Dick Wagner, The Maestro of Rock

He had a nondescript name. His work however, was anything but.

Today word came down of the death of Dick Wagner. Trying to place the name? A true rock & roll guitarist, Dick Wagner was first known for his Michigan based band The Frost. But it would be his collaborations with Alice Cooper and Lou Reed where Wagner would find lasting recognition.

Wagner and Cooper wrote a lot of songs together, and in 1975 Alice Cooper released a song which he co-wrote with Wagner, about a subject only talked about in quiet hushes at that time... domestic violence and living in an abusive marriage. "Only Women Bleed" went on to be covered by: Tina Turner, Tori Amos, Slash, Lita Ford, Etta James and Favorite Angel, to name a few.

Another Dick Wagner song, "Remember The Child," dealt with child abuse. But beyond the songwriting, mostly he let his guitar do the talking. His recording credits read like a Who's Who of the music industry. His musical accolades include his songs or guitar work included on over 350 albums, of which over 35 have been certified Gold or Platinum.

Heart attacks, a stroke, brain surgeries, diabetes, kidney failure, and other health issues plagued him for years. He worked back from a paralyzed arm and played guitar on the road until his most recent hospitalization a few weeks ago. Sadly, another recovery was not to be.

In 2013, Dick Wagner said "Love is in the air. Breathe deep." He did, and when he exhaled, music filled the air.

Easy Journey Maestro.

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A Perfect Day with Lou Reed

I've been neglecting my friends. But as we are all in the same boat, the one named "too much shit, too little time," they understand. But it's time to slowing get back to paying back, paying forward... being a good neighbor. So I'm back.

Since Lance is in mourning, as am I, over the loss of our writing fun at Sprocket Ink, I thought it would be nice if I jumped back into his 100 Word Song Challenge. The song this week is a good one too.

We lost Lou Reed this week. Not much you can say other than we've lost someone of great musical importance. Someone who provided the soundtrack to a lot of lives. So even though I had my little Lou salute the other day, he is worthy enough to feature him twice this week.

For those new around our weekly fun, you take the song as inspiration and write exactly 100 words about it. Poetry, prose, a honey-do list, just make it 100 words.

The song is "Perfect Day," and I ask "Is it really?"

He’d waited long enough.

Two years to the day; it was time. Ryan glanced over the room. After cleaning the whole day, time was too short to cook. The Thai restaurant delivered; he’d order her favorite.

She’d been preoccupied lately; stress from work, she said. He worried that she gotten too thin. In his mind’s eye, he could see her smile as he gave her the ring. Ryan could see nothing to ruin this day.

His mind snapped back as Angie closed the door. He saw her red eyes, but before he could ask, she said “I have brain cancer.”

One Last Walk with Lou Reed

I only have one Lou Reed story, but it's a memory that makes me smile to this day.

When I was a senior in high school and for a year or two after, I worked at a department store called Grand Way. It was later taken over by K-Mart, and it was basically the same type of store. There were a lot of kids all about the same age working there. It was a time of being able to drink at age 18, it was a time of smoking a joint during break time, it was a time of not much responsibility, it was a fun time.

Anyone who's ever worked in retail knows what it's like. The best time to work in a store is before it opens and after it closes, especially if you worked with a group of people just like yourself. We had a General Manager, Mr. Boyle, with shoe polish hair and not an ounce of humor. And we had an Assistant Manager whose last name I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure his first name was Dave. Well, Dave was the polar opposite of Mr. Boyle. He looked more like David Johansen than Lou Reed, but he was just a few years older than us and he was a cool guy. As soon as the store closed, he would turn the Muzak off and turn on the rock.

One night after closing, as we were finishing up, Dave turned the music on. A few minutes later he was riding the escalator going up. On either side of him were two of our co-workers, One was Cheryl and the other I can't remember her name. They were both black. With Lou Reed blasting throughout the store, he's riding the escalator singing the lead to "Walk On The Wild Side," while the two "colored" girls on either side of him sang "Doo do doo, doo do doo, doo do doo."

Priceless.

Now this was only visible to a small section of the store. I was one of the lucky ones able to enjoy it. Forty years later, I still do.

Easy Journey Lou.