I have to admit my age so that this posting makes sense.
Who remembers the first song they downloaded on iTunes or Napster? Who remembers the first CD they ever bought?
Now, for your 40 somethings, I'm going to test your memory a little more seriously.
Who remembers the first cassette tape they bought? Who remembers the first vinyl record they purchased? Today, who even knows what a cassette tape is?
As a newly minted teenager in 1979, I can fondly remember the first two cassettes I ever purchased. "Back to the Egg" recorded by the Paul McCartney fronted Wings, followed by April Wine's Harder...Faster.
I told you I was going to show my age (and I'm also showing my partially questionable taste in music).
So, you can imagine how excited I was to learn that April Wine was bound for the Living Sky Casino for a May 21 concert. The event was part of a tour to celebrate 40 years of performing, and their Swift Current date was one of their first after being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 2010 Juno Awards.
Now, April Wine wasn't exactly hiding from me over all these years, but I'd never had the pleasure of seeing them live.
Oh sure, lots of Swift Current folk were remembering skipping church youth group to sneak out and see April Wine when they played to a packed house at the the Civic Centre back in the day, but I'd never seen them live.
April Wine formed when I was four-years-old, but they certainly helped formulate the soundtrack to my life, with April Wine a mainstay on Canadian content dominated playlists in the 70s and 80s.
Turning to present day, the line-up is different, and they are but there was the unmistakeable voice of lead singer Myles Goodwyn, who I was certain was the best rock vocalist on the planet in my 1979 world. Other long time April Wine member Brian Greenway also showed he could hold his own on the guitar and handling his share of the vocals.
Even to this day, my personal all-time favourite tracks by April Wine remain those songs I learned to sing along with on a small, one-speaker, hand held cassette player. "I Like to Rock" and "Say Hello".
When the 2010 edition of April Wine cranked out Say Hello in the first few songs, I actually said out loud that I could go hope right then and be happy.
I'm glad I didn't.
I thought things topped out with a rendition of "I Like to Rock", which turned riffs from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones into an extended song which boasted a pair of verses from Day Tripper and Satisfaction into a top 10 concert highlight moment.
Then they upped the bar again with a five minute drum solo by Blair Mackay which transitioned into the unmistakable introduction to Oowatanite and the grand finale to the concert.
I never would have thought that the cassette I purchased over 30 years ago would turn into a living memory three decades later.
Thanks for the memories April Wine, it was worth the wait!!!
