The other night, I had to stop by the drugstore. Pollen pervades still, so the supply of Allegra must be maintained. So I went.
After picking up a few items from the shelves, I wandered back to the pharmacy area and waited while a pair of other customers sought assistance and paid for whatever. As I was waiting, I noticed the song change on the in-store radio.
Thum-thump. Thum-thump. Joined by a snare. Then comes guitar. Then …
“You make me we-hee-eak …. I wanna die.”
Okay. Minor confession time. I’m not a fan, but I like Journey. I have a favorite Journey album and a favorite song from said album. And that song, I have to say, is the one that started playing in the Wal-Green’s.
But as I stood there, holding my sundries and biding my time, I thought about the first time I heard the song. My initial exposure to a lot of rock was on television, via local channel 61 out of Chattanooga. They’d play the kind of late ’70s music clips that would eventually become the bedrock of MTV and an industry unto themselves. And one of those proto-videos on regular rotation in 1979 was an in-concert rendition of “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” by Journey.
But it wasn’t until the drive home from the drugstore that I remembered a particular observation made by a seven-year old me after watching said video a number of times …
“Wow. That ugly woman sure can sing.”
