RollingStone.com Hall of Fame pix
In 1977 I lived on the east side of New York just a few blocks from a bar called CBGB (which initials, oddly, stood and stand for Country, Blue Grass, Blues). My girlfriend and I lived in a basement loft, or at least that’s what we called it, somehow happy to trade off a view for a fair amount of room.
In heavy rotation on the turntable that year were records by the Ramones, the Talking Heads and Tom Petty, all of whom were inducted into rock ‘n’ roll’s Hall of Fame last night.
Talking Heads seemed to represent some sort of brittle future, an artsy geeky world that really has come to pass, while Tom Petty seemed a throwback, a talented appropriator of the tricks of the Byrds. The Ramones, of course, seemed to have their feet in both camps, virulently old style while making noises no one had ever heard before.
After the Tout Wars draft the other night, when the conversation wasn’t about baseball, it seemed to veer toward this music, too. But I’m really digressing here, there isn’t anything about baseball here. Just an illustration of the way time slips into the future. Remember, “Hours are like diamonds, don’t let them waste.”