Tuesday, August 23, 2016

It's all about the music

I know it's been a while, but when the urge comes to blog it's usually in the middle of the night. For once it's a reasonable hour and I have nothing on the horizon except recovering from (she hopes) a particularly nasty bout of IBS.  Alone with my iPad and various things popping up on FB leads to thoughts of music and why many of us of a certain age seem to be stuck in the '80's and the hits we loved then.

Since I am going to talk about music from back then, I have to open with a disclaimer about drugs. I didn't do them. I tried pot a few times but it mostly put me to sleep, so I didn't see the attraction. (What might I get if I lived somewhere that had medicinal marijuana for pain?) Besides, I could totally zone into the music and light show without my consciousness being altered. I am a person who lives with her emotions very close to the surface and they can easily be accessed by the right stimuli.

Beatlemania? Hell, yes. Followed by all other British rock bands morphing into The Who, Clapton, Deep Purple, Yes, Rush, Boston, Jethro Tull, all without leaving behind the Rolling Stones and the various separate Beatles, most especially George. I have seen the Stones live twice, once at their first US performance in 1964 and again in a stadium in Charlotte for the "Sticky Fingers" tour. I saw Tull live at UNC but few of my other favourite bands. One of the essentials for my dorm room was a decent stereo. A vote of thanks to YouTube for having lots of videos (of varying quality) of many bands. While I am not a die-hard Foo Fighters fan, I really liked their cover of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" with lead vocals by John Davison, who's currently fronting Yes on tour. Since all these bands are from decades past, their original members are getting a tad geriatric if they haven't dropped off the twig already. Thanks to Ringo Starr who is still touring at 74 with his "All Starr Band" which includes Richard Page of Mr Mister (who still produces good solo material) and a few leftovers from Toto so they continue to keep music alive. My favourite radio station plays lots of '80's music so I get to sing along when I am permitted to drive again.  I wish somebody would come along with music that really grabbed you and could keep it up for more than one album. I like Pearl Jam but not really die hard.  I do like Train quite a bit and the Wallflowers. Any pointers to bands of this ilk would be appreciated. I do not like hip hop in any form and I never turned the corner in Dead territory. Still a middle of the road teeny bopper who liked hanging around in record stores. One of my favourite trips when I lived in NY was to go to Sam Goody's on the corner of 5th Ave and 42nd St to look for the latest vinyl. And I cherish my English pressings of most of the Beatles thanks to my pen pal in the UK. I played hooky from school to stay home and listen to Rubber Soul over and over..

P.S. To those out there who are not on FB, a brief update on what's going on with me. I went to the States at the beginning of May and became ill immediately, losing all control of my balance. I started falling and fell 4 times while I was there. I could not feel my feet or move my toes. I went to my GP when I got home and was referred to a neurologist. He diagnosed CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy). The treatment is infusions of intravenous immoglobulin, of which I have had 5 doses and will have one a month for 6 more months. I continued falling until I fell in the bathroom getting ready to go for an infusion and hit my head. I ended up in hospital for a week and only got out by driving my doctors crazy.  If you want to know more about the condition or its treatment, Google on.