A Long, Long Time Ago

I can still remember when that music used to make me smile. Last night/this morning marked the fiftieth anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of three young musicians and cemented into the culture of American music an ending that brought about an incredible rebirth. The impact and influence left by Richie Valens and especially Buddy Holly on that particular generation of musicians was incalculable. Where would the Mersey Beat sound be without the man from Lubbock, Texas? "That'll Be the Day" was the Beatles' first recorded single. The marriage of rockabilly with the blues, western swing, Top of the Hits pop and Holly's own talent helped push rock music out of the '50s teeny-bopper hell-raisin' toddling years into a wider berth of Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Roy Orbison, and early Motown, and that's just this side of the pond. Valens' singing in Spanish alone helped pave the way for artists a decade later like Santana. On that cold night, the tragic fate of Buddy Holly's plane, along with Elvis' induction into the Army and Chuck Berry's conviction of violating the Mann Act created the artistic vacuum to be filled by the popular and creative artists that did arise. While no one can know what any of the musicians would have gone on to do, their mythic ending only helped elevate rock and roll to a higher level of cool.

On a horrible note, I, along with countless thousands of others nationwide, were shut out of scoring Springsteen tickets yesterday. I experienced difficulty trying to find any sort of seats and then the site took twelve minutes to tell me that the only available seats were full-priced second deck and behind the stage. Of course, Ticketmaster conveniently told me that I could find overpriced seats on TicketsNow, its bounty hunter sister site. So many people complained that a Congressman from New Jersey is investigating as to whether or not Ticketmaster's actions violate fair business practices. Who knows? Maybe Congress will bail out TM as well. Until then, I'm in search of either a lower level or GA ticket. I won't pay above face and fees, though, as no one should.