In My Life

Fifty years ago today, at 8:00, my family got together around the TV like we did every Sunday night.  We always watched Ed Sullivan.  Most of the time I was bored waiting for a rock n roll act which didn't happen enough for me.  I think I was always respectful of the other acts and paid attention.  Thank goodness I did because I gained an appreciation for Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and so many more.

But that February night changed the Ed Sullivan show for me.  From that night on, the show was my show.  The one that I had to see.  Sure, the rest of the family was there, but Ed Sullivan was giving me every Sunday the acts that I really wanted to see.  It started with The Beatles, but it quickly became the Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, The Beach Boys, The Young Rascals, The Doors, and so on.

The real change for me came just three days later.  I need to digress a little to bring this into context.  Most people who know me know how much I love music.  That might be a slight understatement.  At one time I had over five thousand LP's, that's Vinyl to those in the 21st century.  I did dabble a little in 8 tracks and cassettes, but in 1987, I began my wall of CD's.  That, of course, has made way to three hard drives filled with MP3's as well as two clouds filled with more MP3's.  As a teacher, my love for music has been a way for me to connect and build relationships.  It still is today.

Before the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan, I had no records.  I never even thought about buying them.  At that time, the radio was good enough for me.  WOWO and WGL played enough music for me to keep up with what was going on. Later, when I could find them on the radio, I moved on to CKLW and WLS.  Sure, I had to listen to stuff I didn't care about, but eventually they got to music I liked.

That all changed on February 12, 1964.  I turned 15 that day, and I remember what my mother and father got me for my birthday.  You do need to know that I don't remember any present that they gave me before or after that birthday, but I distinctly remember what it was that day.  It was a small thin wrapped present.  When I unwrapped the present, I saw a 45 RPM record, then another, and another.  The first was "She Loves You."  The next was "I Want to Hold Your Hand."  The final was "My Bonnie."  Three of the first singles released by the Beatles in the United States.

Even though my parents weren't really sold on the Beatles, they knew that this was what I wanted.  They found an old hi-fi with a turntable.  It was mine.  I am absolutely sure that I played those singles until they couldn't be played any more because I have no idea what happened to them.  I do know that those 45's took me Muprhy's Department store downtown a week after that.  I bought my first album The Dave Clark Five - Glad All Over.

I mention all of this now probably because, like the anniversary of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, I am celebrating a milestone this week.  No, it isn't 50 years of collecting music, but I find that kind of impressive, even if no one else does. The milestone is my 65th birthday.  It was the signal to me that I needed to move on from education.  It is the birthday that signals my changeover to Medicare.  In a way, it is a sign that I am in transition.

In today's paper various people who were around for the Ed Sullivan show 50 years ago were asked which Beatles song they liked the most.  My answer last year would have been "When I'm Sixty-four."  This year and every other year from now on it will be "In My Life."