My Musical Evolution – Page 23 – Mapping Influences Over Time

My Musical Evolution – Part 193 The Rise & Fall Of ’84 Van Halen Live!

I’m struggling with where to place Van Halen’s 1984 album. I’ve put it in The Rise & Fall Of ’84 mostly because Lisa and I saw Van Halen at the Coliseum in July of 1984. I actually bought this album before I met Lisa and as such many of the songs are not really attached to her otherwise.

I suppose Panama is probably the most Rise & Fall relevant because of its frequency on MTV. Tickets for the show went on sale earlier that spring. Lisa and I got up and out there very early to buy tickets. After hours of waiting, we finally got near enough to smell the ink on the tickets but they were sold out.

Needless to say, we were devastated. Fortunately, with the financial backing from her mother, we were able to secure tickets on the secondary market. I think we had to do some kind of chores like wash some cars or something to secure the Van Halen funding.

I had been to concerts before but this was the first time that I was taking a lady friend. I’ve had what I consider 5 serious girlfriends in my life in between the hundreds of crushes and flings. With only one exception, I’ve taken each of these women to a concert. Lisa was of course Van Halen, Penny was REO Speedwagon, Lynette was David Lee Roth and Mary [who would become my wife] was U2. We’ll get to all of those concerts as My Musical Evolution continues.

It was a truly different experience being at a concert with a pretty girl. You get to enjoy them as well as benefit from the courtesy that the world reserves for beautiful women. The opening act I later learned was a band called The Velcros. The were a rock-a-billy act not too different from The Stray Cats in their look and style. I felt really bad for them. As soon as their set started, the crowd starting screaming for Van Halen. People were throwing garbage on the stage. I remeber quite vividly they ended a song and the stage lights shut off on cue. They came up a second later to illuminate 2000 plastic drink cups hitting the stage and performers.

Van Halen was amazing as advertised. Although I only owned 2 Van Halen albums at the time, I had heard most of their stuff via other channels in the months leading up to the show. We didn’t know it then but Van Halen would break up soon after that concert. At first it was a shock because they seemed so good together. A month later, Lisa and I would break up too. At first it was a shock because we seemed so good together.

I guess it is a good thing I put this in The Rise And Fall Of ’84 since it is mostly about the concert which is where it belongs. One other thing about Van Halen comes to mind and that is my mother for some reason kept calling them Van Heflen.

1984

Jump

Panama

Hot For Teacher – Isn’t it interesting how different it feels when Van Halen sings about a young teacher as compared to The Police?

House Of Pain

My Musical Evolution – Part 192 The Rise & Fall Of ’84 Summer Blockbusters

Lisa and I made our way to the movies several times during The Rise & Fall Of ’84. We saw Finders Keeprs, Ghostbusters, Footloose and more. Footloose was a big deal that summer mostly because of all the music that came out of that soundtrack.

You already know that I liked movie soundtracks. This one wasn’t like some of the others that I had like Superman, Star Wars, or Star Trek. This was more the theHeavy Metalin that it was not a true film score but a collection of songs used in the film. I would grow to appreciate this format quite a bit in the 1990’s and beyond. They make great samplers.

I remember a scene in Footloose where Kevin Bacon, the city kid get pulled over by the local police for playing Quiet Riot too loud. I don’t think Lisa liked my Heavy Metal tastes too much so when the hero of the movie is listening to Quiet Riot, I remember giving her an I told you so kind of look. I wonder what all of her high school friends thought. “Lisa’s boyfriend listens to Quiet Riot too, he must be as cool as Kevin Bacon!”

Kenny Loggins – Footloose

Deniece Williams -Let’s Hear It For The Boy

Ann Willson & Mike Reno – Almost Paradise

Sammy Hagar – This Girl Gets Around I recall this being one of my favorites from the movie. At the time i don’t think I made the connection with Sammy Hagar from the Heavy Metal Soundtrack. There would be more Hagar in the Roach Days.

Ray Parker Jr. – GhostBusters

My Musical Evolution – Part 191 The Rise & Fall Of ’84

The memory is a strange thing. How does it decide what to hold close and what to let go. How is it possible that something that seems so vividly remembered can often be skewed or altered over time. My inital look back to The Rise & Fall Of ’84 was filled with innocent images of hand holding, roller skating, watching MTV and You Can’t Do That On Television. It seemed free of conflict or anything that could be the subject of an after school special.

The reality was a little different. Yes we did a good deal of hand holding and roller skated the paper route and beyind nearly evey day but there was conflict. Closer review revealed that Lisa had a previous relationship that seemed to be on again off again during a part [if not all] of our relationship. He was older than me, out of school and had a job. I think he was in his 30’s. OK that was made up. He was in his early mid 20’s. The other thing that I completely forgot was that on occasion, we drank vodka. Not a lot nor often. It just seems shocking to me because that stuff doesn’t quite fit in my idyllic memories of the time.

So the question for you now is this. Is it better to be able to recall the actual events as they happened or simply enjoy the romanticised version that your mind creates? I’m torn on that.

Bryan Adams – Run To You

Duran Duran -Union Of The Snake

The Police – Don’t Stand So Close To Me

Steve Perry – Strung Out

Michael Jackson – Thriller

Henry Mancini – Nadia’s Theme (The Young And The Restless)

My Musical Evolution – Part 190 College Intermission

I came to the realization that this project will not end with the closing of 2012 like I originally planned. That is because My Musical Evolution will continue. I do foresee that it will change. Instead of being a retrospective, it will be a live feed as I report in real time the latest influences and music that captures my attention. My Musical Evolution will become my music journal.

The 80’s catch a lot of flak for the styles and attitudes. It sometimes seems like the 80’s were the anti-60’s. Where the hippies and beatniks were all about less, the 80’s were all about more. More colors, more jewelry, more eye shadow and more hair.

It is easy to make fun of the styles and I’m sure that millions of photo albums are viewed every year with “What were we thinking?” being mumbled quietly. I for one feel so fortunate to have been at the eye of that storm. It may seem cartoonish and over the top but it was a lot of fun. Of course I don’t think I ever got too far out there. I had several brightly colored tank tops that I frequently wore two at a time. Maybe the leopard print spandex was a little too much.

Cyndi Lauper –She Bop

Eurythmics – Here Comes The Rain Again

Huey Lewis & The News – Heart Of Rock & Roll

Genesis – That’s All

Michael Jackson – Human Nature

Even though I was focused on the Heavy Metal scene at this time, These songs are still connected to me in a way that is hard to describe.

My Musical Evolution – Part 189 The Metal Years Whole Lotta Love

My very first Led Zeppelin album. I had heard Whole Lotta Love in Brian’s car at proper volume. The instrumental bridge leading into the guitar solo by Jimmy Page had me hooked. It had so many of the elemens that I had loved. It was kind of like mixing up Agony, Aldo Nova, Space Battle Sound Effects, Whale Songsand punctuated with the perfect tone of Jimmy’s guitar.

As you might recall, I had listened to my cousin’s Led Zeppelin IV. I had even seen The Song Remains The Same at the midnight movies. This album sounded very different. Was itHeavy Metal? It certainly felt heavy and had loud guitars and heavy drums. It was quite as buzz saw as the other stuff like Accept. Still, at the time it was metal enough and it is full of great songs.

My collection of Metal was growing. It was starting to fall into a couple different categories. The was the old school stuff like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Then there was the new metal like Twisted Sister and Ratt. Still compared to what was coming down the pike in the 90’s with bands like Slipknot, some of this stuff hardly seems metal at all.

I think that Led Zeppelin II also ushered in the appreciation for classic rock. It was my first step beyond the Billboard Top 100 mainstream pop music path that I had been on for so long. I still don’t and won’t apologize for liking Culture Club, The B-52’s, Thomas Dolby, or even The Safety Dance. There is room for all that stuff and while some may be more critically acclaimed than others, music has never been about technical prowess but all bout the emotion. What makes you feel good and gets you moving or singing along?

Whole Lotta Love

What Is And What Should Never Be

Thank You – I put this on a mix tape years later. It was the last song on the tape and it ran out of room before it finished so the last line came out “mountains crumble to the sea, there would still be you…” There wasn’t enough tape for “me”

Heartbreaker – Here is another one that I had heard years ago as played by Dave Wilder on a guitar in one of the music rooms at Vermont Academy even though I didn’t know that was what it was at that time.

Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)

Ramble On

Moby Dick

My Musical Evolution – Part 188 The Rise & Fall Of ’84 Summer On Wheels

Lisa had a paper route. She delivered papers to who knows how many homes in her little neighborhood. To speed up the process, she did it on roller skates. If I wanted to spend time with her, I had to join her on the route. I jogged at first but skating looked kind of fun.

I didn’t have skates and for some reason was not satisified with going out and buying a pair of those black boot style skates. So I made my own from scatch. Yes, that photo you see are the actual skates I made duringThe Rise & Fall Of ’84. They look rather MTV inspired don’t they? I still have them to this day but it has been many years since I’ve tried to use them.

I had some nice hockey skates and had spent a little time on the ice when I was in Vermont. So I wasn’t completely alien to the mechanics of skating. It was different and falling had a more severe punishment than sliding long slippery ice.

Lisa was a fairly accomplished skater and looked quite graceful even though her store bought skates were not nearly as cool as mine. She could also skate backwards with ease, something I have never been able to do.

Duran Duran – The Reflex

Billy Joel -The Longest Time

The Cars – Magic

Steve Perry -Foolish Heart

Bryan Adams – Straight From The Heart

My Musical Evolution – Part 187 The Metal Years Out Of The Cellar

Continuing the new metal movement was Ratt. The had a sound that seemed to take elements from Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and some of the other up and comers in MTV’s metal genre. You can also hear a little Eddie Van Halen influence here.

Round And Round was on the radio and MTV. Listening to it now, I think the guitar solo reminds me of Aldo Nova. You go check it out and let me know what you think. I wondered what Milton Berle’s connection to Ratt was all about. Out Of The Cellar was a favorite throughout The Metal Years. Ratt may not have had the credibility of some of the heaveier hitters like Ozzy and Iron Maiden but they were energetic and seem to fit in with those of us on the verge of 20.

The song Wanted Man is why I play bass guitar today. Of course it was a couple years down the road. Maybe I’ll save that one for The Roach Days Revisited.

Wanted Man

Round And Round

In Your Direction

Lack Of Communication

Back For More – I really miss these 80’s girls in there skirts and open sweaters. They were everywhere I went.

The Morning After

My Musical Evolution – Part 186 College Intermission

Before we get started, I’d like to once again draw your attention to the Tag Cloud at the very bottom of the page. All along the way, I’ve tried to tag each artist where I discussed a particular song or album. I’ve also tagged the Era of each post. The result is that Tag Cloud. It isn’t scientific in any way but I think it does give an interesting glimpse into My Musical Evolution. The bigger the font the bigger the influence or impact is probably a better word. Go ahead, scroll down and check it out. I’ll wait here..

The trouble with it is that it only provides a summary view. I’ve watched it change and evolve of the course of this year. You only get to see the grand total. I’m not going to go back and alter anything but it does make me wonder if I had planned this whole project with that Tag Cloud in mind, I could have engineered it so the cloud would objectively display My Musical Evolution at a glance. Interesting. Maybe I’ll try to construct a database someday to approximate that. The problem with objectivity is that it is hard to capture emotion on paper.

Michael Jackson – Billie Jean

Musical Youth – Pass The Dutchie

John Waite – Missing You

Bruce Springsteen – Dancing In The Dark I remember thinking the girl in this video was hot. Then I found out it was Courtney Cox,

Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me Isn’t it weird that the only thing most people remember about this song is Michael Jackson’s part?

My Musical Evolution – Part 185 The Metal Years Over The Mountain

I felt compelled to post both blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman on the same day because I bought them on the same day. I had heard Brian’s Ozzy albums and new I had to get my own.

Diary picked up right where Blizzard left off. I found out much later that all the songs for both albums were all basically done at the same time. They just split them up into two separate releases. It may not have the recognition of Blizzard but still rocks on.

For years, I would only own these two Ozzy albums. When Aric and i moved in to the Roach Motel, he had Bark At The Moon and he bought Ultimate Sin when it came out. So we’d have plenty of Ozzy at the house. I’d eventually fill in the blanks on CD.

I Always felt that You can’t Kill Rock & Roll was Diary’sRevelation (Mother Earth).It had that same kind of delivery. It has always been the favorite from Diary. I’m really surprised that I can’t find a clip of it.

Over The Mountain

Flying High Again

You Can’t Kill Rock & Roll I can’t find an actual Ozzy version of this song so I’ll stick this here until I do.

Diary Of A Madman

My Musical Evolution – Part 184 The Metal Years Wine Is Fine But Whiskey’s Quicker

It only took a moment to move from Black Sabbath into Ozzy Osbourne. His distinctive voice and persona made it an easy transition. The syrup that was Iommi was replaced by Randy Rhoades which gave it a more modern metal sound.

I wonder if Black Sabbath regretted the departure. It certainly seemed that Ozzy’s star continued to rise while Black Sabbath appeared to struggle. They did some good work with Ronnie James Dio but it never seemed to be as successful as their work with Ozzy or Ozzy’s work without them.

It seems kind funny who commonplace Crazy Train is these days. Every NFL kick off uses it. Back in The Metal Years, it was fresh and fairly new and we used to crank it up.

I used to always omit Goodbye To Romance back in The Metal Years. It was soft and slow and didn’t fit in with the rest of the album. A curious thing happened in the decades after The Metal Years. Because I played that song so infrequently, or maybe just changes in my tastes, Goodbye To Romance has become not only my faovorite song from Blizzard Of Ozz but my favorite Ozzy Osbourne song of all time. Now it conjures a warm and reminiscent feeling that just makes me smile.

Revelation (Mother Earth) was another one that I’ve always liked.

I Don’t Know

Crazy Train

Goodbye To Romance

Mr. Crowley

Revelation (Mother Earth)