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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "John L. Micek" <jlmicek@comcast.net> |
| Subject | Re: My "first" time... |
| Date | Wed, 18 May 2005 16:04:09 -0400 |
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Mine is an easy one.
It's 1983 and I'm in my living room in Canton, Conn. I am all of 13 years
old, and we've just gotten cable. I flip over to channel 27 and see this
thing called MTV.
There is a band, playing outside at a cavernous amphitheatre that looks like
it's carved into the side of a mountain. The singer is dressed all in black.
The guitar player is balding and has a beaky nose. The bass player is
sullen. The drummer is pounding out a martial beat.
He sings, "How long must we sing this song?"
I am 13, full of righteous, if clueless, indignation at Reagan's America,
and it is simultaneously the most moving and weirdest thing I have ever
seen.
The band, of course, is U2, and I'm still young and naive enough to buy into
the political posturing, but the sincerity of that performance rocks me down
to my socks. I am enraptured and wait for the video and watch it every time
it comes on.
Two weeks later, I am in a Caldor (discount store) in Torrington, Conn.
across the street from my family's restaurant using my allowance to buy
"Under a Blood Red Sky."
Two weeks later, I ask my parents to buy me a bass because I want to be like
Adam Clayton (whose name I do not yet know).
IAfter that, in a bookstore in Hartford, Conn., I see import copies of
Melody Maker and the NME. I learn about U2 and every other American college
radio band. I start listening to WHUS, the UConn station and WWES, the
Wesleyan University station. Hours and hours at night with headphones. I am
addicted.
It's 22 years later and I'm still addicted.
john.
----- Original Message -----
From: "AssociationWorks" <AssociationWorks@comcast.net>
To: <audities@smoe.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 3:47 PM
Subject: Re: My "first" time...
> Hey Miguel:
>
> Cool thread! My first epihany came in late 1982 when (at 12 years old) I
> discovered KROQ in Los Angeles. It's growing embrace of "modern rock"
around
> that time sgave a slew of incredible new sounds to geeky, potch-faced
> suburbanites like myself who desperately wanted more out of music than
> Journey, REO Speedwagon and Van Halen could ever hope to offer.
>
> Jeff
>
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