I posted Wednesday about 80s rockers Night Ranger still being one of my favorite bands. I thought I would share one of my not-so-impressive moments regarding them. I was lucky enough to meet these guys back in 1988. They were doing a charity gig in Modesto, CA and I was fortunate to win tickets to a meet & greet before the concert.
I was really jazzed & couldn't wait for my chance to talk to them and get their autographs. The guys were all really nice and pretty cute too.. Being that I was a (then) cute little 20 something, I got to spend extra time talking with each of them and taking photos. (I wish I could find them after all of these years, but I think they may have given up the ghost during all of my moves..)
Anyway, I was really excited when lead singer Jack Blades asked my opinion of the new album. I had been listening to the CD day & night so I felt that I could give him a pretty good appraisal. We chatted about it for a few minutes and then he asked me about one song in particular. I told him that it was not my favorite, in fact my least favorite on the disc but it was ok. He asked why & I explained that the words just didn't mesh with the tunes as well as some of the songs for me. He was so cool, thanked me for my honesty, and said that it was refreshing to get an frank opinion instead of just a bunch of trite comments. He gave me a hug and kissed my cheek (whoo hoo) and I moved on to talk to one of his band mates.
As we drove over to the concert venue, I looked over what the guys had written to me on my CD insert/cover. My euphoria took a very quick nosedive when I came to the list of tracks. By each song is the name(s) of the songwriter.
IMAGINE how I felt when I noticed that the song Jack Blades had asked me about was one written solely by him. I felt so BAD! I don't like to hurt people's feelings if I can help it at all! I wouldn't have been quite so brutally honest with my critique if I had known it was his sole creation. He was so gracious and sweet though, I was very impressed (and mortified after the fact). Maybe that is one of the many, many reasons I still enjoy the heck out of these guys after all these years.
YOU CAN STILL ROCK IN AMERICA!!!
Go here to learn more about this great Bay Area band.
That is SO something that would happen to me. Oh well, he asked, right? ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh gosh...don't we all have those moments we'd rather forget? How gracious he was to you; kindness itself. At least you got to meet the band and sounds like that's the best memory!
ReplyDeleteEven though it wasn't what he had been hoping to hear, I do believe he was sincere in wanting honesty.
ReplyDeleteIt IS actually a good memory, even if it does illustrate my "foot in mouth" tendancies!
You know what? I bet you were the person he actually remembers meeting and I'm sure he respected your opinion more than the others.
ReplyDeleteHonesty is refreshing, even if it isn't necessarily what you're hoping to hear.
But let me tell you, I've had those "open mouth, insert foot" moments too. LOL
)O(
boo