“When I listen to my records, they take me back to certain points in my life.” (Shrevie from “Diner”)
My radio career afforded me lots of encounters with musicians I admired and plenty of songs that are burned into my memory. Two such memories involve Bruce Hornsby.
Memory #1– Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, the summer of 1988. Working at WCKG FM there were certain concerts when I hosted contest winners in a luxury box in the Poplar Creek pavilion. The box had eight comfortable swivel seats in a sectioned off area right next to the house soundboard. There was a mini-fridge stocked with beer, pop & snacks and when that was emptied, we had a generous bar tab to run up as we entertained a few lucky listeners.
On this particular night, it was my duty to hang with our contest winners and jam out to Bruce Hornsby and the Range. My guest was my longtime pal Mark Vasko. Bruce’s second album “Scenes from the Southside” was out with the lead single being “The Valley Road.” However, the song I was laser focused on was the record’s lead track, “Look Out Any Window.”
Before the show started, I was telling Mark about this new tune and how it would be such a great song to open a concert. We knew we’d hear Hornsby hits like “The Way It Is”, “Mandolin Rain” and “Every Little Kiss” but kicking off the show with the slowly built up methodical chords of “Look Out Any Window” would be so cool.
So, the house lights went down, Bruce Hornsby and his band made their way onstage in the dark and then they launched into you guessed it, “Look Out Any Window!” I went nuts and as fun as the whole show was, kicking it off with the song I would’ve advised Bruce to start with made it extra special.
As the concert wrapped up, Mark and I were approached by Hornsby’s record rep who gave us passes to join the star of the show at an after party in The Club. The Club was a private invitation only lounge perched on the second floor of a building structure a few steps from the pavilion.
We didn’t have to wait long for Bruce and his band to show up and meet with a few and other lucky folks. When it was my turn to say hi to the piano playing star, I gushed a full two minutes on how I was hoping he’d open his set with “Look Out Any Window” and what a perfect show starter that was. Bruce patiently smiled, laughed then asked me, “So what should we open with tomorrow night?” I told him, “Stick with this one Bruce, it’s a winner!”
A few minutes later I learned from one of his bandmates that they usually open their concerts with “On the Western Skyline.” Which leads me to Hornsby memory #2.
This was a couple years later. I went to see Bruce Hornsby again at Poplar Creek. This time, no luxury box but good seats just a few rows from the stage. The house lights were still on, fans were slowly shuffling to their seats and the soundboard music was playing recent radio hits of other artists.
All of a sudden amidst all the pre-show casual atmosphere we heard the loud clump of an accordion pop a couple of sounds. I looked up to see Bruce standing at the edge of the stage with an accordion strapped to his chest as he squeezed out the opening notes to “On the Western Skyline.”
The rest of his band scrambled to their places and joined in. Finally, the house lights went down, the stage lights went up and we were treated to a great long jam of “Western Skyline” as Bruce wailed out the opening line “About this time of evening, out by the bay they turn the road lights on the bridge.” There’s such a cinematic feel to that track and anytime I hear it on the radio, it takes me back to Bruce Hornsby being so eager to get onstage to play for fans that he rushed out without any fanfare or fancy set-up. I smile big every time I heard or think of that song.
Other memories of Bruce Hornsby and the time I was his personal escort to a local radio station show will be shared in my book, “Raised on the Radio.”
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