What Would You Do For Music?

Think about it.  How far have you gone for music in one form or another.

If you are over the age of 35, chances are pretty strong you've done some crazy shit in the name of rock and roll.  That is- if you were a rocker.  What got me thinking about this was the album "Panorama", by The Cars.  A shit album in retrospect that was released in August of 1980.

In August of 1980 I was 13 years old.  Wise beyond my years and one of the most musically obsessed kids on Earth and just about to enter high school.  My brother 11 years my elder had just purchased an enormous house out in the country with his gawky first wife (theres been millions since her).  On that large compound they had a big dog and a huge.. ridiculously large yard.  So what?  I'm getting to it.. hang on.

I so wanted the album Panorama.  No money no prospect of finding any and I had to have it.  So I shook hands with the devil and agreed to do yard work for my brother in exchange the $13.00 needed to purchase this album. 

So on Saturday morning i arrived with rake in hand and for 16 hours (no lie) I raked and clipped and dug until my hands bled.  Blistered and in pain I stumbled in to the record store and got it.  It sucked but I got it.  I played it a few times found one or two tracks to appreciate and moved on.

Since that time I have slept on concrete sidewalks to buy tickets (David Bowie), snuck in to a club via fire escape cuz I wasn't 21 (Fear), stole money for club admittance from my parents, my siblings and once a neighbor.  I have obtained a fake ID, not a hack one either- I took my sisters information, went to my local DMV and got a license in her name with my photo on it.

This is not a confessional- these are facts of what I would do for music- live or recorded.

What about today?  This generation doesn't need money for recorded music.  They can stream or bootleg it off youtube.  Live?  Most clubs are under 21 or 'all ages', no need to break the law, c'mon in.  Hell most kids are dropped off at venues at the age of 12 and picked up at curbside.  When I was 12 I had to put on more makeup than a French whore and stuff my top to pass for age of majority.

Its unfair and its lazy.

I'm not going in to the whole 'kids today..' preach but seriously, they got it made.  But like wheres the thrill?  Where is the danger of rock and roll and where is the rebellion if rebelling isn't needed?    Want to meet your idol?  You can buy it, not flash a guard for coveted admittance to the back stage area.  It's nuts.  Never mind that some acts actually perform and then go hang out at their merch booth so you can meet them.. really?  Yes.

I look back fondly on the lengths I went to see a band or get their album.  It wasnt easy but the hunt was well worth the risk, the pain and the danger.