Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Fan Girling

 
 
     I was a little too young for Beatlemania, but I do have a memory of my parents watching the Ed Sullivan show and coverage of the concert at Shea Stadium.  I remember thinking why are all these girls so upset and screaming.


     "They are fans", my Mom explained, "they are just so happy to see their favorite band."  Crying, fainting, looking crazy?  I sure do get it now.....a short history of my Fan Girling.

   The initial blame must go to Tiger Beat Magazine.  I was obsessed with The Monkees.  With Micky Dolenz in particular.  I was entranced with reading about "what is Micky's fave type of girl"?  "What does Micky eat for breakfast?"


He was taped all over my walls and when he let his hair go naturally curly I just about lost my shit.  Immediately I started staring at my hair follicles, willing them to go curly.  One day my Mom and I were locked out of the house.  Since I was still little she said I'll open the basement window and slide you down and you can unlock us.  Oh hell no.  "I'll buy you the new Monkees album if you do."  I shot through that window like my pants were on fire.

   The next day my Mom kept her promise and I scored the newest album.


    Albums were a big deal.  It wasn't like we had a ton of money so we would save up our birthday money and go to Masters in the local strip mall.  Downstairs they had all the current top 40 singles up on a wall and you would pick that number and get your precious single.  You had to have a special thingy to convert the 45 to play on your turntable.  Obviously I was a little hyper organized even then.  I recently found my hot pink 45s carrier and my carefully labeled list.




     At a town festival recently, a local band was playing and I started walking toward the sound (kind of like walking to the light but in an audio, not death is coming way).  My husband said "you are like a moth to a flame when you hear live music".

   Ah, live music.........nothing like it.   And I have been so fortunate to have seen some great bands and to have met some musicians that have always inspired me. 

  My first concert was Sonny & Cher at the Nassau Coliseum. 

   
     I have no shame....I remember them as being awesome.  The hair, the clothes.  Cher was my first fan girl crush.  I was a little dismayed to learn I would never look anything like her.  I wanted crooked teeth, ultra straight black hair and legs for days. 

  During my teenage years I remember most vividly Fleetwood Mac in the mid 1970s.  Talk about a fan girl crush.  I went from Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves to Rhiannon very quickly. 


The band and music were so memorable but a couple of teenage activities are what I most remember.  First of all....they even checked bags back in the day.  My first friend went in smuggling cigarettes.  My second friend went in lugging some vodka.  Another friend had wine in a bag.  I was the last to enter and I got stopped.  I had a gallon of orange juice in my bag.

  The security guard looked at me and said you need to get rid of that.  My friends had scattered to the winds leaving me literally holding the bag.  "I have a cold" was my explanation.  Needless to say no mixer for the vodka.  We should have known better.  All I wanted to hear was "Landslide".  Unfortunately the vodka kicked in when my girlfriend and I were in the bathroom.  I remember running through the hallways in my designer jeans, high heeled clogs, full of vodka shouting "no!!!"  Like Stevie was going to hear me and let me get back to my seat.

   Fast forward....London...1979/1980.  During my first six months I had an internship with the New Musical Express (kind of like a UK Rolling Stone).  I still can't believe it but I went to some shows, met the bands...most before they hit it big in the US.  The Brits called it New Wave...I call it the most incredible time.  My fave haunt was The Marquee Club on Wardour Street.

 
     Some of the bands I saw were The Jam, The Specials, Squeeze and The Police.

     I loved the Jam and all of Paul Weller's incarnations.....saw him a few years ago in NYC.  But the young Paul Weller was something special and he is now considered one of the guitar Gods.  "Going Underground" was one of their big hits at that time.  I thought he was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my young life. 
 


        I was obsessed with The Who's Quadrophrenia and traveled alone to Brighton, England where the movie was filmed.  It was a blast visiting some of the places portrayed in the film.  No Mod riots or Sting as a Bellboy, but what a fun excursion.


     And Mr. Billy Idol.  Pre White Wedding and Rebel Yell.   Oh my we were all so young.......


     And for a bit...green hair & safety pins.  Sorry Mom.

     Again, due to life getting busy with adulting my concert going days were not as frequent.  I did see the Rolling Stones at Shea Stadium on my last day of being 29.  That place was shaking.

      I won tickets through I Heart Radio to see a band called Neon Trees about 8 years ago.  They were just starting to get popular and my friend and I were right up front getting sweated on by the lead singer and it brought back my London days.  And I'm a sucker for a black Mohawk! 


 Through work I was able to go to Las Vegas to work tradeshows.  Most times the tradeshow organizers had an opening concert and we saw some great acts.  One was Rod Stewart.  In true fan girl fashion, I wore my vintage Rod Stewart t shirt as a friend of a friend of a friend was able to get me backstage.  Rod signed my shirt and was very respectful of where he wrote.  And his hair is amazing in person!  Truly a nice man.

  Another friend of a friend had a friend called Ryan Star.  I knew of him through the reality show Rock Star Supernova where singers competed to be the new lead singer of Tommy Lee's new band.  Ryan was also a born and raised Long Island boy.  I was able to connect with him, give him so goodies from the company I worked for and a friend and I saw him at Webster Hall.

  I then got the ultimate fan girl email:  "Hey Patti, Ryan is opening for Bon Jovi in Vegas.  Want tickets and a backstage pass?"  F of course.  That whole day of the concert I was a wreck.  I went with my Vegas sister Gina (who's last name is Bongiovi....like third cousin or something).  In the middle of the dinner, I got the call.....come backstage now!   Gina, who is the best wing woman, and I threw the rest of the pasta down our throats, threw too much money at the waiter and ran off.  Now, if you know anything about the MGM Grand in Vegas, the 'grand' is no exaggeration.  But we made it and how much fun was it for Gina to show Ryan her drivers license to validate her genuine "Bon Jovi- Ness".  No Bon Jovi sighting....but it was the pinnacle of my fan girling to just be around the area where Jon Bon Jovi might be!


    Ryan then performed at a local country club for Autism research and I have to admit....to have the guest of honor come sit with you, take pictures with you and chat.....the other Long Island ladies were a little jealous.....ok  a lot jealous.


   My most recent fan girling has lasted the longest.  Ten years ago, again in Vegas for work, a couple of girlfriends and I were leaving dinner, a few bottles of wine in, and passed by a lounge at The Venetian Hotel.  For a minute we thought "oh my God, is that Bon Jovi singing?"  We stumbled to a corner table and I realized that the lead singer was wearing shoes that my company manufactured.

   Being a loud mouth New Yorker, during a break, I yelled at the singer "hey are you wearing Kenneth Cole shoes?"  "Why yes I am...and my sunglasses are Kenneth Cole and my bag is Kenneth Cole and my jacket is Kenneth Cole."

   "Get out of here I work for him, let me see if I can get you some shoes!!"

   Now according to the version told by my friend Peter, he thought "oh yeah, sure.  I've heard that before".  In my head I thought "he doesn't believe me so I'll show him."  The next night, I go back to the lounge with two shopping bags filled with shoes.  He went home and said to his wife, "that girl actually came back with shoes."  Well, I told you I would!



    We've been friends ever since and I now have the ultimate fan girl real life job.  I work on all his marketing and social media efforts and I've never had so much fun working before.  And gained an amazing friend in the process. 

    Fan girling has been good to me! 





3 comments:

  1. This is absolute gold :) I am a sister "fan girl", or as I'm proud to proclaim...I AM A GROUPIE!(So over the term having such negative connotations). Music moves me, it makes me move, and it has saved me more times than I can count. It's the blood in my veins, the breath in my lungs, the beat inside my heart. Thanks for being a loud and proud fan girl, a sister groupie, and for sharing this fabulous piece. If you're ever interested in writing with an amazing group of Vegas ladies, lead by one of the world's most famous fan girls, THE original groupie, Pamela Des Barres, let me know! She comes twice a year and it's always the best time!!! I think you'd enjoy!! Take care and keep playing it loud! \,,/

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  2. Awesome post, thank you for sharing!!! I read Pamela's book a way back, it was such a great read. I'm in Vegas all the time....thank you sister "fan girl"!!

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  3. I love this! And recognize some of these special moments! xx

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