Re: How I bit the bullet

["Jessi B." <candy_emma@sprynet.com>]

Ah, the eternal question; where do I begin?  I will warn you all, this is a
long one.

I always some how knew there was a band called The Who, I don't know why.  I
just remember thinking when I was about three that I'd like to have a rock
and roll band and name it The Who, but that I couldn't do that because there
was already a band named The Who.  Of course, I had no idea who they were.
    I have been involved in a community theater since I was about 10.  in
the summer of '93  I did a musical review called "Broadway Now."  All the
older kids had been talking about this new show, Tommy.  I didn't pay much
attention.  In the show we did a dance to "Pinball Wizard."  I remember this
because there were three groups in the dance, the beginners, the
intermidiate, and the advanced.  Now, my own mother tells me I have no
grace, so I was thrilled that I got in the middle group.  I went home and
told her that we were doing a dance to "Pinball Wizard" from Tommy, and she
proceeded to whip out her copy of Tommy, the LP.  She looked for the song
and we soon discovered that the two albums inside consisted of side one,
side three, side one and side three.  In other words, defective and had no
"Pinball Wizard."  We listened to the record any way, but it made no sence
to me.  After the show, I went out and got the Broadway sound track to
Tommy.  I listened to it once because the song "Uncle Ernie" scarred me.
    Jump ahead, summer of '94.  I have just seen the road show of Tommy at
Gammage Autotorium.  I liked it, but really didn't understand it.  Still,
the music was good and the special effects were awsome.  Soon after that, I
took a trip to New York.  Tommy was every where then.  To this day I have a
picture of a bus stop with a Tommy poster on it.  I managed to get some
flyers for Tommy and saved them to remember the trip.
    After we got back, I heard a commercial that the movie version of Tommy
was on.  So, I figured, what the hell, I've never seen it.  It should be
interesting.  By now I kind of had the chronology of Tommy figured out.  The
guy named Pete Townshend and his band had writen this rock opera in the
sixties.  Then it was made into a movie and just recently, a Broadway show.
So I watched the movie.  All I remember thinking was,"What the hell was
that?"  My mother walked in just in time to see the credits roll.  She stood
there watching the names on the screen and mummbling things like,"Oh, I
didn't know he was in this."
    After that, I began listening to my Tommy soundtrack again, liking the
music more and more.  I wached the movie a lot as well.  For some reason,
one night I asked my mother if the blond guy in the movie was in The Who.
She said she didn't know.  So, I did what any curious 11 year old with too
much time on her hands would do, I went to the library and looked them up.
I figured out all the band members' names and all the history of the band.
Slowly, my interest grew to obsession, buying more and more books and c.d.'s
and taping news paper articles about them on my walls.
    To end this tale, I shall say that my c.d.'s have spilled out of two
holders, my books no longer fit on the top shelf of my closet, and I will
never need wall paper because two out of four walls in my room are covered
with news paper articles.  I am now 15 (sixteen Jan. 25) and got to meet
Roger this summer.  I saw John when he came with Ringo, Roger when he came
with the BRS, and The Who in '96, which I can officially call the happiest
day of my life, so far.  And for a young fan who discovered that her
favorite band broke up the year she was born, it was great to see them in
'96 because I never thought I would see them in one place.  Well, I've gone
on long enough.  Ta
    -Jessi  =:o