Concerted Efforts

A couple months ago, I had the opportunity to see the legendary Smokey Robinson in concert. Honestly, my expectations weren’t that high. After all, he is 83 years old. But to my pleasant surprise, Smokey has still got it. He looked great and sang even better. But that got me thinking. With so many of the artists from the ‘60s and ‘70s getting pretty old and dying off, it gave me pause to think back to some of those who have passed that I had seen and some who are still going in their 70s and 80s.

I’ve been very lucky in that I have seen just about every artist I have ever wanted to see. The exceptions, of course, are the Beatles (they stopped touring when I was five, though I’ve seen Paul, George and Ringo), John Lennon (he never toured) and Elvis (I was 11 the last time he played around here).

But I did get to see Michael Jackson with and without the Jackson Five. He was great. I saw Prince a few times. Dynamic performer, but his tendency to do long jams got boring after a while. One show, he even spent the vast

Greco Publishing has successfully served the automotive repair industry for over 30 years in print, online and as an association liaison. Our team handles all pre-press production in-house, from ad design to editorial layout.

Greco Publishing also provides a variety of services to cover our clients needs and facilitate their day-to-day business.

by THOMAS GRECO, PUBLISHER

majority of it on his jazz compositions. Not fan-friendly at all. I saw David Bowie twice, and like many memories, the mind plays tricks on you. Yes, he was Bowie, and yes, he had a great presence, but his live shows were average (at least they were in the ‘80s and ‘90s).

Sometimes, the experience is more memorable than the concert itself. When I first saw Wings in 1976, seeing one of the Beatles live was thrilling enough. The fact that he only played five Beatles songs didn’t matter (although he changed that tune the next time he toured the US and played about 25 Beatles songs).

My girlfriend (and later wife) played a part in many concerts. Our first one was John Waite and Scandal. But she must have gotten used to me pretty quickly because not long after, she started falling asleep at shows like Grand Funk Railroad and Vanilla Fudge. Another Prince show was especially memorable. We were sitting in the upper deck at Madison Square Garden, so we would ask to borrow some binoculars from the people sitting next to us. As the Purple One started his set, my wife, looking through the binoculars, turned to me and said, “Isn’t that____? And who is that woman he’s holding hands with?” I took the binoculars and saw that down on the floor in the first row was a very married relative who was with someone other than his wife. I just shrugged and gave the binoculars back to our neighbors. The next family party was very interesting.

There used to be a fantastic concert hall in Passaic, NJ called the Capitol. Almost every band played there. As I have mentioned before, that was where I saw my first concert (Sha Na Na). Some other great memories include the Heart concert where my buddy “Cricket” jumped on stage to kiss the lead singer, Ann Wilson. The bouncers were on him immediately and threw him out the side doors. He still says that was a highlight of his life. I remember a Halloween show with the Tubes and Utopia mainly because they had a costume contest that was won by a woman dressed as a used tampon. I know. Gross, right? But pretty damn creative.

Another place that is long gone is the Bottom Line in Greenwich Village, NY. I met my brother-in-law there for a Lou Reed show. When I got to our table, he asked if I had trouble parking. I said “Yes, I found a space that just said ‘no standing.’”