17. You Never Forget Your First Time

And I never forgot MY first time. That is, the first time I went to a concert. I was 13 and it was the Spring of 1966. The Poe Kat and Mitch Corday had put together a weekend of music at the Washington Coliseum. Or maybe it was D.C. Armory. Anyway, each day featured some great stars - such as The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Lovin' Spoonful, Herman's Hermits and Dino, Desi & Billy - along with my dad and Mitch's stable of artists, which included The Chartbusters, The British Walkers and The Jumpin' Jacks.

So my dad informed me that my sister Teresa Kay and I could go to one of the shows and bring some friends. We were unbelievably excited. But we couldn't go to ALL of the shows. We could only go to one. My dad, even at that relatively early stage, wanted to keep my sister and me away from bad influences, so he thought Dino, Desi & Billy would be appropriate, since they were not much older than us. I lobbied hard for Herman's Hermits as well - figuring there would be no way in hell that he would let us see bad boys like The Animals or The Yardbirds - but Dino, Desi & Billy it was, with The Jumpin' Jacks opening for them.

I already liked Dino, Desi & Billy's music and the trio got a lot of instant press due to Dino being the son of the legendary Dean Martin and Desi being the son of the equally legendary Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz. After the concert my sister and I collected everything they put out for the next few years. We got to go backstage and meet them, which was a marvelous experience and great practice for my later Pop Music Survey days.

I always thought Dino, Desi & Billy made some fabulous music, including their first couple of singles "I'm A Fool" and "Not The Lovin' Kind", as well as my favorite song of their's, "I Hope She's There Tonight". I was at the perfect age to enjoy their bright and sunny music and because of that, over the years I've learned that music is very personal and subjective and that I should never judge other people's tastes - no matter how different they are from my own. I wish that philosophy also worked the other way around because MY friends are always making fun of MY taste in music.

As a sidenote, Dino was killed in a plane crash in 1987, while flying for the California National Guard. My dad always said how terrible it must be to lose a son and that it led to Dean Martin's rapid decline in health. These days Dino's younger brother Ricci keeps his music alive, touring with Dino's old bandmates as Ricci, Desi & Billy...