From A 45 Record To Meeting A Rock Star

I still remember the first 45 I bought. I was 10 years old and my mother gave me a five dollar bill to buy a record at the local mall. Unsure of what to purchase, I asked my older sister - eight years my senior - for advice. Reading a book on a bench (looking back I don't think she wanted to be there), and completely disinterested in my eagerness, she said without looking up, "Hurts so good."

I shrugged my shoulders and walked into the record shop - Discus I believe it was - looked for 'Hurts so good' saw the name of John Cougar and bought it out of pure ignorance.

That record began my love affair with music.

Naturally, I still own the record - along with some 300 other ones. I'm still pretty ignorant.

***

John Mellencamp was always a part of our family musical legacy. Five years later, Mellencamp was at the peak of his popularity and during a tour in Montreal we managed to score Row A tickets thanks to my cousin. Little did we know destiny awaited us. We were five teenagers and one tweenager in all; me, a couple of buddies, my brother, my cousin and his girlfriend (now his wife).

We knew the lyrics to every one of the songs he played and eventually this caught the eye of his (now ex) wife. Next thing we know, a big burly bouncer grabs my brother and flings his 12 year old body onto the stage. He was standing next to Mike Wanchic and John Cougar Mellencamp. The instructions were simple: Sing 'Pink Houses.' And that he did before 20 000 fans. 

Later on, we were invited back stage and met the band including John Mellencamp. The great drummer Kenny Aronoff told my brother, "man, you kicked ass out there!"

It was a quick "hi", snap of the photos and "bye." What can teenagers possibly say to him anyway?

His wife took our address and promised to mail the pictures. True to their words they did like true, heartland Americans.

I still remember the envelope it came in addressed to my brother. What a memory.

This was before youtube and the internet so no footage exists of the night. Sometimes I think that's a good thing because it forces us to imagine - even if it doesn't capture every detail.

Pink Houses and Hurts So Good remain among my all-time favorite songs.