I only live to be born again…

As a 14 year old there was nothing better than being asked the question R.U. Ready 2 Rock? Because let’s face it “when I’m ready I’m ready.”

I know this song is probably really about bumping uglies, and still it’s about gyrating and gesticulating in the religious excesses of the whirling dervishness of hard rockin’ denim clad dudes from the USA.

All I ever wanted some day in my life was to hear the words screamed at me Atlanta Georgia R.U. Ready 2 Rock? Then for as long as possible I and my compadres would rock like there was no tomorrow. I never heard those words, but I did hear Portland Oregon R.U. Ready 2 Rock and yes I did.

Some Enchanted Evening was I think the very first live rock and roll album I ever heard and it is still to this day one of my all time favorites. It will make me bounce around the room like a young pup. This will invariably drive the dog, the grandchild and myself into uncontrollable fits of leaping and jumping and throwing of devil horns and everyone else in the house into uncontrollable fits of laughter. But damnation the Cult had a sense of humor, they were not afraid to laugh at themselves or others so I see this as a true adherence to the inspirational Oysters.

Let’s just be clear there is nothing more joyful than the well constructed live rock album. It is full of the scent of sweat and patchouli, or was that my teenage bedroom? I am not sure there. It should not outstay it’s welcome, it should have the hits and some deeper cuts and it should rock. It should be a celebration of the sweat and swaying and sashaying that a great rock and roll show has, we need these albums to remind us that rock and roll is not the on-line event it has become. It is a communal experience when band and audience become one in the existential moment of communion that singing and hollering and cheering and whistling and clapping and stomping and bumping into your neighbors and spilling warm beer from a plastic cup onto a sticky floor was and will be again. I feel it is important for us to remind ourselves and our children and our children children that listening to music does not happen on earbuds all the time.

(There is something wrong with a world when earbuds is a word that the spellchecker doesn’t correct)

Some Enchanted Evening has the benefit of being full of songs that can be sung along to by absolutely anyone. This is as they say the “nexus of the crises” for those you live with. I was never sure why it has two covers on it but if you are going to do covers the MC5 and the Animals are an excellent choice and then there is Godzilla, the biggest monster of a disaster movie song ever plus the hit what more do you ever need.

Since 1980 I have been rocking out to Some Enchanted Evening and loving the Cult of Blue Oysters. So what if they are not trendy anymore, so what of they have outrageous hair and flares and pastel shirts, so what I say to you. You write a song as BIG as Godzilla and you get to dress however you damn well want to.

Six unpublished posts deleted.

Five concerts have been refunded to me this year, this makes me sad. I am holding on to the Billy Bragg shows in the hope we can all get together next summer.