In last Friday's post I mentioned the start of a new Friday feature in TBC. What I've planned is to alternate Flashback Friday with Flashforward Friday. I hope I can live up to the task.
Last week's Friday post saw the former, with a YouTube link to a snippet from a late-70s concert by none other than Melissa Manchester. I think I'll relate this week's post to that of last week. It's not futuristic by any means, but there's an element of forward thinking in there somewhere if you look hard enough.
When I was in my early teens, secretly lip-synching those Melissa Manchester ballads in the hallowed privacy of the refugee camp masquerading as my bedroom, all I knew is that I wanted to sing. And I wanted to sing like Melissa. Gawwwwwd, I wanted to sing like her...well, like her, Anne Murray and Bette Midler. Although I somehow faked it as a tragic Dennis DeYoung, singing Styx songs with our high-school pop group, my voice belonged to the female balladeers and torch-song singers whose albums I jealously guarded like a psychotic squirrel. These jewels of my meager record collection I proudly displayed in a wire album rack that stood next to my portable hi-fi system (with the lid that popped up like a suitcase!) under the fan-like display of Stephen King book jackets thumbtacked to my wall.
Little did I know the Melissa Manchester wanna-be would grow up to specialize in singing French Baroque and Bach. The more I think about it, there must have been a Muse perched on her hilltop watching me, giggling at the propitious satire behind it all. Well, I hope she's still out there, for I'd love for her to see what's around the corner now.
What were your aspirations as a young teenager?
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Oh yeah. We had to bid a sad farewell this morning to Zane's goldfish, who was found floating tits up in his tepid little home. There was no burial, just an unceremonious flush. (This before I got home from the gym, mind you. I didn't even get to say goodbye.)
