left the arena I told Sue Potters that "I'm good, no need to come back for the final show". Yeah, I know, I would have heard Fire and Zero And Blind Terry and Mansion and Backstreets but you know, you can't have them all!!!! 139 songs on this tour. Bravo Bruce.....you did a fine job.
3. What I have learned - As on The Rising tour, the last month or so on this tour was totally different than how it started. In September 2003 Bruce started performing songs from Tunnel Of Love, Human Touch and Lucky Town, which made the September and October (Shea) shows that much more enjoyable. At the end of this tour not only did Bruce start to play songs for the first time from his official releases, but songs that never made the light of day until Tracks (if that) and songs that can only be found on various studio bootlegs and outtakes, plus songs he has not performed live in ages.
4. 139 songs!!!!!! I know I said that already, but who would have thought he would play that many? I know, its easier for him to say one night "Let me see what's in my notebook that I haven't played in awhile" and rehearse it a bit in his hotel suite, soundcheck it so the sound guy can mix it right as opposed to having the band learn the song again. However, to boldly go down the path he did on this tour with some of the songs is mind boggling (to me at least). Thank you!!!
5. What's next? Only Bruce knows for sure, and its a good possibility that he doesn't. Hopefully we will see a return to the Convention Hall Christmas shows this year. These have always been personal favorites of mine. As for what is next starting in 2006 lets hope we have a new release that rocks, followed by another ESB tour. The clock is ticking on how much mileage he will be able to get out of this band, especially with Clarence. However, if the Stones can do it and do it well then I believe Bruce and the ESB should be able to do it as well.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
The IPOD is changing the way I am listening to music.
As the IPOD (and other similar personal music devices) increase in usage, I am beginning to personally notice a trend in which even I am starting to listen to music.
Back when I first started to listen and buy music around 1973 I bought LP's. For the record (no pun intended) the first record I ever bought was Naturally, by Three Dog Night, followed by Every Picture Tells AStory. I learned early on by my mistakes. I was never really interested in singles like some of my friends because I was never a 'hits' kind of listener. I wanted to hear the other songs the artist/group had recorded and found the album format to be the one that worked best for me. Because of this I at one time amassed the complete record collections of many of my favorite artists.....I trend the continued with the CD era. In addition, my leanings toward theLP as opposed to the single format was also due to my enjoynment of the Progressive Rock movement of the 1970's (and somewhat beyond) in which albums were built around a theme (think Nektar, Yes, ELP, Genesis.....to name just a few) and these types of releases did not come accross very well in the single song format.
Time marches on, as it always does, and some things continue as always while otherschange slowly. As the era of the CD came along, I continued to buy them in thealbum format (no CD 'singles for me) and look at the CD as a whole entity as opposedto one or two good songs followed by what was and is still known as 'filler'. From time to time I would make a compilation of songs from CD's that I was getting rid of (selling forthe sake of making room for more purchases) but my buying and listening habits did notchange from the time I began to listen to music in the early 1970's to the present.
Even with the advent of the Sony CD Walkman and its successful copies by every electronic manufacturer in the business, my listening habits did not change. Unless I was listening to a 'mix tape' or a 'mix cd' (think of me being a bit like Rob Gordon, the lead characterJohn Cusack played in High Fidelity. I was very much like him as I made mix tapes for countless people in high school and then in college.....primarily as a way of impressing girls I guess. With the Walkman format you still listened to one CD at a time. Even int he car and with the early home CD players. It wasn't until CD players at home and in the car were able to handle multiple discs that we were able to either 'program' a group of songs to play from multiple CDs loaded on the platter, or better yet, put the player on shuffle play to randomly select songs form the loaded CD's. However, we were still limited to the CD's that were loaded into the player and had no choice in what was being played. Until now.
When my older son got his first IPOD about 2 years ago I showed little or no interest except in helping him learn how to use the software (something he soon surpassed me in knowledge and experience). It wasn't until I started to borrow it from him from timeto time that I began to enjoy having one around the house. It reminds me of an articleI once read about when televisions first became commercially available, most peoplethought that having one in each household would be enough. Nobody at the time could have guessed that in some houses there is a television in every room (bathrooms included). However, I digress and need to get back on track.
Even with borrowing his IPOD I had no interest in owning one of my own. However,my family thought I would enjoy one and bought a 20 Gig model for me last June for Fathersday. I was tickled pink and very thankful. After a few weeks of staring at the wrapped boxand (believe it or not contemplating returning it) I finally opened it, loaded the software and imported and loaded some CDs onto it, gradually over the course of a year and a few months to the present of having about 2300 songs on it.
When I first started to use MY Ipod, I listened to an album, and then when it was donescrolled around and listened to another. It wasn't until I accidently discovered the shuffleplay feature that the full power of the IPOD became apparent to me. By setting the machine up on songs shuffle I had (in my opinion) the greatest radio station in the worldat my fingertips, with NO commercials and annoying DJ chatter (more on annoying DJ chatter another time....when I was growing up and listening to WNEW-FM in NYC, part of the lure WAS the DJ chatter). I was in heaven as I was listening to MY songs in an order that wouldtotally surprise and sometimes confound me.....how DOES this little machine know what songsfit so well together?
Well....about a month ago I realized that this shuffle play was nice, but there were plenty of times that a song would come on that I really did not like. I would skip over it. As time wenton I realized that I was doing this more and more. It finally dawned on me a few weeks ago that when using my IPOD I wasn't listening to ALBUMS anymore. I was listening to SINGLE songs, from many different artists. About a month ago I loaded some more CD's onto myIPOD. This time however I did it a bit different than I had before. Instead of letting Itunes just import everything (by the way....isn't Itunes one of the other coolest inventions ever created andt hat database it goes to get the CD and song titles, how cool is that), I started to select only the songs I wanted to hear. I even remember the CD I began doing this with. It was Ghost In The Machine by the Police. A great ALBUM, but there are a few songs on it that I just don't enjoy (I can't recall them offhand). So.....I didn't load them, and now I won't have to listen tothem on my IPOD. Of course, if I have that CD on at home in the changer it is possible that a song I don't like will come on, but that's ok. This is not to say that some of my favorite albums won't have songs not loaded . Think about Born To Run, Sgt Pepper, Blood OnThe Tracks, The Fillmore Concerts, or many other great classic albums. Could you think about a song from those NOT to load onto your IPOD. If you can, well that's another topic.
As I am thinking about this I am beginning to realize that (for the IPOD at least) my listeninghabits have changed. No longer do I need to load every song from every CD I own. I may not want to hear them all, and that's ok. When I want to hear an entire CD I still can. But, whenI want to hear some great songs that I love (and some ones that I love and have forgotten about), not having the 'filler' songs from an album on my IPOD is nice. I really hate interrupting what I am doing and pressing the skip forward button. I'm not sure if this is good for the industry or not, but I think it is one of the new business models (along with some others)that the music industry has to face as we (as listeners) become more technological savvy and keep expanding how, when, and where we listen to music. I will still buy my CD's and listen to them at home andin the car. However, my portable device, my IPOD, will contain the songs that I love and not all of the albums.
Rock on and make sure the device is charged.
As the IPOD (and other similar personal music devices) increase in usage, I am beginning to personally notice a trend in which even I am starting to listen to music.
Back when I first started to listen and buy music around 1973 I bought LP's. For the record (no pun intended) the first record I ever bought was Naturally, by Three Dog Night, followed by Every Picture Tells AStory. I learned early on by my mistakes. I was never really interested in singles like some of my friends because I was never a 'hits' kind of listener. I wanted to hear the other songs the artist/group had recorded and found the album format to be the one that worked best for me. Because of this I at one time amassed the complete record collections of many of my favorite artists.....I trend the continued with the CD era. In addition, my leanings toward theLP as opposed to the single format was also due to my enjoynment of the Progressive Rock movement of the 1970's (and somewhat beyond) in which albums were built around a theme (think Nektar, Yes, ELP, Genesis.....to name just a few) and these types of releases did not come accross very well in the single song format.
Time marches on, as it always does, and some things continue as always while otherschange slowly. As the era of the CD came along, I continued to buy them in thealbum format (no CD 'singles for me) and look at the CD as a whole entity as opposedto one or two good songs followed by what was and is still known as 'filler'. From time to time I would make a compilation of songs from CD's that I was getting rid of (selling forthe sake of making room for more purchases) but my buying and listening habits did notchange from the time I began to listen to music in the early 1970's to the present.
Even with the advent of the Sony CD Walkman and its successful copies by every electronic manufacturer in the business, my listening habits did not change. Unless I was listening to a 'mix tape' or a 'mix cd' (think of me being a bit like Rob Gordon, the lead characterJohn Cusack played in High Fidelity. I was very much like him as I made mix tapes for countless people in high school and then in college.....primarily as a way of impressing girls I guess. With the Walkman format you still listened to one CD at a time. Even int he car and with the early home CD players. It wasn't until CD players at home and in the car were able to handle multiple discs that we were able to either 'program' a group of songs to play from multiple CDs loaded on the platter, or better yet, put the player on shuffle play to randomly select songs form the loaded CD's. However, we were still limited to the CD's that were loaded into the player and had no choice in what was being played. Until now.
When my older son got his first IPOD about 2 years ago I showed little or no interest except in helping him learn how to use the software (something he soon surpassed me in knowledge and experience). It wasn't until I started to borrow it from him from timeto time that I began to enjoy having one around the house. It reminds me of an articleI once read about when televisions first became commercially available, most peoplethought that having one in each household would be enough. Nobody at the time could have guessed that in some houses there is a television in every room (bathrooms included). However, I digress and need to get back on track.
Even with borrowing his IPOD I had no interest in owning one of my own. However,my family thought I would enjoy one and bought a 20 Gig model for me last June for Fathersday. I was tickled pink and very thankful. After a few weeks of staring at the wrapped boxand (believe it or not contemplating returning it) I finally opened it, loaded the software and imported and loaded some CDs onto it, gradually over the course of a year and a few months to the present of having about 2300 songs on it.
When I first started to use MY Ipod, I listened to an album, and then when it was donescrolled around and listened to another. It wasn't until I accidently discovered the shuffleplay feature that the full power of the IPOD became apparent to me. By setting the machine up on songs shuffle I had (in my opinion) the greatest radio station in the worldat my fingertips, with NO commercials and annoying DJ chatter (more on annoying DJ chatter another time....when I was growing up and listening to WNEW-FM in NYC, part of the lure WAS the DJ chatter). I was in heaven as I was listening to MY songs in an order that wouldtotally surprise and sometimes confound me.....how DOES this little machine know what songsfit so well together?
Well....about a month ago I realized that this shuffle play was nice, but there were plenty of times that a song would come on that I really did not like. I would skip over it. As time wenton I realized that I was doing this more and more. It finally dawned on me a few weeks ago that when using my IPOD I wasn't listening to ALBUMS anymore. I was listening to SINGLE songs, from many different artists. About a month ago I loaded some more CD's onto myIPOD. This time however I did it a bit different than I had before. Instead of letting Itunes just import everything (by the way....isn't Itunes one of the other coolest inventions ever created andt hat database it goes to get the CD and song titles, how cool is that), I started to select only the songs I wanted to hear. I even remember the CD I began doing this with. It was Ghost In The Machine by the Police. A great ALBUM, but there are a few songs on it that I just don't enjoy (I can't recall them offhand). So.....I didn't load them, and now I won't have to listen tothem on my IPOD. Of course, if I have that CD on at home in the changer it is possible that a song I don't like will come on, but that's ok. This is not to say that some of my favorite albums won't have songs not loaded . Think about Born To Run, Sgt Pepper, Blood OnThe Tracks, The Fillmore Concerts, or many other great classic albums. Could you think about a song from those NOT to load onto your IPOD. If you can, well that's another topic.
As I am thinking about this I am beginning to realize that (for the IPOD at least) my listeninghabits have changed. No longer do I need to load every song from every CD I own. I may not want to hear them all, and that's ok. When I want to hear an entire CD I still can. But, whenI want to hear some great songs that I love (and some ones that I love and have forgotten about), not having the 'filler' songs from an album on my IPOD is nice. I really hate interrupting what I am doing and pressing the skip forward button. I'm not sure if this is good for the industry or not, but I think it is one of the new business models (along with some others)that the music industry has to face as we (as listeners) become more technological savvy and keep expanding how, when, and where we listen to music. I will still buy my CD's and listen to them at home andin the car. However, my portable device, my IPOD, will contain the songs that I love and not all of the albums.
Rock on and make sure the device is charged.
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