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Thursday, June 24, 2010
We Ain't Getting Old; Music Evolves...
I'm enjoying a three-day break from my day job, so it was pure luxury to hop in the car and run errands
in the middle of the afternoon instead of waiting until after work when the rest of the world has to take care of those
harried chores. Not only that, but the latest storm system had passed over northeast Indiana last night, allowing slightly
cooler air to blow through the region, and I could drive with the WINDOWS OPEN; no A.C. Considering the weather
we've had here so far this June, this was liberating indeed.
Since I had my car windows down I was able to listen to whatever noise was blaring from the cars along
side mine at red lights. Maybe it's just the old fuddy-duddy, remember-your-manners part of me, but I make
a point of turning down my ipod at red lights so no one else has to listen to my chosen music. I guess I'm
the only person who does this. I get to hear all sorts of music I normally wouldn't listen to -- rolling my
eyes, usually -- but today when I was stuck at the interesection of West Jefferson and Covington Road I was genuinely bugged
by the most jarring, non-sensical rap song I've ever heard blaring from the sedan on my left.
I was listening to a nice pop/funk song from the late seventies, "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back In Love Again"
by the group L.T.D. Great song. Lead vocals by Jeffrey Osbourne. Vintage 70's R&B. However,
as I glanced with annoyance at the car blasting the latest rap-crap of 2010 I realized the driver (some pony-tailed white
trash bitch) wouldn't even begin to care that I was listening to the kind of music that made the nonsense she was listening
to possible. At all. She'd probably just sneer, and I found myself thinking, Oh, God, did people my age
think the same thing when they heard Elvis Presley blaring in 1956?
Yeah. Probably.
Last night on NICK POFF RADIO 45 I played "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside. This was a HUGE R&B/Funk/Rap hit
in Northeast Indiana back in 1981. One of my listeners emailed me while the song was playing, writing, "isn't it a shame
that younger people only know this song through samples?"
Well, yeah, it is, but in the longer run it doesn't really matter. I'm beginning to see how music evolves through
each generation. I think back to the music classes I sat through in grade school and how, despite the best efforts of
Charles M. Schulz and an old-maid music teacher named Miss Smith, Beethoven didn't mean squat to me until I bought the 45
of "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band, and how I didn't know who the hell Bach was
until Apollo 100 released their 45, "Joy."
Considering the budget cuts in public education these days, I don't know if they still have those kind of music classes.
I doubt it. Even if they did, I can only hope that some imaginative teacher would find a way to link Beethoven
to seventies funk/pop, and then onto funk/rap of the early eighties, and so on.
What is important, I think, is that the spirit of music endures, and continues to evolve. It doesn't
matter whether I like it or not. Each generation listens to what has come earlier, tinkers with it, and passes
it on with their own specific imprint.
I am just grateful that I live in an age where I can share the music of my generation -- the music that formed the
soundtrack of my life -- in my writing and through my radio work. I hope my readers enjoy the music
I include in the HANDYMAN books, and of course you can hear the music of Nick Poff, disc jockey, on NICK POFF RADIO 45.
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When I'm Not Writing...
UPDATE: If you are on Facebook I hope you'll join the NICK POFF Author of
the HANDYMAN series group for discussions, updates, and more.
The sad but honest truth is that most writers need to supplement their income with something other than writing.
I've worked in the radio industry since the tender age of sixteen, and for the same two radio stations for the past fourteen
years. We call it The Hotel California -- you can check out but you can never leave! It's amazing how people go,
but then seem to come back at some time, including me. Radio has been good to me, and although there are still times
I regret not sticking with the writing thing at an earlier age, it's been an interesting ride.
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Things I'm Enjoying....
In The Handyman's Dream Ed and Rick spend time at a cabin on a small lake in southern Michigan.
In a weird fiction-meets-non-fiction kind of way, John Sellers writes about just such a place in his latest
book, The Old Man and the Swamp. It is a must-read for anyone who, like me, has been intrigued by that strange part
of the world at the borders of Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio; fears and respects snakes, and has enitrely too much
memory space dedicated to the 70's & 80's.
I enjoyed Joyce Maynard's latest, The Good Daughters.
I still can't believe All My Children is leaving ABC this September. I was a SLAVE to this
soap opera for 27 years. Even though I stopped watching every day back in '01, I've checked in occasionally, and talked with
co-workers about what was going on in Pine Valley. I mean......a world without Erica Kane? That, to me, is scarier
than facing the end of the Mayan calendar! I have, of course, read Susan Lucci's recent memoir, All My Life.
It's a nice, breezy read, but for diehard AMC fans only. Still...Ms. Lucci is on my list of people I hope to meet someday,
if only to say "THANKS!"
The wonderful thing about "All My Children" is that it was, for many years, more than "just a soap
opera." It was a second family of sorts to its most loyal fans. We can thank the amazing Agnes Nixon, the show's creator for
that, but I also think thanks must be given to the entire production staff, and those incredible actors who made those characters
so special to us. Did I learn some basic facts about life from watching this daytime drama? Yes. Did I learn how to write
a good story from watching "All My Children?" You betcha. Anyone who reads and enjoys the HANDYMAN books can be grateful
for the hours I spent in front of the TV, absorbing the finest writing in daytime television.
Just below is the link to the YouTube video from the intro of the 20th
Anniversary special from 1990. It contains some brief clips from the first 20 years of the show. Although AMC soared wonderfully
into the 21st Century, I gotta admit the best stories were from the first 20 years.
This show ain't dead yet, but it will be in September. Yeah, I'll probably be watching those
final episodes. In the meantime, I want to celebrate some of the best creative writing classes I ever attended. Thanks,
"All My Children!"
And I'm truly finding a great deal of joy in producing and broadcasting my little internet radio
show on www.live365.com. I hope you'll tune in some Wednesday evening for some wonderful old music and chat.
It's all RETRO here at the House of Nick. I also love the occasional old game show clip on YouTube.
I'm all about the retro fun stuff. I'd like to think it reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously in the here
and now. I celebrate old pop music on my internet radio show, NICK POFF RADIO 45.
As most writers do, I love word games, so I always enjoyed the game shows dealing with words. I loved the
$10,000 Pyramid (and the $20,000 and the $25,000 Pyramid, etc.). For those with a short attention span, here's Billy Crystal's
record-breaking trip to the top.
"I can't even watch The New Treasure Hunt anymore because you give me so much shit about it!"
(The above line of dialogue was deleted from the final draft of The Handyman's Dream. Ed's enjoyment
of game shows and Rick's dislike of them would continue to be a source of irritation.)
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Meet two potential victims of global warming.
If you want to save the bears as much as I do, vote wisely in each and every election, and check out the link
on my Favorite Links page.
Nick Poff
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