March 2001.... What Thomas is after, he says, is something like the moment in an old radio play "in which you hear a creak or sigh and see immediately without verbal description Philip Marlowe's office with dust motes frozen in venetian blind light."
The 'Runaway' referred to is, of course, Del Shannon's 1961 hit, a song that set Shannon up for life, but also was something from which he could never escape as it followed him wherever he played. I wrote Greil in the Ask Greil column a year or two ago about this sort of Twilight Zone scenario: working musician aspires to stardom and gets it through one song that he must play every day of his life ever after. It was a blessing and a curse. Shannon, long dead and a suicide, no less, and the song itself has lived on and never will die. I guess that's immortality?
Love this! Reminds me of being at the Knitting Factory, perhaps that same night in 2001. Reminds me, too, of a night at Slim's, when Thomas held lyric sheets as he sang and then tossed them onto the floor of the stage. After "Dark," he tossed to his left and the paper was in front of me, but out of reach. Did I have a choice? Of course I didn't. I scrambled onto the stage and snagged that crumpled paper, as my two friends – smart, engaged – sat near the wall, bored and eager to leave, just as my friend at the Knitting Factory sat outside on the stairs, waiting for me with feigned patience. I framed the lyric sheet of Dark and it hangs near a shelf I had built for my 45s.
I have tried to post it but it isn't working. I suspect the platform won't allow photos in comments. If you are on Facebook, let me know and I'll post it there.
Dear Michele, send to me and I’ll get it posted. Greil
The 'Runaway' referred to is, of course, Del Shannon's 1961 hit, a song that set Shannon up for life, but also was something from which he could never escape as it followed him wherever he played. I wrote Greil in the Ask Greil column a year or two ago about this sort of Twilight Zone scenario: working musician aspires to stardom and gets it through one song that he must play every day of his life ever after. It was a blessing and a curse. Shannon, long dead and a suicide, no less, and the song itself has lived on and never will die. I guess that's immortality?
Love this! Reminds me of being at the Knitting Factory, perhaps that same night in 2001. Reminds me, too, of a night at Slim's, when Thomas held lyric sheets as he sang and then tossed them onto the floor of the stage. After "Dark," he tossed to his left and the paper was in front of me, but out of reach. Did I have a choice? Of course I didn't. I scrambled onto the stage and snagged that crumpled paper, as my two friends – smart, engaged – sat near the wall, bored and eager to leave, just as my friend at the Knitting Factory sat outside on the stairs, waiting for me with feigned patience. I framed the lyric sheet of Dark and it hangs near a shelf I had built for my 45s.
Please take a pix of the framed lyric and post it here or on some other of your SM sites.
I'm a friend-of-a-friend from the food world.
I will do that later today and try to post it here first.
I have tried to post it but it isn't working. I suspect the platform won't allow photos in comments. If you are on Facebook, let me know and I'll post it there.
Yes, FB = great.