Shake It*

a song by Ian Thomas. See, I knew I could name each blog post after a song title. I have so much to choose from.
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Lent is upon us and I have once again decided to give up meat for 40 days. That includes chicken, too. According to the Catholic church, on Sunday, you may partake in whatever you sacrificed. Lots of fish and Boca burgers for me. Bocas aren't bad, but you have to load them up with lettuce, tomato, onion, chesse and anything else you can find in order to mask the taste. Tonight, tuna salad ala Rocko, with some jalpenos thrown in for good measure.
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March madness baby, but sometimes it drives me crazy. You mean Missouri State with 23 wins and a 15-3 conference record isn't getting in? But some Big East team with 12 or 13 losses will somehow find a way in. I hope that there are not selecting teams based on TV markets, but I swear it seems to be like that. So, I'm rooting for Mizzou, I lived in Nashville and know Kevin Stallings, so Vanderbilt, the boy went to Notre Dame, Butler (because they almost beat Duke) and maybe a couple more. I think the only one that has a chance is ND. Highs and lows and upsets is why I lovethis time of year. Who will be this year's Northern Iowa and pull off the big upsets?
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I stopped by the local Dairy Queen in Farmington and enjoyed a cherry shake on Tuesday. It sent me straight back to when I was a boy in Ava. On Saturdays, I would take my allowance and ride my bike into town, play pool and pinball, have a hamburger at Norman's Rexall drug store, grab the latest comic books and get myself a cherry shake at the DQ. A summertime treat in the end of winter.
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I agree that the unions have too much power. I saw this coming when I worked at John Deere in Moline. Even in the 70s, it was push push push until Deere pulled most oftheir workforce out of there after warning the unions over and over. Do we really have to balance the budget on the backs of the school teachers, police and firefighters? How about closing some corporate loopholes and making it more fair for everyone. I am very scared about the future of this great nation. I think I'm going to buy a pice of land in the middle of nowhere, build a house on some water, and watch the revolution go by. I'll set it up with internet and satellite and retire from society.
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Road trip next week takes me to KC and Ankeny Iowa, where Casey's General Stores is located. I miss KC and always will. There is something about that place. As expenses are being cut, I'm staying with a friend. I love Iowa, too, so I'm looking forward to it. The week after, it's a trip to Springfield to Bass Pro Shops and then back through Ava because I hear my old place is for sale.
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If you see spring, please send it my way. Thanks.
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Happy Birthday to my "Facebook" friend Beverly Bremers. This was her only big hit. I remember listening this in m bedroom thinking that love would really suck if it made you feel like this. Sometimes it does.

I Want A New Drug

In the past three months, my doctors have put me on Aleve, Viagra(he hoped the testosterone would help, I guess he didn't read the side effects that were listed, headaches being one),Exedrin Migraine, Trazodone, Oxycodone, Ibuprofen, Zonisamide, Zolpidem, Propranolol, and Zomig. Holy crap. Now, I'm completely off caffiene and I have stopped taking all that junk. The scan of my head revealed nothing. Ha. I haven't had a major headache in a while, but there is one that always lingers, it never goes away but at least it doesn't get worse. Last night, I felt one coming on, so I went and ran my ass off at basketball and it seemed to tame the tide. For now. Damn. At least there's no tumor or blockage. He's saying it's a migrane, but I still am not sure. I'm too old for them to start and I'm not sensitive to light or noise. All I know is that this sucks.

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I have been friends with the Rainmakers since they were Steve, Bob and Rich and played at the KY 102 summer olympics in 1983. I have followed their rise from a far and when I had my band, we opened for them at Mississipi Nights in St. Louis. I remember it was one of our better gigs and the crowd was very receptive. One of the guys I worked with at KSHE saw me later in the show and asked if I knew who the opening act was and he was dead serious. He really had no idea it was me behind the drum kit. I told him it was a local band called "The Traffic Jam". "Wow, they were good!" he said. I never let on. The Rainmakers get inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame this weekend. I was there and introduced Shooting star when they were inducted a couple of years ago. It was great fun. Although, according to the article in the Kansas City Star, two of the original guys won't be there. Not sure if there has been a fall out, but with them regrouping to tour Norway (where they were huge), I hope that's not the case.
here they are that glorious day in the summer of 1983, when life was great and times were mellow.



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Sorry to hear that Nick Charles is dying. Nick and Fred Hickman were the precursors to everything that has turned out to be ESPN. Nick and Fred were a great team on CNN. Their show was fast moving and full of highlights. No hip slogans, nothing. Apparently, he has inoperable cancer. His one regret? Not spending enough time with his kids. I hope and pray that I never have to say that. Nick is 64. God speed.



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I've been in a Bread mood lately so, here's a repost from about three years ago. Yeah, yeah OK. I know what you are thinkin', the boy's flipped out. All I know is in the summer of my 14th year, this sweet lovely song called "Make It With You" floated out of the AM radio and into the ears of my girlfriend (if you could call her that, but I did at the time). She loved the song, so did I, it was deemed to be "our song" and so it was. After we broke up, she gave me the album back that I bought her with my own money (see previous post). I started playing it and discovered "Been Too Long On The Road", "It Don't Matter To Me" "Why Do You Keep Me Waiting"and others. David Gates hung around in Tulsa with Leon Russell and J.J. Cale. James Griffin was a session guy in LA, Mike Botts was a well respected drummer who once worked with Wes Montgomery and Larry Knectel played keyboards on "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" so, these guys could play. They just didn't play as loud as most of the other stuff I was listening to. Apparently, it was a clash of egos that sent these guys to their demise and that's too bad. For every Deep Purple, Black Sabbath or Zeppelin record, this was a nice diversion. I was 14 when I first heard them in 70, they split up for about four years in 1973 and released "Lost Without Your Love" in 1977 and called it quits. They had a special on TV around my 16th birthday and I had to beg my father to let me watch it. James Griffin recently passed with cancer at the age of 61. He wrote "For All We Know" for The Carpenters. He once said that they never wanted to be a soft rock band but going toe to toe with Grand Funk was probably not in their best interest. Since that post...Mike Botts has passed and so has Larry Knechtel

Smart man, Smart band.

And now, the top ten:
1. He's A Good Lad -they wrote that one about me.
2. If -to me, the classic love song. Kris Eric Stevens made this song sound special every time he played it on WLS.
3. It Don't Matter To Me -right song, right time right(?) girl
4. Guitar Man -a bit of an edge (hey, it's Bread, OK?)
5. Make It With You -summer of my 14th year. nuff said
6. Everything I Own -the ultimate song of sacrifice, covered many times. Another great sounding song on WLS.
7. London Bridge-first song, first side, first LP
8. Diary-been there, done that, have the scars
9. Let Your Love Go-nice rocking tune
10.Sweet Surrender- their last great song, a fine way to say goodbye


Here's the late Larry Knechtel on the lead guitar with "Guitar Man" from that TV special in 1972. Very tasty...