MY first Rock and Roll Hero

You would think that with what I do for a living, my passion really, my hero would be Elvis. This is only partially true. Yes I love Elvis and everything his spirit reverberates, but he was not my first hero.  Certainly my first heroes were very influenced by Elvis though.  As a lad I grew up in the suburbs of New York City, very close yet also very removed from anything remotely “street” or hip. I did have older brothers and sisters though and they introduced me to my first heroes. My heroes were weird, they were dudes who sometimes wore make-up, They wore frilly shirts or ripped up jeans and almost non existant t-shirts. They wore army boots,or chelsea boots witha cuban-heel, they drank, they smoked and basically didnt give a rats buttox what folks thought. They were Rock Stars. They didnt carry guns or have superpowers necessarily, but I loved to look at pictures of them, their weird hair, big boots, and defiant expressions. Although I couldn't put into words what it was that I loved about them, suffice to say it was the “Bad” that felt so damn “Good.” Like listening to them was wrong and I had to do so in secret so my parents didn't know. They did have amazing weapons, they had the power of sound, they had those lightining sticks with metal strings, and a throne surrounded by powerful drums. They could make that feeling happen, that feeling when you hear something and it hits your heart, that first power riff  that you cannot refuse, you cannot help but scrunching up your face and letting it move you.When I first heard Led Zeppelin this feeling is my first memory. Lying on the living room floor. The huge oak Phongraph console thumping "Whole Lotta Love" I was completely taken away, it hit me so hard I did not even understand what it was, but I felt it. And that bridge, it was haunting it was scary, almost made me want to run away, the fuzzed out Theramin the phased guitars and vocals creeped the hell out of me, but I endured it because I knew it would come back to that Holy riff. When that riff kicks back in at John Bonhams signal it is Rock and Roll Heaven is it not? Is this not the greatest feeling you could ever have listening to Rock and Roll?
        My first Rock and Roll hero came when i was just a bit older. The Rocker most influencial to me as a young guy and I think to almost every guy who was a teenager when they were around was Joe Strummer of the Clash. To this day I can sing you any Clash tune from their first album  "The Clash" (which used the same album layout as Elvis first album on Sun. except featured Joe smashing his guitar)  I played that album every day after school. Every day my friends, from 6th grade to 8th grade, did I tell you EVERY DAY  and I acted out the entire album every day before my Mom or my brothers and sistes got home from work, or school.
     Joe wasn't particularly handsome but he did have some rugged good looks. He was definitely not a singer and played a workman-like guitar at best, but man, could he write a song. More than that he could imbue a song with power and feeling and oddly enough Joe taught you about all the bullshit and corruption in the world. He sang about injustice and murder and yes rebellion. And Joe never sold out (well OK the “Cut The Crap” album) but you have to allow a guy one misstep cant ya? Joe (like Elvis) had slicked back greasy hair or a mohawk, army boots ripped jeans t-shirt and he wielded his guitar like a howitzer. He showed me and a million other boys that we even as youngsters could bang on a drum or thump a bass or rip a pick across guitar strings, and you could have your own voice in this world. You didn't have to play very well, you didn't need to look very good, you didn't need to even sound very good, you just had to mean it, you had to have all your young soul behind every off key shout. Suddenly we could all have confidence in a creation that was our own, and it wasnt disco and adults hated it so they ran as far away as they could from it. Really to this day I have had a lot of joys playing music, more than I could ever have imagined I am grateful and very blessed to be able to do it for a living, but there has been no greater joy than playing in the garage 15 years old,  shouting my heart and soul out with my first band ever, so John Clancy, Martin Shalders, Todd Rockefeller (later replaced by Richard Torre) I have and will never forget that summer in 9th grade when we were a Rock and Roll band. and to us the greatest Rock band in the world. Thank you Joe for being the Rock star for the underdog the runner-up the has-been the forgotten those whose voice could not be heard. I will always miss you. The world misses you now more than ever.