Memories at the Lethbridge Sportsplex

The Canada Games Sportsplex in Lethbridge holds many memories for me.

Source: Facebook/Lethbridge Historical Society

(May be subject to copyright)

A couple days ago I saw a notice that the Lethbridge Sportsplex is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The name was changed long ago to the Enmax Centre, but the building still holds a lot of memories.

Those range from watching sports and special events to even getting down on the floor and playing myself – for a moment in time.

Build it and they will come
My Mom told me the Sportsplex was built for the Canada Winter Games, which Lethbridge hosted in 1975. It had this weird orange mascot, that was on key chains, posters, and so much more, and I even recall seeing it in the Whoop-Up Days Parade.

She also told me that a speed skating track, or oval, was built for the games. That would end up being dismantled and replaced by a field that hosted a lot of high school football games.

Officially, the Sportsplex opened in September of 1974, well ahead of the start of the Canada Winter Games, and was a state of the art venue to host all sorts of events.

It’s hockey night
The first time I was ever in the Sportsplex that I recall was to see the Lethbridge Broncos play the Victoria Cougars. I was quite excited because the Cougars had this goaltending phenom named Grant Fuhr, who would go on to become one of the best in history. Much to my chagrine, he did not play that night, replaced by his back-up Kevin Eastman.

We went to a game or two a year for awhile there. I do remember the Broncos playing the Regina Pats and the fans behind us heckling Jock Callander, mocking his first name. They played the Medicine Hat Tigers and we saw them more than once. One time I saw the speedy Steve Tsujiura, who I later discovered is from my hometown of Coaldale. Another time fans had hung posters mocking two of the Tigers. For goalie Kelly Hrudey the sign said, “Having Kelly Hrudey is like playing with the net empty”. For scorer Ken Solheim, the sign said, “Having Ken Solheim is like playing a man short.”

We also saw them play the Calgary Wranglers and I think the Seattle Breakers, and some others.

I recall seeing a lot of players on the Broncos too, such as Duane, Brent, Rich and Ron Sutter; Marty Ruff; Mike and Randy Moller; Gord Williams; Doug Morrison; Cleo Rowein; Greg Dumba; Ken Wregget; Mark Tinordi; Ivan Krook; Ralph Andressen; Jay Solway; Warren Babe; Troy Loney; Rich Wiest; Gerald Diduck; Terry Houlder; and many, many more.

NHL debut
I also saw the first game in the history of the Calgary Flames. The first time they took to the ice against another opponent after they moved from Atlanta, was an exhibition game at the Sportsplex in 1980 against the Colorado Rockies.

Hoop dreams
In Grade 5 and 6, I played on a co-ed mini basketball team at St. Joseph’s School in Coaldale. At that time, Lethbridge had managed to attract a semi-professional basketball team called the “Alberta Dusters”, who played in the Continental Basketball Association.

Somehow, our coaches were able to get us coupons for a Duster game that, although not quite free, took a lot off the price of tickets.

So, my sister ended up taking me to that Dusters game, and it was a pretty cool experience. I had never seen the Sportsplex with the ice taken out, or covered. It was wild to see a basketball court set up on what had always been an ice surface to me.

The Dusters were not a good team, only winning I think maybe three or four games. The game we saw certainly wasn’t one of them, as they lost to the Anchorage Northern Knights by a pretty wide margin. I do recall their best scorer was Raymond Townsend. I also recall reading in the program the league gave an extra foul before they fouled out, increasing the limit from five to six, which was unique for the time.

I think the Dusters lasted two years in Lethbridge before moving on.

As seen on TV
There was another novelty I saw on the hard court at the Sportsplex. I was in junior high when my sister took me to see the Harlem Globe Trotters play the Washington Generals. It was called “Clownball”, and was about joking around and having fun on the court. I had seen the Globe Trotters on TV, and read a book on how they were created, so I knew what to expect. It was a great show, although the Globe Trotters had different travelling teams. None of the players I saw on TV came to Lethbridge. It was a bit disappointing, but still a good show.

My outstanding memory was seeing my classmate Roger Keeling there, and walking from one end of the Sportsplex to the other with him. He moved away the next year, and I have never seen him again.

The impossiblist
For years, I would see TV commercials advertising Reveen, this illusionist and hypnotist who periodically came to Lethbridge. I never thought I would go, and was not sure what it was about, beyond what I saw on the commercial.

Then one day in Grade 8 or Grade 9, I got a call from my friend Mike Hartman. He was going to Reveen and invited me to come along. I will never forget that kindness.

Reveen put on a great show. He didn’t call what he did hypnosis, but a state of “super consciousness”. Whatever you call it, the people who volunteered from the audience ended up doing some pretty wild things. One guy in particular was chasing after his girlfriend Chloe, but could never find her.

It was pretty funny. However, I have to say hypnosis and falling under someone else’s spell, kind of scares me a little.

Hot shots
In Grade 9, that would be the Spring of 1984, I won a basketball shooting contest in practice, and earned the right to represent St. Joseph’s School at the Southern Alberta contest.

Called Hot shots, it was held at the Sportsplex, and my coach, Mr. Ron Chmielewski took me. We got there early and the 4A basketball zone playdowns were going on. The Kate Andrews High School Gaels of Coaldale, where I was set to go the next year, was playing Medicine Hat High School. It was cool because two guys from St. Joe’s, Garry Spiess and Bernie Lastuka, were playing for the Gaels. In fact, we sat with Garry’s mom and brother Glen until it was time for me to go change.

That was the last time I ever wore my junior high basketball jersey. I dressed in the dressing room, which was an interesting experience. Sitting there already was Bill Elliott. He represented R.I. Baker, the other junior high in Coaldale. I had played against him not only for three years when he was at Baker, but the two years before that in mini basketball when he went to McNally, a small country school outside Lethbridge. I said hi to him and asked who he was shooting against. He pointed to the other side of the room. There, already dressed in his Gilbert Patterson jersey, and looking eight feet tall, was Benjy Bullock. That was the first time I met him, but he would go on to be one of the best players in Southern Alberta, playing for the LCI Rams.

Also there was Gerald Veldeman, who was representing Immanuel Christian, a fairly new private school in Lethbridge. The previous season we played Immanuel Christian in a home-and-home exhibition series. We lost both those games, but played them at the 1983 Taber tournament and finally beat them. So I kind of got to know him a little, and he was a really nice, friendly guy. I asked him who was he playing.

“You,” he said to me. We both laughed.

When it came time to shoot, I was useless. I think I made three baskets. I recall hearing Glen yelling “Use the backboard.” I did, but nothing dropped.

After the buzzer went, I went to shake Gerald’s hand and he said he didn’t shoot well, and asked how I did. Then he looked up at the scoreboard. He had won by a fair bit.

We shook hands, I wished him luck, he thanked me, and it was just a really great experience.

Friday night lights
By the start of Grade 12, so the Fall of 1986, I had started to hang out with my friends more. One of the first things we started to do regularly was go to Lethbridge every Friday night the first few weeks of school, and watch the Kate Andrews Spartans football team.

Back then, all the Southern Alberta high school football games were played at the field at the Sportsplex, which was kind of cool. The first game was against Cardston. The Cougars had this Grade 11 quarterback named Andy Molcak. Word had got around he had been to some evaluation camp and was described as “a man among boys”. I thought it would be funny to bring out some duck calls and blow them every time he put up a pass. I couldn’t find any, but Brad Mattson found one and brought it to the game. It didn’t help, because Cardston pounded the Spartans. In fact everyone did that year.

The other two games I remember clearly were shut-out losses to Catholic Central, and LCI, two Lethbridge teams.

For one of the games, I went with my newfound friend Mike Williamson, who painted his face in the blue and white colours of Kate Andrews, and picked me up on the farm in his convertible. It was a cool night. At the end of the LCI game, I found myself with Glen Spiess and Mike Williamson, who were great friends, among the Catholic Central fans. The LCI fans were chanting “Farmers, farmers” about Kate Andrews, so we were responding with our own insults. Glen knew a bunch of the Catholic Central fans through church youth activities, while I just found common cause with them through our mutual dislike of LCI. At one point, I thought things might boil over but the LCI fans left when the Rams game was over.

The Catholic Central fans stayed because their team was playing next. If memory serves Catholic Central played Cardston in a battle of the Cougars. Interestingly, in one end zone the Catholic priest was saying a pre-game prayer with their players. In the other end zone, the Mormon bishop was saying a pre-game prayer with the Cardston players.

The football games were the rare events in Grade 11 and 12 where I did not go with my best friend Chris Vining – because he was playing football.

Zone playdowns
In March of 1986, I went back to the Sportsplex to watch the high school basketball zones, and cheer on Kate Andrews, who ended up beating Raymond 98-94, which may have been the last time they ever beat the Comets.

I also sat afterwards with the W.R. Myers of Taber fans to cheer on their phenom Scott Gallup as he led the Rebels against LCI. I only stayed until the half, but it was obvious LCI was going to win that game. After I got home, I was listening to the radio and they were announcing the scores from that tournament. After they read LCI beat W.R. Myers, the announcer said there was a big fight at halftime between the fans. I laughed, because I saw the troops begin to mass as I was leaving.

That year, Catholic Central upset Cardston and St. Mary’s, two of the top seeds, and made it all the way to the final as the sixth-seeded team. They were led by the twin towers of Mike Lynagh and Jim Kaminski, whose Uncle Bruno had been our neighbour on the farm. They were playing LCI in the final, but both teams were already guaranteed spots in the provincials. I ended up going to that game with Mr. Ed Ryan, my high school guidance counselor.

He knew the ref, and fed me lines to heckle him. His name was Mckay. The best one Mr. Ryan gave me was, “Hey Mckay, go back to selling real estate.” Someone lower down barked back the correct pronunciation of Mckay. I remember how hard that made Mr. Ryan giggle.

LCI again took control and beat Catholic Central. Interestingly, a couple weeks later, my Mom and sister took me to Edmonton to check out the University of Alberta campus. We stopped in Red Deer for something to eat and the whole Catholic Central team was there, wearing their Cougar gear. My Mom said afterwards that all those boys could not stop looking at me. Maybe they recognized my high school jacket.

A few years ago, I actually met Jim Kaminski through a mutual friend, and we reminisced about that tournament, although I never thought to ask him about that stop in Red Deer.

Parting thoughts
When I left Southern Alberta in the Fall of 1987, I thought I would never return. Yet, not only did I come back for visits when I was in Edmonton, I kept on making memories at the Sportsplex.

The Broncos moved to Swift Current, but the Calgary Wranglers moved to Lethbridge and became the Hurricanes,. So I have seen them play many times. I saw Blue Rodeo there twice, Burton Cummings, John Mellencamp, a military tattoo of marching bands, and more.

The Sportsplex will always hold a special place in my heart because I saw so many different things there.

Meryl Streep: Virtuoso performer

Meryl Streep at the Oscars in 1983, where she won for "Sophie's Choice".

Source: https://www.imdb.com/fr-ca/title/tt0353135/mediaviewer/rm140810241/

(May be subject to copyright)

Meryl Streep is still going strong, appearing last week to help present the Grammy for record of the year, joking about how it really is a single and not a record.

She is the queen of the Oscars, with a record 21 nominations and three wins.

Much of that success started in the 1980s.

The years before
Meryl Streep’s career and run of success actually began in the 1970s. On television she appeared in a TV movie and a couple episodes of “Great Performances”, before landing a major role in the four-part miniseries “Holocaust”. It raised a lot of awareness of that dark, dark chapter of 20th Century history. The role won Streep an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie.

Virtually at the same time, she started making her mark in major motion pictures. Her first role was in ”Julia” in 1977, a story about a woman who fought against the Nazis prior to the Second World War.

A year later, in 1978, she received her first Oscar nomination, this one for Best Supporting Actress for “The Deer Hunter”, a story about three Vietnam War veterans.

The next year, 1979, was a very busy one for Streep with three movies, including a role that won Streep her first Oscar. It started with the Woody Allen movie “Manhattan”, followed by “The Seduction of Joe Tynan” where Streep appeared opposite Alan Alda, taking a break from his work as “Hawkeye” Pierce on “M*A*S*H”.

She wrapped up the year, and the decade, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for “Kramer vs. Kramer”. She plays opposite Dustin Hoffman as parents getting a divorce, the effect it has on their son, and how they get along after the divorce. Hoffman also won an Oscar, his for Best Actor.

As the 1980s dawned, Meryl Streep had earned two Oscar nominations in the previous three years, winning once.

The future looked bright.

Dawn of the decade
The 1980s was a productive and prolific period for Meryl Streep. It opened with “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, a British romance drama that earned Streep an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

She started 1982 with a thriller called “Still of the Night” opposite Roy Scheider.

That same year, Streep had another epic performance in “Sophie’s Choice”, where she played a Polish immigrant who moves to America harbouring a dark secret. Her performance earned her the Oscar for Best Actress.

The hits just kept on coming in 1983. This time Streep played labour activist and whistle blower Karen Silkwood opposite Cher and Kurt Russell in “Silkwood”. Streep was again nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

In 1984, Streep appeared with Robert DeNiro in the romantic drama “Falling in Love”. I recall the movie billed as starring two Academy Award winners for Best Actor and Actress. That didn’t help because I recall the movie being panned and not doing well at the box office.

Streep began 1985 with “Plenty”, a drama about a woman who fought with the French Resistance in the Second World War and what happened after.

Later that year, she starred opposite Robert Redford in “Out of Africa”, an adventure romance set in Africa, that garnered Streep another Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

In 1986, Streep starred opposite Jack Nicolson in “Heartburn”, an account of the marriage between writer Nora Ephron and journalist Carl Bernstein. It was written by Ephron based on her novel also called “Heartburn”.

The next year, 1987, Streep again starred opposite Nicholson, this time in “Ironweed”. They play a homeless couple in the years following the Great Depression. He is an alcoholic while she is terminally ill. The role earned Streep another Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Streep closed out the decade appearing in “A Cry in the Dark” in 1988 an Australian film, based on a true story, about a couple wrongfully convicted of killing their nine-week-old baby. She also appeared in “She-Devil” in 1989, about woman who exacts revenge on her husband after he leaves her for another woman.

It was a productive, successful decade for Meryl Streep.

She would continue to build on that success.

The years after
She continued to act and turn in award-worthy performance starting with “Postcards from the Edge” in 1990, where she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

There was “Defending Your Life” in 1991; “Death Becomes Her” in 1992; “The House of the Spirits” in 1993; “The River Wild” in 1994; and the “The Bridges of Madison County” in 1995, for which she was nominated for another Oscar for Best Actress.

“Before and After” came in 1996; then “One True Thing” in 1998 and “Music of the Heart“ in 1999, which both earned her Oscar nominations.

She appeared in “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” in 2001; was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2002 for “Adaptation”; appeared in “The Hours” in 2002; “The Manchurian Candidate” and “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Incidents” both in 2004; “Prime” in 2005; “A Prairie Home Companion” in 2006; and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in 2006 as well for “The Devil Wears Prada”.

She was in “Dark Matter”; “Evening”; “Rendition”; and “Lions for Lambs” all in 2007; then in 2008 was in “Mamma Mia!”

Later in 2008 Streep was in “Doubt”, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress; and earned another nomination after her role in “Julie & Julia” in 2009. She also appeared in “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “It’s Complicated” in 2009; and “Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must be More to Life” in 2010.

In 2011, Streep won her third Oscar, and second Best Actress Oscar for her role as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady”.

She was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in “August: Osage County”, released in 2013; Best Supporting Actress for “Into the Woods”, released in 2014; and Best Actress for “Florence Foster Jenkins” released in 2016, and “The Post”, released in 2017.

Streep has also appeared in dozens of other movies, and continues acting to this day.

Parting thoughts
There is something odd. Meryl Streep is one of the most decorated actors of the past 45 years, and her movies are everywhere.

Yet, I have not seen one of her movies from the 1980s, and maybe three or four overall with “Postcards from the Edge”, “Defending Your Life”, and “The Bridges of Madison County”.

It is nothing intentional, but many of them were never replayed in reruns, or appeared on television often, like so many other movies.

I really liked what I have seen, but if Meryl Streep is one of the best actors of the last 45 years – I’ll have to take your word for it.

I guess I’ll have to change that.

Billy Joel: The piano man plays on

Eaton's in downtown Lethbridge circa 1970.

Source: Facebook/Lethbridge Historical Society

(May be subject to copyright)

It was a stirring moment to hear Billy Joel back on stage behind his piano playing some new music for the first time in 30 years.

I could not believe it had been 30 years. When I first heard Billy Joel back in the 1980s, not only did it seem he was on the radio and TV all the time, but that he would never run out of songs.

Hearing him in LA – but no Los Angeles
I did not really get into music until the Fall of 1984, coinciding with the time I started high school. Yet my first exposure to Billy Joel came a couple years earlier in junior high Language Arts, or LA as the kids call it now.

Our teacher was Terry Roth, who was the second teacher who really fostered my writing. Beyond that, he did what I think, looking back, were some innovative things. One of the coolest was how he taught poetry. We read a lot of poetry and talked about structure, which was pretty run of the mill, but he did something else. He used pop music as an example of poetry to connect with students.

One of the songs he used was “Good Night Saigon” – by Billy Joel. It remains one of my favourite Billy Joel songs of all time. It tells the story of a veteran from his time in basic training to his tour of Vietnam. He talks about the horror and, in what I think puts him ahead of his time, talks about war’s effect on mental health.

It is a powerful song that echoes in my mind as I type this. It would also be the first song I looked for when he launched his greatest hits album later in the decade.

Billy Joel released a two-volume greatest hits album in 1985.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Hits_%E2%80%93_Volume_I_%26_Volume_II

(May be subject to copyright)

The before years
Billy Joel’s first single was “She’s Got a Way”, released in 1971. It did not chart, but it is the first is his many ballads.

Two years later, in 1973, he released the album “Piano Man”. The title track was his first hit. Although it is now a classic, and is sung regularly at karaoke bars across the continent, it peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. No other single from “Piano Man” reached higher than number 77.

In 1976, he released “Say Goodbye to Hollywood”, another great song now, that didn’t even chart.

The next year, 1977, he released the album “The Stranger”, which was his first really good album. The first release was “Just the Way You Are”, a ballad that went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100. “Movin’ Out” followed, peaking at number 17, then “Only the Good Die Young” peaked at number 24 and “She’s Always a Woman” peaked at number 17, both in 1978. The title track “The Stranger” was also released, but did not chart.

Joel’s next album, “52nd Street” came out in 1978, producing two more top 20 hits. “My Life” peaked at number three and “Big Shot” peaked at number 14.

Dawn of the decade
By the start of the decade, Billy Joel had not only put together a solid string of songs but he showed no signs of slowing down.

“Glass Houses” came out in 1980, yielding four more top 40 hits, highlighted by “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”, his first number one hit. He also released “You May be Right”, which peaked at number seven; “Don’t Ask Me Why”, which peaked at number 19; and “Sometimes a Fantasy”, which peaked at number 36.

Joel put out “Songs in the Attic” in 1981 which was his first live album. This time around, “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” went all the way to number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “She’s Got A Way” peaked at number 23. Neither had charted the first time around.

New music was back on the radio in 1982 with “The Nylon Curtain”, producing three more charted singles. “Pressure” got it going, peaking at number 20; “Allentown” went all the way to number 17; and “Goodnight Saigon” peaked at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Musical memories
I came on the scene with his next album, but had a lot of memories associated with his work up to this point. They came to me in bits and pieces, in different places in my life.

At the end of the 1990-1991 school year, my friend Terri Bates wrote the kindest message in my Lister Hall yearbook. She told me to stay real because she liked me “Just the way you are” and punctuated it with some musical notes.

Earlier that year, I was heading to a leadership retreat in Hinton. We were travelling at night and I had fallen asleep. When I woke up, it was raining and “The Stranger” was playing, which conjures up images of rain. It was like a scene out of a movie.

I saw a rerun of “Bosom Buddies” after Tom Hanks had become a movie star, and saw “My Life” was the theme song for the show.

When I was still in upper elementary or junior high, I was at Red Rooster with my Dad and I saw these really neat things. They were miniature record albums. I wasn’t really into music yet. I was more interested in the gum inside. I got a few, and discovered the gum inside was a piece of pink gum in the shape of a record. A few years later, when I was into music, I found those miniature albums. One was “The Knack” and another was – “Glass Houses” by Billy Joel.

My cousin Carl, a musician, songwriter and artist, introduced me to “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”. He played it on his stereo when we were visiting him in Lethbridge.

“Allentown”, about the plight of workers in a steel town in Pennsylvania, came in the same language arts class as “Good Night Saigon”. That’s also where I first saw the album “The Nylon Curtain”, and learned the title came from a piece of performance art. Someone had created a nylon curtain across a vast space.

Getting to know you
“An Innocent Man”, which came out in 1983, was the first tape I bought after I got a ghetto blaster for Christmas. I was excited because a good chunk of the songs had been on the radio. I bought “An Innocent Man” used from my friend and classmate Shawn Kingston whose musical interests had turned to heavy metal.

The first single was “Tell Her About It”, and became Billy Joel’s second number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. In the song, Joel encourages a man to tell the girl he likes just how he feels before it is too late. The story of my high school life.

“Uptown Girl” was the second single, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It tells the story of a downtown man pursuing a wealthy uptown girl. The uptown girl was portrayed by Billy Joel’s real life wife of the time, and super model Christie Brinkley.

“An Innocent Man” was the title track, and third release. It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and is a moving ballad.

“The Longest Time” was the fourth single from “An Innocent Man”. Using some a cappella, and harking back to doo-wop songs, “The Longest Time” peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

There were two singles from “An Innocent Man” after that, but I do not remember either “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” which peaked at number 27 or “This Night” which did not chart.

I do remember the final single released from “An Innocent Man”. It was “Keeping the Faith”, which peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Keep the faith” became a rallying cry for me in Grade 12, especially when I was about to write an exam. I also encouraged other people with it. I recall just before a final exam turning to my classmate Wendy Sandberg. She looked at me and said, “Yup, keep the faith.” We both aced that exam.

There was one more song from “An Innocent Man” that I heard, but was never released as a single. “Easy Money” was used for the sound track of Rodney Dangerfield’s movie of the same name.

When I got my ghetto blaster for Christmas in 1984, I decided to tape the top 100 album countdown LA-107 ran on New Year’s Day, where they would play a couple songs from each album. One of the albums I taped was “An Innocent Man”. That's when I first heard “An Innocent Man” and “Easy Money”.

Greatest Hits
It was the easiest way to learn all about Billy Joel’s music in one place. On July 1, 1985, He released his “Billy Joel: Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II”, a two record set, with his hits appearing in chronological order from 1973 to 1985.

The album also featured two new singles – “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” and “The Night is Still Young”.

“You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” is one of the coolest songs I have ever heard. It tells the story of a teenager facing depression and contemplating suicide. Billy Joel appears as an angel, reminiscent of “It’s A Wonderful Life”, convincing the teen he has a lot to live for. It’s just awesome. The fans thought so too, as “You’re Only Human” went all the way to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

“The Night is Still Young:” was also a great song, and peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.

But the strength of “Billy Joel: Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II” is being able to access and listen to all of his songs in one place. When I went off to university in 1987, my roommate and best friend Chris Vining brought his entire tape collection, including “Billy Joel: Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II”. I recall sitting in our room alone in the dark, listening to the greatest hits album a lot in first year. The first song I looked for was – “Goodnight Saigon”.

More music and movie magic
An album of new music was due and, three years after “An Innocent Man”, Billy Joel released “The Bridge” in 1986.

The first release got a lot of air play, but it was not readily associated with the album “The Bridge”. That’s because “Modern Woman” was on the soundtrack for the movie “Ruthless People”, starring Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater. In fact, I am pretty sure “The Bridge” was released well after “Modern Woman” began its climb up the charts. It was quite common back then for songs from soundtracks to be released then appear on the next album for their artist. Two other examples to go with “Modern Woman” are “Say You, Say Me” by Lionel Richie from the movie “White Nights”, and “Love Touch” by Rod Stewart from the movie “Legal Eagles”.

“Modern Woman” was a great song, and perfectly fit the plot of the movie. It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

So, when fans bought “The Bridge” they were pleasantly surprised to see “Modern Woman” on it. They would also discover the next two releases – “A Matter of Trust” and “This is the Time”.

“A Matter of Trust” is another great song that also went all the way to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. I have a cool memory about this song too. It was the Fall of 1988 and I went off to a leadership camp at the Blue Lake Centre outside Hinton. There I roomed with two other students leaders, Bruce Freadrich and Glen Rohatyn. As we unpacked, Bruce turned on his ghetto blaster and “A Matter of Trust” started to play. I remember how perfectly he lip synced and danced to that song. It was pretty cool, and a great ice breaker.

“This is the Time” cracked the top 20 as well, peaking at number 18. There was one more single from “The Bridge”, “Baby Grand” which Joel performed with Ray Charles. It charted too, going to number 75.

Accidental album
As my high school years got busier and busier, I paid less attention to Columbia House. They employed a concept called negative billing. Instead of the customer ordering something, being sent it and paying for it, Columbia House automatically sent you their selection of the month and billed you for it, unless you told them otherwise. Once it arrived, you could send it back, at your own cost, without buying it.

A couple times I forgot and the albums came. One I sent back, and one I kept. I sent back a James Taylor album, but the one I kept was from Billy Joel. It actually came when I had already gone off to university.

It was called “Kohuept” and was his second live album, released in 1987. It was on vinyl, so I asked my sister to record it for me onto tape. When she gave the record and tape to me, she said that not only was “Kohuept” good, but it was interesting to listen to. Billy Joel talked through an interpreter to the audience in the Soviet Union. One new single came off that album, “Back in the U.S.S.R.”, but it did not chart.

Ironically, I did not listen to that tape for another 12 years. I got this job doing a graveyard run driving a delivery truck, and I listened to tapes to pass the time. That’s when I finally listened to “Kohuept”, and it was awesome.

Really good – for buying it by accident.

Number one again
In 1989, Billy Joel released the single “We Didn’t Start the Fire” from his next album “Storm Front”. It is one of the coolest songs I have ever heard. It lists major cultural, entertainment, news and sports events and people. It went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year.

I was in my third year of Education at the University of Alberta, which meant we had our second round of student teaching. Everyone teaching social studies that year used “We Didn’t Start the Fire” or wanted to use it because of the way it detailed history.

There was another single, “I Go To Extremes” off “Storm Front” that was released, and went all the way to number six on the Billboard Hot 100.

The ‘80s had been quite a decade for Billy Joel.

The years after
He kept recording and releasing music for another five years or so, then disappeared. Most notably, I recall the song “The River of Dreams” from 1993 off the album of the same name. The song peaked at number three, and is Billy Joel’s last top 10 single to date.

I remember the song because it was used to advertise my old favourite radio station LA-107. It had been re-named “The River”, with a new middle of the road play list.

Parting thoughts
Billy Joel's new song is called “Turn the Lights Back On”.

Through the magic of the Internet and YouTube, I have been able to listen to Billy Joel’s live performance of his new song at the 2024 Grammys over and over. In fact, I had recorded the Grammys and rewound that recording several times to listen to the “Turn the Lights Back On”.

It is such a great song, and follows in the Billy Joel tradition.

Not only is it yet another great song, but reminded me of so many of the songs that came before it.

It is true, the piano man plays on.

Nothing compares to Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox of the Eurhythmics in the 1980s.

Source: https://loudwomen.org/2022/03/06/doing-it-for-herself-annie-lennox/

(May be subject to copyright)

Who really is best suited to pay tribute to the memory of Sinead O’Connor and her powerful rendition of “Nothing Compares”? It has to be someone with a powerful voice to match O’Connor’s. The organizers of this year’s Grammy awards chose very well when they selected Annie Lennox to do that job.

Hearing that strong voice belt out “Nothing Compares” reminded me of how great Annie Lennox has been for the past 40 years, and how prolific she and her band the Eurhythmics were in the ‘80s.

First look
The first time I ever saw Annie Lennox was pretty much exactly 40 years ago, at the 1984 Grammy awards. Back then she teamed up with Dave Stewart to form the band the Eurhythmics. In the days when “Boy” George dressed like a woman, Lennox appeared on stage dressed as a man complete with side burns, to sing the band’s first hit, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”.

The Eurhythmics had released the album “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” in 1983 and it yielded a number of hit singles. The first was the title track “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”, which was their first release in the United States and their breakthrough single. It went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

The follow-up single to “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” was “Love is a Stranger”, which peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

With their next album, released later the same year, the hits just kept on coming.

Touching
The album was called “Touch” and it yielded a number of songs that hit the radio. There was “Who’s That Girl?”, which had this haunting quality that took full advantage of Annie Lennox’s voice. Actually, it is somewhat like Sinead O’Connor’s voice. “Who’s That Girl?” went all the way to number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

There was “Right By Your Side”, which was more upbeat and had Annie Lennox sporting an animal print in the music video. “Right by Your Side” peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The biggest hit off that album though, was “Here Comes the Rain Again”. It is another haunting song, that uses an echo at times. It became the Eurhythmics’ second top 10 single in the States, going all the way to number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains my favourite Eurhythmics’ song.

1984
At the dawn of the year 1984, there was a lot of talk of talk about George Orwell’s book “1984” and how much, if any of it, had come to pass. The book paints a dystopic picture of the future. Needless to say, life in 1984 was not quite like the book, but the year did see a movie made from Orwell's masterpiece, starring John Hurt.

The Eurhythmics recorded the soundtrack for the movie. I remember watching something on TV about their first single “Sexcrime” and Annie Lennox explaining how sex was a crime in the world created by “1984”. The song did not fare that well in the States, going to number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It did better in Canada, cracking the top 20 and peaking at number 18.

All of this music was released before I really got into music. Not too much after, the Eurhythmics put out their next album, which was another hit.

“Be Yourself Tonight”
At the end of April 1985, the Eurhythmics released “Be Yourself Tonight”. I first heard about it on LA-107 FM from Lethbridge, which was an album-oriented rock station. That meant they talked as much about the album and often played more than one single from it.

The first single from “Be Yourself Tonight” was “Would I Lie to You?” and it was on the radio a lot. It was a catchy tune that had what sounded like a motorbike revving in it. “Would I Lie to You?” went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100. As Wikipedia reminded me, this was the first album where the Eurhythmics went away from that synthpop style to rock and rhythm and blues. Ironic, considering they call themselves the Eurhythmics.

The second single slowed things down again. “There Must be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)” had some cool harmonies in it. The song went all the way to number one in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The next single was a feminist anthem called “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves”. It was a duet recorded with Aretha Franklin, appearing on both “Be Yourself Tonight” and Franklin’s album “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”. “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” went all the way to number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

I recall in the summer of 1991, Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial using “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” to promote their syndicated reruns of “Murphy Brown” starting that Fall. Aretha Franklin was often mentioned in the show and was Murphy Brown’s favourite singer. Franklin even made a guest appearance as herself on the show.

The final single on “Be Yourself Tonight” was “It’s All Right (Baby’s Coming Back)”, which was another catchy tune, peaking at number 12 in the United Kingdom, but not faring as well in the States where it peaked at number 78.

The time had come for another album, and the Eurhythmics delivered.

Revenge
The Eurhythmics’ next album, “Revenge” was released in late June of 1986. The first single I heard off the album was actually the second song released. “Thorn in my Side” takes a jab at an unfaithful lover, and I quite liked the tone and style. However, it only managed to rise to number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 41 in Canada.

In the first few months of my first year of university, I hung out with this guy named Doug Armitage, who had a propensity to sing while in the shower, when he walked to class, and stood in line at the cafeteria. Doug sang “Thorn in My Side” all through the first part of that first year in the Fall of 1987, among other songs. But only the lyric, “Thorn in My Side”.

The next song I recall hearing was catchy single with a cool beginning. It was called “Missionary Man” and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 13 in Canada. “Missionary Man” was the fourth and final single. It went on to win the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1987.

I also remember spoofing “Missionary Man”, calling it “Mortuary Man” and singing, “Don’t mess with a mortuary man.” Weird Al Yankovic I am not.

Although the Eurhythmics kept recording right through the rest of the ‘80s and into the 21st Century, “Missionary Man” was the last song I listened to.

The years after
Annie Lennox embarked on a solo career in 1992. By far the two songs I recall best are “Walking on Broken Glass” and “Why”.

Her first actual solo hit was a duet with Al Green called “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” for the movie “Scrooged” in 1988. It starred Bill Murray as a modern-day, well, Ebenezer Scrooge. The song went all the way to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Her first purely solo hit was “Why” released in 1992, that peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that same year “Walking on Broken Glass” peaked at number eight in the United Kingdom and number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Three years later she had a couple more songs I just loved. In 1995, “No More I Love Yous”, peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “A Whiter Shade of Pale” peaked at number 16 in the United Kingdom, but sadly did not chart in the States.

She keeps right on singing, including that touching tribute to Sinead O’Connor at the Grammys.

Parting thoughts
When I close my eyes I can picture myself sitting in a chair in my bedroom back on the farm. My Intellivision is hooked up to my Mom’s old TV sitting on the end of the red dresser, I have had forever, in the corner of my room. I am holding the controller in my right hand, playing “Space Armada”, a cheap knock-off of “Space Invaders”. My brand new ghetto blaster is sitting on top of the head board of my water bed, tuned to LA-107 FM.

The next song comes on. It’s the Eurhythmics.

“Would I lie to you? / Ohhh/ Would I lie to you honey …”

That scene replayed itself over and over and over.

I literally heard hundreds of songs that first year I got into music and listened to the radio while I played hour upon hour of video games.

Yet, one song that conjures up that memory more than any other is “Would I Lie to You?”

It really proves the Eurhythmics, and Annie Lennox, are part of the soundtrack of my life growing up.

Gladys Knight: Singer and actor

Gladys Knight was busy in the '80s

with a sitcom and as part of Dionne and Friends.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com

(May be subject to copyright)

When I first heard of Gladys Knight she was more an idea than an artist, and I most closely associated her with “Gladys Knight and the Pips”.

Then, in the span of just over a year in the mid 1980s she was everywhere. She was in a TV show with a comedic legend, then part of a group that went all the way to the top of the charts while raising money and awareness for a very important cause.

I hadn’t thought of Gladys Knight in a long time. When I saw on the Grammys she was awarded a lifetime achievement award, it took me back to that time when I was just getting into music.

By reputation
Initially, my entire experience with her was in reference to “Gladys Knight and the Pips”. It was just by reputation. Only through research right now, did I discover that I knew some of their songs, including “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”; and “Midnight Train to Georgia”, which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1973.

Flipping out
The first time I really saw Gladys Knight was in the Fall of 1985, when I was just starting Grade 11. I always looked forward to the fall preview issue of “TV Guide” which was devoted to profiling all the new shows debuting that Fall.

The previous year “The Cosby Show” burst onto the scene and was a ratings smash. So, like most other hits, competing networks tried to capitalize on the popularity of the show by producing their own knock-offs. In this case, they tried to emulate comedy centred on a family with two working parents and a group of too-smart-for-their-own-good children. ABC released a show that would quickly eclipse that initial motivation, called “Growing Pains”.

CBS released a show that more closely resembled “The Cosby Show”. It had caught my eye because Channel 7 had been advertising it for weeks in advance and I read the preview in “TV Guide”.

“Charlie and Company” also starred a comedian turned actor. This time it was Flip Wilson playing the title character of Charlie, who worked for the department of highways. Playing his wife, who was a school teacher, was Gladys Knight in her first regular television role. The children were played by Kristoff St. John, Fran Robinson and Jaleel White.

St. John would go on to play Neil Winters on “The Young and the Restless”, from 1991 until his death in 2019, earning 11 Daytime Emmy nominations and two wins.

White went on to one of the most iconic comedic roles of the 1990s – Steve Urkel in “Family Matters” from 1989 to 1998.

“Charlie and Company” proved not to be the ratings hit “The Cosby Show” was, lasting one season for a total of 18 episodes. I do recall watching the first few episodes and not finding it that funny, so I never went back.

Grandfather of the blog
Another odd note. In 1990, I started doing research on TV, movies and music from 1985. I was attending the University of Alberta at the time and started reading the old entertainment sections of “The Edmonton Journal” on microfiche. I started again after I left the university, in the Fall of 1996. I had intended to write some sort of memoir or incorporate this material in a play I wrote on my high school years. Ironically, that project has morphed into this blog.

The first newspaper I looked at had a preview of a new show – “Charlie and Company”.

Getting friendly
It wouldn’t be that long until I saw Gladys Knight again. A year later, in 1986, she released “That’s What Friends Are For” as part of Dionne and Friends, made up of Knight, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and of course Dionne Warwick. The song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and was the top single of 1986.

“That’s What Friends Are For” was a fundraiser for AIDS and AIDS research, and ended up raising more than $3 million. It also won the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and for Song of the Year.

The years after
Gladys Knight continues to record and perform, as well as act to this day. She has had guest starring roles in “A Different World”; “JAG”; “30 Rock”; “Hot in Cleveland”; “Hawaii Five-O”; and much more. She also took third place in Season 1 of “The Masked Singer”.

Parting thoughts
Growing up I heard of “Gladys Knight and the Pips”, yet had never seen nor heard them. Then in the span of a little over a year, Gladys Knight had been a regular on a network television situation comedy, which did not fare too well. She was also part of a fundraising single that was a monster hit, both raising millions for AIDS awareness and research, and topping the charts.

She certainly is a versatile performer.

Stevie Wonder: From anger to admiration

Stevie Wonder on the cover of his 1985 album "In Square Circle".

Source: https://rawmusicstore.com/product/stevie-wonder-in-square-circle-16/?srsltid=AfmBOoqoMJfDw3ZfTz7afPVvM8TzevtqxNYsAJfA94KstbnKKYWfif4L

(May be subject to copyright)

He may have been prolific in the decades leading up to and including the 1980s, but Stevie Wonder will always stand out for one song in my mind.

It was the day he took his harmonica and sang “That’s What Friends Are For” with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight and Elton John, who collectively called themselves “Dionne and Friends”.

More than a great song, it raised funds and awareness of AIDS and AIDS research.

Last night, I saw Stevie Wonder on the Grammys, paying tribute to his old friend Tony Bennett, and it brought back some memories.

Memorable with McCartney
Even before I got into music, I had heard Stevie Wonder. It was 1982, and he teamed up with Paul McCartney on one of the best songs of the 1980s – “Ebony and Ivory”. More than just a touching, heartwarming song it made a powerful social statement on racial harmony. It went on to spend seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

That summer of 1982, my Mom, sister and I went for a trip to the Radium Hot Springs. We stopped, coincidentally, for pizza in Claresholm – the community I now live in – and I heard “Ebony and Ivory” playing on the radio.

Anger to inspiration and admiration
Stevie Wonder released a soundtrack album in 1984 for the movie “The Woman in Red”, starring Kelly LeBrock and Gene Wilder. The lead single “I Just Called to Say I Love You” came out just about the same time I started getting into music, so I recall hearing it on the radio all the time. I neither liked it or hated it, beyond it being a catchy tune. It ended up spending three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

“I Just Called to Say I Love You” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. I thought the song didn’t stand a chance against “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” by Phil Collins. I considered it one of the greatest songs for a long time and remains one of my personal top five.

I remember watching the Oscars and thinking something wasn’t right. First, Ann Reinking and not Phil Collins performed “Against All Odds (Take A Look at Me Now)” on the live broadcast. I later learned Collins had offered to perform it but was rebuffed. Then, when the winner was announced I was shocked that it was “I Just Called to Say I Love You”. I couldn’t believe it, and my first thought was that Americans selected an American singer and song over an English one. I was never really as mad at Stevie Wonder as I was at the academy. After all, Stevie Wonder didn’t make the selection, they did.

When Stevie Wonder accepted his Oscar, he said something, which meant nothing to me then, but does now. He dedicated the award to someone I had never heard of at that time. Neither had a large part of the world – Nelson Mandela. At the time, Mandela was sitting in jail in South Africa. He would lead a quiet revolution to dismantle the racist Apartheid system in his own country and become its duly elected President. Wikipedia reveals Wonder would be honoured by the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid in 1985 for his stance against racism in South Africa.

The first time I heard his name was from the lips of Stevie Wonder. Four years later I would be marching in an anti-Apartheid rally.

My anger had turned into inspiration and admiration for Stevie Wonder.

USA for Africa
Hunger and famine ravaged Ethiopia and other parts of Africa in 1984 and 1985, motivating recording artists from around the world to record fundraising songs. The British group “Band Aid” started with “Do they Know It’s Christmas?” in December of 1984, and USA for Africa followed suit with “We Are the World”.

Stevie Wonder took part in that, singing part of the first verse. He starts by joining Lionel Richie in “When the world must come together as one” then sings the words “There are people dying”. He later teams with Bruce Springsteen on the chorus singing, “We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day so let’s start giving, there’s a choice we’re making we’re saving our own lives, it’s true we make a better day just you and me, we are the world, we are the children…”

Stevie Wonder had a commitment to social justice and helping others, and that would keep on going.

School bus song
I picked up Stevie Wonder’s trail again in the Fall of 1985 when I was starting Grade 11. I was riding the school bus and the driver used to play 1090 CHEC on the radio, a rock and roll station. One day earlier in the school year, we are on our way to pick up Lynn Kruzceswki and it came on.

It had this familiar “Doot doot doot doot”, and sounded like Stevie Wonder. Sure enough it was, “Part-Time Lover” the first single from his new album “In Square Circle”. “Part-Time Lover” went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album would also produce “Overjoyed”, which peaked at number 24.

“In Square Circle” itself would peak at number five on the Billboard 200 album chart, and earn Stevie Wonder a Grammy for Best Male Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance.

Friends
By the mid 1980s HIV and AIDS had become more well known, triggered in part by the death of Rock Hudson in 1985, and the news his death was from AIDS-related complications.

In 1986, another group of performers gathered to raise awareness and funds for AIDS and AIDS research.

Stevie Wonder joined Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Gladys Knight to record “That’s What Friends Are For” as the group Dionne and Friends. In the music video, they genuinely look like four friends getting together to sing and enjoy each others’ company.

The song not only topped the Billboard Hot 100 but was the number-one single of 1986. It earned Grammys for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and for Song of the Year. It also raised more than $3 million for the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

The song is a stirring ballad that really touches the heart. Part of that is due to Wonder playing harmonica to start and end the song. He also sings the lines “Well, you came and opened me / And now there’s so much more I see” which really touches me, given Stevie Wonder is blind.

Pre-history
It was only later, over time, that I discovered how much Stevie Wonder had done before I met him in the 1980s. He had put out songs such as “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”; “Superstition”; “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”; “Higher Ground”; “Isn’t She Lovely”; “Sir Duke”; and so much more.

The years after
Stevie Wonder has kept on writing, recording and performing. He has won 25 Grammys and one Academy Award; was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989; received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994; campaigned to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday into a national holiday; was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2009: and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

At the Grammys, he sang a duet with the late Tony Bennett. He performed live on stage as a recording of Tony Bennett singing the other half of that duet played on the big screen.

Parting thoughts
I didn’t realize until I looked at Stevie Wonder’s career as a whole how much of a commitment to social justice he has. He is one of those celebrities who has used his platform for good.

He also plays one heck of a harmonica, and can truly sing a soulful ballad.

That is most evident for me in “That’s What Friends Are For”.

You gotta have Heart

It was early in the first semester of Grade 11 and I was kind of burning the candle at both ends. When I got home from school, we always had supper right away then, invariably, I would nod off on the couch, only to awaken around 7 p.m. just in time for the night of TV to start.

One evening, after dozing off, I woke up to an episode of this brand new show called “Growing Pains” with this song playing in my head.

It was called “Never” by Heart. I had heard it earlier in the day, and couldn’t get it out of my head. It may have been the first ear worm I ever experienced.

That was the Fall of 1985 and I had really got into music just a year or so earlier, so there was so much that was new to me.

One of the things was the band Heart. They became one of my favourite bands of that period, as I wore out their two albums from the mid-1980s onward.

Yesterday, I read on my Google news feed that Heart was set to tour again starting in April.

It reminded me of so many songs and the places and times in my life when I listened to them.

The band Heart in 1985 on the cover of their album "Heart".

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_%28Heart_album%29

(May be subject to copyright)

“What About Love”
“Never” was my introduction to Heart but it was not the first single from their latest album released in 1985, which was actually called “Heart”. The first single was “What About Love”, which I soon heard on the radio and associated with the band.

It turns out, “What About Love” was the debut single from that album. I had heard Heart’s sound was different with this album, and they now had Canadian songwriter Jim Vallance writing songs for them. Vallance is best known as the songwriting partner for Bryan Adams, but has done a lot of other stuff. It turns out Vallance and two members of the band Toronto originally wrote the song “What About Love”. Toronto actually recorded it in 1982, but the other band members decided not to release it.

That was a big mistake. After Heart released “What About Love”, it went all the way to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number eight in Canada. It is a powerful song that showcases lead singer Ann Wilson's voice.

“Never”
“Never” was the next single, and one that really resonated with me. I heard it often, and the lyrics just sunk in like osmosis. I took Accounting 30 during the first semester of Grade 11, and recall humming that song a lot while we worked on our assignments. “Never” was even more popular than “What About Love”, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

That was not even close to the end of their success.

Number one with a bullet
As “What About Love” and “Never” worked their way down the charts, Heart released their third single from the album. This one was a haunting ballad with a horror movie, medieval feel to it. This time, it called on Nancy Wilson to take a turn on lead vocals. She too had a powerful vocal range to elicit emotion. The song was called “These Dreams”.

By this time, I got a job after school and on weekends at this local greenhouse. No longer was I able to watch “Entertainment Tonight” after school nor was I able to follow the music charts on Saturday mornings as I had been doing.

So, I missed out on some music in that period. The biggest song I initially missed was “Take on Me” by A-Ha. However, “These Dreams” was another song I came to late, and found out even later it went all the way to number on the Billboard Hot 100.

Heart was on fire.

“Heart”, the album
By this time, I had joined Columbia House and was receiving regular music offers in the mail. One such “selection of the month” was the album “Heart”. My brother convinced me to start buying records instead of tapes, because he had one bad experience 10 or 15 years earlier where a tape jammed on him. He always bought records and recorded them on tape. So I followed suit. I bought “Heart” and, after the record arrived in the mail, I got my sister to record it onto tape for me.

I still recall writing out all the songs onto the back of that tape in addition to the three that had been on the radio. There was “If Looks Could Kill”; “The Wolf”; “All Eyes”; “Nobody Home”; “Nothin’ At All”; “What He Don’t Know”; and “Shell Shock”. I almost wore out that tape, and know pretty much every song by heart – all pun intended.

“Nothin’ At All” was the fourth single released and went all the way to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“If Looks Could Kill” was the fifth and final single released from the album, peaking at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100.

I recall just moving into student residence in the Fall of 1987, and meeting this girl named Kim who lived on my floor. One day I was sitting in the lounge, and someone came through on their way to the elevator and was obviously in a bad mood. “If looks could kill,” I sort of sang. “You’d be lying on the floor,” Kim responded, then sang the whole song. She had a great voice.

I discovered over time, that a lot of albums had a slow song or ballad on them that I really liked, but never hit the radio. They include “Remember the Feeling” on “Chicago 17”; “You are the One” on “Mike and the Mechanics”; and “The River Runs Low” on “The Way it is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range.

“Nobody Home” from “Heart” is another song to add to that list. It is another ballad, not as haunting as “These Dreams”, but still very good.

The album itself also went all the way to number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. That I distinctly remember hearing on an episode of “Entertainment Tonight” one evening. Tthat was before I went to work at the greenhouse.

Heart was also nominated for a Grammy in 1986 for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

History lesson
After I started listening to Heart, I started to learn more about the history of the band. I think it might have been on an episode of “Profile”, a radio show LA-107 FM played late at night, or “Rock Line”, which they aired Monday nights. The band actually formed in Vancouver, after one member moved there in the 1970s to avoid the U.S. Draft for military service in Vietnam. The others followed him. They were led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. I think they were originally from Seattle long before grunge became a thing. Ultimately, they returned there.

I also learned about their earlier singles such as “Magic Man”; “Crazy On You”; “Dreamboat Annie”; “Barracuda”; and “Heartless”.

Mixed tape
My brother started making me mixed tapes for Christmas, compiling songs from various records that he thought I might like. It was kind of an unofficial music apprenticeship.

The first tape had “Magic Man” and “Crazy On You”. That was my first exposure to the early music of Heart.

Incidentally, a few years later, when I was in my fourth year of university in the Spring of 1991, I came across a tape of ballads. One of them was another earlier Heart song I had never heard, called “Tell it Like it is”.

“Bad Animals”
Heart had become more popular than they had ever been, so fans were anxiously waiting for the follow-up to “Heart”. It came in May of 1987 and was called “Bad Animals”. It would be another hit for the band from Seattle.

The first single was another moving song called “Alone” that went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. I had this friend, David Perlich, who described “Alone” as deceiving. It starts out slow then explodes. I kind of liked that effect.

My best friend Chris Vining bought “Bad Animals”. He also got an orange Pinto just before our high school graduation in June of 1987 and, after installing a tape deck, we listened to “Bad Animals” all summer.

I remember all the songs from that album by heart as well – all pun intended – “Who Will You Run To”; “There’s the Girl”; “I Want You So Bad”; “Wait for an Answer”; “Bad Animals”; “You Ain’t So Tough”; “Strangers of the Heart”; “Easy Target”; and “RSVP”.

In the Fall we were off to university in Edmonton. We packed all our stuff in my Mom’s station wagon and Vining’s orange Pinto. We then drove together, over two days, to Edmonton. We listened to “Bad Animals” and it was playing on our way to Edmonton. I believe it was actually playing when we entered the city.

Once university got into the swing of things, I didn’t listen to the radio regularly. Even if I did, I didn’t know the stations in Edmonton, or what countdowns they played. So I lost track of the singles off albums I had been listening to – such as “Bad Animals”.

“Who Will You Run to” was released before we left for Edmonton, and would go all the way to number seven. “There’s the Girl” was the next release, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Interestingly, Nancy Wilson did the vocals for “There’s the Girl”. “I Want You So Bad” was the fourth and final single from “Bad Animals”, climbing as high as number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile “Bad Animals” itself peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Up close and personal
In 1987, when we moved onto 10th Kelsey, we made friends with this guy down the hall named Avtar Sangra. The first time I was in his room, I noticed he had an autographed poster of Heart on his wall. His dad was an electrical engineer in Vancouver, and had an electrical company that had the contract for the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. One of the perks was getting back stage passes to concerts – such as Heart.

Avi didn’t just get an autograph, he asked for a peck on the cheek, and said he got one from Nancy Wilson.

The years after
I kind of lost track of Heart after that period in time. I knew the released another album, “Brigade”, in 1990, and heard the single “All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You”, which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

They keep on recording and performing, taking periodic breaks, to this day.

In 2012 Ann and Nancy Wilson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2013, Heart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Parting thoughts
Heart broke a lot of ground and blazed a lot of trail for other female singers, songwriters and bands. They were a band led by women at a time when not many bands were like that.

I didn’t really know them before their big comeback in 1985, so I cannot truly appreciate the degree of their makeover and transition because I had nothing to compare it to.

It didn’t matter, because Heart’s music, and those vocals by the Wilson sisters, left an indelible impression on my musical mind.

From the beginning of Grade 11 in the Fall of 1985 to the beginning of university two years later, I went through a lot of change and growth, and Heart always seemed to be playing in the background.

In a list of memorable music from my teenage years, you gotta have Heart.

Remembering Carl Weathers

It is one of my fondest memories of Calgary Expo, or Comic Con as it is called by many people. I got to meet one of my favourite actors, talk to him, get his autograph and a picture taken with him, then hear some genuine pearls of wisdom.

I will never forget the day I met Carl Weathers almost two years ago.

Especially now.

I heard he passed away two days ago at the age of 76.

Pre-history
Weathers is best known for playing Apollo Creed in the first four “Rocky” movies, the title character in “Action Jackson”, and parts in “Predator” and “Happy Gilmore”. On TV he had major roles in “The Defiant Ones”, a TV movie, as well as series such as “Fortune Dane”, “Tour of Duty”, “Street Justice”, “In the Heat of the Night”, “Chicago Justice”, and “Arrested Development”. Most recently he was in “The Mandalorian”, garnering a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

He was also a former pro football player with the Oakland Raiders and B.C. Lions.

Picture perfect
Two years ago Carl Weathers came to Calgary Expo and I immediately bought a photo op with him. He was pretty much exactly what I expected when my spouse and I stood on either side of him for a photo. He was about the same height I am, which is about six feet and three inches, and he was still muscular and in good shape. I could not believe he was approaching his mid-70s.

Up close and personal
Getting autographs is different from photo ops. With autographs, you stand in line, while the celebrity sits at the front behind a table. Beside him or her is their “handler” who takes the money, because it is all cash only. You can bring something for the celebrity to sign. Alternatively, there is usually a selection of glossy photographs you can choose from to get signed. It costs the same, and I don’t have anything of my own to sign, so I always get the glossy photo. Besides, I can choose a photo that represents what I remember the celebrity best in.

For Carl Weathers the choice was simple – Apollo Creed.

As you wait for an autograph, when you pay and choose the photo, the “handler” will often ask what you want the message to be. They either write it on a post-it note or let you write it. Then they will place the photo and the note in front of the celebrity.

Signed, sealed, delivered
From the time we left Claresholm for Calgary I thought about what I wanted that message to be.

I kept coming back to one thing.

There is a scene in “Rocky III” where Rocky Balboa is on the verge of giving up in his quest to beat Clubber Lang and re-gain the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. He is jogging on the beach with Apollo Creed, his trainer and friend. Suddenly Rocky just stops and mutters, “We’ll do it tomorrow.”

Apollo looks him in the eye and yells, “There is no tomorrow.”

Now was their time.

I have used that as a life lesson many times. I have also used that movie to motivate myself many times, including the beginning of every summer slow-pitch season when I was still in university.

So, that’s what I had Carl Weathers inscribe on the photo of Apollo Creed.

He said amen to that.

I told him it was one of my favourite movies.

Then, I noticed not much of a line behind me, so I thought I’d ask him a question.

“Anybody ever ask you about ‘Fortune Dane’?” It was a show that lasted five episodes in 1986.

Matter of factly he replied, “A couple times a year.”

“What was it like acting with Adolph Caesar?” I asked.

He was a storied Black actor who had starred in Shakespeare, was nominated for an Academy Award for “A Soldier’s Story”, and whose last role was playing Fortune Dane’s father opposite Carl Weathers. He died at the age of 52.

Weathers looked me in the eye and said, “It was an honour. He was taken far too young.”

Then he shook my hand.

“I appreciate you man,” he said.

I still get goose bumps when I think of that.

Words of wisdom
Another part of Calgary Expo is the panel. There are panels that present information on a particular topic, and celebrity panels where the celebrity appears on stage. Sometimes they are alone, talk for a bit and answer questions. Sometimes they go directly to questions, and sometimes there is someone with them on stage to kind of chat and interview them.

I will never forget Carl Weathers’ panel because he provided two pearls of wisdom I still think about.

He talked about his time as a professional football player with the B.C. Lions, and his lengthy acting career. Then he said something that really struck me.

Every day, before he goes to work he asks himself, “What can I learn today?”

If that wasn’t enough, he said something even more profound: “Luck is visited on those who are prepared.”

What does that mean? For example, if you write a script, and you have it with you, if you run into a director by luck – you can give them your script. If you are not prepared, it is just a missed opportunity.

So, when I was telling my spouse about this later in the day she smiled.

A friend of ours had written a script that she pictured actor Elijah Wood in. Well Elijah Wood was going to be at Comic Con, so she brought her script with her. She met him later that same day and gave him the script, and he took it.

Luck is visited on those who are prepared.

Parting thoughts
This may be a first for me. I blogged about a favourite actor of mine, then met in him in person. Now I am eulogizing him.

I guess what makes his death affect me more than a lot of celebrity deaths, even of favourite actors, writers, directors, musicians, and leaders, is that I actually met Carl Weathers and he was so nice to me.

That, above any role, will be my lasting memory of Carl Weathers.

For that, I will be eternally grateful.

Rest in peace Carl. I hope you run into Adolph Caesar up there too.

Remembering Glen Cochrane

Glen Cochrane suited up with the Philadelphia Flyers in the '80s.

Source: https://www.flyersnation.com/tag/glen-cochrane/#google_vignette

(May be subject to copyright)

It’s funny how history can come around.

Yesterday, I was looking at the list of notables who had died, and one particular name caught my eye.

It took me back 40 years to a news story I saw on CBC, of a woman struggling to live, and the life line she had been thrown.

The player
Glen Cochrane was born in Cranbrook, grew up in Kamloops, and played his junior hockey in Alberta. He played for the Calgary Centennials before moving on to the Victoria Cougars, both of the Western Canada Hockey League, the precursor of the current Western Hockey League.

He was taken in the third round, 50th overall in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. He played one game for the Flyers in the 1978-1979 season, but he played 76 games that year and 77 in the 1979-1980 season for the Maine Mariners, the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate.

Cochrane split time in the 1980-1981 season between Maine and Philadelphia. He played 38 games for the Mariners, and 31 games with the Flyers where he recorded one goal and eight assists for nine points, and was assessed 219 minutes in penalties.

By the 1981-1982 season, Glen Cochrane was full time with the Flyers, appearing in 63 games where he had six goals and 12 assists for 18 points to go with 329 penalty minutes. By then he had also assumed a role as enforcer with the club.

Cochrane played 77 games for the Flyers in the 1982-1983, recording two goals and 22 assists for 24 points, and 237 penalty minutes.

The 1983-1984 season, would be Cochrane’s final full season in Philadelphia. He appeared in 67 games, scoring seven goals and adding 16 assists for 23 points, to go along with 225 penalty minutes.

The following season, 1984-1985, Cochrane played just 18 games for Philadelphia, scoring three goals and three assists for six points and 100 penalty minutes. He also played nine games for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League.

Cochrane headed to his home province for the 1985-1986 season, suiting up in 49 games for the Vancouver Canucks, where he had three assists and 125 penalty minutes. The next season, 1986-1987, he appeared in 14 games where he accumulated 52 penalty minutes. I suspect he was hurt for part of the year, because the following season, 1987-1988, he moved on to Chicago where he played in 73 games for the Blackhawks, scoring one goal and eight assists for nine points, and 204 penalty minutes.

His final season would be 1988-1989, where he played six games for Chicago, accumulating 13 penalty minutes, and 12 games for the Edmonton Oilers, racking up 52 penalty minutes.

The brother
I saw Glen Cochrane play for the Flyers. I was familiar with him when I saw an interesting story on “The National” on CBC.

The story was about a young woman named Naomi who was suffering from leukemia. This was the early 1980s when leukemia was still a virtual death sentence, or it had been. The story was about new hope for leukemia patients in the form of a new treatment, and maybe cure, called the bone marrow transplant.

The challenge was finding someone who was a match. The only real possibilities were blood relatives, particularly parents or siblings. Naomi came from a large family, so there were a number of possibilities.

One of Naomi Cochrane’s siblings was her brother Glen – who they said played for the Philadelphia Flyers. They even showed a picture of him in his uniform.

If memory served, one of Naomi’s siblings was a match, although I don’t think it was Glen. That’s because I do recall thinking he would have had a tough time coming back from that type of surgery.

I never did find out if the transplant was successful, and I never gave it another thought until yesterday when I was looking at that list of notable deaths.

Echoes of history
When I saw Glen Cochrane, I thought immediately of that CBC story of 40 years ago. I found his obituary online and immediately saw what I was looking for. In the paragraph of relatives who predeceased him was – his sister Naomi.

I immediately wondered if Glen Cochrane had died of leukemia, because I presumed his sister had.

At the end of the obituary, the family expressed their sincere gratitude to Dr. Tom Nevill and the entire bone marrow transplant team at Vancouver General Hospital who took such loving and compassionate care of Glen. They also requested those who wished to express their sympathies to consider making a donation to the Vancouver General Hospital Foundation.

It sure seemed like history had repeated itself and Glen fell victim to the same disease as his sister.

He passed away on January 13, 2024, just 16 days short of his 66th birthday.

Update
So, after writing this, I found a Vancouver Sun interview from a Naomi Cochrane from 2006. She talks about having a successful bone marrow transplant 25 years earlier. The dates, and obviously the name, match. The interview goes on to say she was a poster child for the success of bone-marrow transplants. She was a healthy mother of two teens, 18 and 15. After her transplant, she went back to school, earned a degree in social work, and worked with seniors at a care home.

Cochrane added she would have died within two months had she not had the transplant. Another article, this one from the Vernon Morning Star in 2010, indicates she was the first person in Western Canada to have an adult bone marrow transplant, almost 30 years before.

I also found her obituary in the Vernon Morning Star, explaining Naomi was born on February 13, 1962 and died on June 10, 2015. She was 53 years old. The obituary listed Glen as a brother, so it is her.

However, the cause of Naomi’s death is still a mystery to me.

I am heartened the CBC news story I saw 40 years ago had a happy ending.

Parting thoughts
It’s interesting what the memory chooses to hold on to. The instant I saw Glen Cochrane had died of cancer in mid January, I immediately wondered if he died of the same thing his sister did.

Then I wondered if I was misremembering, until I saw Naomi’s name.

I went looking online for any mention of that CBC news story, but haven’t found anything.

Still, I am quite certain I have these details right, and my heart breaks for the Cochrane family.

I am glad Glen Cochrane got to live to 65, and that his sister’s bone marrow transplant had extended her life by more than 25 years.

And I hold on to hope that research will continue to increase the life expectancy and survival rate of people afflicted with this illness.

My deepest condolences go out to the Cochrane family.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: There then gone

 

 Earlier tonight I was at a high school basketball game and this song started playing on the sound system with a slow build up. I turned to the person beside me who has an extensive music background and said, “Doesn’t this sound like Frankie Goes to Hollywood?”

He listened intently for a minute then just turned to me slowly and nodded – yes it does.

They were a band with a handful of great songs in the mid-1980s then just faded away.

Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s debut album “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” came out in 1984 and Wikipedia reveals it had advance sales of over one million copies. That’s pretty amazing.

The first three singles the English pop band released off “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” all went to number one on the United Kingdom Singles Chart.

“Relax” was the first, with its driving beat, and effective uses of pauses. It was a song I really got to know in university when it was one of our favourites to dance – and sing – to. “Relax” Peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and number 11 in Canada.

“Two Tribes” was the second release. What I will always remember is the video with U.S. President Ronald Reagan wrestling with Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko. “Two Tribes” did not fare as well in the United States, peaking at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and number nine in Canada. That video, and that wrestling match, are still vivid in my mind.

“The Power of Love” was the third single released from “Welcome to the Pleasuredome”. It seems to be a Christmas song with the Nativity featured in the video. “The Power of Love” didn’t hit the top 40 in the United States, but peaked at number 20 in Canada. Interestingly, over the next year, there were two other singles with the name “The Power of Love“. One was the Huey Lewis and the News version, on the soundtrack to the blockbuster smash “Back to the Future”, that went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The other was the Jennifer Rush version that went to number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wikipedia reveals all three appeared in the top 10 in the United Kingdom in 1985.

The title track “Welcome to the Pleasuredome”, was the fourth single released off the album. All I recall is the title of the song repeated over and over. The song peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 41 in Canada.

Follow-up album
After having an absolutely incredible year in 1984 and into 1985, it seemed Frankie Goes to Hollywood was a going concern and poised to be superstars.

Then they released their follow-up album “Liverpool” in 1986. It sold fewer copies and, as Wikipedia describes, Frankie Goes to Hollywood disbanded acrimoniously in 1987.

I don’t recall ever hearing of “Liverpool” or any songs from it, much less actually hearing anything from it.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood was gone as fast as they had come.

Parting thoughts
I recently learned something very interesting. Frankie Goes to Hollywood was among the first openly gay pop acts and made gay rights a theme of their music and performances.

As I think on it, I may have heard that before. It is still quite brave to me, especially in the 1980s when there was nowhere near as much acceptance and tolerance now.

That just adds another level to a band who really provided music that was great to dance to.

It is too bad they didn’t last longer.

Like so many performers, they were there, then they were gone.