August 4, 2015- Duran Duran- Port Chester- Part 1

I had one of those vivid holodeck dreams in which I was at a Duran Duran concert. Most of it was very enjoyable but then something upsetting happened at the end. The mean alien must have hacked into the program to screw it up for me.

   I will start with the good parts of this storyline. I was lucky enough to be in the second row to the left at this event. Well, a couple was in front of me but they were standing very close to one another.

   A cute guy from Virginia was standing next to me. He looked a little like the actor Jeffrey Donovan but even cuter. I wasn’t even feeling that anxious when talking to him which was unusual. I am embarrassed that I did touch his arm a couple of times. That was so unlike me to do.

   I was thinking that I was so happy to have 2 handsome guys near me- him and John Taylor. I wasn’t even feeling ashamed to be looking at John this time. I was enjoying observing his bass playing. I did so more than I have ever before.

   A DJ was the opening act but I don’t even remember his name. He was doing some mixes of songs that I can’t recall either; one was an early Prince hit, “I Wanna Be Your Lover”. I told cute guy that I used to have an 8-track with that on it.

   DD performed “Election Day” which I had never seen in concert before. That was an Arcadia song- the offshoot group with Simon and Nick.

   I was really getting into “Planet Earth”, one of my favorite songs. Cute guy seemed happy when they did “White Lines”; I am not really that crazy about that one.

   I told him that I would be going to the Bethlehem show. He said that he had recently been there with his son to see Incubus.

   I had mentioned the incident in which I was standing on my brother’s binocular case to get a better view of DD in Central Park. I said that this was probably a stupid of me esp. since I ruined that item. He said that this was pretty smart of me which made me feel not as bad about doing that.

   We were standing there waiting for DD to do their encore which is when things became upsetting. Ten minutes went by and they still hadn’t returned to the stage. The lights had come back on and stage hands were unplugging equipment during this time.

   Cute guy and I were debating about whether to stay or go then. We eventually decided that the show must be over so we left. We agreed that it was unusual that they hadn’t done an encore.

   I wound up buying the same two shirts- Planet Earth and 1978- that he did before I left the building. The guy hadn’t put the free Red Carpet Massacre tour book. I already have it but I wasn’t going to pass on a free one.

   When I was getting this, I thought that I heard some cheering and hollering. A part of me wanted to investigate this; maybe DD was coming back out then. But my irrational side said not to bother and that it must be completely over by now.

   God, I wish that I was able to listen to my smart side. I later found out that there had been an encore. They performed 2 great songs during it- “Girls on Film” and “Careless Memories”. I found this out when on Tumblr the next day.

   I would have been in the back watching this but at least I would not have missed it. I surely would have been using my binoculars a lot. I still would have been mad at myself for not sticking around longer in my original spot though.

   We should have consulted with the die-hard fan that we had been chatting with a little bit before the show. I am sure that she would have advised us to stay.

   I was so sad about this that I went into my basement to cry a little. I didn’t want my brother and mother hearing this. I never told Mike that I was going to this concert because I didn’t want him teasing me about seeing them twice in 5 days.

   I should have taken up the offer of the girl in front of cute guy. She had asked me if I wanted her to email me some of her photos of this show. I probably could find some of them online but they won’t be from our vantage point.

   I am trying to focus on the positives of this night but the missed encore is like a rain cloud over my head. I am certain that Amy will tell me to not beat myself up about it but that is going to be hard. I really would have liked to watch JT’s bass playing up close during those 2 songs.

   It seems silly that I want to pretend that this was just another one of my strange dreams and that I wasn’t really there. I don’t feel as upset when I do that.

                                                                    Jeffrey Donovan

 

 

Note- Photo of Jeffrey Donovan is from the internet

 

Music, Stuffed Animals, and Writing- Part 1

I used to enjoy writing poems and short stories when I was younger. They weren’t that good but it was fun. A few of the stories have my stuffed animal friends and famous people like Frank Perdue and Chef Martin Yan as characters.

   Poochie Weiner (bear), Seamore Otter, and Cinnamon Koala were the ones that were always in them. I still have them and some others in a storage tote. I wish that I had kept most of these.

   Those 3 animals also had their own radio station- WPW; I had such a weird imagination and still sort of do.

   I didn’t have that many records but I used them, a couple of my Dad’s classical music tapes and some 8 tracks for that. We had this big stereo- I can see it in my head but just can’t describe it well- AM-FM, record, and 8 track players.

    I remember every 8 track that we had- The Village People, Engelbert Humperdinck (Grandma next door said that he’s good looking and she saw him in concert), Shenandoah and Oklahoma soundtracks, K-tel- Soundwaves (from Cindy), Doris Day’s Greatest Hits, Dolly Parton- Heartbreaker, one with CB related songs (from Ed), 2 Christmas Compilations and John Denver and the Muppets Christmas.

    Dad put an 8 track player in our Chevy Malibu wagon. I remember that time when we were pulling out of the Bradlees parking lot in the early 80s and the back door opened and I nearly fell out of the car. This was such a scary experience which naturally is so vivid in my mind. Why can’t the good times be this way too?

    I only had about ten 45s in the 1980s- “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”, ” Hungry Like the Wolf”, “Gloria”,” Mickey”,” Down Under”, “Shadows of the Night”,” Africa”,” Goody Two Shoes”, ” On The Wings of Love”,  and ” True”.

   I got some other 45s in the early 90s at flea markets. I eventually got rid of many of them and my other records. I’m glad that I kept most of the DD stuff; the” Rio” and” HLTW” 45s got damaged by the heat when I was trying to sell them at flea markets.

 

 

                                                                  

                                                            Our 1976 Chevy Malibu

My K-tel Albums

I had the K-tel album Wings of Sound which I got as a gift in 1980. I played it on my record player alot. I remember some of the songs on it - Rock With You - Michael Jackson, This Is It - Kenny Loggins, Escape (The Pina Colada Song) and Gold. I should've kept it despite the fact that it started skipping eventually. I got these 3 albums and the 2 tapes in the late 80's and early 90's at flea markets and a record exchange store. I actually had the Soundwaves one on an 8 Track that my friend got me for Christmas in 1980 or 1981. I like these and a few other songs on it - Upside Down - Diana Ross, Steal Away - Robbie Dupree and Let Me Love You Tonight - Pure Prarie League.

I went to the Wikipedia site to find out some info on this company. Their first album was 25 Great Country Artists Sing Their Original Hits in 1966. They were started in Winnepeg, Manitoba and then in the U.S. in Plymouth, MN and also in the UK and Germany. In 1984 the US division filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. They had compilation series such as Super Hits, The Number One Hits and Dynamic Hits. I can't help laughing at the titles of some of their albums. One called Power Hits had a Carpenters song Yesterday Once More on it. I used to like that song. Summer Crusin' had 1950s music.

My favourite songs on Hit Express are Do You Believe in Love - Huey Lewis and the News and Don't You Want Me - Human League ; from Blast Off - Hurts So Good - John Cougar. I used to like more of the songs on each of these albums and tapes but I guess I kind of lost interest in them after a while. I'd love to see which other albums that this company had. A disco one called Night Moves from 1979 was mentioned. Maybe I can look into that somewhere on the internet.

8- Tracks

I was thinking about the 8-Tracks that my family and I used to have. We didn't have that many, maybe 10. Doris Day's Greatest Hits, The Village People, Dolly Parton's Heartbreaker, Englebert Humperdinck, Shenandoha, Oklahoma, and a goofy one with CB related songs on it. There were also 2 Christmas music mix ones- I liked Nat King Cole's Mrs Santa Claus on the one. My friend got me a K-Tel Soundwaves with hits from 1980 on it. I had a couple of K-Tel records too.

My father put an 8-Track player in our 1976 Chevy Malibu station wagon. We thought it was so cool to have this in our car at the time. Our family friends also had one in their car. I remember listening to Billy Joel in their car once and also on the stereo in their home. We had a big stereo that played records and 8-tracks.

I see 8-tracks at flea markets sometimes and laugh a little inside. Am I having a false memory or was there a clicking sound right during the middle of some of the songs and it switched over to the next section? I keep meaning to look up on the internet when 8-tracks first came out and when they offically died. Same with cassette tapes. I still have plenty of those but no 8-tracks, didn't even keep those for nostalgic purposes.