From the ages of 18 to 25, I spent several nights a week in live music clubs in the Boston area. Don’t get the wrong idea, I wasn’t in a band or dating a band member; I was just a fan. Going to the clubs transformed a shy, small-town bookworm into a broad-minded and outgoing music lover, and I have my friends, Eric and Jane, to thank for that. The three of us would go out together, and Eric (who at that time was shy too) would convince me to go talk to the band members (he would come over and join in the conversation after it was underway). The first few times I was nervous, but then I really started to enjoy myself. And the music!! Wow! The scene was hopping at that time; disco was dead, and rock and roll was booming!
I have some great memories from those years. I’m not close friends with the musicians I will write about here, but their music and my interactions with them played a huge part in who I am today. My experiences with them and their music are a backdrop for my life. Telling my stories is a tribute to them.
And it didn’t stop there for me. From ages of 25 to 40 I worked a second job at several different larger concert venues. I met my husband working concerts. It was many years after I quit that job before the music stopped constantly playing in my head even as I slept; I had an endless earworm!
So I decided to do this. For some letters of the alphabet I may have more than one story to tell; for other letters I may need to go to a more national level, but they will always be my stories. (For a great reference on the singles produced by these bands, click here.)
Coming up, the first post on this topic will be about The Atlantics. Stay tuned.
Sued51's Blog 
[…] finishing my “Fan’s History” series, I have been thinking hard about what to tackle next: an alphabet of favorite authors…an […]
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[…] early to get a spot at the stage (that’s how I got some of the pictures I have posted in my Fan’s History series). Sometimes we would be standing there for over an hour before the show, taking turns going to get […]
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[…] Back when I was posting my alphabet of Boston Bands, I mentioned my closest friends at the time, Jan… Unfortunately for Jane and Eric, they were both present for my close call, which was actually a series of three close calls (you know how things come in “three’s”…these three incidents happened within a two-week span). The first one was the scariest, the last one was the closest. […]
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[…] I have written a lot about my club-hopping days and only begun to write about the 15 years I worked at concert venues. While I was working concerts I was also working full-time. During 5 years of that time, I was also going to college at night getting my MA. The concerts were my social life, and the music helped me keep my sanity. Although when I finally stopped working concerts to concentrate on “real life,” it took years for music to stop playing constantly in my head, even when I was asleep. The feeling of having a constant soundtrack inspired me to write this poem: […]
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[…] and rolls shows were a big part of my younger years. Visit my other blog to read about some of the bands I followed in my 20s…what a great time for music in […]
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