--J. Guy
| AC/DC |
2. The Next-Door
Neighbor
There was an older
girl who lived down the road from us who was really nice to me. She took me to
the skating rink. We went swimming in her pond. She tried to
be a musical influence on me, playing records for me in her bedroom … but when
you’re a boy in the fifth grade, I don’t care how big your breasts are, “Sad
Eyes” isn’t going to cut it.
Her older brother was
a different story.
Had there been more
people out in the country, Les Finstad probably wouldn’t have had much use for
me. But I was young, I was impressionable and I was … well, there. Les
introduced me to Red Man chewing tobacco. We played tackle football in my
basement, just the two of us, and I’m pretty sure that’s where I grasped the
concept of four downs – to say nothing of knocking heads.
But mostly, Les made
me realize what kind of music I loved. Within days of meeting him,
my then-favorite song, “Good Times Roll” by The Cars, had been replaced by
“More Than a Feeling.” That was the first song from Boston's first album. Strangely, I haven't liked another Boston song since. But that's inconsequential because of the other group Les introduced me to.
AC/DC.
Now … you have to
understand the era in which I grew up. If someone my age tells you their
favorite band is the Beatles – well, that’s cool. Nobody’s better than the
Beatles. But they’re too young to have experienced the
Beatles. For me, AC/DC came along at perfect time.
So pretend you’re a
new kid in the middle of the country, sitting in a teenager’s truck on a hot
summer day.
Look at that album cover. Now listen to “Dirty Deeds” for a minute or so. Tell me some part of your body isn’t moving right now.
This felt like doing
something bad - and I don’t care who you are, there is no way
you don’t like that song. The rest of the album was more of the same: “Problem
Child,” “Squealer,” “Jailbreak” – all of them just gritty, raw, balls-to-the-wall
rock n’ roll straight out Australia. No ballads with these guys. (Unless you
count “Big Balls,” an anthem in its own right. And you wouldn’t.)
Sometime during my
fifth-grade year, AC/DC’s lead singer drank himself to death. I didn’t know
that at the time. All I knew is that the very same year, AC/DC came out with a
new album with a new lead singer, and they became bigger
than ever.
I ask you, who has
ever done that? It’s unheard of. And one of the songs on Back in Black was
“Have a Drink on Me.” Who the hell would do that?
Clearly, the guys in
AC/DC had no conscience. Was that part of their appeal? For a kid with a heavy
conscience, probably.
I don’t know how much you
know about AC/DC, but I promise you I know more. Somewhere on YouTube you can
find their VH1 Behind the Music special. It’s 15 years old now. They’ve had a
few hits since then and, all right, maybe there’s been a murder
plot or two, but it still holds up.
1. The Master
I don’t remember my parents actually listening to them, but they owned several Beatles LPs: Meet The Beatles, Help, A Hard Day’s Night and Rubber Soul. Until I met Frank Walker, I thought the last Beatles album was Revolver.
But Frank took me to
the Augusta Public Library, and introduced me to a whole new chapter of the …
well, “trippy” Beatles. Magical Mystery Tour, Sgt. Pepper’s and Yellow
Submarine became my new Fab Four favorites.
When I was the new kid
at Haverhill Elementary, Frank asked what radio station I listened to. I told
him KEYN. He informed me there was a new station that was better: T-95.
(Several years later, I would have my own weekly guest spot on T-95. I was
supposed to be talking sports, but usually tried to steer the conversation to
rock music.)
If the story ended
right there, Frank would still be in my top 10 music influences. But he’s No.
1, and I think you’ll agree it’s not even close.
Frank’s home wasn’t
big, but it opened up a big new world. It was in that house when I first heard
Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” which remains my favorite song.
It was where I first
remembered hearing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who I came to love and
finally saw in 2008.
It was where I first
heard Queen’s epic theme song to Flash Gordon. (“Flash! Ah ah! King of the
Impossible!”)
It was where I first
learned about Led Zeppelin (that was Frank’s kid brother) … and later, Dread
Zeppelin (that was all Frank).
His mom was (and is) a
huge fan of the Rolling Stones, a band I knew little about but quickly
appreciated, and finally got to see in 2006. Frank adored Pink Floyd, and
talked his father into taking us to see The Wall when were 13. Far out.
When we were 14, his
parents took Frank and me to my first concert, ZZ Top (warm-up act: Night
Ranger). Three months later they took me to my second concert, Huey Lewis and News
(warm-up act: Stevie Ray Vaughn).
And so on, and so on.
By the time I finished college, Frank and I had raised the bar by seeing rock
heavyweights like AC/DC, Van Halen, KISS and Metallica (warm-up act: The Cult.)
Oh right – Metallica.
Frank was way ahead of the curve on them. Kids, listening to
Metallica in the 1980s was considered more scary than cool. But there Frank
was, rocking in his Pinto (and later, his bitchin’ Camaro) to “Whiplash,” “For
Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Master of Puppets.”
(Note: Frank’s
nickname, “The Master,” is because of his reputation of being the go-to source
of information for most things, not because of that song. But it is a
happy coincidence.)
The list goes on.
Ozzy. Megadeth. And yes, it was Frank who introduced me to the infamous 2 Live
Crew, at least a year before most of the country knew who they were. Same with
Sir Mix-A-Lot. And LL Cool J.
Frank once returned
from a vacation in California and gave me a couple of bootleg cassettes – one
of them was a Van Halen concert in Germany that ended the 1984 tour. I’m
telling you, this guy is just the best.
| Public Enemy |
OK, so all that stuff
happened by the time were 21. And then Frank and I became roommates.
That opened up a big
new world again.
Frank was playing
stuff like Public Enemy, Living Color, Primus and a then-mostly unknown group
out of Seattle called Soundgarden. Yes, he was kind of responsible for getting
me into grunge, too. I mean, I was aware of Alice in Chains, but until Frank
insisted listen to “Dirt,” I wasn’t in love with them.
I’m pretty sure Frank
also introduced to me to Tenacious D and a few other bands, but I think you get
the point. And I won’t elaborate about the time I caught him listening to Air
Supply.
That might have just been a crazy dream.
"Whiskey in a Jar" -- Metallica
