My New Band

I've often said that finding the right people to form a band is like finding someone to have a relationship with.  There are so many similar traits you have to consider; how well do you get along, do you have the same goals, can you play well together, and can you make this a lasting relationship?  In either type of relationship, you want to make beautiful music together, so to speak.  I've had wonderful working relationships with my mates in previous bands.  For the past few years, I had hoped to get together with some of them again.  But as time has marched on, none of them were available.

In January of 2020, it looked like Scott, an old bandmate from my Intrigued days, would finally be available.  We started the process of forming a new band and things were progressing.  Then Covid hit.  We stopped for awhile to see how things were going to shake down.  After awhile, Scott decided he was going to focus on making his own recordings in his basement.

I started looking for other people to form a band with.  It turned out my friend Maria wanted to sing for a band.  We decided we would be a package deal; a singer and a drummer either forming a band together or joining a band together.  Ultimately, after some comings and goings, we found Frank, a guitar player who came up with the idea that the three of us should be a trio.  After much discussion, we came up with the name Northern Drive.

So, that's where we are today.  We have a lead singer, a guitar player and a drummer working up a repertoire of (un)Plugged(in) acoustic and electric songs, mostly rock and some country rock.  As we progress, we hope to be ready by sometime over the summer.

We have a website started up to introduce our trio, which will be updated as we have more information to disclose.   www.northerndriveband.com 

Some Ways to Remember John Lennon

Guest Blog by Burt Stein

originally written in 2015

A bit of necessary background:  This story should have appeared in Freetime Magazine of Rochester, in late December 1980.  What kept it from reaching completion then was a combination of shock, anger, and a case of writer’s block that wouldn’t quit.  But I still regret that my days at Freetime ended (though amicably) on such a bitter historical note. 

John Lennon was murdered 35 years ago on the night of December 8, and I think I’m finally ready to get (re-)started, even if nothing of that original attempt still exists except in my memory.  (“Just like starting over?”  Spot on.)  So this, at last, is dedicated to the Freetime staff I once knew, and the world that changed as never before when a madman killed a Beatle.

*** 

 “Listen, the snow is falling o'er town,
Listen, the snow is falling ev'rywhere.
Between empire state building
And between trafalgar square.
Listen, the snow is falling o'er town.

“Listen, the snow is falling o'er town,
Listen, the snow is falling ev'rywhere.
Between your bed and mine,
Between your head and my mind.
Listen, the snow is falling o'er town.”
                                 —Yoko Ono (1971)

Sunday, December 14, 1980:  At 12:01:01 PM, a single snowflake softly fell over midtown Manhattan—but, though it heralded many more, hardly an ordinary snowflake.  With the sight of it through our office window, there came the feeling that a cosmic circle was closing upon itself.

*** 

It was a time when jobs were precious (though not nearly as much so as today); Jimmy Carter was entering the twilight of his single term as President of the United States (for many critical reasons, largest of all his continued failure to secure the freedom of 52 Americans then being held hostage in Iran); Bruce Springsteen and Debbie Harry were receiving maximum exposure on Top 40 radio; and in New York City, there still existed map points such as the Biltmore Hotel, Reuben’s Delicatessen, and the famously sleazy old 42^nd Street from Sixth Avenue on up.

Meanwhile …

Tidbit by exciting tidbit, the news began to spread as summer 1980 yielded to autumn:  After a somewhat cloudy five-year hiatus, John Lennon and Yoko Ono had been signed to Geffen Records and were once more up to something musically, hunkered down at the Hit Factory studio in New York City.

Double Fantasy, then the first new studio album from Lennon and Ono in those five years, was released on November 17, 1980.   Though each passing year makes this harder to recall, we were thereby blessed with nearly 22 days in which to happily experience that album’s original 14 tracks as the newest creations of two living artists.

Apart from this-must-be-uptempo “(Just Like) Starting Over” (which, as the first 45 to represent the collection, had already been released on October 24 of that year), the first such LP track I remember hearing on the radio (via soft rock WTFM, 103.5, New York) was “Watching the Wheels”—piano at its core, and somewhat more mellow than the Lennon sound we had come to expect, but a nod and a wink in seeming celebration of Lennon’s more recent role as father and househusband (“No longer riding on the merry-go-round/I just had to let it go”).

One other standout track among Lennon’s half of the Double Fantasy songs was the nod to his young son Sean that was “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)”, awash in steel drums with a whisper of mandolin, and clearly inspired by his nautically perilous yet musically rewarding ocean voyage from Rhode Island to Bermuda that June.  It also contained—in hindsight—the most poignant lines found anywhere on the album:  “Before you cross the street/Take my hand/Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans…”

This excerpt from “A Rare Glimpse of John Lennon, Sailor” by John Clarke Jr. (©2010, 2012 Paste Media Group) tells us much more about that journey, including its most pivotal creative moments:

“…Lennon arrived on the island June 11 relaxed, re-energized and inspired.  He stayed for two months—writing, recording and staying up all night working on his new songs, and visiting clubs and shops in downtown Hamilton.  On a trip to the Botanical Gardens with his son, Sean, they spotted a freesia hybrid flower called Double Fantasy and thus the album title was born.  Another time, having drinks with two local journalists, Lennon came up with the lyrics for ‘Watching the Wheels’.  On the club’s walls flashed projections of turning wheels while one of the journalists lamented to Lennon that he should be writing great songs—not shut in a New York apartment, no longer part of the ‘big time’.  During his stay, he also wrote ‘I’m Losing You’, ‘Beautiful Boy’ and an early version of ‘Woman’.  During that last summer vacation of his life, Lennon was also inspired to write ‘Borrowed Time’ after listening to Bob Marley and the Wailers’ album ‘Burnin’ ’.  In one of his less-poetic moments, he later described this productive time as ‘a diarrhea of creativity’.”

And Yoko Ono?  Back when she first hit the radar as an Apple Records artist at the dawn of the 1970s, we had no way of guessing that her own out-there vocal style would someday become a building block of New Wave music.  By 1980, that genre’s time had begun, and Ono’s equally apportioned contributions to Double Fantasy (most notably “Kiss Kiss Kiss” and “Give Me Something”)—plus a breakthrough 45 all her own, then still under wraps—proved to fit snugly under the New Wave umbrella.  But the full celebration of her own musical triumph would have to wait a while. 

***

Deeper within the history of Double Fantasy lie the contents of a bootleg CD titled John Lennon: Free as a Bird/The Dakota Beatle Demos.  These 22 acoustic tracks, recorded both figuratively and literally in-house, are without exception both eternally haunting—often giving us an open window into Lennon’s state of mind during those final years—and still more instructive as to the evolution of the Lennon songs that ultimately became one-half of Double Fantasy.  Most beautiful among these is “India” (a.k.a. “India India”, if you prefer):  “I’ve got to follow my heart/Wherever it takes me/I’ve got to follow my heart/Whenever it calls to me/I’ve got to follow my heart and my heart is going home”.

Most haunting, bar none, is “Dear John”:  “…Don’t be hard on yourself/Give yourself a break/Life wasn’t meant to be run/The race is over/You’ve won”.  At one point during this track, Lennon interpolated a portion of the “September ... November” refrain from “September Song” by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson (itself most famously recorded by Jimmy Durante)—and regrettably, if not altogether unexpectedly, when this Lennon home demo was later released legally as part of a Capitol compilation CD, his nod to Durante (or Weill) was conspicuously absent from the track, no doubt for legal/budget reasons.  (Accept no substitutes.)  

*** 

 “No friends and yet no enemies

Absolutely free

No rats aboard the magic ship

Of perfect harmony”

                      —John Lennon (1980)

And so to the inevitable question:  Where were you and how did you hear the news on the night of December 8, 1980, after a bastard named Chapman went into combat crouch, and our world came crashing down?

For me, the word arrived through disconnected fragments via Vin Scelsa on WNEW-FM (102.7), then the undisputed album rock powerhouse of NYC.

Here’s the way I recall the rest of that evening in my Brooklyn apartment, though some of the finer points may have grown hazy for me over the years:  First, there was a recorded police dispatcher’s call for cars to proceed to the Dakota apartment building—which, suddenly dropped in among the usual hourly “wheel” of records/commercials/Scelsa’s random observations, at first sounded to me like a sick joke packaged by somebody behind the scenes at ‘NEW.  Several more uninterrupted minutes of music followed before Scelsa returned to the microphone, at which point he was noticeably straining to compose himself while sifting through a stack of just-received wire reports from diverse sources.
 
Then, more music still, which quickly morphed into a string of Lennon and Beatles tunes—as, standing still near my home stereo system, I felt my stomach begin to churn.

Scelsa finally returned as “Watching the Wheels” faded into a rare bubble of silence; seconds later, while trying in vain to camouflage his emotions, he made the confirmed announcement that Lennon had been shot dead at the entrance to his home.  More silence.  Scelsa’s only comment:  “And I am at a loss for words.  I think for the first time in my career on the radio, I don’t have anything to say.”

Another pause, followed by the opening notes of “Let It Be” … that song itself then quickly interrupted by an NBC News Hotline Report.

At that point, not yet in deep shock but getting there, I switched off the stereo and moved to the TV set in the other room.  On WABC, Channel 7, was the ever-reliable “Monday Night Football with Howard Cosell”—and I was just in time to hear Cosell, having been handed another wire report, provide the most chillingly surreal media moment of the entire night.

And that was all for the radio and television at my place … all I could do was slump into my favorite chair and go numb. 

***

Sunday, December 14, 1980:  As on many Sunday mornings then, I was doing some very welcome overtime as a proofreader/typesetter at a long-gone shop called Type Systems, on East 38^th Street in Manhattan.  On site too was a novice proofreader (Type Systems knew her as—yes—Nancy); we both stayed until about 12:15 PM.  While neither of us had been able to get over to Central Park that week, we knew well of the ongoing daylight and candlelight vigil there by an uncounted number of Lennon’s most devoted fans.

And we had the radio on, once more tuned to WNEW.  It was announced that morning that there would be a moment of silence at 12:00:00 PM, to be immediately followed by the live debut performance by David Sanborn of a new jazz composition dedicated to the memory of Lennon and of his singular career.

At 11:59:59 AM, we both put down our blue pencils and closed our folders.

At 12:00:00 Noon, ‘NEW went silent.

At 12:01:00, Sanborn began to play.

And at precisely 12:01:01, outside Type Systems’ picture window, that first snowflake appeared.

Transfixed for the moment, we stayed tuned until Sanborn’s closing notes faded, then got our coats, shut down the equipment and locked up the office.

And as we parted company down on 38^th, with the snow now falling steadily, I said to Nancy with more than a small quiver in my voice, “Get home safely.”

“You too, thanks,” she replied, sounding much the same.  

*** 

 “Between tokyo and paris,
Between london and dallas,
Between your love and mine.
Listen, the snow is falling ev'rywhere.

Snowfling, snowfall, snowfall,
Listen, listen,
Listen, baby,
Listen.”

                       —Yoko Ono (1971) 

Rock Band "The Dean's List"

I first saw The Dean's List at the Shortsville Firemen's Carnival in 2017. Not only did I enjoy the band, but it became a night of special meaning to me because my friendship with Stacey was just forming at the time.  She and our friend Judy and I "danced barefoot in the mud" to The Dean's List for almost two hours straight.

Since then, we have seen The Dean's List many times, most prominently when we hired them to play at our wedding! I've considered them to be "danceable rock," but they bill themselves as "playing your classic/modern rock favorites." They generally play in an area covering Auburn, Sodus Point, Penn Yan, Rochester, and anywhere in between.

The lineup for the past few years has consisted of:

Tim Potter - Guitar and Vocals
Scott Jennings - Lead Guitar/Vocals
Joe Carr - Bass/Vocals
Jeff Sitter - Drums
Mark Hillis - Lead Vocals

Mark, Joe, and Tim, were working on projects together and had challenges finding reliable players to fill the final slots in the lineup. They enlisted Scott, who had played extensively with Tim in the mid/late 90’s into the early 2000’s. They completed the lineup with Jeff, a relative newcomer to the scene.

Jeff said he started taking drum lessons about 11 years ago when he was 40. His 11-year old son had been taking lessons for about a month, and Jeff said he "couldn't stand it" and had to start taking lessons, himself. He said an interest turned into an obsession. The Dean's List is his fifth band; others didn't pan out.

The Dean's List Website is https://thedeanslistmusic.com/

Rockabilly Band "Rockhouse Riot"

In 2016, while catching up with Sharon, an old friend of mine, she told me I should go and see a rockabilly band called "Rockhouse Riot."  I've always enjoyed rockabilly, especially the music that came out of Sun Records and later groups such as the Stray Cats.  My first opportunity to see them came in September of that year when I went to a rockabilly dance lesson taught by Keith Saturn.  I met a few people that evening who I became friends with.

I was very impressed with Rockhouse Riot.  I've had more opportunities to see them since then.  They describe themselves as Rockin' Swingin' Swampy Roots inspired Originals, alongside the best tunes from the dawn of Rock and Roll.

The band members include:
Todd Krasz - Howlin' & Screechin'
Glen Wheatley - Pickin' & Grinnin'
Ron Hart - Slappin' & Croonin'
Brandon Armes - Bangin' & Crashin'

Ron Hart describes the band:
"The original band started out as “Drivin’ Memphis”. There was a falling out, and we pretty much all went our separate ways. I reformed with a new guitarist (Brandon), the original singer (Erik) and drummer (Joey) and came up with Rockhouse Riot. About a year and a half later, we added another guitarist (Glen). After a while we went to a four piece and Brandon moved to Drums. A year later, Erik won a scholarship to get his Masters and we replaced him with Todd. Now, we have very familiar Rockabilly covers and some obscure ones, along with a healthy dose of our own original Rockabilly tunes We all are spread over the Rochester area (from Chili to Newark) and we play from Buffalo to Syracuse and Rochester to Bath."

Their website is www.rockhouseriot.com
Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/RockhouseRiot/



https://youtu.be/Ruj3xlWCFJU

The Cool Club and The Lipker Sisters

In 2018, while at the Rochester Lilac Festival, I happened across a performance by the Cool Club and The Lipker Sisters.  Since I love swing music, naturally they caught my attention.  Since then, I have been able to see them at a few performances.

Their type of music is best described by the title of their new CD,"Jump Jazz Blues & Boogie-Woogie Ragtime Swing."

The Cool Club Quartet was started by Rick Hoyt (guitar) back before the turn of the century to play his original songs, which were in the traditions of jump jazz, blues, boogie-woogie, ragtime, swing. Tom McClure (sax, flute, clarinet) was an original member and encouraged the addition of jazz and swing standards to the repertoire. Joe Galusha has been the drummer for many years and has a wealth of experience in many genres. Multi-instrumentalist Trevor Findlay is the bass player.

Based in Geneva NY, the quartet was playing at a local club around five years ago when Marilla Lipker walked by and remarked that the music being played was similar to what she and her younger sisters Grace and Elizabeth had grown up singing. They come from a musical family and from a tender age were encouraged to sing swing classics, such as Boogie-woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters. Marilla came to one of their jazz jams in Geneva, sounded terrific, and mentioned she had sisters! The three have been singing with the band ever since.

Favorite spots to play are Club 86 and on Linden St. in Geneva, Iron Smoke in Fairport, Lovin Cup and Three Heads Brewing in Rochester. They recently played at Dinosaur BBQ and will be back there again.

Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/CoolClubandtheLipkerSisters/



https://youtu.be/OBdWfuwtcg8

New Rochester Band, "Retrospect"

There's a new band in the local scene that has both veterans and a new generation of musicians. I'm proud to say I have been friends with Tony Wechsler and John Borrelli for many years, and I have played in bands with both of them at one time or another.

The band is called "Retrospect," and Tony describes how they came together:

"About 2 years ago I thought it would be fun to work with my son, Sean Wechsler in a band. He’s been playing drums for many years, but he has not had any luck forming a “working band.” My girlfriend’s daughter, Shannon had been singing back-up with my last band, Wild Horses on occasion. It was her first time performing in a rock band, but she had done singing in high school with the RH Singers and also sang in several musical productions throughout her school years. I thought it would be fun to put a new band together with both of them so they could gain wisdom by working with more seasoned people. Both had the talent but needed the opportunity.

I have been playing bass for many years in several bands including The Mods, the Beatbusters, My Girl Bill, Intrigued, and Wild Horses. While I also play guitar and some keyboard, I am primarily a bass playing and wanted to stay on that instrument. We needed a guitarist so I contacted my friend Scott Meli. He was very interested in joining up but ended up having to back out after a few months. I then turned to my friend John Borrelli (Aka: JB), who I’ve known since high school and he joined up as the guitarist. John and I worked together in several projects over the years including the Mods. Several years back, he played with the very popular local band, No Boundaries. John is working with another band that he has been putting together, Executive Order, but he agreed to play with us as well. I also play in another band, Flannel Babcocks, with former members of Wild Horses, so the multiple band thing was not an issue.

We came up with the name Retrospect as we play classic rock with a focus on the 80’s and 90s. We felt that this music is a sweet spot with a great number of age groups. I knew people would enjoy it and want to hear us play. At present, we have been playing locally clubs in Rochester including Nashville’s and Bar Louie. We have gigs coming up at the Argyle in Fairport on September 14^th, and at Fatso’s in Gates on September 21^st. Our band catch phrase is “Rockin' the Generations.” It’s two-fold because not only do we “rock” generations of music, our band has 2 generations of musicians including father/son."

Retrospect is on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/retrospectroc/

Rock Band "Free Agent"

Stacey and I generally look for local bands that we can dance to.  When a band specifically bills itself as "dedicated to bringing you a variety of music that will make you dance or sing along," we take notice!  Such is the case with Free Agent, based in the Rochester Region.

Singer Kim Kotel, who does most of the booking and PR for the group, said, "I was looking for a group after one I was in had folded. I auditioned with drummer Scott Hayes and what was supposed to be the remaining members of a band whose singer had left. Only one other person came to the audition and nothing came of it, but Scott and his wife came to see Ian( Kerr) and I in our duo. She suggested he work with us. Eventually, after a bunch of false starts with separate bands, Ian and I were ready to be in a band again together as other things we were in had either folded or were not working out. We joined with three remaining members of Scott's old band and the name Free Agent was chosen when I said to them I had left the group I was kind of in and I was now a free agent. The group worked as it was for a month or two and then the bassist and guitarist left. Scott, Ian and I found replacements and we worked to be ready to play out. The first Free Agent gig was in May of 2015 and by the late summer of 2017 we had gone through two lead players and three bassists before lead guitarist Richard Gramm and bass player Karl Joslin joined us in November of 2017. That incarnation had its first gig on May 4th of 2018 at Jose' and Willy's. We have been playing out as this group since."

Free Agent doesn't have a particular influence. The original concept was for them to be open to just about every genre and every decade. Kim calls it variety rock. Their goal was to make people dance and sing along; it's a very broad musical palate made possible by the four members who sing leads. Another focus is making sure they have a lot of great harmony.

Richard (Gramm: lead guitar and vocals) has been playing and singing most of his life. He first picked up the guitar at age 12 and three years later added the bass. He has performed and recorded mainly in upstate New York, but has been fortunate enough to play shows across the U.S., Europe, South America and more. He also plays in other bands.

Scott( Hayes: percussion and vocals) has a diverse musical history playing with such local bands as the hard and progressive rock band "Euphoria" in the 80's. Later he moved to the sounds of Neil Young and Crazy Horse along with Santana in the late 80's with the band "Dark Light". Scott's favorite drummers include Peter Criss of KISS, and the legendary Neil Peart of Rush. Scott also played in Skyway and Red Sky.

Karl (Joslin: bass guitar) cut his teeth as a bassist in South Florida at the age of 13. Prior to bass (his instrument of choice), he played French horn for a few years. His main influences at the time were Geddy Lee, John Entwistle, John Paul Jones, Chris Squire, John Deacon and Jaco Pastorius. By the time he was 16, he was writing, collaborating and performing with an all-original band called “The Astronomical Artouche”. He played around with several bands in the Treasure Coast area until the late 80’s. He has also played locally with Wayward Wynd, Killing Time and 5 Hole.

Ian ( Kerr guitar, keys, vocals) People always told Ian he had an ear for music. As a kid he used to mimic what he heard on the radio and play it on the piano while tossing in a harmony that wasn't included originally. Growing up, he listened to oldies with his dad and they would sing along with them together. His father was one of the many people who has inspired him and got him started. While he started on keyboards as a child, he then learned sax in High School but didn't begin playing the bass guitar until 2007. Until recently the bass was his primary rock band experiences. He has also played in Black Ice, Curveball and Shifting Gears. He and Kim have the duo, Tuned InK, but play in Free Agent for the full band experience.

Kim (Kotel: vocals, aux percussion) has been singing since she was a young child, but until 2010 it was only for her own enjoyment in a choral setting or out at a Karaoke night. That all changed when she joined a band called 7 Green. Although that band only lasted about 4 months after she joined, her whistle was whetted and soon she was lucky enough to be part of Black Ice which became her first real band experience. When that folded she went through a number of bands trying to find her niche again and also  teamed up with Ian to form Tuned InK. Free Agent is now her band "home" Free Agent plays in a variety of locations around Rochester and surrounding areas. You can find their Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/vareityrocksyou/



Kim and Ian in their duo, Tuned InK
https://www.facebook.com/TunedInK/videos/1289852081131721/

Tommy Tutone, Loverboy, and Rick Springfield at Artpark, 8-13-2019

We saw the concert with Tommy Tutone, Loverboy, and Rick Springfield on August 13, 2019 at Artpark. For me, it was the first time I had seen any of them. Stacey has seen Rick Springfield multiple times in the past. She said this was the best viewing spot she's ever had of Rick Springfield.

Tommy Tutone was out first. I was impressed when I saw him with a Vox guitar amp. These amps were made popular in the 1960s by such groups as the Beatles. They brought their distinctive guitar sound to the masses. His backing band was the same band that Rick Springfield used later in the concert. Tommy Tutone is best known for 80s music, especially 867-5309. But he shows a lot of appreciation for older music, and did his own rendition of "Operator" by Jim Croce. Naturally as expected, the crowd went wild when he did his big hit 867-5309. Other songs he did included "Angel Say No," "Sylvia," and "Cheap Date."

Loverboy rocked as hard as I imagine they always did. Although they are much older, I was impressed that they have four out of the five original members. Original bass player Scott Smith died in 2000. They played "Notorious," "Lucky Ones," "Queen of Broken Hearts," "Take Me to the Top," "The Kid is Hot Tonight," "Lovin' Every Minute of It," "Hot Girls In Love," "Turn Me Loose," "Working' for the Weekend," and "Jump."

It was clear that most people were there to see Rick Springfield. We had the good fortune of being right up by the stage, standing with one or two people in front of us. This allowed me to see the facial expressions of all of the musicians and singers and get some good camera shots. We were in the center of the area where Rick Springfield got the audience involved. Some handed roses to him. He threw a wireless microphone into the audience and ask people to sing a line or two and pass it on to the next person. I almost grabbed it myself but the person next to me got it first. Springfield headed out into the audience and walked through the area up front without any sort of escort at all. I thought it was very brave that he would do this. Rick's set list included "Light This Party Up," "I've Done Everything for You," "Love is Alright Tonite," "Little Demon," "Affair of the Heart," a medley, "The Voodoo House," "Don't Talk to Strangers," "Human Touch, " "Love Somebody," and "Jesse's Girl."

My First Elvis Record, with a Surprising Twist

By Paul Pakusch

I wonder how many people remember record-of-the-month clubs. You would sign up to receive 8 record albums in the mail for free, or a penny, or some silly, baiting amount. In return, you would have membership in a club where you were obligated to buy a certain number of records after that within a certain amount of time. When I was in high school, I joined the RCA Record Club.  I was a huge John Denver fan at the time and purchased several of his albums, along with other RCA artists that I liked.

I had recently been exposed to a few songs by Elvis, so I decided to buy one of his albums.  It was this one, "Elvis, a Legendary Performer."

The day came when it arrived in the mail. I took it to my bedroom, put it on the stereo and put my headphones on. As I listened, I read the booklet about Elvis that came with the album. I was mesmerized by his music, the pictures in the booklet, and the story of how he shot to fame.

I must've played through the album several times. I reflected upon his popularity and I remember thinking, "I wonder how the world will react when the day comes that he dies."

It was a prophetic thought and I didn't have to wait long to find out how the world would react.  The date my first Elvis album arrived, and I layed on my bed listening, was August 16, 1977. Elvis died that day.

Jamming

by Paul Pakusch

Lately I've been wanting to get into a rock band again.  For me, finding the right people for a band is like finding a good mate; we have to be good friends as well as compatible musicians.  The band I'd like to be in would not play out a lot; maybe half a dozen times a year.  I haven't found anyone yet.

In the meantime, I'm now enjoying being part of a Meet-up Group called Friends Who Jam.  They get together about every three weeks or so, just to play and enjoy each other's company.  Here's a clip of a jam session from a few days ago.


Friends Who Jam - Grapevine from Paul Pakusch on Vimeo.

ABBA Reunion

I'm just really happy to learn that ABBA is going to come out with a couple of new songs. I have enjoyed their music in the past, although in recent years I have become a lot more appreciative of their music. I find myself listening to them more often. Dancing Queen is one of my all-time favorite disco songs. I'm just looking forward to hearing the new songs when they come out.

ABBA NPR

Original song

Here's an original song by my old band, The Mods, from 1982. Listen to Make it Right - The Mods by PaulPakusch #np on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/paulpakusch/make-it-right

The Browns

I was first exposed to the country music group the Browns when I was a very young child. My mother had at least a couple albums by them. I especially remember learning the songs Scarlet Ribbons and The Old Lamplighter. As I got older and became a teenager, my music interests headed in a different direction. Around 1996 I happened to be channel surfing and came across the Nashville Network just as I caught the Browns being introduced on a live TV show. Since I often wear headphones while I'm watching TV due to my hearing loss, I had them on when the Browns started singing The Three Bells. I was suddenly mesmerized by the harmony.

The Browns were a country music crossover into pop music back in 1959 when that song hit it big. Although I was aware of the song, it was not one that I knew well at that point. I sat there absolutely spellbound as I listened to their vocal harmony. I've always believed that sibling harmony is the best because the speech patterns are similar. That is certainly the case for Jim Ed, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown. After listening to them sing it on the Nashville Network, I needed to get myself a copy of it, so I did. Thus begin a few month period when I played the song over and over. After that I purchased more Brown's music so I could learn more of their music.

About 10 years later, I came across something on the Internet advertising a book written by Maxine Brown called "Looking Back to See."  The book's title is named after a song that Maxine wrote. It is mostly an autobiography of Maxine's life up to that point, but it is also a general history of what country music was like in the 1950s and 1960s. I decided I needed to contact Maxine and let her know how I felt about the book. I could not find a way to reach her, so I wrote to Jim Ed and sent it to the Grand Ole Opry. He wrote back to me a short time later and said to send a letter to Maxine addressed to him and he would see that she would get it. I did, she received it, and I heard back from her a few weeks later. I was very impressed that she wrote a four-page letter to me expressing how she really enjoyed reading my letter to her.

A couple years later I happened to come across Maxine's Facebook page and wrote to her again, reminding her who I was and she said she remembered. From that point on a very nice Facebook friendship develped between us. She posted some nice things that I wrote about the Browns on her website. I also became part of a movement to get the Browns into the Country Music Hall of Fame, which many of the Browns fans believed they belong in.

In 2013, while on a trip to Memphis Tennessee, my daughter Kristi and I had an opportunity to visit Maxine. We had lunch together and she talked about some of her experiences, including her friendship with Elvis back in the mid-1950s. Elvis and the Browns used to do some touring together.

Back home, I continued my participation in trying to get the Browns into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It took awhile, but happily, thanks to the help of many of their fans, they finally made it in. And just in time, too, because shortly after the announcement of the Browns going into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Jim Ed passed away from cancer. Maxine and Bonnie were there for the induction, and then sadly Bonnie passed away not too long after that.

I hope to get to Nashville sometime in the near future so I can see their exhibit along with many others in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

These days, I continue to enjoy listening to the Browns' music on a regular basis. I have my own collection at home, and I also hear their songs from time to time on Sirius XM Radio.

Here is Maxine Brown's website: http://themaxinebrown.com/

Something to Do

By Paul Pakusch

As we get older, many of us start to find more time for ourselves. Family and work responsibilties become less and less There's a motto that's one of my favorites: "To have a good life, you need someone to love, someone to be loved by, something to do, something to look forward to, and a good BM every day." I'm intrigued by how much wisdom there is in that single sentence. Sure, there's humor, but who can argue the point of having a good BM every day? As for the rest of the motto, aren't we always in pursuit of a good, loving relationship? If you have that, then life is good. We all want something to do. Whether it's to indulge in a hobby, work a job, see a show or watch TV or a movie, listen to music, take a stroll or hang out with friends or loved ones, we're happiest when we are doing something. No one wants to be left in a sterile environment, staring at a blank wall. And we all look forward to something: "I can't wait for my vacation! I can't wait for Christmas! I can't wait for the weekend!" If we have nothing to look forward to, then we may as well be staring at a blank wall.

I love walking through an arts and crafts store to see the various raw materials that people use to form their own creations. People will spend many happy hours working on a painting, a pottery project, a knick knack, a doily, or a refrigerator door masterpiece. I don't think it's so much the final project that brings someone happiness, but the act of working on the project. When finished, many of these items will be given away to appreciating or unappreciating relatives, sold at an arts and crafts fair, or set on display in their own home. The point of these objects isn't the object iself; it's the hours of joy that go into creating these objects that matters.

This is what drumming is all about for me. I love picking up a pair of drum sticks and playing patterns that form drum beats and/or songs. Whether I'm playing by myself or with a group of other musicians, it feels like the organized sound we are creating is something tangible that you can almost hold. You can't actually hold it, of course, but you can move to it, groove to it, be emotionally attached to it, or become mesmerized by it. While I am playing, I "have something to do." I can drum for hours at a time and be perfectly happy. I am creating something; it is art. But as soon as I stop playing, it doesn't exist anymore. I can't give it to you or sell it to you. It can't be placed on a shelf for display or thrown into a landfill. It was never really tangible to begin with. But yet it is there.

Yet, it is art. It is subjective. Like a painting, you either like what I play or you don't like what I play. It takes many months and years of practice for me to be able to play the way I do. I have a goal to be even better than I am. I would never be satisfied creating the stick figures of a child for the rest of my life; I'd want to paint a masterpiece. I am never satisfied playing the basic drum beats I learned as a beginner; I constantly want to challenge myself and be a better drummer. It is a satisfaction that I bring to myself for doing it. It is even more fun to do with a group of other musicians. Together we are painting that masterpiece. When we finish playing, the masterpiece doesn't exist anymore. To live the good life I described in the motto, we must continually get together to paint yet another masterpiece, time and time again. We look forward to it.

And when we're done, we go off our separate ways to have a good BM. :-)

My Ideal Band

I currently play in two marching bands. My main band is Excelsior Brigade Fife and Drum Corps, and my other band is Mark Time Marchers, a brass band. In both of these bands, I get to play the rudimentary style of snare drumming that gives me the most amount of self satisfaction that I can get from drums.

But what's missing from my life is a trio or quarter in which I can play a drum set. I recently started doing some occasional sessions with a meetup group of friends who like to jam. Ideally, it would be a group of people with whom I can also be good friends. 

I'm not in a major rush for this to happen, but I'd love for it to eventually happen.

What I'd really like is to find two or three other people who would like to form a band. Ideally I'd like to rehearse and jam about once a week. We'd play gigs about once or twice a month.

I've looked at ads looking for drummers, but I haven't found anything that appeals to me.

The Track Pack

by Paul Pakusch

For my "Symphony Sunday" blog, which is generally about music, I would like to introduce you to a group of people we call the Track Pack.  There is no official membership to this loose "organization," except that we keep each other updated on activities through a Facebook Messenger group with the same name.

Most of us met each other in the last year or two at Finger Lakes Racetrack, the "Track," in the Club Remedy Lounge; some had been going there for a much longer time prior to that. We come from all walks of life; young, middle-aged, older, and vastly different lifestyles and experiences.  What's common among us is an absolute LOVE for dancing.  Most of us are regulars at Club Remedy because they have live bands there every Friday and Saturday.  There is no admission charge and soft drinks are free.  Anyone who wishes to support Club Remedy and its entertainment can do so by the purchase of drinks, food, and/or a "donation" to a slot machine.

As we've seen each other on fairly regular visits to Club Remedy, we've formed friendships.  Most of us like freeform dancing, and some of us are good at couples dancing.  We often form a circle and dance together.

Since we also like to check out other venues and other bands not currently playing at Remedy, we had been sending various messages to each other to stay in touch about who was playing where and who wanted to go and dance to what band.  I created a group message with a list of names of everyone I was friends with who went to Remedy to try to consolidate this messaging system.  I wanted to give it a name to differentiate it from all the other group messages.  I came up with "Track Pack," a spin off the old name, "Rat Pack" of Sammy Davis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop.  While the name was only meant to be used for a message group, many of us regularly call ourselves the Track Pack now. Unlike the Rat Pack, you wouldn't necessarily want to hear us sing, ha ha!  We'll stick to what we do well, which is dancing.

Over the course of a typical week, you'll see us exchanging messages about what band is playing where and who wants to go.  Sometimes most of us end up in the same place, sometimes we end up in smaller groups at different places.  A few of our other frequented places include Nashville's on West Henrietta Road, the Sand Bar in Canandaigua, Bar Louie, private parties, Ontario Beach for the Summer Concert series, and Barnard Park.  This is not a complete list. We also invaded Eastview Mall one Sunday morning in December to pose for "Santa Baby" pictures with Santa Claus and a group of cops who happened to be there!

We have a few photo opportunists within the group, so you will almost always see photos posted on our Facebook pages by the next day.

It's a great, friendly and fun group of people with a common love of dancing.

 A typical night for the Track Pack at Club Remedy

"Santa Baby" photo shoot at Eastview Mall

Hooks, Riffs, and Catchy Rhythms

In recent months, as my new girlfriend Stacey has gotten to know me and my hearing loss better, I've become more aware of how many old songs I have no idea what most of the lyrics are. In many cases, I know only a few words and phrases. The way my hearing has been since birth is that the human voice sounds muddy to me. I wear hearing aids, but for the most part, they only amplify sound. They don't correct sound the way glasses correct vision. Most popular music from the late 1960s through now is recorded and mixed in a way that the music drowns out the vocals for me, or the vocals have audio processing done in such a way that I can't understand most of it. In order for me to know what is being sung in most cases, I need to read the lyrics. I do pick up key phrases and chorus parts that are repeated.

So, one might wonder, if I can't understand what's being sung, how do I enjoy what I'm hearing? There are two parts to the answer. The first is that a lot of recorded music from the 50's and early 60's emphasizes the vocals over the music. This is one reason I enjoy music from that time period so much. I can actually understand what's being sung.

The other way I enjoy music is by listening to the instruments themselves and how the voice fits in with them. The voices can be singing anything; English, other languages, scat, doo wop, backup oohs and ahs; it all sounds the same to me. When it's sung well with good harmony, the voices are just another instrument to my ears and I am in melodic heaven. I am just as happy listening to instrumental music as I am music with vocals.

What makes a song stand out to me above others are catchy riffs, hooks and rhythms. Pop music producers were notorious for coming up with these in the 50's and 60's for commercial and marketing  purposes, but it's another reason why I love the music of that era so much. The guitar licks of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" are probably one of the best known hooks of all time. Mix that with a solid beat, and I have a catchy rhythm that makes me want to dance. I know Mick is singing something about how he "can't get no satisfaction," but to this date, I still don't know what the rest of the words are to that song because I've never looked them up. Yep, it's true. Welcome to my life as a hard of hearing person. But I'll get up and dance to it any time because of the rhythmic beat and catchy riffs.

A good rhythm will make me want to dance. That's another factor in what makes me like a song. Some examples of songs with catchy rhythms that I like to dance to are "At the Hop," "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground," "Heart of Glass," "Shut Up and Dance," and "Loverboy." I can certainly follow the bah, bah, bah, bah vocal harmony buildup of "At the Hop," but don't ask me what the lyrics of the other songs are because I have no idea.

I am equally as happy going to an Oktoberfest, which always has danceable music. The fact that much of the words are sung in Germany are no more foreign to me as most songs that I can't understand in English.

One reason I really appreciate Stacey is that she goes out of her way to find out if I'm hearing things. When we go to concerts, she will ask me if I can understand the lyrics. Usually the answer is no. But I remind her that this is how it has been all my life and I am used to it. I do get benefit at Christian concerts that she likes to go to because they display the lyrics on a large screen. Got to get the message out, I guess, lol.

Growing Up in the 1960's

If you read virtually any history of the sixties, you will think that every young person was a hippy and went to Woodstock, everyone protested the Vietnam war, and everyone was listening to psychedelic rock. That's not how I remember it.

I was born in 1960, so this period accounts for the first ten years of my life. I was doing what kids that age typically do. I occasionally saw long-haired teenagers called hippies, but most of what the sixties are known for was not a part of my life. Superman, Batman, comics, Bewitched, Adam-12 and the NASA rocket launches and recoveries were. I had a cool 5-speed Stingray bike that I rode constantly all over the neighborhood. I loved climbing trees; we had a couple of awesome trees in our yard for climbing. Eventually we put a rope swing on one. My parents listened to country music of the day and so did I.

I remember President Johnson. I didn't really understand who he was or what he did, just that "President Johnson" had a nice ring to it and couldn't imagine saying "President-anybody-else". I was too young to remember Kennedy. I once asked my mom what I was doing when the word of his assassination came on TV. She told me I was playing in the living room. She remembered Walter Cronkite breaking down on TV, so I guess I must've seen that. On November 22, 1963 I was a few weeks away from my third birthday. I do remember watching the episode of Bewitched in 1968 that was interrupted by a news bulletin about Martin Luther King being shot. Before then, I didn't know who he was. I also remember watching the long train ride of Robert Kennedy's funeral and my mom crying.

Just to see how the music of 1968 compares to today's version of history, here's the top 20 hits of 1968 according to Billboard Magazine:

1. Hey Jude - The Beatles

2. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye

3. Love Is Blue - Paul Mauriat

4. Honey - Bobby Goldsboro

5. People Got To Be Free - The Rascals

6. (Sittin' On) The Dock Of the Bay - Otis Redding

7. This Guy's In love With you - Herb Alpert

8. Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel

9. Love Child - Diana Ross & The Supremes

10. Tighten Up - Archie Bell & The Drells

11. Hello, I Love You - The Doors

12. Judy In Disguise (With Glasses) - John Fred & His Palyboy Band

13. Grazing In the Grass - Hugh Masekela

14. Harper Valley P.T.A. - Jeannie C. Riley

15. Green Tambourine - The Lemon pipers

16. (Theme From) The valley of The Dolls - Dionne Warwick

17. Young Girl - Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett

18. Those Were The Days - Mary Hopkin

19. The Horse - Cliff Nobles & Company

20. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf