The 5th annual Blue Ridge Rock Festival took place in Alton, Virginia on September 8 – 11, 2022. Day 2 was a hot one, with fans up early to bake in the sun and bask in the sweet and savory sounds of a wide variety of artists. The day started at high noon with the bluesy southern chill of Blacktop Mojo, and ended with the frantic aggression of Mudvayne.

As the fans learned the day before, difficult choices had to be made, with stellar acts performing on either end of the massive site. The two side-by-side main stages, sponsored by Monster Energy and ZYN, definitely had enough star power to hold down their end of the festival.

Blacktop Mojo, Zero 9:36, Saving Abel, Buckcherry, Candlebox, Badflower, Sevendust, Underoath, Theory Of A Deadman, Halestorm, Gojira, A Day To Remember and Mudvayne delivered one punch after another.

If that wasn’t enough for you, things got even heavier on the opposite end of the event. The URW stage and Fan-Driven stage hit even harder than the main stages.

Alice Cooper, Down, Hatebreed, Bad Omens, Memphis May Fire, In Flames, All That Remains, Whitechapel, Slaughter To Prevail, Fit For An Autopsy and Insane Clown Posse gave it all, and could have made a fine festival lineup on their own. There really still are too many stages and too many heavy hitters at BRRF. It is impossible to catch everyone that you want to see.

Several times throughout the day, the bands on stage stopped to show, in order to alert security that a fan was down and needed help. Kevin Martin was the first to stop mid-song, and urgently direct security and medical personnel to get out into the pits to aid a concertgoer. Showing how classy and professional they are, Martin directed the band to pick up the song at the guitar solo, once the injured patron was safely taken away for medical attention.

Tickets and campsites are already selling well for next year, proving that die hard metal fans will endure anything to experience the power of live music, and the feeling of connecting with other people who are just as mental about metal as they are. Go to https://blueridgerockfest.com/ to get yours.

BRRF22 Day 2

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Alice Cooper, Halestorm, Gojira, Candlebox and Mudvayne Heat Up Day 2 of Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022 first appeared on Game On Media.

Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022 has announced their full lineup and daily schedules, and we cannot wait for this event to start its engines. With the world-class lineup in place, plans for the new venue at Virginia International Raceway are taking shape. Ghost, Mudvayne, Slipknot and Disturbed are the main headliners on Thursday through Sunday, September 8-11, 2022, with a bonus Wednesday night event featuring Puddle Of Mudd. This time around, you won’t have to worry about miles of walking and figuring out which artists you will miss. There will be two main stages, side by side, without overlapping of major bands.

Wednesday’s warmup lineup is Puddle Of Mudd, Alient Ant Farm, Cold, Crazytown, Burden Of The Sky, Kings County, Last Nights Villain.

Thursday kicks it off proper with Ghost, Ice Cube, Falling In Reverse, Stone Temple Pilots, Anthrax, In This Moment, Daughtry, Jelly Roll, Nothing More, Pop Evil, Sleeping With Sirens, Spiritbox, We Came As Romans, Bad Wolves, Kittie, Shadows Fall, Hinder, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Attila, Hawthorne Heights, The Union Underground, Red, Counterparts, A Skylit Drive, Comeback Kid, Fire From The Gods, Unearth, Norma Jean, Smile Empty Soul, Palisades and more.

Friday gives you Mudvayne, A Day To Remember, Halestorm, Alice Cooper, Gojira, Underoath, Down, Theory Of A Deadman, Sevendust, Badflower, Candlebox, Insane Clown Posse, In Flames, Hatebreed, All That Remains, 3OH!3, Buckcherry, Electric Callboy, Bad Omens, Memphis May Fire, Whitechapel, Zero 9:36, Slaughter To Prevail, Saving Abel, Dayseeker, Bleeding Through, Fit For An Autopsy, Nita Strauss, Emo Night Brooklyn, Blacktop Mojo, He Is Legend, Silvertung and more.

Saturday is just insane, with Slipknot, Tenacious D (Jack Black & Kyle Gass), I Prevail, Pennywise, Skillet, Pierce The Veil, Motionless In White, Ice Nine Kills, Nelly, Starset, Black Veil Brides, Thrice, GWAR, God Forbid, Apocalyptica, Queensryche, Fit For A King, Adelitas Way, Lacuna Coil, From Ashes To New, Chelsea Grin, Mushroomhead, Powerman 5000, The Plot In You, Stick To Your Guns, Sion, The Acacia Strain, Municipal Waste, Butcher Babies, Terror, Upon A Burning Body, The Word Alive, Crowbar, Kublai Khan, Redlight King, Hollow Front, The Dead Daisies and more.

You had better save something for Sunday, because it is relentless – Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Lamb Of God, Seether, New Found Glory, Killswitch Engage, Hollywood Undead, Saliva, Wage War, Knocked Loose, Grandson, Fever 333, The Amity Affliction, Silverstein, Story Of The Year, Baroness, Hoobastank, The Devil Wears Prada, Enter Shikari, Suicide Silence, Demon Hunter, Nonpoint, John 5, Lacey Sturm, Texas In July, Erra, Stray From The Path, Tetrarch, Attack Attack!, Silent Planet, Otherwise, Twiztid, Jeris Johnson, Project 86, Icon For Hire, Hed P.E. and more.

Go get your tickets and your campsites or hotel reservations. All the info you need is available at https://blueridgerockfest.com/. See you there!

Here are some examples of last years epic performances at Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2021:

BRRF21 Blue Ridge Rock Fest 2021

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Ghost, Mudvayne, Slipknot and Disturbed to Headline Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022 first appeared on Game On Media.

The Fan Driven Lineup for Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022 has not even revealed 3 of the top 6 artists, but it is already set to be the American rock music festival of the year.

This year’s event has moved to a real facility, the Virginia International Raceway. It will rock your world with: 4 Full Days. 5 Stages. 1 Epic Pre-Party. 3 Electrifying Club Experiences. 171 Total Artists.

Uniquely Powered by a Record-Setting 285,000+ Fan Votes, the lineup features returning favorites and unique shows.

There is an almost impossible amount of special shows planned for Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022. These include Anthrax 40th Anniversary, Saliva Exclusive Reunion with Josey Scott, Sevendust performing “Animosity” in its entirety, Starset returning for a special full production nighttime set, God Forbid reunion show, Shadows Fall reunion show, All That Remains performing “The Fall Of Ideals” in its entirety, Electric Callboy exclusive U.S. festival appearance, The Devil Wears Prada performing “Zombie” in its entirety, Fear Factory reunion show, Demon Hunter playing in Virginia for the first time in a decade, Saving Abel featuring the return of original vocalist Jared Weeks, The Union Underground reunion show, Mushroomhead rare 2022 appearance
Texas In July reunion show, A Skylit Drive original lineup reunion, Siamese U.S. debut, Close Your Eyes reunion show, and the global debut of Sion featuring Howard Jones & Jared Dines.

Despite several high-profile acts yet to be announced, the lineup for Blue Ridge Rock Festival already features a Who’s Who of the rock world: Slipknot, Disturbed, Ghost, 3 Doors Down, A Day To Remember, Lamb Of God, Alice Cooper, Tenacious D, Falling In Reverse, I Prevail, Stone Temple Pilots, Seether, Gojira, Skillet, Pierce The Veil, Killswitch Engage, Hollywood Undead, In This Moment, Motionless In White, Ice Nine Kills, Jelly Roll, Down, Nelly, Nothing More, Theory Of A Deadman, Wage War, Pop Evil, Badflower, Knocked Loose, Candlebox, Starset, Black Veil Brides, Thrice, Sleeping With Sirens, In Flames, Jinjer, Gwar, Apocalyptica, Grandson, Spiritbox, Puddle Of Mudd, The Amity Affliction, We Came As Romans, Bad Wolves, Hatebreed, Silverstein, Kittie, Queensryche, Insane Clown Posse, Story Of The Year, 3Oh!3, Hoobastank, Hinder, Zero 9:36, Bad Omens, Fire From The Gods, Butcher Babies, Adelitas Way, Attila, Nonpoint, Lacuna Coil, Lacey Sturm, Powerman 5000, Alien Ant Farm, Nita Strauss, Blacktop Mojo, Otherwise, Islander, and so many more.

Do not miss your chance to be at the premier American rock music festival of 2022. This has sold out before, and it will sell out again. 100 days from now, you will be thanking me.  https://blueridgerockfest.com/festival-passes/

Photos from Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2021:

BRRF21 Blue Ridge Rock Fest 2021

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In 100 Days, Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022 Will Blow Your Mind first appeared on Game On Media.

Prologue

1. The Music Of My Life

Music means everything to me. It has for as long as I can remember. Each night I fall asleep listening to music. Every morning I wake up listening to music. I play music in the shower. I play music in the car. I play music at the gym. If I am not actively listening to music, I hear songs in my head. When somebody is talking to me, I hear lyrics in their words, and start singing to myself. While I have never completely written or recorded anything original, I have made mix-tapes and play-lists since the Seventies.

I have spent almost all of my free time and “disposable” income on music and music-related experiences. My first job was delivering The Daily News to a six block radius around my house on Long Island, New York. I took the job because they offered a free cassette tape of my choosing if I signed up 3 new subscriptions on my route. I took care of that task quickly, and scored what may be my most favorite album of all time – the self-titled debut from the Long Island based band named Zebra. I continued to find bargains and build my catalog thanks to the marketing efforts of BMG and Columbia House music mail order services. Eventually, I bought cheap guitars and amps, and later more expensive guitars. I have too many guitars.

Once the concert floodgates opened for me when I went to the University of Virginia, I started going to as many shows as I could, no matter where they were located. Music festivals began, locally and small at first, then larger ones able to draw a national audience of freaks like me who were willing to drive or fly all over the country, sleeping in any hotel, motel, Holiday Inn, tent, RV or Air B’n’B I could find. Woodstock ‘99, Rocklahoma, Rock On The Range, Carolina Rebellion, Welcome To Rockville, Aftershock, Earthday Birthday, Vans Warped Tour, Coachella, Voodoo Festival, Once Upon A Time in the LBC, Rock USA and KAABOO Del Mar – these are a few of my favorite things. Then the rock cruises came along, which I have enjoyed as a customer, staff member, charity worker, journalist and photographer – ShipRocked, Motörhead’s MotörBoat, MegaCruise, and Monsters Of Rock Cruise.

From 2010 to 2020, I was able to get up close and personal with the music, the musicians and the fans. I have been a photojournalist for several print magazines and online websites. I have previewed and reviewed concerts, albums and livestreams. I have interviewed artists backstage and on tour buses. I have photographed shows of every kind, from the smallest and darkest of clubs, to the largest of outdoor festivals. I have captured local artists, new acts, living legends and lifelong loves, from Aerosmith to ZZ Top.

During this mostly silent year, I decided to take a look back, to appreciate the journey so far, and perhaps to make some sense of my decisions and choices along the way. This isn’t exactly a memoir or biography, as I don’t believe that I have done anything of such consequence to merit such documentation. I won’t know if there are any lessons to be learned, or advice to carry with me on my second half, until I write it all down. The songs have been chosen, the memories have come rushing back. We will see where this experience takes me.

With 52 years of special songs to revisit, I also plan to really focus on learning to play complete songs on guitar. That gives me 2 songs to learn per week. That should hold me to a good working cadence. Is everybody in? Drop the needle on the record.

2. The Way I Chose The Songs

Choosing only 2 songs from an entire year was quite an ordeal. Some years had many releases that had a major impact at the time, others not as many. I chose songs based on the year that the album they came from was released. This means that the song itself may not have even been released as a single that year. Sometimes a song hits you right away, sometimes it builds slowly, and other times you discover it well after it was released. In many cases, it takes some new experience to bring the importance of the song into focus.

I suppose it generally takes some passage of time for the songs that mean the most to you to bubble to the surface. Only time will tell which ones continue to swim around in your brain, forming the soundtrack to your life’s story.

I chose the songs that have had the most lasting impression on my life, the ones that instantly take me back to a time, or a place, or a person, or an experience, or all of the above. The names will be changed to protect the innocent and guilty alike. These are the songs that mean the most to me, and nobody knows me better than I know myself, so I can’t really say if others share the same memories in the same ways.

Looking at the final list, there are sooo many songs that I love that did not make the cut. There are lots of artists that I cannot believe are not represented. I guess this should not be too surprising. Think about how hard it is to make a top 5 list in any given year. There are just so many artists and songs that I love, it is no wonder that I am almost always listening to, writing about, or photographing music. Out of the 104 songs chosen, 8 are from bands that appear twice. Those are obviously among my all-time favorites, and they are among the ones who have meant the most to me throughout my life. They are Alice In Chains, Candlebox, Creed, Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Rush and Shinedown.

For more chapters of My Life In Music:

My Life In Music, Part 1, 1969-1974

My Life In Music, Part 1, 1975-1979

My Life In Music, Part 2, 1985-1989

Part II

26. The 1980’s – The Cassette Era

Welcome to the 1980’s, the greatest decade in musical history. A lot of people will tell you that music was better in the Seventies – more “real”, more “honest”, more “emotional”, more “acoustic”. These are the same people who will tell you that music just sounds better on a record album than on any other format. You need to know two things about these people. #1. They are hippies. #2. They are, as in all things, half right and half wrong. Yes, a record played on a good stereo system, with good speakers, still does sound better than any other way of listening to music. I am listening to “Signals” by Rush on an average record player with poor speakers as I write this, and it still sounds richer and fuller than any digital copy. But just because a record sounds better does not mean that the songs themselves are inherently better written or performed.

Cassette tapes are absolutely terrible as far as quality goes, but essential in the evolution of musical enjoyment. The tape itself is exposed to the elements, it gets unraveled, it gets twisted, it gets stuck. The speed at which it plays back varies. It wears out with every play, fast-forward and rewind. I actually made it a point to never rewind a tape. Instead, I would stop it, eject it, turn it over and fast forward it. To this day I have no scientific basis for such ridiculous precautions, but I faithfully executed those procedures nonetheless. Bottom line, the defense stipulates that cassettes are inherently terrible in sound quality and only get worse over time. On the other hand, your basement stereo setup is great and all, but can you take it on the road with you? Can you take it out for a “jog”, or a walk, man? Can you pop it into your pocket and have it inspire you at the gym? Of course not. Cassettes gave us musical freedom and artistic control. You could make your own “albums” with any combination of songs that you wanted. Note: when I was a kid, we called records “albums” as compared to cassettes which we called “tapes”. Technically, an album is a collection, and it does not even have to be music, so a more accurate term would be “LP”, which turns out to be short for “Long Play” 33-1/3 RPM vinyl record. You get why we just called them albums, right? It was just easier to ask your friends if they got the new Rush album or tape. You can also see why the “mixtape” was part of the plot of every teen movie from the decade.

Back to the music. Sure, rock and roll was epic in the 1970’s, some may even say “classic”, and I take nothing away from that by saying that I like the rock and roll of the 1980’s more. That “classic” sound endures and probably always will. However, rock and roll truly evolved in the Eighties. Not everyone may like or appreciate every style and sound that emerged, but none can deny that music went in so many directions that genres and sub-genres had to be created, if only to provide fodder for the message boards of the Nineties. Punk, thrash, glam/hair, new wave, emo/goth, college/alternative, pop and hip-hop all took off in the 1980’s. There is no single sound that represents music in the 80’s, no single image, no single path to stardom or infamy. Everything was thrown against the wall, and most of it stuck. Just look at the variety of artistic excellence represented in my selections, which were extremely difficult to make from this era. Consider who did not even make the cut. U2, The Police, Scorpions, LL Cool J, Run-D.M.C., Duran Duran, Quiet Riot, Queensrÿche and Whitesnake all spent time as my favorite band in the whole wide world, yet could not make the final list. Prince, Michael Jackson, Pat Benatar and Journey were left off. I could do a whole other set of songs that are just as good as these.

If anyone ever asks, I say that I “grew up” in the 1980’s. I was 10 years old when they started and 20 when they ended. I made it through junior high, high school, and most of college during this musical explosion. Growing up on Long Island, I did focus most of my attention on artists from New York. People sometimes wonder why New Yorkers are arrogant, and we are, but we come to it naturally. We just take credit for everything anyone of us creates while we just so happened to be in the general vicinity. I consider 2 of New York’s 5 boroughs to be part of Long Island. They are physically connected to the same land mass as Nassau and Suffolk Counties. So even if they are logically different, the same could be said about Montauk and the Hamptons. In my mind, I credit the entire Island as the foundation of my history and personality.

I was born in Hollis, Queens, so naturally I take pride in the fact that hip-hop took off based largely on the talents and rhymes of Run-D.M.C., The Beastie Boys and LL Cool J. Run (Joseph Ward Simmons) was born and raised in Hollis, Queens. D.M.C. (Darryl Matthews McDaniels) was born in Harlem and grew up in Hollis. LL (James Todd Smith) was born in Bay Shore on Long Island just a year before me, literally the next town over from where I grew up. He grew up in (and famously “represented”) Queens, where I spent the first 3 years of my life. The Beasties were also NYC through and through. I also followed Long Island rockers especially closely. Anthrax, Blue Öyster Cult, Zebra, Twisted Sister, Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Squier, even that other Billy who played piano. When taking credit for things, New Yorkers will even put claims on their neighbor across the river, New Jersey. Personally, I love New Jersey. I have always had family there and spent a large part of my life there. That gave me an affinity for Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi that was earned as honestly as the stories they continue to write to this day.

Enough preamble. Rip your acid-washed jeans a little more, tease up your hair, pierce your ear, and cut up those band t-shirts. Bring your #2 pencil, tighten up those cassette tapes, grab your bucket of D batteries, and turn that boom box all the way up. This is the 80’s!

27. 1980 – I Don’t Know – Ozzy Osbourne

I am not sure how many people know the precise moment that they became a metal head. That moment was instantly burned in my brain and is as clear a memory as any that I have.

My parents grew up in Flushing, Queens, and like much of their family and friends, had moved out to a house on Long Island in the early 1970’s. Other family members moved to suburban New Jersey or even up and coming South Carolina. Some of my parents childhood friends ended up moving a couple of miles away from us, so naturally they hung out all the time, and my sister and I were forced to become friends with their kids. Which turned out to be fine, because these were cool kids. The boy and I were early software pirates, trading hacked Atari cartridges and using the Pirate’s Toolkit to bootleg and modify computer games on our Commodore 64’s. Who knew that I was actually training for my career in software development? Before all that, we would just hang out and listen to music. The adults would drink and play cards upstairs, and the kids went down in the basement to make noise.

One particular fall day, we headed over to their house and he had just started playing something new. It was LOUD and the guitar playing was insane. We were both freaking out over how cool it was. I screamed at him “What is this?!?!” He yelled back “I don’t know!!” I countered with “Look at the cover!!!” He responded with “I don’t know!!!!” I tried to ask again as he shoved the album cover in my face and said “It’s called. I. DON’T. KNOW!!!” Then we fell out laughing. Then Ozzy started laughing as “Crazy Train” kicked in. My metal horns went up that evening, and they are never coming back down.

My favorite lyric:

Don’t ask me. I don’t know!

This song is full of brilliant lines about self reliance and independent thought. With the spectacle and drama that has always surrounded Ozzy, his deep lyrical content is often overlooked. Even “Crazy Train” is really a call to stop senseless violence and conflict, but who stops to ponder such things while enjoying the spectacle? All that said, nothing tops the simple exclamation that had two 11 year old kids rolling on the floor laughing in a Long Island basement.

I Don’t Know

Written by Randy Rhoads & Ozzy Osbourne

Performed by Ozzy Osbourne

People look to me and say
Is the end near, when is the final day
What’s the future of mankind
How do I know, I got left behind

Everyone goes through changes
Looking to find the truth
Don’t look to me for answers
Don’t ask me, I don’t know (know…)

How am I supposed to know
Hidden meanings that will never show
Fools and prophets from the past
Life’s a stage and we’re all in the cast

Ya gotta believe in someone
Asking me who is right
Asking me who to follow
Don’t ask me, I don’t know (know)
I don’t know, I don’t know (know), I don’t know

Nobody ever told me I found out for myself
Ya gotta believe in foolish miracles
It’s not how you play the game
It’s if you win or lose you can choose
Don’t confuse win or lose, it’s up to you
It’s up to you, it’s up to you, it’s up to you
Go, go, go

People look to me and say
Is the end near, when is the final day
What’s the future of mankind
How do I know, I got left behind, I’m lost

Everyone goes through changes
Looking to find the truth
Don’t look to me for answers
Don’t ask me, I don’t know!

28. 1980 – Keep On Loving You – REO Speedwagon

Couple skate!

Were two sweeter words ever heard by pre-pubescent ears? Roller skating was all the rage in 1980. Everybody would go. There was loud music, disco lights, soda on tap, and bodies flying by in every direction. For a bunch of not-yet-teens, we felt like we were in Studio 54. When the ballads were played, the DJ yelled “couple skate!”, and shy boys had an excuse to ask a girl to hold hands with him for 3 dizzying minutes. I didn’t care what REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Journey, Styx or Pat Benatar was singing about (it was still way over my head). I just knew that when those soft piano and guitar intros played, Johnnie was gonna get … a chance to skate with a girl he liked, maybe even one he had been waiting for.

My favorite lyric:

You should’ve known by the tone of my voice, maybe
But you didn’t listen

I have always had a few issues with communication and misunderstanding, especially after leaving New York. The first thing was the accent and speed at which New Yorkers speak to each other. We are quick and blunt, and sometimes loud. No disrespect, but part of living in a crowded place is standing up for yourself and trying to get your point in as quickly as possible. People from other parts of the country consider this to be rude. My other issue is my dry, sarcastic sense of humor. This leads to a tone of voice that is not always appreciated. What are ya gonna do? You didn’t listen.

Keep On Loving You

Written by Kevin Cronin

Performed by REO Speedwagon

You should’ve seen by the look in my eyes, baby
There was something missing
You should’ve known by the tone of my voice, maybe
But you didn’t listen
You played dead
But you never bled
Instead you lay still in the grass
All coiled up and hissing

And though I know all about those men
Still I don’t remember
‘Cause it was us, baby, way before them
And we’re still together

And I meant, every word I said
When I said that I love you
I meant that I love you forever

And I’m gonna keep on loving you
‘Cause it’s the only thing I wanna do
I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on loving you

And I meant, every word I said
When I said that I love you
I meant that I love you forever

And I’m gonna keep on loving you
‘Cause it’s the only thing I wanna do
I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on loving you
And I’m gonna keep on loving you
‘Cause it’s the only thing I wanna do
I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on loving you

29. 1981 – Rapture – Blondie

“Rapture” from Debbie Harry and Blondie is the first “rap” I ever heard. It was also the first rap video played on MTV when they debuted on 8/1/81. Debbie herself seemed like some kind of alien, drifting effortlessly and carelessly across the Earth, dropping dreamy hit after hit.

My first video game design was based on this song. I had written a plot and made some sketches based on the Man From Mars and his alleged adventures on earth, eating things. On each level, you would control the hungry, hungry Martian, eating one of the things mentioned in the song. Sadly, I did not have any mad programming skills yet, so it just went into the cool idea pile. I kept myself busy dropping quarters into the arcade machines at the local pizza parlors and stationery stores. Space Invaders, Missile Command, Super Cobra and Galaga ate a ton of coinage, while slaking my alien blasting thirst.

My favorite lyric:

‘Cause the man from Mars stopped eatin’ cars
And eatin’ bars and now he only eats guitars, get up

As ridiculous as the entire premise of this song is, the absurdity reaches its apex with this rapidly rhymed narrative. By now, you know the whole thing is a goof and this just sounds wicked cool.

Rapture

Written by Debbie Harry & Chris Stein

Performed by Blondie

Toe to toe, dancing very close
Barely breathing, almost comatose
Wall to wall, people hypnotized
And they’re stepping lightly
Hang each night in rapture

Back to back, sacroiliac
Spineless movement and a wild attack
Face to face, sightless solitude
And it’s finger popping
24-hour shopping in rapture

Man to man, body muscular
Seismic decibel, bite the jugular
Wall to wall, tea time technology
And a digital ladder
No sign of bad luck in rapture

30. 1981 – Too Much Time On My Hands – Styx

“Paradise Theatre” was a sprawling conceptual piece by Styx that was a bit all over the place. Like many bands that began in the 1970’s, they struggled to balance the rockers and the ballads. Pianist / vocalist Dennis DeYoung had some good ballads, and I do thank him for “The Best Of Times” at the skating rink. However, I prefer the guitar and the rock and roll stylings of guitarist / vocalist Tommy Shaw. That lead me to choose “Too Much Time On My Hands” to represent this year.

Night Ranger is another band with 2 singers and 2 styles. Bassist / vocalist Jack Blades is the rocker, and he and Tommy Shaw joined up with Ted Nugent to form Damn Yankees in 1990. I got to meet them after a show, and I told Jack that I loved his and Tommy’s songs the best in Night Ranger and Styx, so this was a perfect project for them.

The song also reminds me of all the high school lunch times I spent trying to beat Time Pilot at the local pizza place next to DPHS. I was so obsessed with beating that game, and making it through all 5 levels of aircraft dogfighting. You started in 1910 fighting bi-planes. Next was 1940 with prop planes and bombers. Then 1970 versing helicopters. The “present day” at the time, was 1982, dueling jets. Finally, you traveled to the future, 2001, when UFO’s were invading. Beating all of this with a single quarter was a monumental task. I always made my friends stand far behind me, quietly, or else I could blame them for my failures. One day I was locked in, and they had all headed back to class. I managed to beat the future level alien scum and wondered what could possibly be next up. It was Level 1 again – lame – but I had done it! I arrived late for class (which I NEVER did) and was questioned. My response was “I don’t even care! I finally beat Time Pilot!!” I bought a multi-game home arcade machine when the pandemic started, created a Rocker’s Dozen playlist with 13 songs about time, and it took me months to once again complete all 5 levels.

When I lived in Maryland, and had just started photographing concerts for Shockwave Magazine, Styx played a theater in Baltimore, and I was granted a photo pass. Paradise! Sometimes when you get your photo pass, you also get 1 or more tickets to watch the entire concert and write a review about it. At this show, I was handed 2 tickets in the 5th row center. As I was getting sorted, a father and son were at the ticket window next to me, and I overheard the fact that only 1 seat was left in the entire theater. Realizing I was about to let a great second seat go to waste, I told him to buy the one ticket and I would trade him my 2 prime seats so he and his son could enjoy the show together. I felt good as I walked up to the front of the stage, only to have the bouncer inform me that there is no photo pit in a theater, and I certainly could not stand in front of the people who had paid the most money to be front row. I was instructed to shoot from my seat. That’s when I realized that I had traded my photography tickets for a balcony seat against the side wall. I didn’t even have a zoom lens at the time. Well, all of my shots were of the entire stage and lower level, from a side angle. Oh well, the performance was outstanding, so I focused on my writing.

My favorite lyric:

And I’ve given up hope for the afternoon soaps
And a bottle of cold brew

This line hits me on a few levels. Growing up (and to this very day) my Mom watched General Hospital, an ABC afternoon soap, religiously. My sister and I would watch with her at 3:00 every day, whenever we were not in school, such as the summer of Luke & Laura, when they were away from Port Charles, on the run from Hutch the bounty hunter. In high school, I would walk home between class and soccer practice and watch The Young & The Restless. As for the bottle of cold brew, I have always felt that drinking a beer signaled your giving up on the day, as far as productivity is concerned. Perhaps it was this lyric imprinted on my young brain that has guided me along.

Too Much Time On My Hands

Written by Tommy Shaw

Performed by Styx

Yeah, I’m sitting on this barstool, talking like a damn fool
Got the twelve o’clock news blues
And I’ve given up hope for the afternoon soaps
And a bottle of cold brew

Is it any wonder I’m not crazy?
Is it any wonder I’m sane at all?

Well, I’m so tired of losing, I got nothing to do
And all day to do it
Well, I’d go out cruisin’, but I’ve no place to go
And all night to get there

Is it any wonder I’m not a criminal?
Is it any wonder I’m not in jail?

Is it any wonder I’ve got too much time on my hands?
It’s ticking away with my sanity
I’ve got too much time on my hands
It’s hard to believe such a calamity
I’ve got too much time on my hands
And it’s ticking away, ticking away from me

Too much time on my hands
(It’s t-t-t-t-ticking away)
Too much time on my hands
(And I don’t know what to do with myself)
Too much time on my hands

Too much time on my hands
Too much time on my hands
Too much time on my hands

Now, I’m a jet fuel genius – I can solve the world’s problems
Without even trying
I got dozens of friends, and the fun never ends
That is, as long as I’m buying

Is it any wonder I’m not the president?
Is it any wonder I’m null and void?

Is it any wonder I’ve got too much time on my hands?
It’s ticking away with my sanity
I’ve got too much time on my hands
It’s hard to believe such a calamity
I got too much time on my hands
And it’s ticking away, ticking away from me
Too much time on my hands
(T-t-t-t-ticking away)
Too much time on my hands
(And I don’t know what to do with myself)
Too much time on my hands
Too much time on my hands
(T-t-t-t-ticking away)
Too much time on my hands
Too much time on my hands
(Too much time on my hands)
(Too much time on my)

31. 1982 – Heat Of The Moment – Asia

When Asia burst on the scene, it was the first time I remember having a Favorite Band. I believe they were the first “Supergroup”. They took members of 4 successful bands and made something even better. Steve Howe played guitar for Yes. John Wetton sang and played bass for King Crimson. Geoff Downes played keyboards for The Buggles. Carl Palmer was the drummer for Emerson, Lake & Palmer. “Heat Of The Moment” was the first single, a classic that everyone knows and loves to this day. The rest of the album contains magical musical performances and cutting lyrics. Every note of every song is perfection.

I was all in on Asia merch. I had an Asia trucker hat, wristbands, a baseball sleeve shirt, and a sweatshirt (which I later cut off to wear bouldering). I drew variations of their logo on every textbook cover (hand made from brown grocery bags) and notebook that I owned. Needless to say, this did not make me the “cool kid”. Asia was no Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, but I was forced to like those bands in secret, due to their bad reputations.

I had tickets to see the original band on their first reunion tour, with my friend from Brick in the Wall infamy, but he tragically died and I could not bring myself to go to the show without him, so I gave the tickets to some other friends.

I did get to see the final tour with all 4 original members with my uncle and his friends, in New Jersey. They played all of their classics, some great new songs, and a song each from their previous bands. Quite a moment.

My favorite lyric:

And when your looks are gone and you’re alone
How many nights you sit beside the phone
What were the things you wanted for yourself?
Teenage ambitions you remember well

I stole this, verbatim, for an English class poetry assignment, which I had forgotten to do. I quickly scribbled this out as the teacher was collecting the assignments, one of the few times having a last name starting with a “V” came in handy. I got an “A”. I also found a creative writing assignment from 1984, which I called “The Modern Cowboys” (a title Tesla later stole from me!), where the final sentence was “We live to fight another day.”, taken from Asia’s second album “Alpha”.

Heat Of The Moment

Written by Geoff Downes & John Wetton

Performed by Asia

I never meant to be so bad to you
One thing I said that I would never do
A look from you and I would fall from grace
And that would wipe the smile right from my face

Do you remember when we used to dance?
And incidents arose from circumstance
One thing led to another, we were young
And we would scream together songs unsung

It was the heat of the moment
Telling me what my heart meant
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes

And now you find yourself in Eighty Two
The disco hot spots hold no charm for you
You can concern yourself with bigger things
You catch a pearl and ride the dragon’s wings

‘Cause it’s the heat of the moment
Heat of the moment
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes

And when your looks are gone and you’re alone
How many nights you sit beside the phone
What were the things you wanted for yourself?
Teenage ambitions you remember well

It was the heat of the moment
Telling me what your heart meant
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes

It was the heat of the moment
Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment showed in your eyes

Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment

32. 1982 – Subdivisions – Rush

Rush is my favorite band of all time, but it took time to get there. “Subdivisions” was the song that started their ascension for me. Combined with “The Analog Kid” which immediately follows it on the “Signals” album, I heard my teenage life perfectly described. These songs expressed sympathy for the plight of youth, living in the relative comfort and safety of the suburbs, imbued with a fear of missing out. Suburban life is seen as an improvement from city life, but the sprawl and isolation actually limits your opportunities. When you are young, you can only go as far as you can walk, so your social circle is limited to your school friends. I was fortunate to have some amazing friends, some of which I keep in contact with (primarily through our common love of Rush). Then you get a bike, and your world opens up a little more, at least as far as you are willing to pedal. Finally, if you are lucky enough to have access to a car, you can do even more.

By the time I was a senior, I was still biking and walking. I found a job at a frozen yogurt / pita shop (a health food option decades ahead of its time) in a futile attempt to earn enough money to buy my own ride. Some of my friends were planning to put together a band for the annual school High School talent show. I spent months rehearsing alone in my room for months, primarily working on “Tom Sawyer” and “Subdivisions”. For the second of 3 times in my life, I had a serious asthma attack in December of my senior year, while frantically approaching the deadline to apply for Ivy League colleges, which I didn’t even want to attend. After that, I could never hold my breath long enough to sing this song right.

In 2010, I caught up with my oldest friends from the neighborhood to see Rush: Time Machine at Jones Beach Theater. That started an all too brief yearly tradition. The last show we saw together was in the summer of 2015 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, during their final tour, R:40. Drummer Neil Peart retired after that tour, and got brain cancer soon after, eventually passing away in January of 2020.

Somehow, I was approved to take pictures of Rush while seeing them in Northern Virginia with the drummer who had encouraged me to learn to sing Rush songs for that talent show. That band ended up being called “The Misfits”, which I never even got to join, because I had work the night they finally got together to rehearse. ”Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone.“ I had just gotten my first real camera, and barely begun photographing shows. I was shocked that I even got a photo pass. When Geddy Lee looked straight down into my lens as I was shooting, I felt like Wayne and Garth – “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!”. That will always stand as my most surreal concert experience.

See my article about what Neil Peart and Rush mean to me: What Neil Peart and Rush Mean To Me

See my article on my High School English analysis of this song as a poem by Neil Peart: My High School English Paper on Subdivisions by Neil Peart

My favorite lyric:

Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided

Oh, the irony of giving yourself an asthma attack while stressing out over a pre-decided future that you had no interest in, destroying your ability to sing, which then shatters whatever confidence you had scraped together thinking you could actually be a rock star, if only for a brief instant. “Be cool or be cast out.”

Subdivisions

Written by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart

Performed by Rush

Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown

Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone
Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone

(Subdivisions) —
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
(Subdivisions) —
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out

Any escape might help to smooth
The unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe
The restless dreams of youth

Drawn like moths we drift into the city
The timeless old attraction
Cruising for the action
Lit up like a firefly
Just to feel the living night

Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight
Somewhere out of a memory
Of lighted streets on quiet nights

(Subdivisions) —
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
(Subdivisions) —
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out

Any escape might help to smooth
The unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe
The restless dreams of youth

33. 1983 – Who’s Behind The Door? – Zebra

Zebra is the band who led me to that paper route job, where I quickly earned enough points to nab their self-titled debut album. An album that still rates in my all-time top ten, deserted island list. Zebra was the only band I managed to see live during my high school years, and I saw them many times. I continued to see them as often as I could. My parents never had cable, so I could only see cool things like HBO and MTV when I went to my best friend’s house, which was quite often. He had a basement and an in-ground pool with a diving board and slide. He also had an older sister with many cute friends, but I digress. His Dad was the O.G. “dad joke” teller. One time when I arrived, my friend excitedly told me that had seen “Who’s Behind The Door?” 4 times that day. His Dad, cocktail in hand, deadpanned “Well, who was it? You saw him 4 times!”.

Until I got to college, Zebra was actually the only band I had seen live. I have often wondered how a high school kid saw a rock band play at bars across Long Island. My Mom was gracious enough to drop me off sometimes. My little sister was infatuated with singer / guitarist Randy Jackson and even had his poster on her wall. After one show, she went with my Mom to pick me up. When I reluctantly went outside at the pre-planned time, I quickly told my Mom that they weren’t done yet, and hadn’t even played “Who’s Behind The Door?” yet. She agreed to let me go back in as my sister begged to go with me. Shockingly, she agreed. Even more shockingly, the bouncer let me back in, with my kid sister in tow! We rushed right up to the front of the stage as they began their encore of “Who’s Behind The Door?” and a brilliant cover of “The Ocean” by Led Zeppelin. I used to wear a bandana tied to my leg, just like Chachi from “Happy Days”. I had gotten a special zebra striped one to wear to the concert. My sis was so overcome, she pulled it off my leg and threw it on stage, yelling “I love you Randy!!”.

Bob Buchmann was the morning DJ on WBAB 102.3, and every winter, he did a 102 hour “Charity Begins at Home” marathon to raise money for Long Island charities. Bands and celebrities would drop by to speak on the air and help in raising money. When Zebra released their 3rd album “3.V“ and was set to appear with Bob, my friends and I went down to the hotel where he broadcast the event from. We got our cassettes signed, hung out near our favorite DJ and favorite band, and had a blast. When they left, for some reason unexplained to this day, we followed them out. Bassist / keyboardist Felix Hanemann got into his Mercedes, and we got into a Toyota Tercel and proceeded to tail him. He quickly lost us on the Southern State Parkway. To this day, we have no idea why we followed him and what we planned to do if we had somehow kept up with him. In 2018, after seeing them play in Orange County, CA I told Felix this story and he had a huge laugh about it.

I finally had the chance to photograph them when they made a surprise West Coast tour to commemorate the 35th anniversary of this classic debut album. Of all places, I was extremely fortunate to catch them at none other than the world famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California. Talk about checking off some boxes! Zebra still plays a few times a year, with Guy Gelso as always on the drums, mainly in their hometown of New Orleans and their adopted home on Long Island. Randy Jackson performs marathon solo acoustic shows quite often, and he has kept that going online throughout the pandemic, bringing some joy and light into the darkness.

My favorite lyric:

Life is a waiting room
I hope they don’t call me soon

To me, this sums up a lot of what religions teach us. That we are merely passing through Earth, on our way to an eternal destination. If so, I am in no hurry to have my number called. I have no idea who or what is behind the door, and I have way too much to explore and experience here to even think about it.

Who’s Behind The Door?

Written by Randy Jackson

Performed by Zebra

We sailed away
We walked two thousand miles and then we slipped away
We looked so hard
But couldn’t seem to find just what the world was for
Now we know
Just what the journey’s for

Looking out to the stars
Think about what you are
What do they think of you?
Animals in their zoo
They haven’t got the time
Landing is not on their minds
How do they have the nerve
We’re animals in preserve

They watch us all
They’re only making sure that we don’t trip and fall
They looked so hard
But they can’t tell us why they’re here and just what for
Because they don’t know
Who opened up the door

How can we find out more?
Who owns the keyless door?
Where does the circle end?
Who are the unwatched men?
Where do we go from here?
Faith is a fading fear
Life is a waiting room
I hope they don’t call me soon

How much more do you really think you know than a flower does about who’s behind the door?

34. 1983 – Photograph – Def Leppard

The “Pyromania” album by Def Leppard is another all-time classic, along with Asia’s and Zebra’s self-titled debuts, which has a hard time getting shaken from any personal favorite lists. The first song, the one that blew us all away, was “Photograph”.

In Junior High, we would take class trips to explore the history of America. Our 7th grade trip was to Washington, D.C., 8th grade was Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania, and 9th grade was Boston. Apparently, the level of alcohol, drug and sexual related activity observed in the Boston hotel passed the acceptability threshold, and all future school wide “educational” trips were permanently canceled. Being a good Catholic kid, I was not party to any of these misadventures. Which brings us back to the 8th grade trip.

I always brought a boom box on bus trips, whether it was to visit my cousins in Massachusetts, traveling to another school for a tennis match or soccer game, or on an educational adventure. I did not own many cassettes in the spring of 1983, so we were listening to Philadelphia’s rock station, 93.3 WMMR when we first heard “Photograph”. Conveniently, we soon stopped at a shopping mall, for a healthy meal in the food court. I sprinted to the mall’s record store and purchased the “Pyromania” cassette, which we proceeded to listen to nonstop on the bus for the rest of the trip (except for Amish country – they are not supposed to know about such things as electricity and rock and roll). The store also gave me a WMMR sticker which I slapped on my boom box.

I probably listened to that cassette every day for a year, singing along, playing air guitar and air drums (possibly some air bass?). I wish I had somehow gotten hold of a guitar and learned to play it. If you add up the number of hours I spent imaging myself playing along, and applied that to actually practicing on an instrument, I bet I would not be half bad by now.

My favorite lyric:

I wanna touch you!

Let’s revisit that 8th grade bus trip, and appropriate levels of sexual activity. Imagine a bunch of 13 and 14 year old boys, away from home, sleeping in hotels, listening to some raunchy new music from British glam gods. It put some ideas in our heads. Something we thought would be hilarious to do is queue up “Photograph” on my boom box to just the right part of the song, and then go up to a girl we liked, and ask her if she wanted to hear this great new band we had just discovered. We would then press play and Joe Elliott would exclaim ‘I wanna touch you!’. Then we would run away and giggle. Super inappropriate, and highly ineffective as well.

Photograph

Written by Rick Savage, Pete Willis, Robert John “Mutt” Lange, Joe Elliott & Steve Clark

Performed by Def Leppard

I’m outta luck, outta love
Gotta photograph, picture of
Passion killer, you’re too much
You’re the only one I wanna touch

I see your face every time I dream
On every page, every magazine
So wild and free, so far from me
You’re all I want, my fantasy

Oh, look what you’ve done to this rock ‘n’ roll clown
Oh Oh, look what you’ve done

Photograph
I don’t want your photograph
I don’t need your photograph
All I’ve got is a photograph
But it’s not enough

I’d be your lover, if you were there
Put your hurt on me, if you dare
Such a woman, you got style
You make every man feel like a child

You got some kinda hold on me
You’re all wrapped up in mystery
So wild and free, so far from me
You’re all I want, my fantasy

Oh, Look what you’ve done to this rock ‘n’ roll clown
Oh Oh, Look what you’ve done

Photograph
I don’t want your photograph
I don’t need your photograph
All I’ve got is a photograph

You’ve gone straight to my head

Look what you’ve done to this rock ‘n’ roll clown
Look what you’ve done

I gotta have you

Photograph
I don’t want your photograph
I don’t need your photograph
All I’ve got is a photograph

I wanna touch you!

Photograph
Photograph
Your photograph
Photograph
Photograph
I need more than your photograph
I’m outta love
Photograph
I’m outta love
Photograph
You’re the only one
Photograph
I wanna touch

35. 1984 – Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is the one classic rock artist from the 1970’s who managed to become even bigger in the 1980’s. The “Born in the U.S.A.” album produced an insane 7 Top 10 singles. “Dancing In The Dark” was actually written in one spiteful night, 2 years after most of the album had already been recorded, yet another example of either divine intervention or musical magic. I actually have written a lot of good software code out of spite, so whatever motivates you is good to use for creative fuel.

The live performance video is also a classic, most notable for the moment when Bruce pulls a young fan out of the crowd to dance with him on stage. That young fan was an unknown by the name of Courteney Cox. This was years before I fell in love with her as Alex P. Keaton’s girlfriend on “Family Ties”, and way before “Friends” and “Scream”.

I played this cassette so much over the next two years, that I had to buy another copy. Then I dug deep into the back catalog, which my aunts and uncle were more than happy to help me with. One of my best memories is seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play for hours on end at Giants Stadium, somewhere in the swamps of Jersey, with my uncle and aunt. I collected bootleg concert tapes and became obsessed.

When I started my own software consulting company in the 2000’s, I had an NFL credit card. If you collected 200,000 points (by charging $200,000), then you could get 2 Super Bowl tickets! I put every business and personal expense on that card for years. When I finally hit the magic number, they told me that they had changed it to 300,000 points!! What?!??!? Now I was scrambling to charge anything I could, even stuff for my family, just to get to the new level. I really wanted to see the Super Bowl in Tampa, where I had lived for 6 months in the 90’s, and had seen several Buccaneers games over the years. I made it late that fall, and I was able to pay back my Dad for all that he done for me by taking him on an all expenses paid trip to the Super Bowl. I had airline miles, hotel points and 2 tickets to the big game. This was Super Bowl XLIII in 2009. Turned out to be the most dramatic and exciting game of them all, where the Pittsburgh Steelers took a halftime lead on a 99 yard INT return. Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald led the Arizona Cardinals back to take a late lead, only to have Big Ben pull off a 90 yard last second drive where Santonio Holmes allegedly got 2 feet down, even though I have never seen that second foot touch grass. We had already had a great week, eating dinner next to ESPN hosts, spending time playing games at the NFL Experience, and seeing concerts by 3 Doors Down and Journey. We told each other that no matter what happens at the game, it was all worth it. Besides, the halftime show was Bruce Springsteen. Not only did we get one of the best games ever, we got one of the best halftime shows ever.

My favorite lyric:

I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face

Anyone who does not feel this way from time to time must be a model or actor. I could have picked any line from here s my favorite. They are all perfect in their own way. This song only enhanced for me what Rush had started. I knew that there was a whole wide world out there somewhere, and I had to figure out a way to get there.

Dancing In The Dark

Written by Bruce Springsteen

Performed by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

I get up in the evening
And I ain’t got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain’t nothing but tired
Man, I’m just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

You can’t start a fire
You can’t start a fire without a spark
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark

Message keeps getting clearer
Radio’s on and I’m moving ’round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man, I ain’t getting nowhere
I’m just living in a dump like this
There’s something happening somewhere
Baby, I just know that there is

You can’t start a fire
You can’t start a fire without a spark
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark

You sit around getting older
There’s a joke here somewhere and it’s on me
I’ll shake this world off my shoulders
Come on, baby, the laugh’s on me

Stay on the streets of this town
And they’ll be carving you up all right
They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey, baby, I’m just about starving tonight
I’m dying for some action
I’m sick of sitting ’round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
Come on now, baby, gimme just one look

You can’t start a fire
Sitting ’round crying over a broken heart
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
You can’t start a fire
Worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark

Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
Hey, baby

36. 1984 – The Warrior – Scandal featuring Patty Smyth

“The Warrior” by Scandal is forever linked in my mind to Victory Soccer Camp. For two summers in a row, I got to spend a week in the Connecticut country side, with my closest friends and family, doing nothing but play soccer. Naturally, I had by boom box, and the 2 most played albums that first summer at camp were from The Cars and Scandal. That first trip to Victory Soccer Camp is my favorite week ever. My sister was there. My best friends were there. My cousins who lived in Massachusetts were there, and I never got to see them enough. Plus it was soccer, soccer everywhere. Soccer drills, soccer skills, soccer matches, soccer patches. Somehow it got even better. I met a girl named Amy who was perfection. She had the athletic soccer body. She had long dark hair. She loved rock and roll. We fell in love that week, that perfect teenage love that they make movies about.

On the last night of camp, some of the parents came to collect their kids. Sadly, she was one of them leaving early. My parents planned to arrive the next morning. After I kissed her goodbye and watched her drive away, I was floating. A bunch of my friends were scheming to sneak into the girls dorm. I had no reason to do so, after all, my true love had just left. I followed along anyway, we got spotted, and ran in every direction. I made it back to the boys dorm and dove under the covers. Bad move, as the counselors went in each room, and my Catholic guilt over “almost” doing something wrong must have showed on my face. They hauled me off to the office, called my parents and demanded that they come get me immediately. My parents laughed them off and told them they would be making the 3 hour drive in the morning. Once again, I was the only one to get caught. Everyone who was hiding in the woods had snuck back into the dorm while I was being held in detention. The whole time, I just kept thinking about Amy, and didn’t really care about getting in trouble. My heart had followed her down that dusty road.

My favorite lyric:

I’ll hold you close in Victory

Victory soccer camp. My first love. My first soccer chick / rocker chick. I have been “chasing Amy” for the rest of my life.

The Warrior

Written by Holly Knight & Nick Gilder

Performed by Scandal featuring Patty Smyth

Ohhh, oh, oh, ohhh, oh, oh, oh, oh

You run, run, run away
It’s your heart that you betray
Feeding on your hungry eyes
I bet you’re not so civilized
Well, isn’t love primitive
A wild gift that you want to give
Break out of captivity
And follow me, stereo jungle child
Love is the kill. Your heart’s still wild

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang bang
I am the warrior
Well, I am the warrior
And heart to heart you’ll win if you survive
The warrior. The warrior

You talk, talk, talk to me
Your eyes touch me physically
Stay with me, we’ll take the night
As passion takes another bite

Oh, oh, oh, oh
Who’s the hunter, who’s the game
I feel the beat call your name
I’ll hold you close in victory
I don’t want to tame your animal style
You won’t be caged in the call of the wild

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang bang
I am the warrior
Well, I am the warrior
And heart to heart to win if you survive
The warrior. The warrior
I am the warrior

Shooting at the walls of heartache
(Shooting at the walls of heartache.) The warrior
I am the warrior and heart to heart you’ll win
Heart to heart you’ll win if you survive
The warrior. The warrior

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang bang
I am the warrior
Yes, I am the warrior and victory is mine
(Shooting at the walls of heartache.) The warrior
I am the warrior
Shooting at the walls of heartache

My Life In Music, Part 3, 1980 – 1984 first appeared on Game On Media.

Prologue

1. The Music Of My Life

Music means everything to me. It has for as long as I can remember. Each night I fall asleep listening to music. Every morning I wake up listening to music. I play music in the shower. I play music in the car. I play music at the gym. If I am not actively listening to music, I hear songs in my head. When somebody is talking to me, I hear lyrics in their words, and start singing to myself. While I have never completely written or recorded anything original, I have made mix-tapes and play-lists since the Seventies.

I have spent almost all of my free time and “disposable” income on music and music-related experiences. My first job was delivering The Daily News to a six block radius around my house on Long Island, New York. I took the job because they offered a free cassette tape of my choosing if I signed up 3 new subscriptions on my route. I took care of that task quickly, and scored what may be my most favorite album of all time – the self-titled debut from the Long Island based band named Zebra. I continued to find bargains and build my catalog thanks to the marketing efforts of BMG and Columbia House music mail order services. Eventually, I bought cheap guitars and amps, and later more expensive guitars. I have too many guitars.

Once the concert floodgates opened for me when I went to the University of Virginia, I started going to as many shows as I could, no matter where they were located. Music festivals began, locally and small at first, then larger ones able to draw a national audience of freaks like me who were willing to drive or fly all over the country, sleeping in any hotel, motel, Holiday Inn, tent, RV or Air B’n’B I could find. Woodstock ‘99, Rocklahoma, Rock On The Range, Carolina Rebellion, Welcome To Rockville, Aftershock, Earthday Birthday, Vans Warped Tour, Coachella, Voodoo Festival, Once Upon A Time in the LBC, Rock USA and KAABOO Del Mar – these are a few of my favorite things. Then the rock cruises came along, which I have enjoyed as a customer, staff member, charity worker, journalist and photographer – ShipRocked, Motörhead’s MotörBoat, MegaCruise, and Monsters Of Rock Cruise.

From 2010 to 2020, I was able to get up close and personal with the music, the musicians and the fans. I have been a photojournalist for several print magazines and online websites. I have previewed and reviewed concerts, albums and livestreams. I have interviewed artists backstage and on tour buses. I have photographed shows of every kind, from the smallest and darkest of clubs, to the largest of outdoor festivals. I have captured local artists, new acts, living legends and lifelong loves, from Aerosmith to ZZ Top.

During this mostly silent year, I decided to take a look back, to appreciate the journey so far, and perhaps to make some sense of my decisions and choices along the way. This isn’t exactly a memoir or biography, as I don’t believe that I have done anything of such consequence to merit such documentation. I won’t know if there are any lessons to be learned, or advice to carry with me on my second half, until I write it all down. The songs have been chosen, the memories have come rushing back. We will see where this experience takes me.

With 52 years of special songs to revisit, I also plan to really focus on learning to play complete songs on guitar. That gives me 2 songs to learn per week. That should hold me to a good working cadence. Is everybody in? Drop the needle on the record.

2. The Way I Chose The Songs

Choosing only 2 songs from an entire year was quite an ordeal. Some years had many releases that had a major impact at the time, others not as many. I chose songs based on the year that the album they came from was released. This means that the song itself may not have even been released as a single that year. Sometimes a song hits you right away, sometimes it builds slowly, and other times you discover it well after it was released. In many cases, it takes some new experience to bring the importance of the song into focus.

I suppose it generally takes some passage of time for the songs that mean the most to you to bubble to the surface. Only time will tell which ones continue to swim around in your brain, forming the soundtrack to your life’s story.

I chose the songs that have had the most lasting impression on my life, the ones that instantly take me back to a time, or a place, or a person, or an experience, or all of the above. The names will be changed to protect the innocent and guilty alike. These are the songs that mean the most to me, and nobody knows me better than I know myself, so I can’t really say if others share the same memories in the same ways.

Looking at the final list, there are sooo many songs that I love that did not make the cut. There are lots of artists that I cannot believe are not represented. I guess this should not be too surprising. Think about how hard it is to make a top 5 list in any given year. There are just so many artists and songs that I love, it is no wonder that I am almost always listening to, writing about, or photographing music. Out of the 104 songs chosen, 8 are from bands that appear twice. Those are obviously among my all-time favorites, and they are among the ones who have meant the most to me throughout my life. They are Alice In Chains, Candlebox, Creed, Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Rush and Shinedown. I had expected Tesla and Queensrÿche to be represented twice, but they both have so many great songs from each album, it was hard to select one at times.

Act I

3. The 1970’s – The Record Era

I have been wandering this spinning rock for over five decades now. Conveniently for retrospective purposes, I arrived at the end of the 1960’s, so I can organize my playlists and analysis by decade. Generally, each decade is defined by the methods most often used to collect and listen to music. From record albums to cassettes, to Compact Discs (CDs), to digital files (mostly MP3), to digital streaming services and apps, the song remains the same. Specifically, I landed on this planet the very same day that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 made history mere hours after Johnnie Crow was born in a hospital in Hollis, Queens. The Eagle had landed after a long journey, and the Crow had begun a journey of his own. Most of my musical memories of the 1970’s revolve around listening to old records with my Mom or my Dad in our suburban Long Island basement, and listening to 45’s with my little sister in her bedroom, on a cheap yellow plastic record player.

4. 1969 – Space Oddity – David Bowie

It is only fitting for a moon baby to start with an astronaut song. I don’t specifically remember humming along to this in my crib in Flushing, New York, as the Miracle Mets were making their historic World Series run down the street at Shea Stadium. Actually, not many Americans remember this first track from all-time great David Bowie from when he first released it. It did not become a hit in the United States until 1973, when we had moved to the house in Deer Park in the middle of Long Island that my parents kept for 45 years. It probably did not fully reach my consciousness until I started listening to the local rock station, 102.3 WBAB Babylon, on my clock radio. Bowie was a staple on that station, and legendary morning DJ Bob Buchmann would often wake me up with its sweet sounds throughout the 80’s.

The song itself is haunting, mysterious and somewhat disturbing. I often thought about becoming an astronaut working for NASA. The lyrics to this track were a serious counterweight to the wonder of space. The fear, loss, desperation and ultimate acceptance of a lonely fate are all explored within the confines of a musical tour de force. The genius of David Bowie continues to be appreciated more as time passes on, and this song also grows in stature.

My favorite lyric:

“Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do”

This line works on many levels. The planet literally looks blue, yet it is also sad from time to time, as it struggles to survive humanity. There is nothing that the astronaut can do, since there is nothing to do out in space, yet there is also nothing he can do for anyone on Earth.

Space Oddity

Written by David Bowie

Performed by David Bowie

Ground Control to Major Tom

Ground Control to Major Tom

Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

(Ten) Ground Control (Nine) to Major Tom (Eight, seven)

(Six) Commencing (Five) countdown, engines on

(Four, three, two)

Check ignition (One) and may God’s love (Lift off) be with you

This is Ground Control to Major Tom

You’ve really made the grade

And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear

Now it’s time to leave the capsule if you dare

This is Major Tom to Ground Control

I’m stepping through the door

And I’m floating in a most peculiar way

And the stars look very different today

For here am I sitting in my tin can

Far above the world

Planet Earth is blue

And there’s nothing I can do

Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles

I’m feeling very still

And I think my spaceship knows which way to go

Tell my wife I love her very much

She knows

Ground Control to Major Tom

Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong

Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Can you-

-Here am I floating ’round my tin can

Far above the moon

Planet Earth is blue

And there’s nothing I can do

5. 1969 – Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin

Once again, I was not rocking the cradle to Led Zeppelin. They were way too screamy for my Mom, and far too sexual and occultish for my Dad. I got into Led Zeppelin from WBAB radio, particularly during their “Get The Led Out” blocks. I began collecting the record albums, thanks to Columbia House record club’s crazy 8 albums for a penny promotions. Led Zeppelin I and II both came out in 1969. I prefer “II“ by a small margin over the debut, as it is a more
representative collection of the band that they grew to be. Led Zeppelin is notorious for ripping off American Blues artists without crediting them. Parts of the song were adapted from Willie Dixon’s “You Need Love”, recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962. A lawsuit in 1985 was settled with a payment to Dixon and credit on subsequent releases.

”Whole Lotta Love“ is perhaps the most Zeppelin song of all, and it opened the doorway that allowed Heavy Metal to exist. The combination of riffs, effects, vocal gymnastics, wild man drumming and intricate bass all combine with the primal urges of love and sex to create a song that moves you at every level. I don’t remember when headphones were invented. I know it was long before “beats”, but I am pretty sure that they were invented to listen to Led Zeppelin II, and particularly “Whole Lotta Love”.

I never got to see Led Zeppelin perform, obviously, since they broke up when drummer John Bonham died in 1980 at the age of 32 after drinking way too much the day before. I did get to take a road trip up to Washington D.C. with a college roommate to see Page / Plant, which was incredible.

My favorite lyric:

“Way down inside, woman, you need love”

Admittedly, this is not the most eloquent lyric ever written. It is the delivery and recording of it that makes it the highlight. The buildup, the reverse echo, just powerful.

Whole Lotta Love

Written by Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones & Willie Dixon

Performed by Led Zeppelin

You need coolin’, baby, I’m not foolin’

I’m going to send you back to schoolin’

Way down inside, honey, you need it

I’m goin’ to give you my love

I’m goin’ to give you my love, oh

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

You’ve been learnin’, baby, I’ve been yearnin’

All them good times, baby, baby, I’ve been learnin’

Way, way down inside, honey, you need it

I’m gonna give you my love, ah

I’m goin’ to give you my love, ah, oh

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

You’ve been coolin’, baby, I’ve been droolin’

All the good times, baby, I’ve been misusin’

Way, way down inside, I’m goin’ to give you my love

I’m goin’ to give you every inch of my love

Goin’ to give you my love, hey, alright, yes, sir

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

Want a whole lotta love

Way down inside, woman, you need love

Shake for me, girl, I want to be your back door man

Hey! Oh! Hey! Oh! Hey! Oh!

Keep it coolin’, baby

Keep it coolin’, baby

Keep it coolin’, baby

Keep it coolin’, baby

Keep it coolin’, baby

6. 1970 – Paranoid – Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath is widely acknowledged for creating the genre of Heavy Metal. “Paranoid” is probably the most succinct example. Driving beat, chugging riff, impassioned vocals. When it came out, I was shaking my cradle, exercising my vocal cords, trying to understand what Ozzy Osbourne (and anybody else) was saying. Later on, I would learn a lot more about lyrics and song titles.

It could be argued that the lyrics of the song describe someone who is paranoid, but I did not make that connection as a kid. I guess I never really knew what the song was called. My Mom would never have let be bring an album called “Black Sabbath” into the house, so I had only heard this song on the radio. I knew that it was Sabbath, and I knew it kicked ass, but I didn’t know what it was called. At the Junior High School talent show, we had a rock band who played it, which was clearly the highlight of the show. When a friend who hadn’t seen the performance asked me if they had played “Paranoid”, I said “No. They played a Black Sabbath song.” See, I had thought that “Destroyer” by The Kinks was called “Paranoid”, since they actually said the word paranoia in the chorus. How embarrassing, when another friend explained that the song was indeed called “Paranoid”.

The lyrics themselves are very personal to me. I gravitated to rock music for the sound and the messages. Unfortunately, a lot of these lines have directly applied to me throughout my life.

My favorite lyric:

“I need someone to show me the things in life that I can’t find.
I can’t see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind.”

I have often wondered if I was creating my own prison by choice, or if I just wasn’t seeing what everyone else appeared to be seeing. I want to be happy and satisfied, so I don’t think I intentionally avoid those things. I actually believe that I think about and see *more* things than most people do, and see how bad things can go, way before they actually do. My struggle is to figure out if there is a way to avoid things going down the dark path. In most cases, I have no influence over events, so the battle becomes identifying which things I can influence. Writing this, it is starting to sound like a version of the serenity prayer. Serenity is definitely the other side of the paranoia coin.

Paranoid

Written by Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi & Ozzy Osbourne

Performed by Black Sabbath

Finished with my woman ’cause she couldn’t help me with my mind

People think I’m insane because I am frowning all the time

All day long, I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy

Think I’ll lose my mind if I don’t find something to pacify

Can you help me occupy my brain?

Whoa, yeah

I need someone to show me the things in life that I can’t find

I can’t see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind

Make a joke and I will sigh and you will laugh and I will cry

Happiness, I cannot feel and love to me is so unreal

And so, as you hear these words telling you now of my state

I tell you to enjoy life, I wish I could, but it’s too late

7. 1970 – Cracklin’ Rosie – Neil Diamond

Some of the best memories I have of my early childhood with my Dad are listening to records in our basement. I don’t remember what we were doing down there, but I remember listening to albums and talking about them. I am sure that we listened to multiple artists, but other than The Beatles, the only thing I remember listening to is Neil Diamond. Neil had the coolest voice, attitude for days, and mysterious music.

I know that I used to ask my Dad what the heck he was talking about, and I know that he told me, but I can’t really say that those answers stuck with me. For example, I still don’t know what a “store-bought woman” is, but he probably made some joke about my Mom loving to go shopping at the mall, which I suppose makes as much sense as anything else. I definitely recall giving my Dad a hard time whenever a song had nonsense lyrics, such as “Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba…”. I used to ask my Dad why they didn’t have enough words invented when he was a kid. There were all of these “Be bop a lula” and “Ram a lam a ding dong” and “Dip de dip de dip” and “Shimmy shimmy koko bop” and “Sha la la la la” songs, the only explanation my young brain could offer was a lack of real words to choose from.

Neil Diamond released a landmark live album in 1972 called “Hot August Night”, an album so great, he has released 3 sequels. One of those was recorded at Madison Square Garden in New York City in August 2008. I was able to bring my Dad to one of these shows. We got to take the train in from Long Island, grab a steak downtown, and walk into the Garden, an old arena, but a very special one. We were not sure how he would sound after so many years, but he was on point, the production was incredible, and it was a memorable (and hot) August night.

My favorite lyric:

“We got all night to set the world right”

This is such a succinct, uplifting message, full of hope, in the middle of a song with loads of attitude.

Cracklin’ Rosie

Written by Neil Diamond

Performed by Neil Diamond

Aw, Cracklin’ Rosie, get on board

We’re gonna ride

Till there ain’t no more to go

Taking it slow

And Lord, don’t you know

We’ll have me a time with a poor man’s lady

Hitchin’ on a twilight train

Ain’t nothing here that I care to take along

Maybe a song

To sing when I want

No need to say please to no man

For a happy tune

Oh, I love my Rosie child

You got the way to make me happy

You and me we go in style

Cracklin’ Rose

You’re a store-bought woman

But you make me sing like a guitar hummin’

So hang on to me, girl

Our song keeps runnin’ on

Play it now, play it now

Play it now, my baby

Cracklin’ Rosie, make me a smile

Girl, if it lasts for an hour, that’s all right

We got all night to set the world right

Find us a dream that don’t ask no questions

Yeah

Oh, I love my Rosie child

You got the way to make me happy

You and me we go in style

Cracklin’ Rose

You’re a store-bought woman

But you make me sing like a guitar hummin’

So hang on to me, girl

Our song keeps runnin’ on

Play it now, play it now

Play it now, my baby

Cracklin’ Rosie, make me a smile

Girl, if it lasts for an hour, that’s all right

We got all night

To set the world right

Find us a dream that don’t ask no questions

Ba ba ba ba ba ……

8. 1971 – Imagine – John Lennon

The first murder that I remember is that of John Lennon on December 8, 1980. I was 11 years old, and it may be the first death that I was aware of. Obviously, I did not know Lennon personally, but I certainly knew who he was. He had made a comeback that year with his album “Double Fantasy”, released just weeks before, and I had been listening to that. I had also gotten into 2 greatest hits albums from The Beatles, the red one and the blue one (did you have them?). I loved everything he had done with and without The Beatles, and preferred his songs to McCartney’s by a large margin. I was still young enough to believe in his ideals and messages of hope and peace.

“Imagine” has a beautiful melody, and I am sure that is what had grabbed me in my younger years. Later, I could analyze the lyrics, which seemed to make perfect common sense to me. I recall that Howard Hesseman’s character “Johnny Fever” (my favorite of course) on “WKRP in Cincinnati” had used this song in a classic episode, in which protesters against rock and roll wanted the station to stop playing songs that it considered “offensive”. Fever used “Imagine” to argue the point that it was not an anti-religious song that declared that heaven did not exist, but instead was a challenge to imagine if certain things were different, how people would react to and treat each other.

I was raised as a Catholic, a religion that does not promote critical thinking or questioning of any kind. It is one of those successful religions that lays out a specific dogma, and excludes the possibility that any other religion has validity. That never sat well with me, as all religions are created by man, or at the very least interpreted by man, without proof of evidence. I suppose in that way, “Imagine” did set me on a path that most religions fear, the path of self discovery and open questioning. I ended up practicing Unitarian Universalism for a long while, where any source of enlightenment and inspiration are welcome. I may have even heard this song performed during a service or two.

My favorite lyric:

“You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one“

This is the most enduring and inspiring line, and one I latched onto as a youngster, believing that even though Lennon had been taken from us far too soon (he was only 4 years older than my Dad, his son Julian 6 years older than me), he left all of us a path to follow.

Imagine

Written by John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Performed by John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven

It’s easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today

I

Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

You

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will live as one

9. 1971 – Behind Blue Eyes – The Who

First of all, I don’t have blue eyes, I have brown eyes. It took me a while to latch onto this song, as I was taking it quite literally. I came to realize that “behind blue eyes” was just a metaphor for someone who appeared to be happy on the outside, but was struggling within. I have always had every reason to be happy in general, but I have spent a lot of my life unhappy. I often think too much, and over analyze. All my life have I looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never my mind on where I was. What I was doing. Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.

My Mom always told me “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Roger Daltrey sings Pete Townshend’s words “No one bites back as hard on their anger, none of my pain and woe can show through.” I have tended to stay quiet and keep things to myself, feeling that nobody wants to hear about your problems, they are too busy hiding their own. Rather than stir things up, or cause controversy, I tend to keep things inside, “like a man”, until they explode in words of anger – spoke or emailed or posted socially. Like the protagonist in the song, I constantly try to regulate myself, by letting off a little steam, usually through attempted humor, before things get ugly.

In college, The Who was one of our go-to bands, when we were finished playing poker and pre-gaming, and were about to head out to a party. We would stand on the furniture and scream along to our favorite songs. One night, one of my roommates personified another line in the song, a secret nod we would give each other anytime we listened after that. “And if I swallow anything evil, put your finger down my throat.” That’s what true friends are for!

Recently, I was covering a rock radio convention in Las Vegas, as a photographer. Some of us were coming down the elevator at the Hard Rock Hotel, when in stepped none other than Pete Townshend. He asked what we were doing there, we told him it was a rock radio convention, and he smiled and said “In that case, I should be there!” So true – rock radio would not be what it was without The Who.

My favorite lyric:

“When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool”

This is the embodiment of the eternal internal struggle to maintain mental health. Don’t get too low, and don’t get too high. Let other people help you regulate and support you, in good times and bad. For some people, this is a weekly battle, a daily battle, even a minute-to-minute battle. Remember that when you engage with a friend, a family member, a co-worker, or even a stranger. You never know what somebody is going through in that moment.

Behind Blue Eyes

Written by Pete Townshend

Performed by The Who

No one knows what it’s like

To be the bad man, to be the sad man

Behind blue eyes

No one knows what it’s like

To be hated, to be fated

To telling only lies

But my dreams, they aren’t as empty

As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely

My love is vengeance that’s never free

No one knows what it’s like

To feel these feelings like I do

And I blame you

No one bites back as hard

On their anger, none of my pain and woe

Can show through

But my dreams, they aren’t as empty

As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely

My love is vengeance that’s never free

When my fist clenches, crack it open

Before I use it and lose my cool

When I smile, tell me some bad news

Before I laugh and act like a fool

And if I swallow anything evil

Put your finger down my throat

And if I shiver, please give me a blanket

Keep me warm, let me wear your coat

No one knows what it’s like

To be the bad man, to be the sad man

Behind blue eyes

10. 1972 – American Pie – Don McLean

I do remember loving this song as a young kid. Most of it is very upbeat and fun to sing along to. I had no idea what it was about until later on. “Bye-bye, Miss American Pie” – fun to sing, still no idea what it means, especially when the movies came out, which definitely had their own meaning. “Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry” – we had a green Chevy Nova forever, so I knew what half of that line meant. “But February made me shiver, with every paper I’d deliver. Bad news on the doorstep” – I had a paper route through junior high and high school, waking at 6 AM, rain or shine, snow or sun, to deliver the New York Daily News based in NYC. Newsday is the Long Island paper, which was delivered in the afternoon, totally interfering with the day, so I had no interest in delivering that. I probably sang “Bad news on the doorstep” every time The Daily News had a negative headline.

Eventually, I figured out what some of the other lyrics meant. The verses refer to songs from The Beatles, The Stones, The Byrds, The Who, David Bowie and Bob Dylan. Clearly a lot of this is an homage to those classic bands. The core theme of the song is “The day the music died.” My Dad told me that this referred to the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, while they were on tour together on February 3, 1959. That tragic event always brings me to the plane crash that killed members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and also the plane crash that killed Randy Rhoads. All of which I try not to think about anytime that I fly.

Every year while I was in college at the University of Virginia, almost the entire school headed down to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the week after finals end. We rented big houses on the beach, and slept on beds, couches, kitchen floors, lounge chairs – whatever was available. I was in full mix-tape mode all throughout college, making the party cassette mixes that we played on poker nights or during our massive BYOB daiquiri parties (BYOB = Bring Your Own Blender – we would burn out several each time). I remember making a mix-tape for Myrtle Beach, which included “American Pie”. I recall large groups of us sitting by the beach, drinking until the sun came up, singing this song en masse.

This epic song became one of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s best parodies. “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” was a shaky reboot, and ripe for spoofing. “The Saga Begins” nailed it perfectly, so perfectly that I sing some of Al’s lyrics, even when listening to the original. I always try to go to a birthday concert, some time around my actual birthday. Recently, “Weird Al” performed in San Diego, and I finally got to see him in person. He went through all of his classics, complete with multiple costume changes. The encore was “The Saga Begins”, played in its entirety, complete with droids and stormtroopers. Epic!

My favorite lyric:

“Do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock ‘n roll
Can music save your mortal soul?”

As a recovering Catholic, I have spent a lot of time pondering these types of questions. As a heavy metal fan, I have felt ostracized and criticized by organized religion. Personally, I have found more joy, community, understanding and inspiration from rock and roll than from religion. A person wrote “The Bible”. A person wrote “Crazy Train”. Why should one be universally accepted as gospel and one be demonized as madness? Maybe it’s not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate.

American Pie

Written by Don McLean

Performed by Don McLean

A long, long time ago

I can still remember

How that music used to make me smile

And I knew if I had my chance

That I could make those people dance

And maybe they’d be happy for a while

But February made me shiver

With every paper I’d deliver

Bad news on the doorstep

I couldn’t take one more step

I can’t remember if I cried

When I read about his widowed bride

But something touched me deep inside

The day the music died

So bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye

Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”

“This’ll be the day that I die.”

Did you write the book of love

And do you have faith in God above

If the Bible tells you so?

Now do you believe in rock ‘n roll

Can music save your mortal soul?

And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him

‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym

You both kicked off your shoes

Man, I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck

With a pink carnation and a pickup truck

But I knew I was out of luck

The day the music died

I started singing

“Bye-bye, Miss American Pie”

Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry

Them good old boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye

Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”

“This’ll be the day that I die.”

Now for ten years we’ve been on our own

And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone

But that’s not how it used to be

When the jester sang for the king and queen

In a coat he borrowed from James Dean

And a voice that came from you and me

Oh, and while the king was looking down

The jester stole his thorny crown

The courtroom was adjourned

No verdict was returned

And while Lennon read a book on Marx

The quartet practiced in the park

And we sang dirges in the dark

The day the music died

We were singing

“Bye-bye, Miss American Pie”

Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry

Them good old boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye

Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”

“This’ll be the day that I die.”

Helter skelter in a summer swelter

The birds flew off with a fallout shelter

Eight miles high and falling fast

It landed foul on the grass

The players tried for a forward pass

With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume

While the sergeants played a marching tune

We all got up to dance

Oh, but we never got the chance!

‘Cause the players tried to take the field

The marching band refused to yield

Do you recall what was revealed

The day the music died?

We started singin’

“Bye-bye, Miss American Pie”

Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry

Them good old boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye

Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”

“This’ll be the day that I die.”

Oh, and there we were all in one place

A generation lost in space

With no time left to start again

So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick!

Jack Flash sat on a candlestick, ’cause

Fire is the devil’s only friend

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage

My hands were clenched in fists of rage

No angel born in hell

Could break that Satan’s spell

And as the flames climbed high into the night

To light the sacrificial rite

I saw Satan laughing with delight

The day the music died

We were singing

“Bye-bye Miss American Pie”

Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry

Them good old boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye

Singing, “This’ll be the day that I die”

“This’ll be the day that I die…”

I met a girl who sang the blues

And I asked her for some happy news

But she just smiled and turned away

I went down to the sacred store

Where I’d heard the music years before

But the man there said the music wouldn’t play

And in the streets, the children screamed

The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed

But not a word was spoken

The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most

The father, son, and the holy ghost

They caught the last train for the coast

The day the music died

And they were singing

“Bye-bye Miss American Pie”

Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye

Singing, “This’ll be the day that I die”

“This’ll be the day that I die”

They were singing

“Bye-bye Miss American Pie”

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good old boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye

Singing, “This’ll be the day that I die…”

11. 1972 – Rocket Man (I Think  It’s Going To Be A Long Long Time) – Elton John

Everybody loves Elton John, right? My first memory of Elton is from looking at the record collection that my Uncle had in my grandparents’ house in New Jersey. I was fascinated by the artwork on the fold out record covers of “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”. My uncle let me borrow them to play at home in the basement. I soon found out that my parents had other Elton John records. We all loved his songs, even my sister. When he appeared on “The Muppet Show”, singing “Crocodile Rock” with muppets, that created another great lasting family memory.

“Rocket Man” is an obvious choice for me, since it is so similar to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and I was born the day we landed on the moon, allegedly. Like Bowie’s classic, this one is haunting musically and lyrically, exploring the isolation and desperation of an astronaut’s journey. I have always been fascinated by the space program and exploration, but totally freaked out by the thought of being stuck inside a tiny vehicle that I cannot easily exit. Elton’s brilliance on the piano exquisitely matches the poetry of his lifelong writing partner Bernie Taupin, creating a song that instantly captures your attention and captivates.

This song made a huge comeback for me when it was used in the dramatic final scene of the season 3 finale of the TV show “Californication”, starring David Duchovny, AKA Fox Mulder of “X-Files” fame. This scene is the culmination of a 3 season story arc which finds Hank Moody literally at rock bottom. The version used is a remix, using acoustic guitar in place of piano. This is one of the most hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking scenes ever produced. “Californication” is one of my all time favorites, and was a major inspiration that led me to move to San Diego.

My favorite lyric:

“I think it’s gonna be a long, long time.
I’m not the man they think I am at home.”

These words perfectly capture the tone of the exquisitely written, acted and filmed series. It also is a striking way to capture the emotions of the astronaut in the song.

Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long Long Time)

Written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin

Performed by Elton John

She packed my bags last night, pre-flight

Zero hour: 9:00 a.m

And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then

I miss the Earth so much, I miss my wife

It’s lonely out in space

On such a timeless flight

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find

I’m not the man they think I am at home

Oh no, no, no

I’m a rocket man

Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find

I’m not the man they think I am at home

Oh no, no, no

I’m a rocket man

Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids

In fact, it’s cold as hell

And there’s no one there to raise them if you did

And all this science I don’t understand

It’s just my job five days a week

A rocket man

A rocket man

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find

I’m not the man they think I am at home

Oh no, no, no

I’m a rocket man

Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find

I’m not the man they think I am at home

Oh no, no, no

I’m a rocket man

Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

12. 1973 – Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd

“Free Bird” is an interesting song, in that it only has 2 verses, yet it is over 9 minutes long. A lot of that is due to one of the greatest guitar solo outros ever created. The music in this song is beautiful and haunting throughout – piano, acoustic guitar, slide guitar and electric guitar. Singer Ronnie Van Zant always sang with such precision that you could instantly feel the emotions he was conveying.

This song is so powerful and beautiful that even my Mom likes it. She has almost never liked anything I listen to, but I clearly recall listening to this in the car with her, and she actually enjoyed it, did not change the station, and commented afterwards. In fact, Lynyrd Skynyrd would also provide our Mommy-Son song, which we danced to at my wedding, their classic ballad “Simple Man”. I wanted to hear that entire song, so halfway through I had the DJ ask all the Moms and Sons to join us on the dance floor. That was a special moment.

Back to “Free Bird”, it always inspired me, although as a kid you don’t have much freedom to travel and make your own way. I suppose it was always embedded in my brain, and probably helped me decide to go away for college. My “safety school” was a New York state school 5 hours from Long Island. I have lived in 5 states, worked in 20 states, and visited 37 states. I have been to Aruba, Belgium, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Mexico and Spain, as well as several Caribbean Islands. I absolutely cannot wait to start traveling on again, ‘cause there’s still too many places I’ve got to see.

I was fortunate to be able to photograph Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. LTL is perhaps my most favorite festival of all. We have wonderful friends who open their house to us every year. Fans travel from all over the country to this central location, which hosts the premier fall festival, so the odds are good that most of my photo pit pals (photographriends) and festival family will be in attendance.

My favorite lyric:

“For I must be traveling on, now
‘Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see”

As I just mentioned, I love to travel. I have traveled for work, for music, for vacation and for tradition. Starting at a very young age, we flew to South Carolina every Easter and every summer to visit my Grandparents. I went away to school, and even from there, made road trips for concerts, parties, and football bowl games. No matter where I was living, I have gone home to New York for Christmas almost every year of my life. I have not gone anywhere since Valentine’s Day of 2020. I have not even left San Diego County in almost a year. This is by far the longest I have ever gone without exploring, and it is making me restless and uncomfortable.

Free Bird

Written by Allen Collins & Ronnie Van Zant

Performed by Lynyrd Skynyrd

If I leave here tomorrow

Would you still remember me?

For I must be traveling on, now

‘Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see

But if I stay here with you, girl

Things just couldn’t be the same

‘Cause I’m as free as a bird now

And this bird you cannot change

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

And the bird you cannot change

And this bird you cannot change

Lord knows, I can’t change

Bye, bye, baby, it’s been a sweet love, yeah yeah

Though this feeling I can’t change

But please don’t take it so badly

‘Cause Lord knows I’m to blame

But, if I stay here with you, girl

Things just couldn’t be the same

‘Cause I’m as free as a bird now

And this bird you’ll never change

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

And the bird you cannot change

And this bird you cannot change

Lord knows, I can’t change

Lord help me, I can’t change

Lord, I can’t change

Won’t you fly high, free bird, yeah

13. 1973 – Dream On – Aerosmith

Aerosmith was the go-to band on classic rock stations in the Northeast. By the time I had really gotten into them, they were in the middle of their “Behind The Music” meltdown, so I figured that they were just one of those old bands it would have been nice to see. Run-D.M.C. made them relevant again, with a killer remake of “Walk This Way”. Then they got their act together in the late 80’s, and made a massive comeback, with “Permanent Vacation”, “Pump”, and “Get A Grip” delivering some of their greatest songs. The music videos from this era are legendary, many starring Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone.

With their new lease on life and hit after hit in their setlist, Aerosmith have become a touring machine. I would finally be able to see America’s greatest rock and roll band live in person. One time, they were playing an amphitheater show in Charlotte, North Carolina with Kid Rock. My wife was pregnant, and had told me that she was finished with lawn seats, and would only go to shows if we had seating. As we approached our seats for the show, she noticed that we were once again walking towards the lawn. She was getting upset, but I showed her that they did have small bleachers, just 3 rows of them, in the front of the lawn, and we would be dead center on the top row and able to see the stage perfectly. Halfway through the Aerosmith set, they had all left the stage. I asked her to turn around, and suddenly we were not on the edge of the lawn, we were front row center for a small stage which had been built on the lawn. We got to see 3 songs performed directly in front of us. That stands as one of my favorite concert experiences.

I was fortunate to be able to photograph Aerosmith in 2016 at the KAABOO Del Mar Festival in San Diego, California. I had a photo pass for every stage except the main stage, but was allowed to shoot the main stage from the crowd. I decided to find a vantage point on the railing which would allow me to shoot down the center aisle between the soundboard and the stage. I got my spot early and stayed there for Third Eye Blind and Lenny Kravitz. Since I was not in the pit, I did not have to get all of my shots in during the first 3 songs. By being patient, I was able to get some great shots of Tyler and Perry, and ultimately captured Steven Tyler sitting at the piano, playing and singing “Dream On”. This was the song that first broke them and it continues to be an iconic masterpiece.

My favorite lyric:

“Everybody’s got their dues in life to pay, yeah”

I have always believed that dreams were great, but you have to put in the work if you have any hope of achieving them. You have to manifest your own destiny through effort and will. If you look at the story behind almost every successful person, the sheer will power to succeed is the driving factor, despite talent level, lack of support or assistance from doubters. Dream on, but also act towards fulfilling that dream.

Dream On

Written by Steven Tyler

Performed by Aerosmith

Every time that I look in the mirror

All these lines on my face getting clearer

The past is gone

It went by like dusk to dawn

Isn’t that the way?

Everybody’s got their dues in life to pay, yeah

I know nobody knows

Where it comes and where it goes

I know it’s everybody’s sin

You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life’s in books’ written pages

Lived and learned from fools and from sages

You know it’s true

All the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for the year

Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear

Sing with me, it’s just for today

Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

Sing with me, sing for the year

Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear

Sing with me, it’s just for today

Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

Dream on, dream on, dream on

Dream until your dreams come true

Dream on, dream on, dream on

Dream until your dreams come true

Dream on, dream on

Dream on, dream on

Dream on, dream on

Dream on

Aaaaaah!

Sing with me, sing for the year

Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear

Sing with me, it’s just for today

Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

Sing with me, sing for the year

Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear

Sing with me, it’s just for today

Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

14. 1974 – Thank God I’m A Country Boy – John Denver

I also spent a lot of time in the basement with my Mom. She has always had her own taste in music. I think she may have tried to get my sister and I to listen to musicals and soundtracks, like “The Sound of Music”, “Doctor Zhivago” and Abba, which probably wasn’t a movie or play at the time, but certainly had that theatrical quality to it. The artist I most remember us singing along to while doing laundry, or watching her use the sewing machine, was John Denver. “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” was the most played track. We didn’t listen to a lot of country music – Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, John Denver – that’s about it. But we definitely had fun when we did, and it is a warm memory that I can always access.

My favorite lyric:

“So I fiddle when I can and I work when I should”

Curiously, this country classic has the same core message as the rock epic from the year before. A positive attitude combined with a solid work effort makes you a worthy human being. Maybe we are as different as some would like us to think. Maybe we are all Donny and Marie. Maybe we are all a little bit country, and a little bit rock and roll!

Thank God I’m A Country Boy

Written by John Martin Sommers

Performed by John Denver

Well, life on a farm is kinda laid back

Ain’t much an old country boy like me can’t hack

It’s early to rise, early in the sack

Thank God I’m a country boy

Well, a simple kind of life never did me no harm

A-raisin’ me a family and working on the farm

My days are all filled with an easy country charm

Thank God I’m a country boy

Well, I got me a fine wife, I got me old fiddle

When the sun’s coming up, I got cakes on the griddle

And life ain’t nothing but a funny, funny riddle

Thank God I’m a country boy

When the work’s all done and the sun’s setting low

I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow

The kids are asleep so I keep it kinda low

Thank God I’m a country boy

I’d play “Sally Goodin'” all day if I could

But the Lord and my wife wouldn’t take it very good

So I fiddle when I can and I work when I should

Thank God I’m a country boy

Well, I got me a fine wife, I got me old fiddle

When the sun’s coming up, I got cakes on the griddle

And life ain’t nothing but a funny, funny riddle

Thank God I’m a country boy

Whoo

Well, I wouldn’t trade my life for diamonds or jewels

I never was one of them money hungry fools

I’d rather have my fiddle and my farming tools

Thank God I’m a country boy

Yeah, city folk driving in a black limousine

A lot of sad people thinking that’s a-mighty keen

Well son, let me tell you now exactly what I mean

I thank God I’m a country boy

Well, I got me a fine wife, I got me old fiddle

When the sun’s coming up, I got cakes on the griddle

And life ain’t nothing but a funny, funny riddle

Thank God I’m a country boy

Well, my fiddle was my daddy’s till the day he died

And he took me by the hand, held me close to his side

Said, “Live a good life, play my fiddle with pride

Thank God you’re a country boy.”

My daddy taught me young how to hunt and how to whittle

He taught me how to work and play a tune on the fiddle

He taught me how to love and how to give just a little

And thank God I’m a country boy

Well, I got me a fine wife, I got me old fiddle

When the sun’s coming up, I got cakes on the griddle

Life ain’t nothing but a funny, funny riddle

Whoo, thank God I’m a country boy, yes!

15. 1974 – Bad Company – Bad Company

To be clear, this is the song “Bad Company”, as written and performed by the band Bad Company, from the album “Bad Company”, which was produced by Bad Company. Got it?   That always made us laugh. A lot of the songs from the 1970’s got new life in the late 80’s and early 90’s with the popularity of CD’s. Typically, to save money as a college student, I would buy greatest hits collections on CD. Bad Company’s “10 From 6” was one of out most played during poker nights.

I finally got to see the band live right before I moved away from Maryland, around 2010 at something called “Outlaw Jam”. It was out in Western Maryland, featuring Bad Company, Blue Oyster Cult, Candlebox and Black Stone Cherry. In keeping with the Outlaw vibe, they also had the cast of a new TV series about a biker gang in Northern California. Unfortunately, I had not yet realized that “Sons Of Anarchy” was one of the greatest TV dramas of all time, and I did not participate in that part of the event. Musically, it was a very special night.

One of the other reasons that this song is so important is that Five Finger Death Punch made it their own at their live shows. I have covered and photographed so many 5FDP shows over the past decade, and their heavy version of this classic, which they always dedicate to our Armed Forces, is always a highlight. YEAH!!

My favorite lyric:

“Rebel souls, deserters we are called”

This reminded me of “Star Wars”, which made me think that rebels were cool, and the good ones in a conflict, which also made the rebel flag seem cool. No, wait, “The Dukes of Hazzard” made the rebel flag seem cool, painted on the roof of the General Lee orange 1969 (great year!) Dodge Charger. Possibly, it was Daisy Duke and her shorts that made the whole show seem cool. In any event, Paul Rodgers delivers that line so smoothly, it makes this whole song sound cool.

Bad Company

Written by Paul Rodgers & Simon Kirke

Performed by Bad Company

Mmm

Company, always on the run

Destiny, is a rising sun

Oh, I was born six-gun in my hand

Behind a gun, I’ll make my final stand, hey

That’s why they call me

Bad company and I can’t deny

Bad company ’til the day I die

Oh, ’til the day I die

‘Til the day I die

Rebel souls, deserters we are called

Chose a gun and threw away the sun

Now these towns, they all know our name

Six-gun sound is our claim to fame

I can hear them say

Bad company and I won’t deny

Bad, bad company ’til the day I die

Ha, ha, oh yeah

‘Til the day I die, ooh

Oh

Hey, hey, hey

Bad company, I can’t deny

Bad company ’til the day I die

And I say it’s bad company

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Bad company ’til the day I die

Whoa yes

Said I’m young and I’m free

Oh, but I’m-a bad company

That’s the way I play, yeah

Dirty for dirty, heh

Oh, somebody double-crossed me

Double-cross for double-cross

Yeah, we’re bad company

For more chapters of My Life In Music:

My Life In Music, Part 1, 1975-1979

My Life In Music, Part 2, 1980-1984

My Life In Music, Part 2, 1985-1989

My Life In Music, Part 1, 1969 – 1974 first appeared on Game On Media.

INKCARCERATION Music & Tattoo Festival 2020 Features Limp Bizkit, Weezer, Blink-182, Papa Roach, Halestorm first appeared on Game On Media.

Candlebox continues to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, which introduced the world to enduring classics like “You” and “Far Behind”. The band played the Ramona Mainstage in Ramona, California outside San Diego on August 29, 2019.

Vocalist and primary songwriter Kevin Martin continues to add to the legacy he helped create in Seattle in the 90’s, touring and recording new material with an evolving lineup. The current incarnation spent the week in Los Angeles recording the upcoming 7th Candlebox album, and they brought their creative energy to the stage, interacting with a packed club filled with passionate fans. Martin told several stories about the origins of the songs that so many have come to love.

Candlebox played the entire debut album, but sandwiched that around tracks from each of their 5 other albums. Martin explained that the point was to remind everyone that they did indeed have 5 other records, but judging from the crowd’s response, most already knew that, and they celebrate the entire catalogue. Songs from 1995’s “Lucy”, 1998’s “Happy Pills”, 2008’s “Into The Sun”, 2012’s “Love Stories & Other Musings”, and 2016’s “Disappearing In Airports” all sounded incredible and those albums are worth another listen. The emotional highlight of the night was Martin strapping on an acoustic guitar for a heartfelt performance of “Sometimes”.

Kevin Martin’s vocals and stage presence remain unchanged over the decades, a remarkable testament to his skill and passion for performance. Bassist and backup vocalist Adam Kury has been with Candlebox since 2007 and is in perfect sync with Martin. Drummer Dave Krusen is on his second tour with the band and handles the intricate rhythms with ease. Brian Quinn and Island Styles share rhythm and lead guitar duties, allowing each to apply their own style and technique to the classic tunes.

Candlebox continues to look forward, and this celebration of the classic debut album is just the beginning of the next chapter. Be sure to check out the new album when it arrives, and do not miss out on seeing them live. See https://www.candleboxrocks.com for details.

Candlebox Ramona 19

39 photos

Candlebox Continues To Blossom At Ramona Mainstage first appeared on Game On Media.