Song of the Week - 9

I had two fabulous best friends during my teen years and am happy to say that one of these friendships is still going strong. If you've had a friend that has been a part of your life for so long, you know just how great that is. Someone that you can always count on. Someone that let's you know when you're out of control (and doesn't offend you because of your history). Someone that has been there for you and you've been there for when deaths, births, marriages, divorces, drama touched your life.

My two friends and I were Stones freaks! We loved the Rolling Stones, and I still do. As a long time fan, I must admit that I am partial to the older stuff, though. If you will, flashback to 1975. The Stones were touring. They were going to be in Los Angeles at the Forum. The girls and I HAD to go. We couldn't let the fact that none of us had a drivers license stop us. The recollection is dim here on some facts. How we learned of a ticket agency selling the tickets that we bought, I can't tell you. Our concert going experience up to that point was at a venue called The Swing Auditorium. The Swing was local and one of the parents would drive us to the box office to purchase concert tickets. Now the Forum, in Los Angeles, was a different story.

I don't remember when the concert was announced or when we bought the tickets. I do remember that I had the HUGEST crush on the guitarist, Mick Taylor. In December of 1974, he told the band he was leaving. I was devastated. A true teenage "Catch-22". See your fav band but without your major crush. Oh, the inhumanity.

We were dropped off at the Forum on that spectacular day in July of 1975 for the show. We paid the agency $25 a ticket and had really great seats. Third row! We snuck our Instamatic cameras in and snapped pictures. I'll have to see if I can find any of them. They weren't that good because Instamatic cameras didn't have zoom lenses, plus the flash bulbs didn't provide the best lighting.

After the show, we were picked up by our parental ride. They were accompanied by Johnny Walker! Obviously, we made it home safely. That was not a short commute either (about 2 hours).

This week's song is by that fab band, The Rolling Stones, is a song that was released on the Goats Head Soup album, and that my crush, MT, played on. It is also a powerful song addressing social issues, not only at the time, but social issues still relevant today. Really, when I hear some of the modern song lyrics, I am always amazed at just how NOT important they are and how stupid many are. "I kissed a girl and I like it" or "my lovely lady lumps" - who really gives a shit? If there is any social value to that, please feel free to let me know because I just don't have the desire to reach them at this time. I should confess that I've never listened to these songs in their entirety. Maybe there is something of value, or maybe these are songs trying to capitalize on the unfortunate popularity of "reality" TV shows. I just find all of that a sad commentary on our current society. How will we really look 30 years in the future?

The song this week is (Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo) Heartbreaker. Too bad kids today aren't hearing songs like this on the radio and/or on their iPods. I have now stepped off my soapbox.