I was a born music fan; this is indisputable fact, Jack. I don't remember a time when I wasn't absorbed by rock n' roll. I do remember, however, that I didn't fully get everything I musically took in, which is totally understandable since I was so tiny. Understandable, and funny, since many misconceptions reflected my very, very limited exposure to different ethnicities. Here are 15 things that I got so wrong:
1. I thought the title of the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" was really saying "Take the back right, sir," and had something to do with civil rights and black people riding buses.
2. I also thought "Paperback Writer" was by the Monkees.
3. I thought Herb Alpert was Mexican.
4. When "Whole Lotta Love" was first played on AM radio (yes, it was, kiddies) I thought Led Zeppelin was black.
5. I thought Paul McCartney was dead, and freaked out crying.
6. I thought the Supremes really lived in a "tenement slum."
7. Like everyone else, I thought the Knickerbockers were really the Beatles.
8. I believed the Standells were killers, and were pretty damn bold to admit it on the radio.
9. I didn't think any musical performers on TV were lip syncing, because I didn't know what lip syncing was.
10. I was pretty sure Johnny Mathis was white.
11. I thought the Rolling Stones were very child-friendly, from lyrics like "little boys and girls come out to play," and "I sit and watch the children play."
12. I felt Elvis Presley's trademark rockabilly singing style was clear evidence of a stuttering problem.
13. I thought Zager & Evans' "In The Year 2525" was based on real science, and was a truthful (and depressing) timeline for the future of mankind.
14. I thought Johnny Cash was named Sue, but later changed his name to Johnny.
15. I thought music would never change.
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman