by Dennis Davis, Drexel Hill, Pa

I know a list from a whole family is NOT what you are looking for – Its just that when we got started talking about this, we couldn’t stop………..Believe it or not, we left A LOT out!!

One Family’s Musical Moments…

Dennis’ moments:

• Singing “Suzie Darlin” by Robin Luke on a long car ride as a kid
• Dancing to “The Fly” By Chubby Checker at a dance in the Ridley Park Fire House
• MY first concert – “The Lemon Pipers” at the Robin Hood Dell. I wont count the Iron Butterfly at the Manor Theater in Prospect Park, Pa., since only two of them showed up – and they didn’t play – they just went on-stage and answered a few questions from Hy Lit.
• Seeing the Moody Blues do “Are You Sitting Comfortably?” on “This is Tom Jones”.
• Jefferson Airplane, probably 1969 – between songs, Jorma picked up one of those green glow-sticks everyone used to throw around at concerts, and started playing slide with it – Grace Slick (who I was in love with) remarked – Oh, Jorma, you can play with anything!
• Janis Joplin at the old Civic Center – chugging on a magnum bottle of Southern Comfort.
• Deep Purple doing “Child in Time” at the Spectrum – Best Male singer I ever saw!
• Rory Gallagher, Fleetwood Mac (still a blues band), and Savoy Brown in the rain on the Boston Common. I hitchhiked there to see Rory!
• Seeing George Harrison live – before he did a version of “In My Life”, he said “Here’s a song by me old pal, Jack Lennon”.
• Waiting til 5AM for Jeff Beck to play at the Tower Theater – and it was well worth it!
• Seeing the Who do “Tattoo” at Madison Square Garden in 1973 Going to some show (not sure who it was) at the Spectrum, and the opening act was someone I never heard of – named Alice Cooper – I was expecting a female singer, but then the stage hands started setting up an electric chair……
• Sensational Alex Harvey band doing “FRAMED” at the Spectrum Merle Travis (16 Tons) and Roosevelt Sykes (The night time is the right time) at the Phila Folk Festival, around 1975 ?
• Ike and Tina Turner review at the Spectrum Pink Floyd at the Irvine Auditorium. They had speakers throughout the building, and the keyboard player had this stick shift control – he would move it around, and the sound would come from somewhere else – SUPER high tech for the time…..Frank Zappa (My Hero – also at the Irvine) comes out and says, The first song is going to be Rollo (which no one ever heard) – People started yelling out “Brown Shoes”, Plastic People”, etc., and Zappa says sternly – “No, Rollo!!”
• Martin Mull at the old Main Point, being joined on-stage by Tom Waits Mott the Hoople at the Tower, and Mott the Hoople at the Shubert theater. Opening act at the Shubert, some unknown kids from Boston called Aerosmith.
• Patty Loveless at Sunset Park (WAY out in the Phila Burbs) Johnny Cash at the Valley Forge Music Fair.
• Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe at the Grand Ole Opry.
• Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” tour at the Tower (Moonage Daydream in particular).
• Jimmy Cliff doing “Hanging Fire” at the TROC.
• Seeing my daughter in the back seat, in the car seat (she must have been 3 or 4) singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” with all of her heart…….
• Lou Reed playing an Amnesty International show at Giants Stadium – doing the song “Turn to Me” – It was a REAL hot day – and when Lou got to the line about “The apartment has no heat”, he quickly explained “I wrote this song in the Winter”.
• My children’s first real concert – The Dead Milkmen at Pulsations – The first song was “Rocket Ship” – with the singer (Rodney Anonymous) arriving via space ship, reading a National Enquirer, to start the set.
• Joe Jackson at the TLA.
• Talking Heads “Remain in Light” tour at the Mann (the tour with the oversized white suit).
• The Replacements at Chestnut Cabaret – no particular moment – just a magic night!
• Swinging Bachelors of Science, doing “Bobby needs a Hobby” at the Khyber.
• Nixon’s Head doing “She should know better” at Topps (above McGlincheys on 15th St).
• Alvin Lee in the Albert Hall The Jody Grind at J C Dobbs – doing “Mood Indigo” – Best Female singer I ever saw!
• Cibo Matto at the TLA (Peaches opened).
• Ray Davies – no special moment, just his whole career.

Judy’s moments:

• The (eternal) flame was ignited in 4th grade watching the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. There was NO turning back!!
• Developing a mad crush on Ray Davies with the release of “You Really Got Me”. I remember saving up my allowance to buy the album “Kinkdom Come”. The crush has lasted to this day.
• The Ramones (Tower Theater) and The Clash (Class of 23 Ice Rink) — Don’t need to say more.
• Taking our last bit of money out of our savings and heading to the U2 “War” Concert at The Spectrum with my husband (we made sure to set aside the babysitter money) at the last minute. Everyone standing and singing every word of every song, no one at the Concessions it was like a Rock and Roll Church. Had to keep reminding myself to breathe.
• The Amnesty International Concert at Giant Stadium — in the words of my young nephew “it was the BEST DAY EVER” for music. A summer day in the 90’s with a blazing sun, Third World performing “96 Degrees in the Shade” and a wonderful breeze comes out of nowhere to cool us off a bit. So many scheduled and surprise performers made it the greatest day of non-stop music I ever experienced.
• U2 once again! Opening song for the Joshua Tree tour — “Streets Have No Name”. The way they used the building crescendo of that song to start off the show still gives me goose bumps when I think about it.
• The Chestnut Cabaret!!!!! So many amazing performers in such an intimate setting. Iggy Pop, Rory Gallagher, Ramones, The Replacements, Carlene Carter to name just a few.
• Having the great fortune to see Prince (Sheila E on drums - fan), Van Halen (how did my sister and I wind up with all that mustard on us???) and the holy trio of Liza, Frank and Sammy within a 2 week period.
• Being exposed to the Philadelphia Orchestra kick-starting a love for classical music via student tickets for the Friday Matinee concerts as a member of my high school orchestra. Particularly memorable was experiencing the power of Seiji Ozawa conducting Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. In later years, experiencing the amazing conducting gifts of Ricardo Muti and how he showed me the interpretive gifts of the conductor performing Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique (ok, I had a major crush on him too).

Eileen’s moments:

• Sitting in a car with no AC for 18 hours listening to Elvis Golden Records over and over before finally arriving in Memphis and touring all things Elvis (Graceland, Sun Studios etc.)
• Almost getting trampled in a mosh pit at my first rock show when I was 7 and my brother was 6 at the Dead Milkmen at Pulsations. Receiving a personal response to a letter I wrote from the Dead Milkmen’s drummer Dean Clean telling me that I was the kind of fan that made it worth playing in a band. I was 8 years old.
• Having my father in a band for ten years (starting when I was 11) and getting to be the cool 7th grader taking her friends to shows at colleges. It continued all the way till I was old enough to go to bars and could still show off my “rock star” dad to all my friends. They practiced in my basement a few nights a week for ten years.
• “Chillin” with Peaches at the Khyber Pass and The Pharcyde at the TLA U2 at U of P (Franklin Field) doing Sunday Bloody Sunday and the whole crowd singing word for word. Felt like some kind of cool church.
• B52’s doing “Planet Clair” at the Tweeter in 2000. Goose bumps!
• Watching Black Eyed Peas (before Fergie) at the Electric Factory in 1999 while standing next to Andre 3000 and Big Boi from Outkast. Then stood next to Will I Am from BEP during Outkast’s set.
• First time I saw The Knitters. Fell in love with Exene and John Doe for life!
• When My Mon gave me a copy of Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street” which was a BIG moment for me.
• Zen Guerilla at Bowery Ballroom, NYC. It was extra cool because Andy (The Drummer) left my name at the door!
• Soul Asylum at the Mann – I loved Runaway Train.
• Santana’s performance at Woodstock (the movie – I wasn’t born til 1980).

Rory’s moments:

• While the Davis family awaits an early morning cab to take them to the airport, the television is tuned to Fox Family Channel. We are immediately taken on a journey through the decades with the Olsen Twins, merely by ‘Going Through Our Mom’s Stuff.” The trip is hereby ruined with the incessant singing of ‘it’s a trip to sift through!’ The last thing we need is Little Richard when we’re lost in the forest (Dad’s response to a musical request on a long car ride).
• The sounds of Carlene Carter, Marty Stuart and my favorite singer Miss Becky Hobbes doing my favorite song ‘Talk Back Trembling Lips’ conjure images of sparkling floors and dad’s calloused knees. Ahhh unemployment summer.
• LAND HO! (Sleater-Kinney at the TROC).
• Blasting ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Talk of the Town’ on the midnight cliffs of Lana’i with mom and dad, our last night before sending them home to Philadelphia.
• Prince at the Electric Factory with Laurie and Heather Murphy. When a 60 year old woman resembling Glenn Close makes her way onstage and rushes towards Prince, she is tackled by rugby-sized bouncers and nearly maced. Prince looks down at her and says ‘Grandma, I’m trying to work’ while she’s dragged offstage.
• I should’ve been more stupider (Mary Lee’s Corvette).
• Seeing PJ Harvey on September 10th, 2001, at the Electric Factory the last time she ever performed the song “Kamikaze” live.
• How is she keeping? Safe and sound. What did she teach you? Don’t bend down… (Reggae Classic).
• After a fun-filled day of rides and fun in the sun, Kindly Old Auntie Terry’s REAL fun begins, complete with bandana blindfolding and stinging astringent facial wiping while the Cowboy Junkies promise us we’ll never catch them complaining about too much Southern Rain.
• Within Nutbush City Limits, there’s a church house, inn house, a school house and an outhouse. . . but I don’t know the rest. (Ike & Tina)
• The death of Notorious B.I.G sends mom to the record store asking for “the latest dead guy.”
• The family finds religion with the sounds of Rhubarb Sky ‘I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!’
• Shelley Thunder teaches us the meaning of ‘Koof!’
• Hello teenage America. Suzy Creamcheese causes the entire family to laugh in the face of a terminally ill child while at fancy dinner. (Frank Zappa).
• Who really invented the Vengabus? (VengaBoys).
• Taking the bus to NYC to see Goldfrapp. After an amazing show, we discover we’re homeless and broke in 10 degree December weather until 5 AM.
• George Alley’s performance of ‘Cyndi’s Wedding’ at my Philadelphia farewell party.
• No one remembers old Marcus Garvey (Burning Spear).
• The Lemonheads, Counting Crows, The Breeders, Smashing Pumpkins and Juliana Hatfield provide the soundtrack for our early 90’s house gutting/remodeling.
• Shriek of the Week, anyone?
• Seeing N*SYNC with Eileen, who, at the tender age of 21, pretends to panic and acts like she lost her mother in order to push to the front row.
• The parallels between Jesus Christ and Jon Benet Ramsey are explored by Kiki and Herb in NYC.
• Yelling out ‘Suffragette City!’ to Juliette Lewis onstage, causing her to get flustered and say ‘We don’t know that song.’ Terry would’ve been so proud.
• Don’t worry Keoko, mommy’s only looking for a hand in the snow (John & Yoko).
• Life’s just a game and you fly a paper plane and there is no end (Thunderclap Newman).

Terry (“The Fifth Davis”):

(In rough reverse chronological order)

• Big N (Mom) singing Irving Berlin’s “Always” while taking the skin off my scalp at shampoo time.
• Singing the signoff tune from the Mitch Miller show (“Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends”) in the back of the ’58 Ford Ranch Wagon with my sisters as we approached home, on every single family outing.
• Cousin Kay & Mike’s Ray Charles record “I Can’t Stop Loving You” on visits to Aunt Mary’s in New Jersey.
• First showing (at the Tower) of Hard Days’ Night. Didn’t actually HEAR a single song, for all the screaming.
• First concert, at 13: Peter, Paul & Mary (probably at the Academy of Music) with my all-of-15 year-old big sister.
• Playing footsies with David Bromberg at the Main Point, sometime in 1967. Only proto-groupie experience in my life.
• First date concert, at 16: The Doors, at the Arena, July 1968. Hottest night of my LIFE!
• Summer 1969: FINALLY hearing separate instruments (the bass, mostly) in “Honky Tonk Women,” playing on a juke box in Ocean City, NJ.
• Fall/Winter 1969-1970: The Who, debuting “Tommy” at the old Electric Factory.
• Jethro Tull and a band we’d never heard (Yes) at the Wildwood Convention Center, summer 1971.
• Bob Dylan and the Band, somewhere in Philly (Spectrum?), college years (early ‘70s). Remember being absolutely appalled that the tickets were $12.00!!
• The Kinks at Hammersmith Odeon, around December 28, 1976. Ray came out in a Santa outfit to sing “Father Christmas.” Heard “Dead End Street,” and “Get Back Into Line,” which they NEVER played in the U.S.
• Early eighties: Elvis Costello at Northrop Auditorium, University of Minnesota. He shined the stage spotlights into the audience’s eyes periodically. Loved every hostile moment of it.
• Mid-eighties: Simon & Garfunkel Reunion concert, summertime, on the front lawn of the Walker Art Center/Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis.
• Mid-eighties: Seeing the Hooters in Minneapolis, and getting to meet Andy King outside the bus. My companion was a 12-year old girl, and I was taking her to her first rock concert.
• Mid-eighties: Prince at the Minnesota Music Awards. INCREDIBLE!!!! Also saw a band I was vaguely aware of: Husker Du. (Supply your own umlaut!)
• Late eighties: Must overlap with the Davi and note Replacements at the Chestnut Cabaret!! Drunk or sober, the best band of that era!
• Ditto on the overlap: Dead Milkmen at Pulsations. The children were adorable in those oversized cow t-shirts.
• Late eighties/early nineties: Lou Reed, Tower Theater doing “New York” album. “In Lou We Trust.”
• Early nineties: Chowderheads at JC Dobbs. Where are they now, when we need them more than ever? (“Let’s rock; let’s roll; Let’s do them at the same time!”)
• Early-nineties: Caterpillar at CBGB. Classic nose-ring crowd band at legendary venue. Doesn’t get better.
• Early nineties: Dwight Yoakum at the Mann. Sh*t kickin’ great band!
• Early nineties: Soul Asylum and Lemonheads at some big bar on Lecled’s Landing in St. Louis. Made a stupid business trip worthwhile, even if some guy DID spill beer on my raincoat! Called an old boyfriend in Minneapolis on the pay phone, I was so excited to be seeing them.
• U2 Singing “Walk On” at the concert for NYC after 9/11