West Side Story Inspires Punk Rock Adventure (PART I)

At the end of my last post, Everyone Is A Creative, I asked you to take 5 minutes and write down your passions, unique talents, and things you love to do, in an effort to get you started on your own creative adventure.

I hope you did and that and now have your very own, personal creative list in hand.

Many years ago, I sat down and answered that question for myself. Out of curiosity, I went back and looked up what I had actually written in my journal over 22 years ago… Here are 8 things from that list:

·       I want to be a musician 

·       I want to be a writer

·       I want to be a teacher

·       I want to be a photographer

·       I want to be a social anthropologist

·       I want to find my own spirituality

·       I want to spend more time in the outdoors, enjoying, learning & observing nature

·       I want to learn more about the stars, the universe and our place in it

It’s always interesting to go back and read what I wrote (and honestly, how I wrote). I’ve learned through all these years of journaling, that writing things down makes the difference. It makes it real. It gives it more importance. You can hold yourself more accountable to your ideas, actions and commitments. Even if you fall short or make mistakes, you see the inspiration and can try again. And it’s like a time capsule… you don’t have to rely on your memories. You can go back and relive the REALITY of the moment, not the “how we perceive it over time.” That can get surreal sometimes when all of the memories come flooding back so vividly with all of the details.

I shared 8 things above, but truth be told, all total, I wrote down 26 different things that day. Some were very tangible & easier to achieve, others, if I had stuck with them, would have taken a lifetime. In retrospect, any one of them could be achieved. It’s funny, in the end, you do pick the things you’re most passionate about. 

Today my post starts to tell the story about one of my lifelong, creative passions: MUSIC.

 In Part One, I’ve highlighted my first memories of music & in Part Two, some of the first steps I took on my wild musical adventure.

PART ONE

Boots Randolph. Kenny Rogers. Johnny Cash. Fiddler on the Roof. West Side Story. John Williams conducting the Boston Pops, Burl Ives, Johnny Mathias & Nat King Cole sang Christmas. Tony Bennett. My mom LOVED Tony. These are my earliest memories of music. I remember how much my mom loved it. She would play music often and sang along every chance she could. There were times when I used to think she was a cast member of West Side Story.

My dad, had hand-built this stereo system, along with two furniture-type, refrigerator-sized, speakers from a kit he bought in the 60’s. It was complete with transistors and tubes and a stained wood cabinet. It was beautiful. I also thought it was THE GREATEST THING EVER. And O-M-G, could it get loud when you turned it up. The thing was, my brother and I weren’t allowed to touch it. Still, it was through that stereo that I learned how much I LOVED music. 

My first three records: Kiss Alive II, Ace Frehley’s solo album & Billy Joel’s 52nd St. Don’t ask me why. After that, it was every Van Halen record I could find. I loved Diamond David Lee Roth and thought Eddie Van Halen was the greatest rock & roll guitarist I had ever heard. Classic rock, pop hits, jazz, I would listen to almost anything. I went from Rush to Alan Holdsworth; U2 to Return to Forever and then I discovered Pat Metheny. “First Circle.” One of my favorite records of all time. To this day, Pat Metheny is still one of my favorites. My friend Norman & I would listen to music, talk about music and watch MTV videos for hours, dreaming about the day we would play music.

That dream would begin three months after I graduated from college.

 TO BE CONTINUED…

Come back on Sunday, January 24, 2021 to read the conclusion to  West Side Story Inspires Punk Rock Adventure (PART II)

 Also, over the summer, my brother & I talk about what it was like growing up listening to music with my parents on “Songs & Stories Live from the Blue Velvet Couch: Episode 6: https://youtu.be/zVuxxF4n5dI. You can hear more details about the kind of music we liked & couldn’t live without if stranded on a desert island. Watch below: