ohbloodyhell8

Oldest son had his first baseball game of the season tonight.  Such a feeling of Americana came over me.  Children were running around the ball fields screaming and having fun.  Parents were walking dogs, cheering on their kids, and taking lots of pictures.  Older teens were skipping rocks in the stream that runs along the back of the park.  Oldest son’s team lost (13-11) but he asked if we could celebrate his first game.  To an eight year old, this means a trip to McDonald’s.

After dinner the boys went straight to bed.  I hopped on the old internet and read some more about the late great Dick Clark.  He was and is a part of Americana.  One piece I read mentioned Peggy Sue Got Married and the comment about him never looking older or never aging (I forget the exact quote).  I always think of the lines from When Harry Met Sally.  Harry is alone on New Year’s Eve and he’s watching the ball drop.  In his voice-over he says something like this being good, “…You’ve got Dick Clark, that’s tradition.”

My memories of Dick Clark are not specific events (except for the line from Harry) but rather a series of vague memories.  The main thing I remember is that my mom and I bonded and connected early on because of Dick Clark.  We’d watch American Bandstand and my mom would tell me about the music she liked and what she listened to growing up.  Music was always something we talked about and I still connect to music from the 70s really easily.  Plus my uncle was a DJ at a local radio station at the time.  He’d play “Wildfire” by Michael Martin Murphey for me during his shift.  Of course, I now know that due to the long length, he may have said it was for me, but he probably played it so he could run to the bathroom. “American Pie”, “Hotel California”, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” were all good bathroom songs for DJs.  But still the piano in “Wildfire” is haunting to me.  I love the music from the 70s-the singer/songwriters.  I am not a big fan of the popular/Top 40 music of today.  I sound so cliche saying that, but it’s true.  The songs today don’t seem to have discernible melodies unless it’s from a musical.  I’m sure it’s artistic and will be appreciated for the changes it brought to the music industry one day, but overall it sounds like noise to me.

But when I was a youngin’, Dick Clark helped introduce me to music and create a special life-long bond with my mom.  Americana grew richer through his work.  I’ve been floating in the 70s all day and the ballpark was filled with a 70s vibe tonight.  Children making up games to pass the time as a sibling played ball.  Cheers coming from different directions.  Lots of “good try” and “good job” and “baseball ready” filled the air.  Youngest son had a hot dog.  I do believe that’s a federal law.  Six-year-olds must eat a hot dog at the ball park.  Hot dogs at the ball park on a warm spring evening.  Boys and Americana.