The Thrill is Gone but Not Forgotten

I told a friend of mine that I would rather meet Ted Koppel and Brian Williams than Neil Young, and he said I'm boring. Perhaps I am jaded about musicians and the music business but I've earned my jaundiced eye! However, I remember the days when I was an avid music collector, when I bought every magazine that had even a mere mention of Duran Duran or Robert Smith. I remember the year I read Jim Morrison's biography No One Here Gets Out Alive at least five times. There are even semi-recent experiences I had booking The Viper Room in West Hollywood that were noteworthy then and sound even more fascinating when sprinkled with nostalgia's fairy dust. The Viper Room, the club formerly owned by actor Johnny Depp, played host to The Pretenders, The Pussycat Dolls, Weezer, Afghan Whigs, Russell Crowe's band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, Hole and The Neurotic Outsiders to name but a few in the three and a half years I worked there. An evening at the office often consisted of hanging out with Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, Steve Jones, Ian Astbury, Benmont Tench, Rick Rubin or Vincent D'Onofrio. Weird, right? I'm sure it sounds more interesting than it actually was, if it even sounds interesting at all.

However, my time at The VR was a good barometer for how things had changed in terms of my musical excitement. I mentioned before how John Taylor from Duran Duran once sent me flowers. This was after I'd booked a solo residency for him at the club. I remember feeling disappointed that my 13-year old self couldn't have received them because she would have been much much more thrilled!

It would be fun to recapture those teenage feelings but I must confess: musicians, I have moved on! Now I'm married to one and I've spent 20 years in the music biz so yes, I might be boring for wanting to meet Ted Koppel but he is the new rock star for my mid-life self.

And I'm just fine with that.

I think.

In other news, my left heel should now be certified as a deadly weapon as it successfully smashed through a board at my TKD testing tonight. The tornado sirens were howling as I launched my axe kick and perhaps I was the only one amazed that the small square of wood splintered down the middle. It was a pretty rad feeling. Even better than, say, meeting Dave Grohl and watching him do beer bongs.

Droppin' names on drums,
Ms. P

ps. This is a picture of Devo being interviewed in Japan. I was excited to see them but possibly only because Danny Cash's enthusiasm was infectious!