Friday Fives
1. What is your favorite song to put on a mix tape?
Anything by Journey ! No, but seriously. A mix tape should have a little bit of everything and show your personality and humor. Which is why I love to toss on Louden Wainwright III’s Dead Skunk. A gem.
2. What was your first rock concert?
The Who, 1982, Folsum Field, Denver – Face Dances tour. Their first tour/album after the death of Keith Moon and the crowd was on edge, not really knowing what to expect. The opening act was a new pop singer with a top 40 hit about a little ditty about Jack and Diane. The crowd was not in the mood and booed the then-relatively-unknown John Cougar off the stage. This is funny looking back because a lot of those Who fans probably are John Mellancamp fans today. The booing was more because of impatience. There seemed to be a hubbub in the crowd that if we get the opening act off the stage, the Who will play longer. But it was not to be. The next act was Jethro Tull. And The Who were not about to take the stage until their contracted time. So the crowd was given an extended set of Tull. What I am about to say next is probably sacrilege, but I am not a big Jethro Tull fan, and certainly wouldn’t have volunteered for an hour long (perhaps longer – the beer fog dims some memories) set. But it was worth it once Ian “Oh look, I play the flute on one leg like a pirate” Anderson left the stage I was allowed to see one the loudest, high energy shows I have ever seen. The Who were great showmen. Only two remain and we will never get to see this act again.
3. How old were you when you lost your virginity?
15? It was on a summer band trip to Portland and it was with a cute girl, also on a summer band trip, from Snohomish, Washington. It was a miserable time, we were horny, hurried and neither of us knew what we were doing. Losing one’s virginity is like that – do it, get it out of the way, remove it from your mind and learn from the many mistakes. I think girls are much better at deflowering guys than guys are at deflowering girls. Where would the world be without the sage guidance of a woman.
4. Tell me about your first car
Ah, I liked this car. It was a hand me down from my parents. A 1968 Ford Custom 500. I never got the full back story, but I think it used to be a cop car. Blue and White, three on the tree manual transmission. Four doors. It could seat a family of 25 comfortably and it had some juice in its engine. It was rear wheel drive and when it snowed (as it does in Western Colorado mountain towns) this car got stuck a lot. And it could cut donuts in parking lot at the drop of a dime. I think my parents sold it to my cousin – never to be seen again. Her name was Nannette.
5. If you could be anyone alive for a day, who would it be?
Henry Adams. I almost went with his peer and rival Teddy Roosevelt, but Adams saw more of the world and life. As John Quincy Adams’ grandson, he was connected in all the major circles at the turn of the century and as a writer/historian, he was able to participate in the birth and formation of the American century. Read his autobiography sometime – an amazing mind.