Rambling Memories

My five-week old son refused to go to sleep...so I'm mindlessly staring at my PC and listening to some tunage.

I was driving in my car the other day, and the greatness of Styx graced my radio (even though Abilene is lacking MANY things, we have a GREAT classic rock station). Anyhow, the song was "Best of Times" from the magnificent album (yes I do mean ALBUM) Paradise Theatre.

I was instantly taken back to the 4th grade on Overton Avenue in Fort Worth. Blake Hawthorne was my best friend, and we would spend the weekend at each other's houses. He had an awesome setup -- an upstairs bedroom that ran the length of the house. We would stay up late playing Atari and listening to Q102, "Texas' Best Rock" (KTXQ) or "The Zoo" (KZEW, 97.9). "Best of Times" would ALWAYS come on...and even though neither of us sang real well, we would belt it out with all we had...until his mom or dad would come upstairs and throw a shoe at us.

So that got me to thinking about other musical memories...and they go something like this:

• "Too Much Time On My Hands" (also from Paradise Theatre) -- this song was always the boys "fast skate" song at Rollerland in Fort Worth.
• "Reunited" (Peaches & Herb) -- the "couple skate" song...which I NEVER got to skate to.
• "Stone In Love" (Journey) -- my cousin, Bart, had a make-shift drum set...and he taught me to play drums to this song while he played the guitar. We TRIED to record it...but I think the Lord intervened.
• "Drive" (The Cars) -- the song that was playing on the radio at the moment of my first kiss.
• "Only The Lonely" (The Motels) -- After a devastating breakup in college, I went to the old Dairy Queen on Hwy 80 (alone) for almost two months where I would go through the same routine. I would order a Butterfinger Blizzard and a small water, ask for a dollar's worth of quarters, and play this song on their jukebox. One night one of the workers, thinking I was contemplating suicide, called the ACU Police.
• "I Will Follow" (U2) -- The first song I ever danced to...in public. It was at a party my senior year in high school with a girl named Chris Murphy..."and that's all I have to say about that."
• "Stranglehold" (Ted Nugent) -- This one is a stretch...but it reminds me of my grandfather. He was a HUGE wrestling fan, and this was the song that Kerry Von Erich would make his dash to the ring to.

There are others...but I'll bore both of you with those another time.

Peace!