Arguing at the Lunch Table

Back in 1987 I was really starting to keep up on the music scene. I was about 13 years old at the time and I was all about keeping up with the latest, greatest and heaviest tunes. I was a little behind when it came to music as I had just started really getting in to it that year. All of my friends seemed to know more about this band or that band and could always have a lively debate about whose favorite band was better. At the lunch table in the seventh grade you could hear everyone arguing, “Dude, Motley Crue is WAY BETTER than AC/DC…” the normal reply would be something like, “Dude, Vince Neil is a flaming faggot!!! He couldn’t sing to save his life!” and everyone would get in on the subject and have a ball arguing about it.

I decided it was time to educate myself in the ways of arguing about music. I started to listen to the radio every night to become familiar with the top tunes of the day. I immediately got in to Bon Jovi and Cinderella (does anyone remember Cinderella?) and before long I was in there, at the lunch table, giving my two cents to anybody who cared to know. I was actually really enjoying knowing something about music and soon, I actually began to be the kid to go to if you had a question about who is in this band or what songs are on this album and things like that.

One thing I knew nothing about was old music. Now, back in 1987 old music to me was music from the 1970’s or 1960’s. I didn’t want to know anything about it. I thought it was old and queer and just not cool at all. That all changed in 1987.

One day, I’m watching MTV and on comes this video from the band Whitesnake. The song was called, “Here We Go Again” and it was off of their self titled album, “Whitesnake”. “That’s Led Zeppelin” my mother said as she listened to the song from the kitchen where she was making dinner. “No mom, this is Whitesnake” I replied. How could she confuse some stupid old band like Led Zeppelin with the cool new music? “No, that’s Led Zeppelin, I can tell …” my mother replied in turn. I was actually quite surprised that she kept insisting that this was Zep.

I totally love Whitesnake because of the bluesy style mixed with heavy metal. It was an excellent combination in my book, yet I was intrigued about Led Zeppelin now. Maybe they do sound like Whitesnake I thought. I’ll check it out.

Sure enough I could immediately understand my mothers confusion. Led Zeppelin sounded quite like Whitesnake and in fact I quickly became an avid fan. The next thing I knew I was starting to develop a taste for the old tunes. We didn’t call it classic rock back then, it was just “old stuff”. This was the turning point for me in terms of what music I really attached myself to. Soon I became an expert on all the old bands. I learned a valuable lesson in being open minded when it came to music. I also learned that just because my parents liked a band when they were young doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s too old to be cool!

So when I hear this song today it kind of represents a gateway from a childish point of view to a really mature point of view, regarding music appreciation. Whitesnake’s “Here We Go Again” lead me to the past and exposed me to a different kind of music which ultimately lead me to being the music nut that I am.