1986: The Cutting Crew

My dad grew up with homing pigeons. In 1976, he moved my brothers an my mom out of Appleton, and built a house in the "sticks" of Darboy. In the back yard, he built a pigeon coop. There was a local pigeon racing club he became a part of. The pigeon club was pretty cool. They had a big party every year, with kids my age. They also had a spot in the newspaper to say who won the races.

Essentially you would drive your team of racing pigeons to a location on the map all at the same time, and a timer started. Once (and I'm not sure) the first or all of your pigeons make it back to your coop, time is compensated in some way... and it's scored. Winning such races brings money and your name in the local newspaper.

Mike worked at this huge bird store, and built a bird room in the basement, where he would attempt to breed finches and ring neck doves and all kinds of birds. The coolest one was a Blue front Amazon parrot named "Sonny." The parrot was cool because it could talk and repeat words. I got the biggest kick out of it. His white Moloucan Cockatoo named Princess. It ended up getting sick, losing all its feathers. Princess died of a disease that's like that bird's version of AIDS called "beak and feather syndrome." The bird caught it from temporarily living with a mate that Mike owned only briefly and sold off. We had a parakeet named Oscar that we kept in the dining room. My dad taught Oscar to say "bullshit" and "fuck you." My mom used to (in a small fit of rage) yell to God that she was "so sick and tired of that frickin' bird." As a kid, that brought quite a chuckle. We thought it was hilarious... any opportunity to laugh my butt off as a kid was taken full advantage of.

Both Tommy and Mike worked at my dad's dental lab. Sometimes I'd find myself there too, doing small stuff like taking out garbage. Mike would find plaster models of people's teeth, and taught me how to drill a hole through it so he could wire into the birdcages. I'm not sure if they scratched their claws on them or what. All I knew was that it was fun.



The song"Just Died in your arms tonight" was a pretty big radio song. It was all over the radio, and more often then not, you'd hear it in the car. I think about riding in the station wagon with Mike and one particular story:

Mike was involved with my Dad's hobby a little bit. We all had responsibilities around the house, and one of Mike's, especially in high school, was feeding the pigeons, and exercising them. On this occasion, Mike drove the pigeons far away to have them fly back. We drove a few hours southwest of our house. I remember seeing a water tower with an indian head painted on it, which I now realize was Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

We were driving all over for some reason. I'm not sure if we were lost or what. almost ran out of gas looking for diesel. Mike was sort of freaking out. We'd pull into a gas station, they wouldn't have diesel, and we'd have to find a different gas station. When we let the birds out, Amy lost jelly shoe and we were driving back before she said anything... and we had to go back for it. I don't remember stopping at any exact place to let the birds out, so how we found the place again to look for her shoe was impossible in my young mind. I think we ended up finding the shoe, and it would have been way too long a drive home to not have found it.

1985 : Every Time You Go Away

Paul Young - Every Time You Go away


I always considered my family a singing family. I grew up thinking this was normal... breaking into song in the car, at the dinner table, whenever a song came on that we know. My mom encouraged it, when I think most others might have been annoyed. Until high school, I always had trouble hearing the actual lyrics. Many times I'd just make up what sounded good.

I spent many summers at a cottage in the Wisconsin Northwoods. We would pack up the wooden sided Oldsmobile diesel station wagon and spend weekends or even weeks at a time up north. At the age of 5 this was bliss. I brought clothes and some He-Man guys and I was set. He-Man got to fight Skeletor in all sorts of new places up there... on the dock, on a tree stump - sky was the limit.

The closest town that had good shopping was about 45 minutes away in a town called Rhinelander. I vividly remember hearing Paul Young's "Every Time You Go Away" while sitting in the station wagon going up the driveway. The end of the driveway went uphill a bit, where in the fall I could pick blackberries. When the song came on, we started singing, this was a song I could not decipher lyrics. My lyrics became singing, "You Take a Piece of meat with you."

To me, that was like "packing a lunch." The real words are "take a piece of ME with you." At the age of five, I'm not sure I would have understood that... sounds in a food perspective slightly cannibalistic! But the lyrics, to my mother, prompted a serious "birds and the bees for five year olds" pep talk. I seem to remember her talking about how fast I was growing up and how I would "someday meet a girl from up north yada yada."

Once we got to the store, I picked out some shoes that looked like a car from the side and bottom profile. I remember these shoes being expensive, and I could wear the tread off shoes in two weeks. My parents and siblings were always in awe of the sight of how fast I could wear out a pair of shoes. So from talking about growing up to picking out car-looking shoes, I still had a lot of growing up to do. My mom would be right about fourteen years later, I'd go on to meet a girl in college from WAY up north in Wisconsin, and ended up being the person I dated pretty much throughout college. Moms are always right, or they at least know what's going on.

Whenever I hear Every Time You Go Away... I think about putting meat in a ziplock bag, and riding in that station wagon up north with my car shoes on.

1985: Music defined by radio and siblings

105.7 WAPL - The Rockin Apple

I grew up with nothing around my house but cornfields. This area of the boondocks was called Darboy USA, a "suburb" of the city of Appleton. Appleton was a city of 66,000 at the time. One thing I could see from my yard was the radio antenna for 105.7 WAPL, The Rockin' Apple. "The best classic rock, the best new rock." When you are a child, you see this long radio antenna with flashing red lights. Being on the gullible side, I didn't have a frame of reference for size... it could have been an antenna or a tower! I had just assumed that EVERY song on the radio was being played LIVE inside that tower somewhere, hence the flashing lights - that's where the bands play! I don't know if I imagined the radio antenna was like a big elevator shaft, with rooms to perform going all the way up or what.

For example, if "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith was playing on the radio, I assumed Aerosmith was in town playing it live inside that radio antenna. It's funny because I don't remember anyone ever telling me this... it was just one of those early creative theories I had as a five year old that couldn't be further from the truth.

As I grew up, 105.7 WAPL wasn't as cool as I thought it was. It was just the coolest available. My gripe is this... they played a TON of Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Beatles, Grateful Dead and The Eagles constantly. Nothing against these bands, but I grew an distaste to them over time. Tommy and Mike even helped coin a saying "if Bruce is 'the Boss,' then I QUIT." Haha.

Nowadays, the only one I can really stomach of the bands I mentioned above is the Rolling Stones and some Springsteen. This overplaying of music was the first sign that radio stations can RUIN good bands for you. In these days of the mid 80's, they wouldn't play "heavy" music, even if it was popular. They wouldn't play Metallica during the day. If you called in to request it, they wouldn't even take that as a request until after 10:00pm. It was considered way too heavy for daytime airplay. The heaviest you could get during the day was probably Hendrix. Thank God for Jimi. To their credit, they played a lot of other good stuff too. This is where my musical tastes started to develop.

I was just really lucky to have an older sister and two older brothers. Being the youngest came with all sorts of perks. I wasn't "up to me" to seek and find what was cool. I was able to soak up what my siblings liked and usually that's what I liked to. I had my own identity since all kids a certain age like certain things... like He-Man and Star Wars and such. But when I was little, my older brothers had a rock cover band when they were in HighSchool. It was called Defiance.

Defiance

Their shows were often really elaborate with lots of speakers, pro sound, and stage lights... just crazy. They practiced in my basement and my mom & dad would buy Darboy Fried Chicken (not to be confused with KFC) and they'd stay for dinner. My dad helped out with a Keyboard, PA and other essential equipment... and supported them with funds to get started. The next thing you know they are playing bars all over... even opened for Ratt and Lita Ford at Green Bay's Brown Country Arena! My oldest Brother Tommy wielded this white Gibson Explorer, while Mike did lead vocals and played keyboards. That's the music.. how about the dress? We are talking about leather pants, bandanas, 80's sunglasses... the works. They covered all sorts of Bon Jovi, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Rush, Loverboy, Prince, etc. A great party band indeed.

Their guitar player was this kid named Michael Boyle from Appleton. I looked up to Michael Boyle quite a bit... all of them really. But I always wanted to play the guitar. He was a flashy player... had really puffy hair, and my brothers would jokingly call him Buckwheat after the Little Rascals. So that's what Tommy and Mike called him all the time. After HS, Defiance fizzled out... and I wouldn't see Boyle again for about ten or so years. So let's fast forward to 1994. He was working at my favorite guitar store when I was a teenager, Henri's Music in Appleton. I recognized him and said "Buckwheat!" You should have seen the look on his face. Saying that meant I was old school, but I looked too young to know him from that time. I'm Tommy & Mike Bongers' little brother. Being known as one of my "siblings' little brother" was usually a good thing, so it never bothered me one bit.

1985: Money For Nothing... first "band" & my first sleep over

Dire Straits was a cassette my dad had in his truck. On our way up north, my grandpa, dad, and I would play both sides the entire two hour ride. I was too little to see over the hood, so I sat on this big fluffy pillow in between my grandpa and my dad. We wore Dire Straits tape out... his tape player in the truck might have eaten it, but I like to think we wore it out. Instead of simply replacing it, we mailed it to my brother Tommy when he went to college in Daytona to see if he could fix it. After highschool, Tommy went to American Motorcycle Institute (AMI) to get a certified Harley Mechanic degree.

I went to Holy Angels, which was a catholic school in Darboy Wisconsin. It was called Darboy USA, because Darboy (unincorporated) didn't show up on a Wisconsin state map. Ironically, it did show up on a map of the entire United States. Darboy was sort of an "in between" area in the midst of many cities. It's very near Appleton, Kimberly, Comined Locks, Kaukauna and Menasha. So other than "the boon docks," it was always hard to describe exactly where I went to school. Most people had never heard of it... unless of course they were an adult.

I don't remember if it was pre-school or kindergarten, but my first two friends in Holy Angels were Eric and Nick. Nick was somehow related to me through his mom and my grandma... so I was his fourth cousin or something. Eric's grandparents owned the "Dairyland's Best" local dairy: Lamers Dairy, which made the best milk (especially chocolate milk) around.

My first ever sleep over was at Nick's house. Eric and I went over there with our sleeping bags. We were read a story by Nick's cousin Sara I think... who would end up being a summer park leader in coming years. Other than that I remember Nick had the biggest toy rooms I'd ever seen. It was like an empty bedroom just FULL of toys. I couldn't believe it.

The next morning, we went outside on his porch. Eric and Nick had a couple toys that made noise... I think one of them was a He-Man vehicle that rattled when it moved. They started "practicing" between each other. I asked "what are you guys doing?" They said they were practicing their song. They had a band. All excited, I wanted to be in the band. They responded "you probably don't know the song we do." So they started playing it... and it was Money For Nothing by Dire Straits! I was through the roof at that point. "I know that song! Can I be in the band?" Between all three of us, none of us knew the entire song. We were pretty much just singing the chorus and making noise with toys. The band didn't even have a name. But for those 5 minutes... we were the coolest band ever.

Money For Nothing had an awesome video too. Lots of animation, seemed like it was made with kids in mind. I do remember the words a little differently. The current radio version is edited! There was a politically incorrect line in the song about "that little faggot, he's a millionaire." In the early to mid-80's, it was very common in our town for teens to make fun of somebody by calling them a faggot or queer. Today however, that's not the case. The song on the radio and video has been edited and the offensive language removed.

The next morning, we went to this two-story Burger King on College Avenue in Appleton to get kids meals. The "kid's cup" was a He-Man cup with a comic printed around the outside. I still have it.

Eric lived much closer to me. I remember he was over and we were outside on my swingset. We were talking about best friends and who they were. I had never really thought about "best" friend much, but I said a little too quickly that Nick was my best friend. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because we were related in some small way, or that we had the same name, maybe cause of his room full of toys... who knows? I knew right away that it was the wrong answer. Who was I on my swingset with? Eric said his best friend was ME. The right answer. And I thought that was the coolest thing anyone ever said to me. I'm not sure if he remembers this, but my answer to the "best friend" question was one of the first things I ever said that I totally regretted and never verbally took back. As time progressed, thankfully, it was as if I had never said that.

We were not the 3 amigos forever. Nick would end up going to a different grade school. In fact, that sleep over I think was the only time I really hung out with Nick outside of school. Eric, on the other hand, would stay my best friend. We both went to the same school until 1998 when we left for different colleges. In time, Eric would end up being the first phone number I memorized, the first kid's house I ever biked to, and the only kid I ever biked to school with. I can guarantee you'll see Eric's name throughout my autobiography. Good friends, especially ones you can say you've had since 1985, are pretty rare.

Women that rock II - Lita Ford

Lita Ford - Dancin' on the Edge

British born Lita Ford staked her claim in glam rock with her looks and guitar shredding capabilities. Not only could Lita rock vocally, her guitar playing skills were advanced to put it lightly. Many critics claimed she had a male lead guitarist, but this chick could wail!



My brothers would have much more input than me on this artist. Their paths have crossed in the past. In Green Bay WI, the big arena was called the Brown County Arena. That's where all the big bands play. Ratt and Lita Ford were going to play there, and their opening act couldn't make it. So word came to the manager of Defiance (my brothers' band). They were offered to open up. Tommy, in a stroke of bad luck was sick. The band was told if they could do the gig, all they'd have to bring is their guitars. They said yes and headed up to Green Bay, which was about a 20 minute drive.

Defiance had their own dressing room, with their name on a star on the door. When they got there, the entire band got giddy jumping up and down like a bunch of little girls. They got to meet Lita Ford, who both acted and appeared to be on drugs. For the show, Michael Boyle got to plug his guitar into what was described to me as "a wall of Marshall amps."

Stories like this didn't happen that much when I was a teenager, or in college for that matter. The 80's was just sort of cool because things like this happened. With the internet the way it is, and cell phones able to reach anyone, the way Defiance was offered a gig seemed a lot more pure that how it would go down these days. Modern technology like cell phones and computers make it easier to expose a band to the public, but bigger bands will also have an easier time finding lots of acts to play... making the chances of your phone ringing a rarity.

Lita Ford and (previously mentioned)Pat Benatar are only two of the female acts in rock. There are lots of others including Vixen, Heart, The Bangles, Joan Jett, and more! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. More to come. LONG live the women of rock!

1984: Women can rock too... Part 1 - Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar - We Belong

Can chicks be heavy metal? Pat Benatar was a unique performer. It sounded like she would do well on Broadway and on a rock stage. She didn't quite look metal. I couldn't put my finger on it. She just looked too pure and not "dingy" enough to rock that hard. Can rock be classy? Pat rocked it, and made it work.

Although this post sits around 1984 in my storyline, she had hits way before this that weren't noted. Benatar claimed multiple Grammy awards including "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance" of 1982. Although many of her songs were epic, she had some dark songs as well. "Hell is For Children" is a song that you wouldn't have guessed is performed by Pat Benatar. While Hit Me With Your Best Shot is probably her most popular, I'm not making that the most notable here. This is MY story. I never heard Hell Is For Children on the radio, but I came to find out the song was about child abuse in America. It all makes sense now.

Pat Benatar had some killer songs, and aside from when it was popular, her music would show up again in highschool. My friend Jenny St.A(censored) was a huge fan of Pat Benatar during highschool ('94-'98). I really came to appreciate it then. It was also rare for teen girls in the 90's to like things from the 80's, so she got bonus credit for that. Jenny was in choir and a talented singer. Her and her friend Dana used to come over and practice their songs through my brothers' big mic/PA system and play my brother's keyboard that I managed to borrow for a bunch of years. Fun times.

When I was living in Milwaukee in 2005 I was in a band that played a medly of her best tunes. The band name was called StereoType. The lead guitarist was married to the female vocalist. I sang all of the male songs and she sang all of the female led songs. It worked out really cool, and we played local bars and such. Of course, these stories are years detached from the album's release... but again I'm too young to have a legitimate story here.




The story comes full circle. I am currently a HUGE fan of VH1's PopUp Video... They give all sorts of facts about the band, song, and video production... and some wise cracks. Here's Shadows of the Night... one of Benatar's biggest songs... the video has a WWII Rosie the Riveter theme.

Prince - Purple Rain

Movie soundtracks in the 80's all together were just so good. I would say my brother Mike was THE biggest Prince fan. (Although when you're only 5, you don't know that many people.) I distinctly remember his Purple Rain poster hanging up in his room. I saw this movie on VHS when I was a kid, but I had no understanding of it at all. As an initiation ritual... to "Purify your body in the waters of Lake Minnetonka" was just a hilarious practical joke.

MORE PRANKS
Another antagonizing joke my brothers took from the movie was to drive away a little bit when someone riding along is trying to open the car door to get in. Prince did this to a girl with his motorcycle, and it was pretty funny. Unrelated to Prince, my brothers would beep the horn if you walked across the front of the car. I've gotten people with that joke, and it startles the living crap out of people. :)

IS PRINCE WEIRD?
Prince seemed like a weirdo, but he fit right in with other rockers like Kiss, Nugent, or Van Halen where they all put on some sort of "act." It's hard to explain unless you lived through it. The 80's seemed to be very accepting of musical artists that were "unique." In contrast, the 90's that followed were more about fitting specific mold. Prince was the embodiment of purple from then on. Guys and purple? Prince made it work. This was WAY before all the Prince drama. This was back when Prince was THE MAN. Women wanted to be with him and in effect guys wanted to BE him.

MOTORCYCLES
Despite Prince's superstar persona, there was only one thing about him that could have been cooler. Growing up, I noticed Prince drove a Kawasaki motorcycle. I grew up in a Harley family, and it seemed wrong that a big rock star would be on anything BUT a Harley. Kawasaki had this commercial with a theme song "Kawasaki - Let the good times roll" and my brothers (in Weird Al fashion) effectively changed the words to "Kawasaki makes the junkyards grow."

GUITARS & BASKETBALL
Prince is probably one of the most underrated guitarists of all time. The guy shreds. And according to Charlie Murphy (Eddie Murphy's brother) he's pretty good as basketball too. : )

In the mid-2000's, Eddie Murphy's brother was an actor/comedian on the Comedy Central's Chappelle Show. There was a really funny skit series they did called Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories... or something like that. Charlie Murphy would tell all these crazy stories about being in Eddie Murphy's entourage, and the friends / situations he got into. They were hilarious... almost too crazy to be true. But when you consider the people in these stories, they're probably not embellished at all. One of the funniest ones was his story about Prince.

1984: The Cars!

The Cars - Heartbeat City

THE BAND

Where do I start with the Cars? Where they progressive?rock?punk?pop? They sort of looked like the Ramone's got facial transplants... but their songs crossed conventional boundaries. They had a hook that gets stuck in your head. When people say the 80's sucked, you can play them virtually ANY song from the Cars and tell them that they are full of bloody rubbish.

THE ALBUM

Almost every song on Heartbeat City was a hit. Hello Again was the opening track. Track 3, (uh-oh it's) Magic, was probably one of their biggest hits. Do want a ballad? Look no further than Drive. The lyrics "who's gonna drive ya home tonight?" just sticks in your head. Why Can't I have you isn't the best song on the album, but the music video is a total 80's music film cliche. So what did the Cars look like playing live? Does Miami Vice or Don Johnson mean anything to you? Haha... check out this live footage of Heartbeat City.

VIDEOS

The Cars videos were awesome! Where would VH1 be without videos by the Cars!? Their videos are the epitome of "classic." Very entertaining. What's really sad is that we'll probably never see new videos like this again.

RADIO

The takes me back to pop radio. 101.1 WIXX was the pop station in the greater Green Bay area. Remember when pop radio played rock? They played the Cars! The Cars could not only be found on the radio, but also up north!

Buzz's Bar played The Cars on the JukeBox. Usually a staple of country and older stuff; I first noticed Buzz's was playing newer stuff too when I heard the Cars. Buzz's bar was our main hang-out up north. It had glass bottles of Coke! The pinball machine cost only a dime and it was some sort of bowling pinpall game. The foosball table only cost a quarter. My brother Mike was, is, and always will be the Foosball king. Think I'm kidding? Challenge him!

Fast Forward to September 25th,1996: Lori Sprangers' 17 birthday Party.

The closest person that lived to me (that was my age) was Lori Sprangers. In Darboy terms, that means across the cornfield. Although we didn't officially meet until high school, we became part of the same click. Where we didn't see each other that much was with her involvement in band, and my involvement in football. One thing I remember about being friends with Lori was that her locker was a in specific hallway of the school that was only for band kids. Although "band" had their own click, I stopped by her locker to chat, but it was usually met with some weird looks from band kids. HA. Although she was gifted violinist & choir singer, I believe Lori served as band leader senior year.

For Lori's 17th birthday, she was having a party. They had just re-zoned all the cornfields for houses. I think duplexes were starting to go in. So when my street used to be 45mph, they lowered it to 35 and then 25mph! This made me furious, but I was constantly aware of this little water pump house that a police car was usually perched taking radar.

On this particular occasion, I noticed the cop car on the way to Lori's party. The cop started to follow me. I knew I wasn't speeding, so I wasn't nervous. Once I parked my car on the side of the road, the cop parked behind me and put his lights on! I couldn't believe it. I rolled down my window and asked "why did you pull me over?" He said "stay in the car." He proceed to walk up to the house and knock on the door. I think maybe he thought he was busting a high school beer party. Little did he know everyone in my particular group were pretty much squares until after graduation. Lori's parents answered the door. Sent him packing. I asked "can I get out of my car now?" He responded "no, park your car on the driveway or on the lawn, all these cars on the side of the road are unsafe." Whatever.

Lori's parents had a bunch of vinyl. Going through them, we saw a few Cars albums. I vividly remember jamming out to some Cars at Lori's birthday party and telling everyone about how the cop followed me to the house for no reason whatsoever.

Mr. T Record: Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!

My sister and I both had Fisher Price Record Players growing up. We didn't have that many records. Sometimes at fast food places, happy meals or whatever would come with small vinyl records. We had kids records, although I don't remember too many of them.

The last time I saw those record players was in 2002, when my parents moved out of my childhood home into a new home farther from the city. We had this HUGE pile of stuff we were giving to Goodwill, and those record players were on the pile... still in very good condition. There was talk from my mom whether to keep them, as if they'd be very valuable someday. Current price on eBay is Buy It Now for $15.00.

Mr. T's album Be Somebody or Be Somebody's Fool! was the record I remember playing most. It taught children to speak up, and stand up for themselves. It had a very good message. besides an audio record, it had an accompanying video to the program as well... so I'm sure this was probably out on VHS somewhere, or on TV. The TV videos (below) look very familiar, so I'm sure I've seen these too. Did you know Mr. T wears all of those gold chains to represent the pain and agony his ancestors went through coming to and living in America? He tells the children that in the video.

You can still find this program on Google Videos. It's a made for kids program on how to build self-esteem, and act mature for your age. Mr. T had songs he would sing or rap... and I gotta admit, some of them I thought were really good. Of the ones on the record, I remember one about mothers. "My mother, she is no other... my mother - so treat her right - treat her right!"

I would play this record on my plastic Fischer Price record player and take naps. I'd wake up to the record being done with, scratching around on the paper label in the center. I would wake up, flip the record over, and fall asleep to the other side. The label for the record (around the donut) had a rainbow printed on it... which I believe is the mark of the record company, but I thought that was cool too.

What you have to understand here is that Mr.T was THE MAN. He was on the A-Team, he was in Rocky movies, he was in Wrestlemania, and everyone thought he was cool. He even had a cereal that tasted like Cap'n Crunch!

1984: Happy Rock Pt.2 - Bon Jovi

Ritchie Samboa and John Bon Jovi (still) have some of the best vocal harmonies in music (see Mtv Unplugged video at bottom.) "ooh She's a Little Run Away" was the first song I really heard from Bon Jovi. Wanted Dead or Alive was a great one too. These bands came out at a time where as a kid I never really SAW who did these songs. You would hear them on the radio. I was SO young I thought that all songs on the radio were performed live at the radio station. Didn't quite put it together that the radio stations were playing the same records we had in the basement. Somehow, the radio was just different.



Album covers didn't always have their faces on the artwork... and I was too young to pay that much attention. The advent of Mtv, rock magazines and advertising really put a FACE on rock and roll. Bon Jovi had one of the faces that smiled and was really inviting to his music.



Yeah, the "chicks" really dug Bon Jovi, but I didn't think about that stuff. I just thought he'd be a nice guy. And happy all the time. Again, rock with a smile! It was just a stray from the norm. Is the the start of "hair bands?" Or did Bon Jovi just perfect it?

Tommy and Mike's band Defiance covered "Runaway." The keyboards in it sort of remind me of "chopsticks" so I was able to recognize it quickly as a child. I got to see Defiance shows when I was little. I remember sitting on my dad's shoulders and watching them. It was really REALLY loud. There was a wall of speakers, spot lights, and a crazy rock show. It was seemingly the closest you could get to "big time" for high school kids. It really made me wish I was older so I could have been in the band too.

Another interesting thing to note as long as I'm talking about Bon Jovi, I can say that Mtv's inspiration for their Unplugged series came from this (below). There would be many defining moments with Mtv Unplugged... and one of best things Mtv ever did.

Van Halen... JUMP! 1984

In the early to mid 80's our house didn't have cable TV. Not even close. There we only three houses on our entire street. So even when cable TV was branching out to more areas, our street was a low priority for years. How my brothers lived without Mtv through highschool escapes me. Although, I'll get to this when I go through my H.S. years, how Mtv was in the 90's was vastly different than what you see it as today.

Back to my house growing up. A house without cable TV must greatly rely on VHS tapes, rented or self recorded. The label on a certain VHS tape was an orange post-it note with no adhesive, so it was Scotch taped to the video cassette. It was clearly labeled as the Van Halen Video for Jump! I figure one of my brother's friends taped it for one of them. I should probably ask to see if they remember.

I watched this video over and over. Eddie Van Halen played BOTH the guitar and keyboards in the song. I didn't think that was possible! They jumped in sync, it looked like they were having so much fun on stage. Everyone in the band was smiling. Happy rock!? I loved it!



My brothers in Defiance covered that song too. Mike taught me how to play the first five or so notes on his keyboard. I thought I was a rockstar at that point. Two fingers, not unlike "chopsticks" combined with the lowest key on the keyboard.

After Led Zeppelin broke up, people have said "there will never be another Led Zeppelin." I think Van Halen was the Led Zeppelin of the 80's. Flashy frontman, guitarist with pizzaz, killer drummer & bass player. I mean these guys were HUGE.

The album 1984 had WAY more hits on it than Jump. It also featured Panama, Hot For Teacher, and countless others. Everyone knows of record sales. Gold is a half million sales, platinum is for a million sales. Diamond is the 10 million mark. In 1999, VH's 1984 hit the diamond mark.

Eddie Van Halen single-handedly changed the guitar industry. Suddlenly old "vintage" guitars were worthless. Everyone wanted guitars with more frets and a huge Floyd Rose Whammy bar! Many lesser known guitar companies took advantage of this, while the big wig Fender and Gibson stagnated in quality and design. Word is you could pick up a 1950's Fender or Gibson for only a couple hundred dollars... in today's market those same guitars are worth hundreds of thousands. Thus started the "wanker-generation" of guitar players that wouldn't die until Kurt Cobain and Nirvana almost a decade later.

Love him or hate him, Eddie Van Halen is one of the best guitar players EVER. He revolutionized the way we play guitar, and expanded the possibilities of what can be done on a guitar. Don't believe me? Watch this. Custodians became in demand because of all the drool left behind to be mopped up at local concert stadiums!

1984 "Lights Out"... establishing a pecking order

Lights Out - Peter Wolf

Peter Wolf's "Lights Out" was a big hit in 1984. Unluckily, when you are the youngest sibling of four - it doubles as an excuse to to prank your little brother. "Lights Out" became what they sing when pulling someone's hat down over their eyes. Although I have memories of Tommy, Mike and Amy doing this to me (and eachother for that matter) I can still hear Mike singing "Lights Out" in my head.

The act of pulling someone's hat over their eyes was a total kid's pecking order establishment. It was something simple you could do to someone short of making fun of them or even worse beating them up. Totally harmless. It is sort of humiliating and funny at the same time. While it's always been popular to do this sort of act (especially among boys), now there was a theme song for it! The first time, the prank funny to everyone involved. The second time, the victim grins as if he/she should have known it was coming. By the third and fourth time, the victim is greatly peeved.

Humans are not the only animals to do this. Deer spar, elephants have pushing contests, and kids prank each other. Butts of a prank establish a pecking order among kids. I didn't make these rules, but I was forced to live by them. Getting away with it unscathed put you higher in the pecking order. Blocking an attempt, etc. possibly prevents you from other (and possibly worse) pranks in the future. This is right around the time you had to pick teams using the "eenee meenee miney mow" scheme. And you are NOT IT! I was no bully by any means, but in my circles I did what was necessary to not be the runt.

Aside from the social connotations to my childhood, revisiting this song is still kind of fun. The beat has a feel-good energy to it. I do however wonder what exactly this song was written about. "Lights out" in terms of my already wired imagination still doesn't provoke any visual images other than pulling someone's hat down... the permanent effects of childhood!

1983 - Kiss: Lick It Up

Kiss took off their makeup? I couldn't believe it!

I knew of Kiss because I had an Ewok movie (Star Wars) on the same VHS tape as Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park. The Ewok movie was a Lucas Film afterthought... a "made for TV" movie that had the little bear looking creatures from Return of the Jedi. Kiss Meets the Phantom of The park was another "made for TV" movie from 1978 that featured Kiss as a rock band/super heroes that saved a theme park from an evil and maniacal roller-coaster and prop engineer. It's a lot like a Scoobie Doo episode! That was one of my favorite VHS tapes growing up.

In 1983 Kiss released Lick It Up. My brother Tommy had the record, and I was shocked. I readily noticed the KISS logo on the album cover, but there were no comic book-like superheroes on the cover! What happened? I couldn't fathom it. I remember going to the basement and seeing my brothers' stack of records, and Lick It Up was in the front for a while. I would walk past it and stare at Gene Simmons long tongue.

My previously favorite KISS member Ace Frehley wasn't even pictured. Where was Space Ace? He had left the band, and they replaced him with this Randy Rhoads/George Lynch type (read fast) guitar player named Vinny Vincent. It would be years later when I found out that Vincent wrote many of the songs on the Lick it Up album. From a "guitar history" perspective, Jackson guitars were made for Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads. Randy died in a plane crash in 1982. Vinny Vincent would go on playing the same Jackson "offset V" guitar prototyped, developed, and named after Randy Rhoads. Vincent was one of the few to want to play the guitar and keep its popularity strong in the guitar industry. I think without Vincent's and a few others' desire to play the guitar, the Jackson Randy Rhoads model might have disappeared.

In 1983, Ace Frehley started a band called Frehley's Comet. His drummer Anton Fig would appear later in 2009 in one of my favorite blues/rock bands. It's actually really funny to see photos of him in a metal outfit next to Ace Frehley.

I also came to find out what Ace looked like without makeup. The dude is UGLY. Not that it mattered. His face was banged up from fights and car wrecks he'd been in. Although I missed the makeup, Frehley's Comet still featured a lightning bolt outfit not entirely different than something Jimmy Page would have worn in the 70's, and Ace's signature Smoking Les Paul guitar.



I would grow through my childhood years really liking the band Kiss even without makeup, but always wishing that they would get Ace back AND put back on the makeup.

I won't lie, I've blown out birthday candles wishing for that to happen... so I can say some birthday wishes come true! (eventually) Conan O'Brien announced the press release in 1996... it was SO cool. But I will be talking more about this later.

1983 - Every Breath You Take

The Police - Synchronicity album

The music video for Every Breathe You Take was one I'll always remember. This was WAY before we had cable at our house... and I didn't know what Mtv was. I was at my Auntie Ann's house. My sister, my Mom and I were visiting her and my cousins Jennifer and Jimmy. There was a band or a guy playing a stand up bass and playing a song I knew from the radio. I didn't know if it was live, or what channel it was even on. I knew the TV was color because of the commercials so I couldn't figure out why the video was in black and white. Looking back at this video you can sort of see why the Police broke up. Sting was sort of the focus, and it didn't really seem like a band.




The Police had other hits on the Synchronicity album like Wrapped Around Your Finger. It was a good, but very dark ballad. I wouldn't really notice that song and others on the album until college. "Wrapped" also apparently had the interest of pop artist John Mayer, who happens to be the same age as my sister. Mayer included a lyric about Wrapped Around Your Finger in his song called 1983. "It's a bitter sweet feeling hearing Wrapped Around Your Finger on the radio." Songs can take you back to a time and place. I myself have hundreds of them; that is the sole reason I chose to write this autobiography.

Even overrated rapper Puff Daddy thought to make reference to the Police. He ended up rewriting some of the Every Breath You Take lyrics and doing a Biggie Smalls rapper tribute. The rapper Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed, and Puff Daddy's "I'll be missing you" version of Every Breath You Take took off in popularity. I was in college at the time, and I wasn't really a fan of the remake. You won't be seeing post about it when i reach the 1999 posts. Puff Daddy is a rapper who changed his name half a billion times and got popular riding other artist's coat-tails. Hence the tribute song. Just my two cents. I will post it so you can decide for yourself.

Wham! And Toys R Us

The first dose of George Michael came in Wham! This music is now what I like to call "mall" music. It gives you a little spring in your step while you're shopping. When I was little, we went to the mall. KayBee Toys was the LAST place we would go before we left for home. I remember walking past it umpteen times while my mom and sister go to all these clothing stores. It wasn't until years later when I discovered HotRocks... the rock t-shirt store in the center isle of the mall.

Toys R Us had not yet made it to Appleton, it was in Green Bay at the time. The drive was probably a 30 minutes north. This was around a decade before the "441 bypass" was put in, that basically cut the bottom way around the outside of Appleton. We had to drive to Little Chute and take N to 41 North to get up to Green Bay. I thought that Green Bay was like heaven. It had a) the Green Bay Packers, and b) Toys R' Us!

In my 20's, I figured out that my Mom had the perfect scam. Step one: take my sister and I to Toys R Us. My cousin Ben and I are only about three months apart in age. At Toys R Us, my Mom would say "do you think Ben would like THIS for Christmas?" and of course if I liked it I would say "yes." So we put it in the cart thinking that's what we were getting my cousin for Christmas. We got him a ton of stuff for some reason... and I would forget all about this. Christmas day comes later in the year and I am opening up the EXACT same things. Santa brought them for me!




The Toy's R Us theme song was addictive. "I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid..." even adults sang that song. We tend to make fun of titles and slogans. Our family ended up calling the store Toys are NOT Us. But it didn't stop there... we renamed the grocery store Pick 'N Save "booger bank," KMart "KFart," ShopKO "snotKO," and Burger King "booger fling." It's likely I'm forgetting a long list of other examples. This was way before people started calling Taco Bell alternative nicknames! This behavior was not considered naughty, my parents got a big kick out of it. Perhaps these were just early displays of creativity. Thank God these flashes of fun were not squandered by strict child rules & "proper" manners.


By the time Toys R Us came to Appleton in the late 80's early 90's, there was no more Wham!, there was only George Michael. I'll talk about those albums later on. Can anyone even name the other guy in Wham! without Googling it??? I would only get to enjoy the benefits of a local Toys R Us for about 5 or so years. After that, CD stores and guitar shops became more interesting than a toy store. That's what happens when you grow up.... even if "you don't want to grow up."

Movies, TV Shows, and movie soundtracks of the early 80's

Movie soundtracks & TV Shows were big in the 80's, from what I could remember.

When I was very little, these were movies floating around our house: Mel Brooks' History of the World Pt. 1, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starring Dolly Parton, Porky's, and Tom Hanks in Bachelor Party. This is a musical autobiography, but there is something to be said about movie soundtracks... they were really good for the time. With exception to music, my parents were pretty strict about TV & movies; but I ended up being exposed to some of it in small doses regardless because my older brothers played them. My family was strict on values, trust, and responsibilities

VHS rentals were on the cutting edge of technology and my family slowly embraced it. Eventually going to a Catholic grade school must have evened out any mind tainting I could have received from watching VHS tapes and/or my older brothers. I was a good kid. Plus, from what I've heard... the tighter the leash, the louder it snaps. I've seen it happen. Metaphorically, I was the youngest of four - so I don't think I had a proverbial "leash." My parents knew what was going on, I mean they already had three kids more than likely go through whatever I was at the time... so from my perspective, they let me slide because my older siblings broke them in. In my siblings' eyes, I just never got in trouble.

The Incredible Hulk TV Show

I used call him the "credible Hulk" ... which sort of make him sound like he would be a good witness in court. I used to REALLY like the show with exception to one part. When Lou Ferrigno turned from human to the incredible hulk, it TOTALLY freaked me out. I used to run up and down the hall screaming until it was over. Then I'd sit back down and watch the Hulk kick butt and take names! I remember having Incredible Hulk pajamas and whatnot.

Dukes of Hazzard TV Show

The "Good old Boys" from Hazzard County were ALL the rage when I was really little. So much to the point where I had tons of Dukes of Hazzard "General Lee" matchbox cars. I would lose them constantly, so my mom would just keep an extra in her pocket for when I'd freak out. Bo and Luke Duke were fun to watch, but why did they never opened their doors? I saw it had door knobs, so I thought they were just being cool. Story is they were welded shut because it's a racecar, but then why have door handles on it? I digress.

The characters on this show were priceless... a corrupt fatman running things that constantly eats, a long legged damsel named Daisy Duke who popularized very very short jean shorts. And a father figure in Uncle Jesse. Even the town mechanic Cooter was a great character on the show. Most memorably, the sheriff's name was Roscoe P Coletrane, and he weilded a revolver and a hound named Flash. We had a doberman named Flash.

The one thing that lives in our family to this day is a deviation of one of Roscoe's sayings... his laugh actually. Although it sounds like "goo-goo!" We heard it as "Q-Q." Whenever Roscoe did something sneaky, fun, or feels accomplished for whatever reason, he would say that. We took a cue from that and started saying "Q-Q!" whenever we did something worthy. Texters and bloggers of today would instead say FTW or "for the win." Same thing. :) Q-Q!

Prince's 1999 Album

Prince's 1999 album was released in 1982.

In contrast to Tommy, my brother Mike was a huge fan of Prince. Don't get me wrong, everyone at the time loved Prince, but Mike was fanatic. He had the Purple Rain Poster on his wall, and had most all of his records. The year 1999 seemed like so far away when this album was written... almost as if it would never come. At least I couldn't imagine it. That's a little funny considering this is being written eleven years after 1999. I must say that how we pictured 1999 as a society in 1982 is vastly different than what it actually was. We never got our hovercrafts or George Jettson-like technologies. Did someone fail, or was the future over-projected? Popular Mechanics Magazine was one of the biggest offenders of this future projection. My dad got a subscription of it, and it really raised my standards of what I thought the future would be like. I also never did the math as a child that I'd be a college student in 1999.

FAST FOWARD... TO 1999

The song 1999 did have more relevance when I went to college. My freshman year spanned the Fall of 1998 through the Spring of 1999. I was single the entire time - which was rare for me. That New Year's Eve I went down to Milwaukee to party in a hotel room with my best friend from college, Matt. We became close during my freshman year at St. Norbert College playing football. Since he was a second year quarterback and I was a first year wide receiver, there was lots for me to learn about the offensive system. Our college playbook was like a phonebook, and I couldn't understand the lingo fast enough to have it ready for practice the next day. Matt really helped me out with getting the schemes down; and even helped me recognize who the QB looks at first on pass plays, how to read defenses, etc. We hit it off from there and are still good friends to this day. So when New Years came, he invited me to party with his friends in Milwaukee.

It was the first New Years holiday since early high-school I could remember not having a girlfriend. Matt had a tight-knit group from high school, and I thought it'd be cool to celebrate the new year in "the big city." We went to this fancy Italian family style restrauant called Bucca de Beppos. They knew someone who worked there, and they totally hooked us up. I was introduced at the time to deep fried calamari. Everything was on huge plates you just passed around. It was really good food, and fun to experience a place like that.

After dinner, we went back to a hotel near Matt's parents' house. There might have been two rooms. The one I stayed in seemed to be the party room. Friends came and left almost as fast as I was introduced. It was loads of fun. I ended up crashing in one of the two beds in that room, coincidentally in between two girls that were close to Matt's girlfriend at the time. After being single for months, waking up in between two cuddly girls was a great way to start a new year; even if nothing "happened." When you're 19 and a freshman in college, it's still a big confidence booster. I continued a friendship with one of them throughout college. New Years was the best day to party like it's 1999, because it WAS 1999.

I think Dick Clark's New Years program on TV featured Prince performing his song live. The song "1999" was all over the place. Meanwhile, Prince was, and still is today, one of the most underrated guitarists. This guy can really shred. I'd take the "Pepsi Challenge" with almost any other guitar player in terms of note definition, speed and clarity. Combine that with top notch song writing and I don't even care how weird the guy is...it's golden.

"I was dreaming when I wrote this." So sue me if it went astray.

1982: Kiss - Creatures of the Night

It's only appropriate that I start listing albums of the time starting with one of my favorite bands of all-time... Kiss.

Little did I know that this would be the last Kiss album with makeup for the next 16 years. When I was two years old, I wasn't too familiar with Kiss yet, but they would grow to become one of my favorite bands. Creatures of the Night featured I Love It Loud, Creatures Of The Night, and ballad I Still Love You.

How does a two year old get into Kiss? My brother Tommy was pretty big into Kiss. It seemed as if he idolized Gene Simmons, as Tommy played bass in his and Mike's band: Defiance. My brothers were my biggest musical influences as a kid. I really looked up to both of them, and I wanted to like the music they liked.

Visually in Kiss, I tended to gravitate towards Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley. He wielded a sunburst Gibson Les Paul that smoked and shot rockets. Like a super hero. What kid wouldn't dig that!? It made me want to play guitar... and eventually it made me crave a Gibson Les Paul! Ace was probably one of the first musicians I could name. Ace or Eddie Van Halen, lol. I'd come to find out as a teenager that Creatures of the Night was the last album Ace Frehley would be recorded on. From '82 until '96, Ace would go on to partake in a mediocre solo career... without makeup. Today, guitarists like Buckethead and John5 keep their little costumes and facial appearance long after they leave their original band. I'm sort of glad Ace didn't take his with him.

Ironically, Ace was pretty much out of the band when this was released. Vinny Vincent replaced him, and had a different makeup getup. If you bought this CD in the 90's it would have a photo of the band without the makeup, and the guitar player as Bruce Kulick! Talk about confusing if you don't know your "Kisstory!"

I used to think "when I grow up, I want to be a deer hunter... or Space Ace (Frehley)." I didn't want to be a doctor, a racecar driver or a garbage man. I don't think my brothers even owned this album... but they owned previous records cut before I was born that you would recognize: Kiss Alive!, Destroyer, etc. Kiss really had the total package: music, imagery, and entertainment that defined rock and roll for me as a kid.

The Living Room, The Piano & The Entertainer

Being born in '79 had its advantages. I was always the age of the year... so like 3yrs. old in 1983, etc. (until December of course).

My older brother Mike was in highschool around this time. He played piano quite a bit, and was very creative in both music and drawing. Once the braces came off, Mike came into his own. He was also really passionate about birds. (Aside from music, I could probably write an autobiography based on all the different pets we've had over the years.) Mike and my dad constructed a "bird room" downstairs with countless birds. He had a job briefly at this pet store that specialized in exotic birds. Who wouldn't dig that!?

Mike was a pianist, lead singer of their highschool band, drove a motorcycle (runs in the family), and had who I thought was the prettiest girl in the highschool. Mike wanted to be doctor, and whenever I had a stomach ache or something, he'd tell me he's going to be a doctor - and say what was wrong with me and I'd be better soon. Yet other times, he would say he's on the phone with the President (Reagan at the time) and that I needed to be quiet. Once I actually got to talk to the President! I'm pretty sure now it was really his buddy Brian. Brian is Mike's best friend, also a great drummer. He was the first person I ever saw (in person) dunk a basketball. The whole talking to the President bit was positive reinforcement and a great method for child control... much better than other kids who probably heard "if you don't shut up I'm going to drop you off at the orphanage!"

Our piano was pretty standard, but what I'd call nice. It was located in the corner of our formal living room that we pretty much only used for Christmas. The furniture in our living room (from the '70's) was hard and somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe because it was bought new and rarely used. There was framed artwork that looked like images of old Greek ruins, and gold wall-mounted candles with glass jewels hanging from them. Pretty much imagine your Great Grandma's living room or decor you could now find at a Good Will or Salvation army. In the 70's, this was fancy stuff. I remember there was a large gold duck on an end table, it looked like some sort of idol. The top of the duck came off to serve as some kind of ashtray. The shag carpet on the floor was an orange-ish red. The living room wasn't all that "happening" of a place in the house unless Mike was playing the piano.

When I was able to to walk and or run.... I would go into our living room and listen to Mike practice his piano. The bench seat on the piano opened, and all the sheet music was stored there... TONS of music sheets and music books. I remember looking at them in awe. It was like Mike knew some foreign language that nobody else could read, and instead of speaking it out loud, he played it on the piano! As a child, you see books... and if it's not all pictures, you get confused. Sitting on my Dad's lap at night while he read the newspaper was understandable because there were funnies, and other images. But sheet music? It was unrecognizable to a child as something one could read.

The fact that nobody else in the house touched the piano added to the mystique. At this time, I was under the assumption that Mike had single-handedly figured out how to decipher a secret code that isn't defined by images or words... or even colors for that matter. I could hand him a different sheet and he'd play a different song. When I touched the piano, it didn't make the same sound as it did when Mike did. Kids banging on a piano is utter chaos! To this day, I cannot officially read sheet music. I can make sense of A, D, etc. on the staff, but what key to hit on a piano? No clue!

The one song I remember him playing most was The Entertainer. I have vivid memories of that song among all others. There was a long coffee table in front of the couch. And I'm not sure if this was "every time" or just once... but I remember running as fast as I could around the coffee table while he played The Entertainer. Just running laps. I'm not sure if that's what I did instead of dancing, but I remember it was what I felt was most appropriate.

As the youngest in the family, I never realized if I bothered him, or invaded his personal/creative space. I know as a guitar player, privacy is at a premium when you're trying to compose something new or build playing skills. As an older sibling, there's also the dimension of your little brother's well being. If I cracked my head open while he was playing, would it have been his fault for not watching me? I'm unsure if these things were going through his head, and they are things I never had to deal with because I was the youngest. I'm not sure how I would deal with those situations, but Mike never seemed unwelcoming, annoyed, or frustrated with my presence... and that I'm truly thankful for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEmu9qxfgEk

Mr. Yuk is MEAN. Mr. Yuk is GREEN

Mr. Yuk!
Starting in the 1970's a very popular sticker campaign called Mr. Yuk came out. American households would put these stickers in their medicine cabinets, in closets, and under kitchen counters... anywhere cleaning supplies, chemicals, or medication was stored. Kids are taught when they see the sticker to not touch, smell or taste anything near it. It really worked wonders with me. The sticker makes you copy the yukky face and know to stay away. Although I don't remember the theme song from the commercials, Tommy said the song used to freak me out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLsONa3gKIQ&feature=player_embedded#!

I did have an episode with poisonous things around the house, but it wasn't in the medicine cabinet or with nasty chemicals. It was in our formal living room. There was a Jerusalem Cherry tree in that room. While not life threatening to people, it's still piousness enough to make a child pretty sick. After looking up info on this, it is pretty poisonous to dogs, cats, and birds. So one day one of my sibling or my mom found me in the living room with red cherries smeared all over my face, clothes, etc. It probably looked like a gorged myself upon them like a rat in a circus dumpster. I was rushed to the doctor's office. My brother Tommy carried me in. I vaguely remember the doctor giving me a dixie cup of something to drink. Per my brother's recollection, I was going to ask for some more - but before I could finish, I started vomiting all over the place. They found there were no cherries in my system. I didn't eat any, but I made a big enough mess of them. Our family has plenty of vomiting stories... I think of this one whenever I see the Mr. Yuk theme song, or see one of the stickers. YUK!

1979-1981 the basement, the car, and up north

The Basement
Much of the music I heard in the early days of my life obviously was not played by me, rather, my family. I have to older brothers, Tommy and Mike; and my older sister Amy. Tommy and Mike shared half of the basement of our house growing up and used it for thier bedroom. As a kid, you're afraid to go downstairs unless there's a light on. When my brothers were down there, I knew it was safe. No Gremlins. I used to run down there whenever I heard loud music. Although their record collection wasn't huge, what they had was really really good. My earliest remembrances of music were in that basement.

The Car
One distinct early memory of music was in my mom's 1977 Grand Prix: white vinyl hardtop and T-tops... cherry red. Very hot car. She had the radio up, and and 101.1 WIXX Green Bay/Fox Cities was on. It was a catchy call sign and these people would always sing the name of the station on the radio. It was probably the first radio station I could name. I was riding in the Grand Prix and listening to WIXX when my mom got pulled over by a cop. She turned off the radio. I must have had no idea what was going on, but I think she told me to be quiet. I have no idea how young I was when this happened.

This was the first time I saw a woman talk her way out of a speeding ticket! It surely wouldn't be the last. I remember the cop looking at me to. Probably the first cop I ever saw that wasn't on TV. I was in a baby seat in the back. Remember this story when 1989 entries come along and she does it again. I still don't understand how women, especially my mom have this talent of talking their way out of traffic violations.
101.1 WIXX


Up North
The jukebox in bars around the Wisconsin Northwoods provided much of my early music listening. My parents enjoy countless weekends in the Wisconsin Northwoods. In the late 70's, my dad bought a cottage on a point of a lake. He wanted to buy this cottage ever since he was very little. Some of my aunts and uncles had cottages and trailers on the lake as well. The attached garage was transformed into a summer home for my grandparents. After I was born in '79, I would soon be spending much of my summers and weekends 'up north.' Our value of family was unmeasured up north. Among the activites we did as a family: horseshoe tournaments, fishing, campfires and "UN-GA's" (newspaper parachutes that fly when lit on fire), and hunting... the activity that really stood out was the pontoon boat.

We as an extended family (aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins) would gather on my dad's pontoon boat. Since there wasn't many seats on it, many family members brought lawn chairs. The big thing to do in my early years was to go "bar hopping" in the pontoon boat. There were many bars on the lakes's shore. We would park the pontoon, drink, play some pool or this contraption called a "Humstrum" (or party fiddle) and move on to the next bar. The jukeboxes in the bars up north were probably some of the earlier music I've ever been exposed to. Bands like Alabama, CCR, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers, etc. were mainstays on the jukeboxes up north. Of course I was too young to really take any of it in, I have vague memories of being VERY little and riding on an almost cap-sizing pontoon boat singing songs on a dark lake. As child, I would be "quizzed" on where Maa's tavern was across the lake and my dad would ask me to point to it. It was one of the few bars barely in plain sight from our cottage's shore, and it had a big red boat house that made it easy to distinguish even when you're little. How many other children could have told you where the nearest BAR is!?
Humstrum Party Fiddle

1979 - Infancy and Family History

Since, of course, I was too young to actually recall specific memories, there were constants in my life concerning music that started long before my infancy. Three decades after my birth, my experience has allowed me to see other family environments. Without hesitation, I would say my family was a musical one.

My grandpa was in a band, and played the drums. He also played the mandolin while my grandma played the harmonica. When my dad was training for the Vietnam War in San Diego during the late 1960's, he was playing acoustic guitar and mandolin. My mom would listen to songs over and over so she could write down the lyrics for my dad. While my mother always wanted to play guitar growing up, she learned the accordion. A local guy in northeast Wisconsin became notorious playing accordion, so many people started playing it. My aunt played electric guitar in an all girl band the late 50's.

Since I can remember, my extended family breaks into song almost every time we get together. They sing during campfires, boating, holidays, or sing after playing dice around a kitchen table. They even have songs that latch on to the end of "Happy Birthday." I would grow up to think this is normal, but even in hindsight there's not a whole lot of families that bust into song at the drop of a hat! This is something I would grow to value and look forward to.

The Rooster Song

Someone's in the Kitchen With Dinah

Stan, Stan The Lavatory Man

The Gangs All Here

Camptown Races

He's a Horse's Ass

Disclaimer: while YouTube is a great tool for looking up songs, many of the above links are the closest I could get to accurate, but are not identical to the way I remember them.