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Over 25 Years of Rock n' Roll...

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SW3D

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Other Hobbies and Interests: Just two days ago, Brandon Shepherd brought up an interesting subject about "Other Hobbies and Interests". We all have interests outside of the domain of comic books. And I think it is safe to say that many of us share similar likes and dislikes for Popular Culture and such.

Like me, Meshuggah and Gaming ETC collect Baseball Cards. PlainMad has a CGC collection of MAD Magazines that are truly monumental. Tnerb collects Shot Glasses and Star Wars Toys. Studio25 has an interest in illustrating and shared with us a near facsimile of a Frank Frazetta piece. I used to draw and illustrate as a child, and even just before I graduated High School, considered becoming a cartoonist and enrolling into the Joe Kubert School of Art... but I came to the realistic understanding that I didn't have the talent necessary for such an endeavor. To this day, I search aimlessly for my true "Soul Mission"... like Adam Warlock always asks that existential question to the Cosmos: "Why Am I Here?" I say to myself... "To Write and to Share my Visions and Concepts with the World"... but I don't do enough of it as I should and it seems what I write about isn't really igniting with audiences... but that's another subject of conversation entirely.

But looking back to 1987, my comic book collecting habits took a sharp nose dive. I literally stopped buying comics in favor of other things. Why? Probably it was my senior year of High School and girls and friends... in other words a Social Life... took front and center stage. And you know how that goes. Suddenly comics are not so important and become trivial, and the money I used to spend on them was being used for hanging out at the local Video Arcade, the Pool Hall, the Pizza Store, the Cineplex, buying records and tapes (yep they were still around), and as David Bowie would say "Teenage Wildlife". In those days, music took me by storm.

It was in 1985 when I bought my very first cassette tape. It was Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon... an album destined to be my absolute favorite composed by a group of four musicians (Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason sans Syd Barrett), that to this day are still my favorite.

Soon after I was hanging out with friends I met in High School with interests in Movies, Sports and Music, and that's all we would talk about. Frequent trips to the record stores that no longer exist, was a very cool way to spend a Saturday if you had nothing else to do.

One of my closest friends at the time, Larry Latoe, bought a pair of tickets to see Robert Plant (former front man Led Zeppelin) play at Madison Square Garden. The event had Cheap Trick open up, who played forty-five minute set and played their best of the 70's and 80's, and even played new tracks from their soon to be released album "Lap of Luxury". Cheap Trick was experiencing popularity with the hit ballad "The Flame". Because they opened for the top bill, Robert Plant, Cheap Trick became the very first act I ever see perform live and on stage. However, the real buzz and excitement that night was over Robert Plant and the rumors that Jimmy Page may somehow make a guest appearance, and therefore, the audience would get treated to a Led Zeppelin reunion of sorts, but alas, that never happened.

My very next show was a gift from my oldest brother Carlos, who had introduced me to the world of Rock n' Roll. In the 70's and 80's he collected lots of vinyl from all the main stream Rock Gods and of bands seldom heard today. He was generous to treat me (the youngest) and my other brother, Jose (the middle brother), to see Roy Orbison play a show at the Beacon Theatre. It was 1988 (can't remember the exact date or month), and truth be told, Roy Orbison was the last guy I wanted to see and hear. But when he took the stage and played a tight set that absolutely did not rely on pyrotechnics or any razzle-dazzle, like Old School Rock n Roll, I think I probably heard the greatest living voice ever! His harmonics and vocal range was unbelievable. Now I understand why Carlos was so adamant to see him. Sadly, at just the young age of 52, he died of a heart attack that same year on December 8th.

Anyway, I would love to talk about all the fun things that occurred at each and every show I attended (from '87 to today: somewhere near 60 concerts or more), but I don't want to bore you to death. I will however share with you a picture of the tickets I thankfully kept. Lamentably, the tickets to those first two shows I did not keep (smack myself in the head for not having hindsight), and there are a dozen other shows (Faith No More at Roseland, Ozzfest featuring Black Sabbath and Judas Priest at Jones Beach, Rush 35th Anniversary Tour at Radio City, Gloria Estefan and Celine Dion (don't laugh... but I had to treat my girlfriend), Eric Clapton at MSG, Soundgarden at Jones Beach, guitarist Richard Thompson, and Robbie Krieger at the Iridium) where the tickets have either been lost or have been misplaced and floating in the Neverland.

And there are still a number of musicians and artists I have yet to see that are on my bucket list: David Bowie, King Crimson, Be Bop Deluxe, Men at Work, Jane's Addiction, Radiohead, Metallica, Electric Light Orchestra, the Beach Boys, AC/DC, Green Day, and, lamentably, a list of other musical geniuses that have long since left us: John Lennon, George Harrison, Syd Barrett, Elvis Presley, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Joe Strummer, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Davey Jones, etc., that I never got to see and will never.

Thankfully, comic books are back in my life: bigger and better than ever! And you guys are a part of it!

And if for any reason, comic collecting takes another hiatus out of my life, I will always have Rock n' Roll to fill the void.

 

Thanks for reading and Happy Collecting!

SW3D

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