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Jimmy Buffett has been a fun part of so many lives for what seems like forever.  And now, he’s passed on to that tropical paradise where the cheeseburgers are cooked to perfection, the margaritas flow and nobody blows out a flip flop. 

While I remember liking his major hit “Margaritaville” when it was on the 1977 music charts and radio, it wasn’t until a few years later that I got into more of Jimmy’s music.  A co-worker during my summer job at the Elmhurst Park District mentioned going to a Buffett concert and what a wild party it was.  A few years later I experienced that wild party myself. 

I saw the Parrot-head leader in concert several times.  Twice when working at Q-101 where major Buffett fan Robert Murphy (and my boss at the time) hosted pre-party and skybox events for listeners.  The only negative encounter was at a Poplar Creek concert where I had to step around puddles of vomit left by some doubled over college boys who downed a few too many boat drinks.

Seeing Jimmy Buffett in concert was always the best party ever!

While working at Q-101, I got Jimmy on the phone for a visit when he was in town to sing the 7^th inning stretch at a Cubs game.  The way we rounded him up was kind of tricky. Robert Murphy spotted a naked Buffett (save for his flip flops) at a downtown Chicago gym and called me with the scoop.  I quickly rang that gym and had Jimmy paged.  Sure enough, the guy came to the phone and agreed to do a phoner with us the next morning.  Jimmy laughed at how he was tracked down.  Not that we were stalkers, but that was a funny way to score a show guest.

Music wise, my all-time favorite Buffett song will always be “Son of a Son of Sailor.”  Maybe it’s because I was the ‘son of a sailor’ myself.  There’s no way to count how many times I’ve sung that tune to a karaoke track on my home computer.  Some day I’ll have to warble it at a karaoke bar.

Besides his own self-created songs, Buffett did great covers of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Crosby Stills and Nash’s “Southern Cros” which were concert staples of his.  Another favorite of mine was one he co-wrote with Clint Black titled “Happiness Alone.”  Clint was a friend of Jimmy’s and I’m sure he’s grateful for getting to collaborate on that track back in the early 90’s.

Jimmy also wrote and recorded songs for movies and plays.  The best being “I Don’t Know’ (Spicoli’s Theme) from the great “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” soundtrack.

For many decades, seeing a Buffett concert was a summertime ritual for hundreds of thousands of Parrot-heads.  In later years, I sometimes wondered what life would be like for them if Jimmy wasn’t on the road performing.  Sadly, due to his recent health issues, that summer happened this year.   And there will be no more Buffett show summers to look forward to. 

A friend of mine noted Mr. Margaritaville was a good example of a life coach.  No doubt on that!  I always admired how self-actualized the guy was.  You talk about someone who ran his own show and did all he wanted, that was Jimmy Buffett.

As another pal noted- ‘So very few lived that way, and yet so many want to’.  Lessons well learned from Jimmy Buffett.

Back from my summer break and time for some cold hard truths.

Cold Hard Truth #1. Is the eye black that baseball players wear really useful?  We’ve all seen MLB players sporting eye black under their eyes.  The alleged purpose of this stuff is to eliminate the glare reflected on their cheeks.  Guess what?  Eye black does NOTHING to help ball players cut down on glare.  It really is just for show. Playing baseball through above the high school level I can attest to eye black being completely unnecessary; except maybe as war paint. The same goes for football players.  

Cubs star Christopher Morel goes with the 2 stripes of eye black. And they don’t serve a practical purpose.

Cold Hard Truth #2. Speaking of glare.  Recently, I re-watched the movie “Wild” starring Reese Witherspoon as she portrayed novelist Cheryl Strayed. Back in 1995, Strayed hiked the 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail solo in 94 days.  She endured wild animals, brutal heat, snow & cold and of course blazing sunlight. But as authentic as Reese Witherspoon tried to make the film, her character never wore a pair of sunglasses.  Not once!  Forget about ‘suspension of disbelief’, no shades when hiking that brutal trek is a joke.  Reese produced the film and let’s be honest.  She didn’t wear sunglasses in it because she wanted her full uncovered face on screen for the entire film.

“Wild” was a fine movie but Reese Witherspoon trekking 1,110 miles on foot without sunglasses was the stuff of science fiction.

Cold Hard Truth #3. Women love wearing nude colored or skin toned dress shoes for one reason and one reason only.  Sporting those shoes gives the optical illusion that their legs are longer and thinner than they’d look in shoes of different colors.  I get it.  The fairer sex wants to look as good as possible. Fine by me. Watch any TV news show and you’ll see most women in dresses and wearing those skin toned shoes to give off that ‘endless leg’ illusion.  I see it often in everyday life too.

The reason for women wearing nude colored shoes is to accentuate the length of their legs and make them look slimmer and sleeker. Fine by me.

Cold Hard Truth #4. While it went on for several more years, the hit TV series “Big Bang Theory” should’ve ended with the year that had Wolowitz marrying Bernadette on the season finale. After that season, BBT started pushing secondary characters like comic store owner Stuart and fellow university nerd Barry Kripke.  Also, in so many episodes the plot scenes featured almost every cast member in the same room so they could all get in their funny lines.  Folks, comedy is NOT a Democracy. Not everybody gets equal screen and laugh time. Years ago, M*A*S*H suffered the same comic malady from the season when Radar left til their very end.  

Back to Big Bang Theory for a second.  When Wolowitz married Bernadette, actress Kaley Cuoco NEVER EVER looked prettier. Kaley wore a beautiful shiny dark pastel colored bridesmaid gown and her hair and make-up were done perfectly.  Even when we saw pics of Kaley’s real life weddings, she didn’t match the stunning look she had on that season ending show.

NEXT BLOG- Just a few more Cold Hard Truths.

IT WAS 40 YEARS AGO AND I REMEMBER IT LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY.

Back In the late spring of 1983 most of my close friends graduated from college.  Thanks to switch-ups of my declared major, I was due to graduate from Elmhurst College, (Now called Elmhurst University) a year later in May of 1984. This meant June, July, August and the beginning of September of 1983 was to be my last totally carefree summer. And it was a great one.

In 1983, Ronald Reagan was in the third year of his first term as President, gasoline cost 95 cents a gallon and concert tickets to any show were well below 20 bucks a pop.

This was my third summer working maintenance on the 7 am til 3:30 p.m. shift for the Elmhurst Park District.  After one summer on the lawn crew then a summer of prepping baseball diamonds, in 1983 I was sent to work garbage crew.  My partner was former high school classmate Dave Flasch and before venturing out in our mini-garbage truck we were given a ten-minute tutorial on how to drive a stick shift in the Builders Square parking lot.  Something new for both of us but we took to the shifting of gears and not stalling out quickly.

The summer of 1983 was a blazing hot and humid one.  Almost every day was a sweat inducing challenge, so much so that I’d freeze a plastic gallon jug of water and lug that ice mass to work each day.  Then as the day went on, I’d drain all that cold water down my throat. I hardly peed because I just sweated out the water.

The daily trip to the quarry/dump in neighboring Hillside was a wild one as we unloaded all the trash pulled from the parks’ garbage cans.   I can still smell the methane burners at that dump and I felt bad for the men who worked there moving mounds of junk in bulldozers.

Dave and I also had to work a four-hour shift on Sunday mornings to clear trash barrels from several parks’ picnic areas.  We were armed with cans of bug spray to shoo away the bees that buzzed around loads of discarded chicken, corn cobs and empty cans of beer and soda pop.

Weekdays, we often took our lunch breaks at East End Pool.  After downing a quick sandwich and snacks we’d peel off our jeans down to our gym shorts and take a dip in the pool’s deep end during their adult swim hour. That cool and chlorinated water was a huge refresher.

MY 3RD SUMMER WORKING FOR THE ELMHURST PARK DISTRICT WAS A HOT AND SMELLY ONE.

But my summer was full of more than just sweaty garbage work.  Movies I saw in those months included: “Return of the Jedi”, “Risky Business”, “War Games”, “National Lampoon’s Vacation”, “Blue Thunder” and the hilarious “Trading Places.”

Music wise, there were plenty of new sounds to check out such as: The Police’s “Synchronicity”, Talking Heads “Speaking in Tongues.” Elton John’s “Too Low for Zero” and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” album to name a few.

Concerts I made it to in the Summer of ‘83 were good ones.  At Park West I saw Dave Edmunds for the first time.  Ditto for R.E.M. Fresh from releasing their “Murmur” album, they played a WXRT 4 dollar budget show with Let’s Active as the opening act.  In July, me and my pal Dave Ross saw The Police, The Fixx, A Flock of Seagulls, Joan Jett & Ministry at Comiskey Park. Late in the summer my Park District co-worker Bernie Bushue and I checked out Men at Work and INXS at Poplar Creek.  And I can’t forget seeing David Bowie two nights in a row at the Rosemont Horizon during his “Serious Moonlight Tour” which was a highwater mark for sure!

SEEING DAVID BOWIE IN CONCERT TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW WAS A HIGHWATER MARK FOR MY SUMMER.

I didn’t have any summer classes to take but was on the air at Elmhurst college radio station WRSE Sundays from 6 pm til 9 pm.  At my invitation, Jim Turano joined me to put together a monthly radio station music newsletter “Mick and Jim’s Hucklebuck Update.”  That newsletter would eventually lead to my big break in Chicago radio less than two years later.

Many summer nights were spent checking out local rock bands at the A.W. Shucks rock club with my mentor Lee Swanson.  That included a wild evening when Lee drank way too many Long Island Ice Teas and I had to lug his drunk for one of the first times ever ass to his car where he slept it off in his back seat.

God bless Lee. He was the one who literally snuck Jim Turano and me into Elmhurst’s 4^th of July parade.  I knew we didn’t belong in the official procession when my ’73 Plymouth Duster chugged by the reviewing stand and the announcers had no idea what to say as we rolled by.

ME & JIM TURANO CRASHED ELMHURST’S 4TH OF JULY PARADE. AT THE WHEEL OF MY ’73 DUSTER WAS LEE SWANSON, THE MASTERMIND OF OUR BREAK-IN.

I was also in the second year of writing “Rock Scene”, my weekly local music column for Press Publications.  It was a busy summer and I was having the time of my life.

There was also an infamous middle of the night drunken swim with several of my friends at York Commons Pool.  We made our covert entrance thanks to my Park District pass key that could get us through any park district gate anywhere.  After that swim, I took off in Phil W’s Dodge Scamp, leaving him in the parking lot in just his underpants.  Don’t worry, I came back and got him and the others who laughed their asses off at this romp. 

This fun all went down in the summer of ‘83.  Sadly, my Park District co-worker and good friend Bernie passed away a few years ago.  Also, my garbage partner Dave Flasch lost his brother older Mark this year.  I worked with Mark Flasch at the Park District back in 1981 and he was a great guy just like Dave.

Still, that carefree summer of 1983 was such a fun one.  It happened forty years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday.  

NOTE: Unless something major comes up, this will be my last posted blog for the next month and a half.  My summer vacation starts later this week and I’m looking forward to some down time.  No writings, no work, just do what I want when I want.  Cheers!

Last week I posted about the opening of East End Pool which is the best time of the year.  With that writing done, I’ve got a few general things to comment on about the pool and beach season.

First off, we all know about my barefoot phobia.  It rivals that of WGN Morning News co-host Robin Baumgarten’s fear of naked feet.  Still, with the weather warm, I know lots of flip-flops and bare piggies will abound.  I’ll just do my best to avert my eyes from looking at other people’s feet. I try to limit the showing of my own bare dogs to pool time and moving around in my house.   For the record, I think those folks with a foot fetish are the most bizarre freaks of all time. 

I’ll look the other way as you check out this pic of someone in flip-flops.

I increase my swimming by two laps each day.  Each dip, when I get in the water, I’m thinking about how laborious doing that exercise will be.  Then after about 6 or 7 laps my groove takes over and then it’s easy and most of all, enjoyable.  If I have a goal to do 30 laps, I’ll count 15 of them then for the next 15 laps I’ll count backwards.  As of right now I’m up to 40 daily laps.  I’ve got to get up to 66 laps to equal a mile of swimming.  That’s going to take 13 more swim days!

I’ve got laps to do. Flirting with Scarlett Johansson will have to wait.

Sun Screen is EXPENSIVE!  I never really noticed this before but a mid-sized tube of Banana Boat 30 SPF rub-on cream costs fifteen dollars at Jewel.  I’ve got my freebie spray and some roll-on sunscreen from my buddy Al Flash and he’s got more he’s sending me for free.  Still, I just took one for the team and my skin and bought a tube of the Banana Boat for future use. 

This stuff is expensive but necessary so I buy it and use it.

Call me crazy, but I think women look best when they’re wearing a one-piece swimsuit.  It shows off all the contours of the female form and yet leaves some body parts a little bit of a mystery.  As I’ve noted before, women sporting butt floss bikini bottoms grosses me out. I don’t need to see anyone’s ass cheeks no matter how ‘hot’ they think they look.  Plus, thongs look uncomfortable and worst of all, UNSANITARY!

Women are more appealing in a one-piece swimsuit.  End of story.

On the subject of women, be it at the pool, beach or just getting around town, in the summertime you’re nobody unless you’ve got a black sleeveless sundress to wear.  It’s standard issue for females 18 to 80.

Standard summer wear for women of any age is the black sleeveless sun dress.

One trend I notice mostly in men is the wearing of a wristwatch in the pool.  I know some do this because they’re timing how fast they swim laps.  Those guys and women are excused from my curiosity and the shaking of my head. But those who are just puddling around wearing a watch, I don’t see the purpose.  Yes, we get it, your watch IS waterproof.  Now take it off before you get a lame looking tan line.

Unless you’re timing your laps, a watch in the water makes zero sense.

Finally, one of my favorite things to see at the pool or beach is parents introducing their babies and toddlers to the water.  As a safety measure, it is SO important for little kids to be wary of pools, lakes, ponds, and learn how to be one with the water. Pop on those floatation vests and water wings ASAP. The sooner kiddos learn to swim (via mom & dad or swim lessons) the better.  Plus, hearing the kids squeals and laughter when in the water is a real kick too.

Parents and little kiddos in the water is a great thing to see.

NEXT BLOG- Remembering the Summer of ’83.

After an eight and a half month wait, the 2023 East End Pool swim season is open again!  It started on Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend and we had three great weather days for doing laps and splashing it up in the waters.  What a relief for those of us who thrive in that pool.

The powers that be at the Elmhurst Park District have taken measures to appease the many women who do ‘water walking’ in the shallow end of the pool.  They put up an extra lane with a floating barrier so the walkers are not infringed on by younger swimmers thrashing in that area. 

Also, in the five-foot deep swim area, for the first hour of the swim day (which is only open to us season pass holders) there are extra lap lanes.  This makes me happy since the first thing I do in the drink is get in my non-stop laps.  I started my first day with 24 laps and am increasing that number by two more laps each day.  I’ll be up to swimming more than a mile a day in no time.

EAST END POOL IN ELMHURST IS BACK OPEN FOR THE SUMMER AND LIFE IS GOOD!

The day before the swim season started. I got my “summer buzz hair-cut” which is low maintenance and may have to be repeated in late July or early August.  I’m also using some new spray on 50 SPF sunscreen courtesy of my parody song writing partner Al Flash.  He got some extras from his work in corporate sales.  So, no sunburn for me and my face, arms and chest are already starting to cook up a tan.

Some of the usual swim regulars have shown up and it’s good to see them again.  They’re my summer family.  Sadly, one person who is missing is my good pal Paul who suffered a stroke in April.  After emergency surgery he spent time at a rehabilitation summer and continues to recover at a nearby nursing home.  I’ve visited Paul twice and will continue to do so as we hope he can eventually make it to East End for some time in the water.  My heart aches for my friend and I miss talking sports, movies and music with him.  Paul’s mate Jill hasn’t been to the pool yet but she has plenty of things to tend to. I look forward to seeing her soon.

For the days when it rains, I’m still locked in with my pass to The Courts Plus gym so I can still get in my swim time.  There’s just something about moving around in the pool that lifts me both physically and mentally.  Heck, I am an Aquarius and that IS a water sign.

In three weeks, my weekend and end of the weekday swimming will transcend into full time late morning-early afternoon pool time every single day.  There are more East End Pool regulars who still need to show up for the summer and I look forward to seeing and hanging with them as well.

Happy Summer to one and all!

NEXT BLOG:  Pooling more thoughts together.

Memorial Day is the American holiday that honors service members who have died in military service to the nation.  There are parades, testimonials and many events that pay rightful tributes to our brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  Besides all of these honors, folks take time off from work to enjoy ballgames, barbecues, weekend trips and other forms of leisure that come with our freedom.

As much as I enjoy the extra day off, the whole Memorial Day weekend brings back a difficult memory for me.  It happened thirty years ago, back in 1993.

A week before the holiday, my father Ken Kahler suffered a seizure while at a grocery store.  He was brought to the emergency room and given a quick once over before being released.  My dad was referred to a neurologist and had a full check-up appointment set for the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. 

Pop rarely got sick and my sister Mary, a long time nurse, took him to his check-up. He was to undergo a CAT-Scan and other tests to see what was going on. With her experience, Mary would be dad’s medical liaison and she sure shined in that role.  Dad appreciated her assistance.

I turned down a chance to go to a Cub game with friends that day because I sensed something serious may be happening.   Sadly, I was right.

Later that afternoon dad and Mary returned home and we waited for an update on the results.  Mary took the call from the doctor and my mom, dad and I waited in the living room.  The news was beyond awful.  Dad’s seizure was caused by a brain tumor that metastasized from his lungs.  It was called an Oat Cell Carcinoma.  It also spread to my father’s adrenal glands and it was terminal.

MANY YEARS AGO, THIS WAS MY DAD FEEDING ME.

This cancer was due to my father’s forty-year cigarette habit.  He quit smoking with nicotine patches a few months before this diagnosis but it was way too little and way too late.

Mary was calm yet had tears streaming down her face as she also shared that the longest our dad had to live was Christmas of 1993.  Maybe.  Dad had a stunned look on his face and mom and I were a puddle of sobs.   

The immediate plan was for dad to be hospitalized and undergo treatment for the next two weeks.  Chemotherapy did little to stave off the cancer and he came home just before Father’s Day.  Ken Kahler was resigned to the fact that his days were numbered and he was incredibly brave and together while we offered all the care and support possible. 

The amazing folks at Hospice of DuPage helped dad throughout the next several weeks and he passed away on August 15h, 1993 at the way too young age of 58. To show how strong my dad was, the symptoms of all that cancer did not manifest themselves until he had that seizure in May.  Less than three months later he left us.

For me, the worst day was not when dad passed. By then, he was comatose and slipped away as easily as possible. We were all as ready as you can be for his death.  No, the ultimate awful time was that Friday before Memorial Day when his death sentence was revealed.  We all made the best of what time pop had left but knowing his mortal clock had little time left was as sharp a dagger stab as you can imagine.

I doubt there’s a day that goes by when I don’t think of my dad and miss him the same with each thought.  There are plenty of great memories to dwell on but it doesn’t replace him being gone. 

ONE OF MY FAVORITE PHOTOS OF MY DAD.

So, as we honor those military folks who died while serving our country this weekend, I will raise a drink to them, but also, I’ll have another drink and remember Kenneth Robert Kahler.  I love you pop, miss you always and someday we’ll see each other again.

NEXT BLOG- Everybody back in the water!

One of the things I’m trying to do as a teacher is to get my high school students to land part time jobs.  These kids (and all teens) are at the age where they should be exposed to real world experiences that they’ll have as adults.  Not that these are spoiled kiddos but they need to see what it’s like to show up to a job as expected, follow directions from a boss and score the pride of ownership in the ways of a job completed and of course, a paycheck. 

Some students tell me, “I won’t work fast food” or “I refuse to work weekends,” etc. I always tell them these jobs are NOT what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life but it’s vital to push yourself a bit to do plain old regular work. 

And as far as ‘work’ goes, I’ve had a few of those jobs and they’re not always pleasant.  Yet, they were worth doing.

From age 16 thru age 18 & I worked at the White Castle in Lombard. 

Working the occasional weekend late hours of 11pm til 7am, known as the “Graveyard Shift”, I got a glimpse of what adult party life was like. White Castle was open 24/7 and the local bars & clubs would stop serving booze by 2:00 a.m. Minutes after the bars closed, we’d have lines out the door til about 4 a.m. Just ask Harold & Kumar about the joys of late-night sliders when you’re high or liquored up or both. Working those weekend graveyard shifts exposed me to a heavy stream of drinkers and stoners. Customers’’ slurring their words and laughing loud at just about anything said was the norm for those hours.  Some of these sloshed folks were pretty funny and while serving them food we used to take notice of who came through our doors with the worst cases of bloodshot eyes. 

Cleaning the men’s room on that shift was the worst. Drunks pissed in the sink, on the floor, walls, toilet paper rolls and once in a while these slobs even managed to squirt a little in the toilet bowl.

So many times, I went to take out garbage to the parking lot dumpsters in the middle of the night and found drunken Castle patrons passed out in their idling cars. Oftentimes, they had their door open and bagged food still sitting on the hood or roof. I would reach in, turn off the ignition and let the pooped partiers sleep it off. They’d later wake up to cold burgers and fries which may have been a great hangover cure. 

Working at White Castle wasn’t to be my lifelong career but it sure taught me that sometimes you have to deal with nasty and strange stuff just to get by. While glad I don’t have to do that kind of work now, I’m still grateful for the experience to see just what it sometimes takes to make a buck.

 WORKING AT WHITE CASTLE EXPOSED ME TO THE DIRTIER SIDE OF A JOB.

Upon graduating college in May of 1984, I spent that summer working day maintenance at Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates.

The morning after concerts, our job was to clean up the entire concert facility.  Everything was picked up and maintained to look brand new. This included the parking lots, the plaza, seating area, the expansive lawn, backstage dressing rooms and all the restrooms.

One odd trend was cleaning those restrooms the morning after concerts. The men’s johns would have a little trash on the floor and small puddles of spilled suds but that was about it. However, the women’s restrooms? Whoa! They looked like those retail stores that get looted during race riots. Most of the time, we found ourselves knee deep in paper towels and toilet paper with lakes of sticky wine coolers and beer on the floor.  The toilet stalls were such a disgusting sight they made me pine for the urine covered men’s room walls from my days at White Castle.  Even after mellow concerts by Air Supply or Herb Alpert we’d clean up awful messes. I’d find bras and ladies panties stuffed in the metal boxes meant to store used feminine hygiene products.  Apparently, some liquored up ladies decided “I’m sick of wearing this bra and rather than stash it in my purse, I’ll just leave it here.” I found the whole thing to be pretty funny and a little gross too.  

Working such a sweaty and at times unpleasant job as this wasn’t exactly what a recent college grad should’ve been doing.  Still, the pay was good and the hours I logged covered my financial needs for the summer of 1984 and for a time beyond that as well.

AN AERIAL VIEW OF POPLAR CREEK MUSIC THEATER. LOOKS CLEAN AS A WHISTLE FROM UP HERE, BUT THOSE WOMEN’S RESTROOMS WERE A DIFFERENT STORY!

The Poplar Creek gig was the last of my dirty jobs and things eventually got better in my employment.  Still, I’m glad I soldiered on through those less than stellar tasks and recall them with fondness and relief that they’re in my past.  Jobs well done!

Next Blog- Recalling a rough Memorial Day weekend.

I may have been the only person I know who wasn’t at one of the three John Mellencamp concerts he played last weekend at the Chicago Theater.  However, I have a favorite Mellencamp concert memory to share.

John Mellencamp doing his thing in concert.

Since 1985 I’ve seen John Mellencamp in concert many times.  In arenas, outdoor venues, football stadiums, at Farm Aid, radio studios, you name it, I’ve been there.  Yet my favorite Mellencamp memory was when he was the warm-up act for the up & coming Chicago based power pop trio called Material Issue. John and Material Issue were label mates on Mercury Records, and the show happened on October 11^th 1991. (Let me backtrack a bit)

I was producing the Murphy in the Morning show at WKQX, Q-101 FM and Mellencamp was booked to come on with us and promote his new album “Whenever We Wanted” which hit stores three days earlier. We were already playing the lead single “Get a Leg Up.”  His visit went fine, we were warned not to ask John to sing that early in the morning but Murf coaxed the Indiana rocker to take a turn on his Gibson ‘Songbird’ guitar and John obliged with a verse of “Small Town” and then a verse of the John Prine song “Dear Abby.” Murf knew that song too and joined in on the warbling.  After a quick visit to our sales staff in the conference room we walked John and his people out. Yet, I wasn’t done seeing him that day.

Here’s the Hoosier rocker and yours truly posing in the Q-101 studios.

Unbeknownst to some, Mellencamp and his band were set to make an un-announced concert appearance in some towns where they did radio to promote the new music and this Friday night would be no different. The afore mentioned Material Issue was already booked to headline a show at the Riviera Theatre and now Mr. “Hurts So Good” and his players would be the opening act.  I was put on the guest list and got to sit in my favorite reserved seating area; the first row of the Riviera balcony.  I always referred to this locale as being the “Abe Lincoln Seats” because we had a similar vantage point Abe & Mary Todd had that fateful night at Ford’s Theatre.  Sitting behind me that night I was happy to see my longtime friend and record promoter Dave Ross who was in town from L.A. and made it to the show.

The place was well filled, the house lights drop and the band, save for Mellencamp took their places onstage.  Drummer Kenny Aronoff rapped on a cowbell a couple of times and I’m thinking “That sounds like the opening to ‘Honky Tonk Woman’.”  It was, and with some twang from guitarist David Grissom and fiddle player Lisa Germano sawing away with her bow, we were getting a country version of the Rolling Stones classic.  As the intro almost wraps up, out walked John, lit cigarette in hand and he took to the microphone to sing “I met a gin soaked barroom queen in Memphis, she tried to take me upstairs for a ride.”  This was one of the cooler ways to start a show and the Mellencamp group really sent up that Stones classic in a fun and novel way.

The Riviera crowd went insane, a surprise cover to an iconic song and seeing this guy who normally plays hockey arenas in such an intimate place that holds just 2,500 people?  This was a special night.  Mellencamp and his band played their new single, rocked out “Hurts So Good” as the crowd took over singing the first verse, then there was also a visit with “Jack and Diane”, “Small Town”, “Lonely Ole Night” and my favorite of his tunes, “Minutes to Memories.”

The album cover for the 1991 album “Whenever We Wanted.” The woman on the left is model Elaine Irwin who would go on to become Mellencamp’s 3rd wife. Not sure why she needed to be in bare feet during this photo and video shoot.

The band wasn’t finished with their covers as they took on Free’s “Alright Now” and John forgot a few of the words mid-song but that didn’t matter. The whole set lasted about forty minutes as it wrapped with a rousing version of “Pink Houses.”  John and his band took their bows and were done with the surprise appearance.

I stuck around for Material Issue’s following set. After a couple of songs played back to back they stopped down for a quick greeting to their fans. Lead singer and guitarist Jim Ellison (rest in peace) then asked, “What did you think of that opening act?”  The crowd cheered out their approval and Jim dryly responded with something along the lines of, ‘Yeah, that guy’s pretty good.  He might make it someday. I’ll have to put in a good word for him.”  Everyone laughed and then went on to enjoy the rest of Material Issue’s set of power pop songs.

Leaving that night and heading to my car I saw a couple of long white passenger vans pulling out from the back alley of the Riviera. The vans approached the corner where I was standing and inside were members of John Mellencamp’s band.  I gave a quick wave and they waved back then took off into the cool fall Chicago night.

This short but hits packed John Mellencamp performance was my favorite of his for a couple of reasons. One, it was rare to see the guy perform in such a small room with great acoustics. Two, as well as they played, this was a ‘let’s have fun and cut loose’ type of show.  That’s the best kind of concert to see and hear. 

Next Blog:  Work is Work.

Last week there was a designated “National Prom Day.”  This means prom season is in full bloom.  A couple of my students are making plans for attending the proms at their home schools and I’m hearing plenty of talk about those events

I went to two proms, in my mid-twenties. No, I was not a designated chaperone or a creepy stalker.  I was part of the hired entertainment for the dances.  This was back when me, my college radio pal Jim Turano and our young assistant Magic Alan Hawes had a profitable D.J. business going. 

Both proms were for Fenton High School in Bensenville.  We’d done other dances for them and they paid handsomely for our services.  Proms are a big money deal and when they asked me how much we charged for that special night, I answered “How much you got?”

Spinning records at proms, I never did run into Andie and Duckie.

My own high school proms for junior and senior years at York High School happened in the Springs of 1978 and 1979.  This was when going to these shindigs was more formal in social structure. By that I mean everyone was coupled up, nobody went to the prom stag or in groups of guys and groups of girls like kids have been doing for the past twenty years or so. I often wish our era was as casual as it is today which is more inclusive and fun.  I also wish I would’ve had the stones to ask a girl to either one of those proms back in the day.

The night of the dance in 1978 found me at the home of a female classmate who had some friends over for beers and hanging out.  It was a low-key night but it seemed like everywhere I turned there was a girl or two who would be quietly crying; hurt that nobody asked them to prom.  I felt so bad for them and hoped they’d get asked by somebody the next year.

My senior year prom was a real downer for me.  Earlier that spring, there was a girl a year younger than me who I liked as more than a friend.  She knew this and was liking on me too.  However, I waited too long to ask her out on a date and she linked up with a real dweeb.  By the time York’s prom came, this girl and the dweeb had been dating a couple months. That ship had sailed. 

In the early evening of my senior prom, I drove to that girl’s house to see the dweeb’s car parked in the driveway.  Just as I rolled by the happy couple came out, all dressed up and set to pose for photos taken by her parents.  Ugh!  Talk about a major belly drop!

Jeez, even Napoleon Dynamite made it to a prom!

From there I went to my pal Gordy Carlson’s house. Gordy always hosted the best beer bashes and I stopped by to join others who weren’t going to the York prom.  I could only have a couple of beers because I was slated to work the 11pm til 7 am shift that night at White Castle.  I figured why not make a few bucks instead of getting piss drunk at a party and feeling miserable the next day?

My graveyard shift at White Castle was a busy one.  The time flew by as we fed the late night drunks and stoners. Things slowed down at four a.m.  Then, as I was mopping the Castle’s dining room floor, in came several couples from the York prom; still dressed to the nines and partying it up!

I forget who the kids were but I knew some of them and they knew me too.  Those classmates were out having the times of their lives and here I was slinging a smelly wet mop on a dirty floor. Standing there among my peers in their tuxedos and gowns, I suddenly realized that not making an effort to go to prom left me missing out on one of the special rites of teen life. The regret hit me like a punch to the gut. In my high school days, I rarely felt low or depressed but at that moment in the White Castle dining room, I never felt more like a loser. 

Prom night & the morning after and I was working at White Castle.

If there was any bright spot to this whole lousy experience, it was to happen a year later when I did date that girl who I liked and she liked me.  It didn’t last too long but at least I scored some redemption for my being too shy or chickenshit to pull the trigger earlier.  Lesson learned.  As hockey great Wayne Gretzky always said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”  Duly noted!

Happy Prom Season!

NEXT BLOG- Remembering a favorite concert I went to.

It’s been a little over a month since I posted a blog. First off, once again the kindness and concern shown to me by so many people after my ‘Trouble’ passed away was amazing and so appreciated. It’s taking some time getting used to being the lone soul in my house. When the time and situation is right, I’ll adopt a kitty and hopefully two so they can keep each other company.

The recent Super Bowl provided the opportunity to place my first ever legal bets. I went to the Crazy Pour Sports Book in Villa Park and won both my wagers. I took the Chiefs and the points and also bet on more than 50 and a half points being scored in the game. Being right on both those bets earned me $50.00 total. I’m not exactly Mr. Vegas but when the time is right I’ll find another pro or college sports game to place some money on.

On the subject of money, I just learned what I’ll be getting back in tax refund money from the Federal and State government. My guy John B at H&R Block is a great help and well worth the fee I pay to have my tax forms taken care of. I’m not sure what to do with my refund money but Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners would recommend spending it on a fishing vacation.

Looking at the calendar, we’re 3 months away from East End Pool from opening for the season. Recently, I’ve been getting in swim laps in at the Courts Plus and hope to make it more than just a Saturday and Sunday thing. It’s fun running into former classmates and other friends at the Courts pool and the dry sauna too.

Come St. Patrick’s Day, my school is holding our annual Student/Staff Talent Show. This year I’m gonna do karaoke to my favorite Elvis song. “Little Sister.” Right before that track is played, I’ll warble the opening verse to the Eagles “Seven Bridges Road” acapella like I always do. Students are working up dance routines and we have some aspiring rappers too. The trick is to get the rappers to keep their lyrics on the clean side. That is a challenge!

On the subject of music, I’ve been on a Sam Cooke listening kick lately. I always loved the late great Sam’s voice and also the fact that he wrote his own hits. “Another Saturday Night,” “Bring it on Home to Me”, “Cupid,” “Chain Gang”, “Having a Party”, “Twisting the Night Away” and the greatest of all “A Change is Gonna Come.” That’s an impressive list!

ONE MORE THING– Good movies are still a challenge to find in theaters these days. So here’s a recommendation for one to order On Demand or whatever other streaming service you have. Check out the 2004 English drug caper movie “Layer Cake.” Daniel Craig plays a drug lord trying to get out of the business after one last deal. Craig is so cool in this role that not long after this film he was cast as the next James Bond. Many people thought he wouldn’t make a good 007 but after seeing “Layer Cake” I knew he’d do fine as Bond. The movie co-stars Sienna Miller who smolders as a temptress and the great Michael Gambon who delivers as a dirty money guy. Gambon also has a great scene where he explains what the “Layer Cake” actually is. Try this one out, you won’t regret it!

NEXT BLOG- Not sure what it’ll be on. Stay tuned.