Karen Booth
This is a re-post of Celia Rivenbark’s hilarious Rock ‘n’ Roll High School post from last spring. Since then, her incredible 6th book, “You Don’t Swear Much For a Fat Girl” has come out and rocked the NYT Bestseller list. She will be doing a reading and signing this Saturday, September 24th at 11AM at McIntyre’s Books at Fearrington Village between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro. If you’ve never been to one of her readings and like to laugh, you best get your behind there and do it on the early side. The place will be packed.
Celia Rivenbark
Wallace-Rose Hill High School, Duplin County, NC, Class of ’74, Currently: Syndicated humor columnist and author of six books including “Bless Your Heart, Tramp,” “We’re Just Like You, Only Prettier,” and “You Can’t Drink All Day if you Don’t Start in the Morning.”
Band that reminds me of high school: Derek & the Dominos/Layla. I bought the album for fifty cents from the cutest boy in high school because he was starving and wanted to buy two ice cream sandwiches. I had wanted the album forever but it was too pricey for me. Paul Dixon, wherever you are, thanks for a sweet deal for us both. Best. Album. Ever. Honorable mention: Traffic’s Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys. Delicious. Still listen to it at least once a week when I’m ridin’ around.
Favorite music memorabilia: I had a black and orange glow-in-the dark poster of Janis Joplin. It was oversized and dominated the space over my bed for my entire high school years. I didn’t have a black light but imagined it would’ve looked even more awesome if I’d had one. Second favorite: A poster of Richard Nixon smoking a huge joint. He had bloodshot eyes and it said “Peace with honor” underneath. My parents were liberals so they loved both of these posters, btw.
Band I hated that others loved: That’s easy; Bread. When I first heard “Baby I’m A Want You,” I vomited. WTF does “I’m-A” mean? Nobody talks like that. My friends thought Bread was a soulful band. I thought they were a-holes.
Best concert during high school: Humble Pie and King Crimson, Dorton Arena, Raleigh, N.C, circa 1970. Unbelievable. My boyfriend at the time conned his dad into taking about eight of us in his big-ass station wagon. A few in the party dropped some microdot in the bathroom as soon as we got there. I heard this made the concert more intense but I would have no personal knowledge of that of course. My ears rang for weeks and I couldn’t have been happier.
Best makeout song: Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride.” Epic is all I can say about that.
Visit Celia’s website at celiarivenbark.com.
I’m happy to share very good (SQUEE) writing news today. My amazing, stupendous, superstar critique partner, Karen Stivali’s, first published novella, “Always You” comes out today. “Always You” is a great story about the value of being friends before you fall in love and discovering that the person you’re meant to be with is sometimes right under your nose. Karen is an incredible writer, which is the reason I am her critique partner (aside from the fact that we share a brain, but that’s a different blog post), and “Always You” delivers on every level. It’s funny and sweet and steamy, the perfect read for a long weekend, which coincidentally happens to be upon us right now. I can’t say this loudly enough–I urge you to BUY IT. You will not be disappointed.
This is by no means the last you will hear of Karen–she has been on a literary tear lately, signing four publishing contracts in the last few months. Her debut novel, “Meant To Be”, will be released next year and the sequel has already been contracted. The fourth contract is for a short novel that she and I co-authored, but I can’t share that good news until all of the paperwork is complete. I assure you that I will be sharing the hell out of that good news when I’m able.
Visit Karen’s website at karenstivali.com.
Looking at music through the lens of youth is a funny thing. Whatever you liked can make you seem like a goof or a genius, depending on the band, and a lot of that comes down to sheer luck. Like everything that may or may not have gone your way as a kid, you can blame it on your parents if you want. My parents played me The Beatles and The Stones and Cheap Trick when I was a kid and I loved it all. Very cool. But then my Dad went and bought me the Shaun Cassidy record I wanted for my birthday. Clearly, he had no regard for what I might be training my ears to like. He didn’t stop there, buying the Rick Springfield album for me the following year. Yep, he allowed me to go right off the rails. In his defense, he was being a good dad. In my defense, there were hormones at play. And yes, before some of you cry foul, I still heart Rick and “Love Is Alright Tonight” is on my iPod. Cool? Probably not. Did I love it? Hell, yes.
David Menconi
Cherry Creek High School, Denver, CO, Class of 1979, Currently: music critic/arts reporter for the News & Observer in Raleigh, NC (at least until the next round of downsizing).
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: Eagles, “New Kid in Town.” After freshman year, my family moved from Texas to Denver in the summer of 1976; and it seemed as if every radio station up there had “Hotel California” in constant rotation (seriously, it’s like they were all playing the same eight-track tape over and over). I went from a small high school of a few hundred students to a gigantic one with more than 3,000, and I don’t think I ever got over that new-kid feeling. Hearing this always makes me feel like I’m 15 and scared and walking into the cafeteria. Anything by Boston would be a close second, followed by “Frampton Comes Alive”; also the Moody Blues, just cuz I listened to them a lot back then (hearing them now always reminds me of driving up to the mountains for day skiing).
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: Well, there was the obligatory Farah Fawcett poster every adolescent boy in America had circa 1976, but that’s not music. Probably a Bad Company T-shirt, although I never saw them live (then or now). I just liked the shirt.
Band you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Regrettably, I had a serious jones back then for wimpy singer/songwriters (er, Dan Fogelberg — *blush*). So I didn’t much dig hard rock in high school. Once I was in college, I got over that in a hurry. But I had very little use for anything loud, including the Aerosmiths and Led Zeppelins of the world; both of which I love now. Father forgive me, for I was deeply, deeply clueless during my high-school years.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: Hard to say because I didn’t really go to that many shows until college. First “concert” I ever saw was the Cowsills at a car show when I was 10 years old, and my parents took me to the Carpenters about 2-3 years later. First show I went to sans parents was Rolling Stones in Boulder during high school, but I was appallingly nerdy/clean-cut and it was too freaky a scene for me to really enjoy it. Oddly enough, the show that stands out the most from that period was Bill Cosby in about 1978-79. Pretty hilarious, and I find myself busting out some of his routines about “brain-damaged children” on my own kids.
Optional bonus question: Best high school make-out song: Aerosmith, “Dream On.” Not that I ever actually made out to it; but from middle-school on, every cotillion, prom, party or whatever else I went to always had this as The Obligatory Slow Song. To any & every girl who had to suffer through my awkward dance “moves”: I’m sorry.
David Menconi is the author of the novel Off the Record. You can learn more about him at davidmenconi.com.
I just scored my tickets to see Duran Duran in Washington, DC on October 16th and I feel like I’m about to leap out of my skin. I’ve admittedly been on a bit of a DD kick for the last year or so, mostly due to the new record, which I LOVE. I haven’t LOVED a DD record since “Rio”. Parts of “Seven and the Ragged Tiger” are great and I’ve liked something from every record since, but I adore the new one. Just ask my kids. It’s all we listen to in the car. So, yes, it would have been easy to pick “Hungry Like the Wolf” or one of my favorites like “Nightboat”, but I thought it best to celebrate the present.
Duran Duran “All You Need Is Now”
This month marks one year of my blog. One of the best parts of doing the Rock ‘n’ Roll High School series has been discovering universal American teenage truths. Here’s one: guys are torn when it comes to Rush. They’re either unwilling to admit they liked them or they openly bemoan what their appreciation of Rush did to their social life (again, we come back to Rush as the so-called male chastity belt). They might say the band had a profound influence on them, but it always comes with a caveat, usually something about how girls and sex and Rush don’t mix. I have yet to hear from someone who says, “I loved Rush, they were my favorite band, everybody thought I was cool and my girlfriend and I made out while we listened to “Limelight” as much as I wanted.” Nope. Pretty sure that guy does not exist (although Lord knows if he does, I will hear from him). Girls had it easy. There were never any expectations of us liking Rush. If one of us did, well, good for her. Even today, when I can appreciate the reason Rush were/are so popular, I find myself rolling my eyes when my son wants to listen to “Tom Sawyer” in the car. I’m thinking, “Boys and their Rush.”
Greg Di Gesu
De Paul High School, Wayne NJ, Class of ’83, Currently: Urban gardener, audio engineer, & performing songwriter, www.gregsounds.com & www.gregd.bandcamp.com
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: Billy Joel’s “Prelude/Angry Young Man”. At the pep rallies in our small high school gym (a Catholic school, take note), the cheerleaders used to do their routine to the long instrumental introduction. I always found it strange yet strangely appealing. That song brings me back to those moments. Go Spartans!
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: Oh man, absolutely hands down my Bad Company mirror that I won down the Jersey Shore at the Seaside Heights boardwalk, tossing rings around bottles or something like that. I was in good form that day. Must’ve been on a church trip, I’d say about 13 years old, totally horny, hell bent on music, and had to win that sweet mirror. And I did.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Rush. I was into Yes and King Crimson for my progressive rock experience. A little more intellectual & less mainstream than Rush. I thought they played real good and all; dug a couple of their radio hits, and……ok, wait Greg, stop right there!! “Tell the truth”, says Greg’s Inner Voice. ‘Noooo, don’t talk back to me’, says Greg. “Greg, just tell Karen and the readers the truth”, whispers Greg’s Inner Voice. ‘Ok, Karen and the readers, please sit down’.
There was a talent show at my high school and during junior year my band Pressure won! (pre-Billy Joel song, mind you, obviously we were on the cutting edge in taking that name). We even had a couple of originals, namely “Luellen” & “Sunday Afternoon”. Pressure won the talent show with a trophy for each band member to prove it along with headnods in the hallways. We were on our way to another win a year later in the school’s Battle of the Bands, or so we thought, until a fellow classmate’s Rush cover-band stepped in as our main competition. We were a non-Rush cover-band and the kings of the Roller Rink over in Bloomingdale, NJ (We got paid a buck for every kid that showed up after the first 50..that’s more than I make playing music today!!). We played parties, battle of the bands, even a “special needs” home where one of the residents danced and screamed “Elvis! Elvis! at our bass player, while we tackled our repertoire from The Clash to Cream to Donnie Iris and The Cruisers. No Elvis covers. We were good kids and we happened to rock. This would be around 1982-1983, the absolute height of Pressure-mania that was sweeping across Passaic County and nearly spreading into Bergen County, but not quite. In the end our performance did not yield another victory. The Rush cover-band won. To this day I love Yes and King Crimson.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: I’m gonna have to go with a tie for first here and also thank the U.S. Army. My brother Gary was a cadet at West Point and at this time I was 14. He took me to see my 2 first shows ever. On separate occasions I saw Gorge Carlin & Harry Chapin! Got Harry’s autograph and still do. I learned Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television”, along with the rest of the world. They were both great shows. My oldest brother Jon took me to my first big show at the Brendan Byrne Arena. The Police with Black Uhuru opening on the “Ghost in the Machine” tour in 1982, awesome!!
Optional bonus question: Best high school make-out song: Well, I was a pretty good kid in high school. I was an athlete and academically aligned. Until, however, John Lennon was killed. Then I was a high school junior teaching myself guitar a few months away from my first song. No sex, drugs, or rock ‘n’ roll just yet. I was responsible! I waited ’til college. My virginity wasn’t released until I was 19!! I say it loud and proud. Good Italian-Catholic upbringing with family military discipline underneath. I was a bit ‘moralized’ by the Catholic Church and anti-abortion in my stance back then, which cultivated an early abstinence in the disciplined athletico-militarily-Italianized-Pasta e fagioli boy that I was. It wasn’t until my progress as a human that led to my feminism (BIG gender-equal thank you to all the women who brought me to protest for reproductive rights in the 80’s on Capitol Hill!). And yes I’m an Ani DiFranco fan and yes I do cry to Joni Mitchell records.
But I digress . . . When I was “dating” my 1st reverend’s daughter, there were some great 80’s hits that served as the soundtrack to life. My then girlfriend, who was older by a couple of years and pursuing a nursing career, babysat for Merryl Streep, who happened to live behind her nursing school in Montclair, NJ. I would drive over to pick her up and also pick through the esteemed actress’ garbage; lots of pasta! For some reason, maybe due to the popularity of this song at that time, the Dexy’s Midnite Runners’ hit, “Come On Eileen” always reminded me of the times I would be with her, how we would make-out and I would only ever get to 2nd base. 3rd?! forget about it! I was no Ricky Henderson, just a homework-doing, Church-going, sports-playing, river-fishing, lawn-cutting, suburban kid. It wasn’t until “my 2nd reverend’s daughter” did I get to 3rd, as well as steal home & a heart, but that’s a different website altogether.
Greg will be performing in a “reunion” show with his band of many years ago, The Wooden Soldiers, who along with Spiral Jetty were part of a very fertile music scene in New Brunswick, NJ during the mid to late 1980’s. Otherwise, you can catch him solo or with his band, Sounds of Greg D www.gregsounds.com
Friday August 12th@Littlefield,622 Degraw St., Brooklyn, NY, Tickets at www.littlefieldnyc.com
