I took the chords and melody from Johnny Nash and made my own little Retirement Diddy. Sing Along.
I spent 4 years in Puerto Rico. I was 10 years old when we arrived in the summer of 1972 and 14 years old when we left in the summer of 1976. During that time, my brothers and I were active in many different sporting activities. Stay with me now, I’m getting to the Album of the Month.
One of those sporting activities in early summer 1974 was a Biddy Basketball League in which my younger three brothers played in. I helped out my Dad as an assistant coach. At the end of the basketball season, all the participants received a trophy and, for reasons I never understood, received a vinyl record album from various rock and pop music groups at the time. Years later, I assumed these were leftover stock from some local store who wanted to dump the unsold merchandise, but after finding out that Second Helping was declared GOLD in September 1974, I’m thinking handing out these albums for free helped reach that status.
One of my brothers received a Flo and Eddie album called The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie (released September 1972) and the other received Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s Second Helping. I commandeered both albums from my brothers not because I was aware of Lynyrd Skynyrd, but because they were not into music like I was. I already had a growing record collection and one or two more additions was alright with me. Who would’ve thought that so many great songs were on this album and would become staples in their live show.
Second Helping was the band’s second album released in April 1974 and reached #12 on the Billboard charts. It was certified GOLD in September 1974. I had never heard any of the songs but I liked them. Boy was I surprised to see that Sweet Home Alabama was a hit and I had the album. My favorite song off the album is Call Me the Breeze, which was not actually written by the band. It was written by J.J. Cale.
I still have the original album in my collection. Sadly, I no longer have the Flo and Eddie album but I do remember listening to it and enjoying its quirkiness. For bringing back great memories of Puerto Rico and family sporting activities, I chose Second Helping by Lynyrd Skynyrd to be this months Album of the Month.
I was photographing my toys long before photographing toys was a thing on Instagram. Really. I was photographing my 12 inch G.I. Joes way back in the 90s. I photographed my action figures as well. I continue to collect and photograph toys when I rotate my hobbies. So I’d like to share some of the old and new photos.
I have a number of hobbies and many are from before I retired on December 31, 2023. Things like toy photography, toy collecting, comic book collecting, vinyl collecting and LEGO building kept me entertained. I rotated between these and a couple of other things including my music making.
Now that I’m retired I’ve taken up two new hobbies, fishing (at the request of grandsons) and scale model building. The fishing hobby I’ve already discussed in a post, go look through previous posts if interested, but I’ve not commented on the scale model building.
As a kid, I’ve always enjoyed building scale models. I can remember being in 2nd or 3rd grade and putting together models of the Gemini space capsule and the space walk. Both of these during the 1960s.
Jumping to 7th grade, 1977, I started building military models. Monogram‘s Patton Tank and Armored Half-Track are two models I distinctly remember building and then setting on fire to enact a battle. One other model I remember building during the time was a huge F16 Jet. Sadly, with all these models, I never had the paints to properly complete them. Whatever the model came molded in was how they ended up.
Move forward to 1982, while a junior in college, I got the modeling bug again and completed a couple of Star Wars models that were popular at the time, C3PO and R2D2. I have no idea what happened to these models. They were, at one time, prominently displayed on top of an entertainment center. Once again I did not have the proper paints to finish the models off but these were at least molded in the proper colors.
Jump to present 2024 and I decided to take up modeling again in retirement. I started my foray back into he hobby with a Polar Lights Captain America model that I had received 5 years earlier for Father’s Day. I am a Captain America fanboy and so my son and grandson gifted me this model to add to my Captain America collection (post of this coming soon). This time around I have the financial resources to buy the paints and the airbrush kit and modeling accessories to properly build models.
After the Captain America model I dove into a simple Polar Lights Green Hornet Black Beauty car model. A 1/32 scale model that turned out ok. I’m not happy with my airbrushing abilities as I’ve never used one before. So its a fun learning experience. I also don’t like the 1/32 scale model, too small for my liking.
I am currently working on Speed Racer’s Mach 5 car. I’m almost finished with it. I am still learning how to use the airbrush though so I’m not happy with the paint job at the moment.
I enjoy the time spent building the models. I take my time. I think the only thing I don’t like is cleaning my airbrush after painting. That is a pain in the ass. I have a whole stack of models to build over the next 12 months. Some easy, some more challenging. I look forward to continuing this hobby as well as fishing, making music, toy photography and building LEGOs.
As I’ve said before, there were only two punk bands that I listened back in the Jurassic Era (1979-1982 for you kids). The Sex Pistols and The Damned. Damned, Damned, Damned was The Damned‘s first album, released in 1977 during the middle of the Punk Rock explosion. We were a little bit slow on the uptake in Fort Hood Texas. The album was produced by Nick Lowe which explains why the production is very radio friendly, in my opinion.
I learned about The Damned from my best friend’s (Bill) little brother Jim. Jim and my brother, Tony, were best buddies and were into all things punk at the time. I believe Jim may still be. I would guess Jim purchased the cassette a couple of years after its 1977 release. I recall we were having a gathering (one of many) of the neighborhood hoodlums (self proclaimed The Biloxi Bunch because we lived off of Biloxi Circle on Fort Hood) out in some secluded spot on Fort Hood. There were many secluded places to park and party on Fort Hood.
We were listening to music and Jim played The Damned‘s cassette tape on someone’s car radio, possibly mine as I had installed an under-dash cassette player with two 10 inch Jensen speakers in my 1980 Chevy Monza (Maroon colored and my baby). The song “Stab Your Back” came on and Jim and my brother proceeded to jump around stabbing themselves and anyone near them in the back with imaginary knives. Yes, alcohol was involved in all these underage gatherings, usually provided by me because I had turned 18 years old, the legal drinking age in Texas in 1980. It was a hilarious exhibition and soon every kid out in that secluded field, lit by car headlights, was jumping up and down trying to stab each other in the back, Shaking my head.
As I listen to the album (I have the 2017 reissue 40th anniversary and the CD) and write this post, the songs on this album could be played on the radio today with no issues. Similar to The Sex Pistols album, it is a melodic punk album with catchy songs, but still having a few fast paced pogo jumping songs, like “Stab Your Back“. My favorite song from the album is “Neat Neat Neat“, a great sing along song. “Feel The Pain” sounds like it came straight off an early Alice Cooper album.
A great first (official) album from a seminal punk group that brought back memories of those field parties out in the middle of nowhere with my best friend, my brothers, and their friends. For all the great memories this album brought up I chose it for this month’s Album of the Month, Damned Damned Damned by The Damned.
I’ve recently taken up fishing. I haven’t fished since I was a kid and really never got that interested in it, until now. One of my grandkids has gotten the fishing bug and he is a fanatic. He would finish 24/7 if he could. So, based on his enthusiasm, I bought a rod and reel and now enjoy fishing.
However, as I have learned in the past two months, I will not fish if the weather temperature is above 90 degrees. My first fishing attempt in July, in Mississippi, was on a day where the temps hit 97 degrees. It was hot and miserable. My second and third fishing attempts were also in the mid 90 degrees temp. Although I did catch my first fish on the third excursion, it was miserably hot and I swore off fishing above 90 degrees.
Now for my fourth fishing excursion this past weekend the temps were mid 80s. So myself, a friend from work (I got into fishing) and my two grandkids went out on Saturday for 3 hours to try our hand.
Below is a video of that adventure and also a short one from Sunday where me and the older grandson went out for another 2 1/2 hours to try again. Both days we did not catch anything.
Growing up, I wasn’t a fan of Punk Rock. I had read about a number of Punk bands in CREEM magazine. CREEM seemed to cover more punk than mainstream bands at the time, and so I knew who the Sex Pistols were but wasn’t really interested in Punk.
Somehow I got around to hearing the Sex Pistol‘s studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, and I liked the songs. The U.S. version of the album was released in November 1977 and I bought the vinyl album that, sadly, I no longer have. I recently bought a 2014 re-release that came with a digital download because I never obtained the CD version.
As I write this, I am listening to the album and thinking, this sounds like regular Rock music, but back in the mid 1970s it was raw, in your face, full of curse words and snot. I was into more refined music at the time, KISS, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest. Now I listen to later Judas Priest albums (Screaming for Vengeance for instance) and the beat is twice as fast as the Sex Pistols songs had. I guess groups like Blink 182 and Green Day have made “Punk” mainstream and part of the normal Rock landscape now.
The whole Bollocks album is great head bobbing music but I have a couple of favorite songs –
Holiday in the Sun has to be top of the list. The beat and riff are great and I actually learned this song on the guitar but never played it live anywhere.
Of course God Save the Queen is considered a classic now. It was catchy and thumbed their nose at British royalty. Great beat and catchy lyrics.
Although Punk Rock was not something I listened to in teens, I did make an exception for two bands – the Sex Pistols and The Damned. I’ll have to do a future Album of the Month on The Damned‘s album. That album has some memories tied to it.
So for being my first foray into Punk Rock I chose Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols by the Sex Pistols for Album of the Month.
Some of these I could still see in concert as they are touring still but most have called it quits.
I remember where I was when I heard that John Bonham had passed away in 1980. Living in Puerto Rico from 1972-1976 made the opportunity to see Led Zeppelin, as well as a number of the other bands in this list, as zero. When we moved to Texas in the summer of 1976 the opportunity became possible. However Led Zeppelin never came to Austin (that I can remember) and that was the closest city to where I lived. I remember seeing the ad for them coming to Dallas in the newspaper but I couldn’t drive to Dallas by myself (still in high school) and my parents were not going to make the 3 hour drive for me to see them.
Another band that never really came close enough for me to go see. I would’ve loved to have seen the original Queen with Freddie Mercury, but the opportunity never arose.
I had a chance to go see these guys (the Sammy Hagar era) in downtown Dallas. They put on a free concert and there were thousands that showed up. The newest remastered release of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge contains a Blu-ray of this concert. I was living in Dallas, 1992 I think it was, but we had a 2 year old son and so that put the kibosh on attending. Otherwise, I don’t remember ever getting the chance to see them during high school or college. This was all pre-internet days so you had to rely on the local newspaper for information and we did not live in a big city.
They have called it quits, I believe. I had some chances living here in Dallas but never went through with getting tickets. I regret that now.
I’m sure they have come through Dallas but once we started having kids, attending concerts was not high on our priority list. They are on tour this fall so maybe they will swing through Dallas.
I missed them when they came through Dallas last time. They are on tour again in Europe so I hope I can go see them this year or early next year when they come over to the U.S. I think the last time they came through Dallas they played an outdoor venue during the hottest time of the year – August – here in Dallas. I no longer have the stamina to attend a 100 degree concert. We’ve missed many concerts this year because all the bands that have come through Dallas play at this outdoor venue during August.
Would’ve been great to see them in their heyday. They did release an album within the last couple of years but their tour is small and mostly in the Midwest. They are currently in Japan where they continue to have a huge following. Maybe they will make their way to Dallas.
Seeing them in their heyday would’ve been a treat. They are still a band but their tours are mostly in California and the Midwest. Maybe they will make it to Dallas soon.
These guys, or I should say Tom Scholtz, put out an album every 10 years it seems. The last album was 2013 and the last tour was 2017. I’d say the chance of seeing them is nil. But never say never. Seems about time for a reunion/farewell tour.
These guys are still kicking and I missed them the last time they came through Dallas. They just put out a new album that I bought. As of this posting they are currently on tour in the Midwest playing state fairs and casinos. It looks like they are sharing the bill with Cheap Trick as well. THAT would be a great concert to see. I hope they make their way to Dallas.
My first introduction to KISS came through a CREEM magazine article entitled “I dreamed I was Onstage with KISS in my Maidenform Bra” by Jaan Uhelszki. I was mesmerized by the pictures. Who the hell were these guys. Months later I found and bought my first KISS album, “Dressed to Kill”. It was their third album. I had not heard their music until that point. I loved the album. The lyrics were what every teenage boy was thinking about – sex.
Fast forward and now I knew that KISS had released two albums before Dressed to Kill. They were KISS and Hotter Than Hell. I bought them of course. So why is KISS’s first album this month’s Album of the Month? It was recorded in 1973 and released in February 1974, I didn’t get it until 1975.
When my buddy Dennis and I started our first band (see Life as a Band Member series), one of the first songs I learned and played in front of strangers was Strutter. Strutter is off the album KISS. We played it during a Battle of the Bands competition in which we came in third place out of three bands competing. Looking back now, it was a simple enough song and we played it well as a band. Thinking to those days and that Battle of the Bands brings back fond memories of best friends Dennis, Bill O., Bill L., and Howard. We had so much fun hanging out and practicing.
KISS has many more songs on it (half the album) that continue to be played live (or did until their retirement in 2023). Deuce, Cold Gin, Firehouse, 100,000 Years and Black Diamond all are staples in KISS’s live set.
For bringing back those memories of the Music Center, Battle of the Bands and my time spent with Dennis, Bill O., Bill L., and Howard I chose KISS by KISS as this month’s Album of the Month.
This is Part 2 of my list of concerts I have attended through my life. For Part 1 click HERE. Part 1 was up through 1984 when I graduated from college and moved to Dallas. Part 2 is 1985 to present. Consider this a journal entry to capture my life data for posterity.
The bands are listed with the opening band(s) (if there were any) first. The concerts with a “*” next to it signifies I still have the concert ticket.
1987
11/23/1987 Pink Floyd – Reunion Arena (Dallas TX)
1993
6/7/1993 Jeff Healey Band / Leon Russell / Little Feat – Starplex (Dallas TX)
1996
7/7/1996 KISS – Alamo Dome (San Antonio TX)*
11/10/1996 KISS – Reunion Arena (Dallas TX)
2000
7/11/2000 Anthrax / Megadeth / Motley Crue – Starplex (Dallas TX)*
4/6/2000 Skid Row / Ted Nugent / KISS – Pensacola Civic Center (Pensacola FL)
7/28/2000 Slaughter / Dokken / Cinderella / Poison – Starplex (Dallas TX)
2002
9/24/2002 Collective Soul / Creed – Gexa Energy Pavilion (Starplex) (Dallas TX)
2003
Big Iron / King’s X – 11/20/2003 The Live Room (Dallas TX)*
2007
The Police – 6/27/2007 American Airlines Center (Dallas TX)*
2009
The Answer / AC/DC – 11/2/2009 American Airlines Center (Dallas TX)
2011
Peter Gabriel – 6/15/2011 Verizon Theatre (Grand Prairie TX)
Black Label Society / Thin Lizzy / Judas Priest – 10/16/2011 Allen Event Center (Allen TX)
2012
Gretchen Wilson / 3 Doors Down / ZZ Top – 6/24/2012 Gexa Energy Pavilion (Starplex) (Dallas TX)
2018
Peter Frampton / Steve Miller Band – 7/27/2018 Allen Event Center (Allen TX)
Alice Cooper – 10/16/2018 The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory (Irving TX)
Tommy Tutone / Greg Kinh / Loverboy / Rick Springfield – 11/13/2018 Verizon Theater (Grand Prairie TX)
2019
KISS – 2/20/2019 American Airlines Center (Dallas TX)
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