Wow. It's been nine days since I last updated. Things have been very hectic here at Company O. I've been trying like mad to keep machines up and running so my confederates in the Company can run some tests. I also discovered that my little corner of the corporate orgazinational chart has been re-organized. I turned down a transfer to another division of Company O. a while back (in part) because I wanted things to stay the same for a while. This will affect some of my activities, but I have the same manager. Still... if you don't like doing something around here, wait 6-12 months and it will change.
That is not what I want to talk about, however.
I had the opportunity to see the Artist Formerly Known As Dr. Noah Drake (aka Rick Springfield) in concert not so long ago. At almost 56 years old, he still looks quite good for his age. I wonder how much of that is due to clean living and how much is due to the miracle of modern science. In any case, he came out and did a set that was about 75 minutes long, mostly of his own material... with a blues(!?!) number and some covers from the 70's and 80's off his latest CD thrown in. Oh yeah, it's been a long time since I heard anyone play "Life In A Northern Town" by "Dream Academy". A "hey-a-ma-ma-na-de-do-in-nigh-a", anyone?
It was by and large a pretty good show, and the kind of show that you just don't see too often anymore. Someone singing live, playing their own instrument, on songs they wrote, imagine that! And not a dancer or bit of planned choreography in sight! No, unlike so many of today's actor/musicians... Rick Springfield is the real thing, with at least one really good pop/rock album (Working Class Dog) that he came up with himself... and all without a stint on the Mickey Mouse Club.
You can tell that Rick also wants still wants to be a Jimmy Page/Jimi Hendrix/Pete Townsend-style guitar hero... He waves the guitar. He strokes the guitar. He windmills a chord or two. He pretends to lick the guitar. He even throws the guitar at his guitar roadie when he can't hear his guitar on the monitor speakers in front of him. Though I must admit that seeing him do that made me think of the chorus of the John Hiatt song Perfectly Good Guitar:
Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I dont know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
Part of me wishes he threw around the guitar a little less... if only because it would cut down on the amount of re-tuning required during the show.
All the retro 80's pop has got me in the mood to see more of it live... some Huey Lewis and the News anyone?
said drgeek
on 2006-06-14 at 3:32 p.m.
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The Wayback Machine - To Infinity And Beyond
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