December 8, 1980: John Lennon was murdered.
I wasn't a fan of either.
I hated The Beatles because "everybody" liked them. Everybody. I hated Led Zeppelin because the asshole Jocks liked them; The Quarterback of the football team always wore a Zeppelin belt buckle. It was one of those with the band logo in space tape.. Remember those? Me 2.
By December of 1980 I had been to around a half dozen concerts, and it pretty much says what bands I was into: Cheap Trick, The Who, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Van-Fuckin'-Halen. One time I was wearing my Cheap Trick shirt at school and a couple of jocks walking behind me made fun of it and went off about how the Pat Travers Band blew them off the stage at the last show. Fuck off, like, totally (I didn't say that of course..).
When Bonham's death was announced I remember The Quarterback wearing his Zeppelin - U.S. 1977 Tour shirt and belt buckle in mourning. Zeppelin had announced a U.S. Tour and he had been planning to see them; he looked crushed. Around that same time he had an awful game versus a cross town rival; at one point he was sacked for, like, a 20-yard loss after running around like a pussy in the face of the rush. WWBD (What Would Bonham Do)?
Several years ago I received the souvenir program from my high school's 20th Reunion (I didn't attend, but I ordered the program just to see if I remembered anybody..). The Quarterback, who had been heartbroken over Bonham's death and Zeppelin's break up, was now a Born Again Christian and the bit he contributed for the program was filled with "God this" and "God that". Over the hills and far, far away...
On the night of December 8, 1980 I was getting home from work; it must have been 10:00PM because the local 10:00 O'Clock News was just starting. I sat down on the couch to watch it with my parents; I was still wearing my Carl's Jr. uniform (Fast Food Nation paid for my records back then!). The lead story was about that guy John Lennon getting shot in New York City. Hmmm... I watched the reports but had no feelings about it. After that I probably went up to my room and put on Van-Fuckin'-Halen or something. Runnin' with The Devil...
Admittedly, my Music Geek education was backwards compared to most people's. It wasn't until years later when I was in my 20's that I became a fan of The Beatles and Zeppelin... but back in 1980 I was still a year away from discovering Iron Maiden and, to be honest, that band had far more of an impact on me than any other band outside of Cheap Trick.
In Umlaut's world, The Beatles / Led Zeppelin = Cheap Trick / Iron Maiden... which I think explains alot if you know me. Discuss amongst yourselves.
