Monday, July 26, 2010

Working Class Dog



The first concert I ever went to was Rick Springfield, his Working Class Dog tour. Oh that it could be something cool like the Stones. But alas it was Rick during his Jessie's Girl phase. I didn't realize it at the time, but old Rick was a plot maniac --"Jessie is a friend,yeah, I know he's been a good friend of mine/ But lately something's changed that ain't hard to define/ Jessie's got himself a girl and I want to make her mine." Yeah, there it is, folks -- the ever elusive plot points! I went with my friend Melissa and her mother and we sat in the nosebleed section where a man passed us a joint. Melissa's mother had gone to sit in the lobby and procure us Working Class Dog! t-shirts with Rick's phase superimposed over a dog wearing a tie so she was spared this horror of the evil weed. Melissa and I were in the seventh grade and had not a clue how to smoke. So instead we borrowed his binoculars where tiny Rick became oh so slightly larger and therefore more real.

I saw a lot of concerts after that, but Rick stayed with me. Maybe it was his role on General Hospital, maybe seeing Adrian Belew in a small club in Texas wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Folks, there was no air-conditioning and it was August. King Crimson is great, but not that great. Living Colour put on an excellent show, and I did see the Stones Steel Wheels tour, which all my friends were calling the Wheelchair Tour. I still have the t-shirt from ever so long ago. As for Jessie's Girl, it stands the test of time and weirdly influenced the note pattern of contemporary Christian music in the eighties, something I'm guessing Mr. Springfield didn't plan. He did play himself recently on Californication which was something to see. Church, he said, when Charlie's wife asked him to go make out to his own records with her. Church, indeed.

Michelle's Spell of the Day
"If you want to truly understand something, try to change it." Kurt Lewin

Cocktail Hour
Any good end of summer reads?

Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy Monday!

5 comments:

the walking man said...

Please stop...do not ask for end of summer anything until say-------February.

The first show I saw was Cat Stevens at the Ford auditorium winter of '71 the last show I saw was Santana open for The Stones summer of '79. And except for George Harrison and Ravi Shankur during the Concert for Bangladesh tour in '74 I can list a bunch of band names but to be honest I don't remember to much about the show. Except Doc Watson, that venue was too small to smoke weed in.

jodi said...

Michelle, okay. I can do you one better. My first concert was Neil Sadaka and Andy Gibb. Lots of shows since then, but the memories of Pine Knob and Neil will never fade..... xo

Charles Gramlich said...

Jessie's girl is a good song. I still like it. I wish I could hang on to youth as long as Springfield has.

The Doctor ; ) - said...

MY first show - Ozzy Osbourne -
with 'Special Guest' Accept.

Hara Arena,Dayton,Ohio May,1984.

I was 15! (sigh)


Cheers,Doc ; )-

the doctor said...

MY first Concert - Ozzy Osbourne -
with 'Special Guest' Accept.

Hara Arena, Dayton,Ohio
May,1984.

I was 15! (sigh)


P.S. Checked out your profile,and
you're cute,but what really stole my heart - YOU'RE A PISTON FAN!


Cheers,Doc ;)-