Practical MIDI

My grandpa died at the ripe old age of 64 and when I look back at photos of him, he looked the part with the baggy pants, suspenders, thinning white hair and spectacles. I thought he was ancient. Yesterday, June 18, 2007, Paul McCartney turned 65 years old and it really made me think about how many rock stars from my teen years are still going strong in their twilight years. It also made me curious about whatever became of other rock icons of my youth. After a little web surfing and minimal research I came to the following conclusion: There’s nothing we can do about the passing of time and all of us, like our rock idols, will soon end up with baggy pants, suspenders, thinning white hair and spectacles whether we like it or not.

YouTube.com has become one of my favorite sites for looking up old, familiar faces and for taking me back to a time when all I ever cared about was becoming a rock star myself. The down side to this is that I also get a healthy dose of reality when I search for videos of some of my favorite musicians. While it may be nostalgic to see the twenty-somethings Peter and Gordon singing “World Without Love” on the 60s television shows, Shindig or Hullabaloo, you also have to be prepared to stumble across videos of these same guys, now in their sixties, doing the same song. Be prepared for a shock.

I did find a video of Peter and Gordon singing “World Without Love” that they made within the past year. Now I wish I’d never seen it. The memory I had of the youthful Peter Asher with his horn-rimmed Buddy Holly glasses, mop of shaggy red hair, cherubic smile and boyish good looks has now been forever replaced with the image of my grandpa with a guitar. All that was missing from that video was an oxygen tube wrapped around his head and going up his nose. Gordon Waller didn’t look much better. I think I saw a walker parked just offstage.

Not being one to have learned my lesson with that shocking experience, I searched for videos of The Dave Clark Five. Sure enough, there they were with their black, Cuban-heel boots, tight white pants, yachting jackets and turtleneck shirts playing “Glad All Over” and “Bits And Pieces.” Lead singer Mike Smith (who also played the organ) looked fab. But I couldn’t leave well enough alone. No, I had to keep searching only to find out that at age 60 Mike Smith had been injured in a falling accident in his home. He’s now permanently paralyzed from the waste down and without the use of either arm. The picture of his face showed more than his 64 years. He looked closer to 80.

That was the last straw. I couldn’t lookup any more old rock stars. I decided to just imagine what had become of them as they aged and moved on, out of the spotlight. I already knew about the fates of John Lennon and George Harrison so that was no surprise. I like to think, for example, that maybe The Hollies are now either selling aluminum siding, or perhaps have taken up golf in some retirement community. Maybe The Turtles are off somewhere still happy together as a lawn maintenance crew in Florida. I like to think that Bobby Goldsboro is rocking in his chair reminiscing about his first experience with love.

A word of advice to those seeking to grab a piece of their past off the web—leave well enough alone and keep your memories in tact. To me, with the memories I have, Buddy Holly will not fade away.

©2007 Bill Bernico for CYBERMIDI.com Downwind Publications