I had a little something in the works all along until I grew ill. However, they’re both too enormous like Freddie Mercury to let their milestone birthdays slide by.
Wednesday was Buddy’s 75th but you wouldn’t know it with all the 9/11 chest pounding and faux boo-hoo’ing on America’s 24-hour misinformation circuit. The man helped lay down the foundation of contemporary Pop/Rock, influenced the British Invasion more than Elvis and had he lived, probably would’ve had a second career as the old-guy producer who won’t threaten you with a gun. I have asked Lubbock residents if their city has a statue dedicated to Buddy as we do of Stevie Ray Vaughn; the answer is yes, it may be where Austin got the idea from.
When I was a kid, I first learned about him through The Buddy Holly Story via Showtime at my Uncle Skip’s house. Despite its inaccuracies (the Crickets’ names, he wasn’t the first white performer at the Apollo) and Gary Busey going on to be a train wreck, it’s a well-loved film. Maybe too well-loved which makes the The Kids in the Hall bit even funnier to fans.
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Chrissie has had a more direct influence on my life through her band The Pretenders. All those early Eighties hits are a part of so many personal soundtracks, namely “Brass in Pocket” and “Talk of the Town.” Much like Deborah Harry, Chrissie’s breakthrough came later in life, not in her late teens/early twenties which seems to be the pattern for auto-tune addicts with little rat eyes (*cough!* Taylor Swift). Her voice is also distinctive since I can’t think of anyone I have accidentally mistook her for; Annie Lennox yes (lead singer Sherine Abeyratne of Big Pig and Julianna Raye), Chrissie Hynde never.
Last year, Chrissie blew me away with Fidelity, a collaborative record consisting of her, JP Jones and the Fairground Boys. It demonstrated that she wasn’t ready to hang it up, retire and/or join the oldies circuit which her contemporaries have done. Well, the material proved she doesn’t need to either.
I don’t know if my niece Anna has any rock n’ roll aspirations but should any moron try to discourage her by saying girls can’t rock, you can depend on Uncle Maggi to help make a list to refute such a dumb statement. Near the top (I can’t predict how agile my memory could be in the near future) will be Chrissie alongside Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks, Deborah Harry, Johnette Napolitano and Jane Wiedlin.