At the CMJ Media center, it is the first time I've hung around print… well, writer type media types in decades. Television? Absolutely, all the time, but print, er, typers how is that? Nah, I haven't had the chance.Back in the 1980s just about all my friends were writers. And a few of my enemies. But, yeah, it was how I hung out. But in the intervening years, as I hungup my typewriter for a life in advertising… well, not so much. So I looked about the Media Room with, if not nostalgia, at least some glimmer of a memory of New Music Seminars long gone. But there was none.
Things were different.
For one thing, a lot of the guys had breasts now. And they were al much younger than me, that never happened before. Inexplicable, right.
And for another, everybody was so industrious, with their laptops and their lattes. Zing.com were intervieing people, music was drifting in from the other room. And there was bagels and Danish FOR FREE!!! Wow, did CMJ plummet (if not pummel) the soul of the average ink stained wretch in the year 2012. Iif the average writer makes $2 a post, free anything has to help.
Still, I felt a little fish out of water -y till I noticed two media types topping off their coffee with Cutty Shark Whisky. Breakfast of champions. And it all came rushing back. getting the Fabulous Thunderbirds sod drunk during lunch they had to cancel the rest of their interviews for the day. Sneaking into NRBQ's dressing room at the old capitol and nailing their beer. Getting drunk waiting for the Cure to arrive at an interview. getting drunk waiting for Samantha Fox to finish an interview. Passing out at the Peppermint Lounge arrive 11pm, and waking up at 3am, in time for a Southern Comfort and coke and the Fall playing to around ten people.
Aww, yes, these were my type of people… My kind of irresponsible, belly up to the bakshi booze and then another. Top it up, love . Reminds me of a fight I had with the bartender at the Limelight during a party for Cathy Lee Crosby, when they failed to honor my request for two double brandies.
So, while I was no longer a part of the fraternity, and while they were much more professional, and, well, young than I am, at least we had that in common. To put it simply, we were cooler than the people who we covered and that was the most important lesson of CMJ…
And then the Cutty Shark guy picked up his guitar and walked out….
Waaaaaaa!!!