Tag: Rick Springfield

Passing The Torch

Passing The Torch

by MichelleMcHatton

Last evening a generational torch was passed.

It was my 14-year-old daughter’s first concert.  At the same venue I attended my first concert thirty-six years ago.

In 1983 the place was called The Centrum.  The artist was Rick Springfield.  In 2019 the place is called The DCU Center.  The artist was Pentatonix.  As in 1983 souvenirs were purchased and memories were made.  The artists may have changed but the venue has not and is showing its age of nearly forty years.

As in 1983 there is still a need for more women’s rooms and the seats still feel like concrete.  But as it did for me in 1983, and as it did for my daughter in 2019, the music rocked.  It entertained.  It brought a continuous smile to my daughter’s face.  She had the time of her life.  To me that’s all that matters.

 

The 80’s Revisited

The 80’s Revisited

by MichelleMcHatton

I always knew it would happen one day.  Or at least hoped.  The day my child said she wished she had been around in the 80’s so she could’ve experienced the music.

My thirteen-year-old recently came across the Jennifer Garner flick “13 Going on 30” on Netflix and was immediately taken in by the 80’s theme of the film.  Especially the music.  “Head Over Heels”, “Jessie’s Girl” and particularly “Thriller”.

“Why couldn’t I have been around in the 80’s?” she whined.

“Just because you weren’t doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy that music now,” I reminded her.

The other day we were returning from running errands and sat in the car listening to the last strains of Wham!’s  “Careless Whisper”.

“I love this song,” she said.  “Who sings it?”

“George Michael,” I told her.

“Who?”

“Wham!  George Michael.  You know, ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’.  You know that song,” I reminded her.

“Oh yeah.”

We continued talking about Wham! and 80’s music as we entered the house.  I relayed my teen love for Duran Duran to her.

“You know, the group who sings ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’.”

“Oh, yeah.  I like that song.”

“Yeah.  You know what the lead singer’s name is?”

“What?”

“Simon.  Want to know what his last name is?”

“What?”

“LeBon.”

She laughed.  “What a funny name!”

I smiled.  “Yeah, that’s what the rest of the band thought too when they first met him.”

I went on to tell her how there were three members in the band with the last name of Taylor but they weren’t related.

“Really?  How can they not be related?”  my daughter asked.

“Because in England the surname Taylor is like the surname Smith in America.”

She also thought it was cool that John’s real name was Nigel, because that’s the first name of one of The Muppets.  Which is another thing from the 80’s that she loves.

But that’s another 80’s story for another time.

Review: “Magnificent Vibration”

Review: “Magnificent Vibration”

by MichelleMcHatton

What do a middle-aged divorced loser named Bob Cotton, a nun trying to find herself named Alice Young and an oversized uneducated Latino named Lexington Vargas have in common?  One would think not very much but in Rick Springfield’s debut novel “Magnificent Vibration”, the three come together in a wild adventure that takes them from the highways of Los Angeles to the Highlands of Scotland.

When Bob Cotton steals a copy of the book “Magnificent Vibration” from a bookstore, he is faced with the utmost curiosity when he finds the phone number 1-800-CALL-GOD written in the book.  As any person questioning God’s existence while on the verge of suicide may do, Bob gives it a call and has a few words with The Man Upstairs.

Feeling despondent following his chat with God, Bob visits a bar where God once again contacts him while he’s in the men’s room.  Because of Bob’s disbelief, God not only gives Bob a white streak in his hair a’ la Charlton Heston, he also sets one of the sinks in the men’s room on fire.  Bob then manages to get the attention of Alice, an attractive woman in the bar who also has a copy of “Magnificent Vibration” sans the phone number.  Before Bob can decide whether he wants to bed Alice or not, Alice reveals that she is a nun who is trying to find herself.  Considering the two ironically both have a copy of the same book, and Bob has spoken to God, they decide to visit a coffee shop to discuss the situation.

Upon leaving the coffee shop, they encounter Lexington Vargas, a behemoth of a man with a somewhat simple educated mind but a strong knowledge of life on the streets.  He too owns a copy of “Magnificent Vibration” and his also has a phone number in it.  Also for God.

Following a crazy plane crash, they meet and quickly deject Merikh, whose name they discover means “Angel of Death”.  An unexpected e-mail to Alice from a law firm in Scotland leads the three to Inverness.  There they discover Alice has inherited a house as well as something that will change the course of mankind.

Springfield entertains his readers with this well-written, humorous tale of sexual exploitations and life’s ups and downs.  His portrayal of God (also known as the Omnipotent Supreme Being and Arthur) is comical as well as philosophical.  In the end we are left to wonder:  are we merely chess pieces in this game of life, responsible for what happens to us, or is there a Higher Power who is in charge?