Happy Anniversary To Me!

Wow, I did it! They said it couldn’t be done and wouldn’t last….Okay it was me that was saying that but….I did it!

I just hit my one year anniversary of http://www.clevelandrockandroll.com/!

Yea!!! Open that champagne up…(I keep hearing that song in my head from The Flintstones – “Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Happpppppppppy Anniversary”)

What started as just a list of the concerts I attended over the decades has turned into really a phenomenon.

Seriously, I never would have thought it.

I can’t count the number of people I have ran into this past year that has told me “I love reading your stuff” or “whenever I get nostalgic for home I check out your site” or “do you think your f______ funny?” Okay that last one comes from some of the people I have criticized over the year and yea I do think I am funny at times…so there!

Like I said, this started as a lark. I was bored over the holidays and started writing down the bands and shows I had seen when my wife (or as she is known here in many stories, Mrs Bear) told me I should put it on the web. After I got done looking at her like she had an elbow growing out of her forehead, she told me “I think people would get a kick out of reading about the old shows.” Little did I know, she was right (as she will often say , she usually is!).

This little website started like a snowball rolling down a hill. Before I knew it, I’m getting emails from people telling me about the shows they saw. People started sending me lists of shows, ticket stubs, concert programs, photos they took and the best ones were the little stories they wrote about the shows. I didn’t even know how they found me, but they did.

Then I started just writing down my thoughts on music and putting them on the site and man….as the great American writer, philosopher and man about town Michael Heaton (you like that build up don't you Michael!) told me, “you want to get people in an uproar, write about music” and wow was he right. I can write a story in the morning and by noon, have a hundred emails either slamming me or saying “you’re a genius!” (okay maybe no one ever called me a genius but when they do agree with me my mind sort of glazes over and morphs it into that). It is very cool to hear from people that use the site for reference for projects or books or to see a story of mine referenced on a blog or a bands site somewhere around the world (that internet is an amazing thing, thank you Al Gore).

Who would have thought….not me that’s for sure!

It is amazing how strong people feel about music. Know that old saying “never talk politics or religion at a party”, go ahead and add music to that list. You know what, that’s what makes this fun. I love sitting around with a beer and just talking music with people and the site allows me to sit around and talk music with thousands and thousands of people at one time that I never would have the chance to do so. I love it when people email me and tell me their stories, they tell me why a certain band should be in the Rock Hall, they tell me how they are turning their children onto certain music or how they picked up the old guitar in the corner and are now playing it, they tell me how bad radio is, they tell me how good radio is (okay they may be nuts), they tell me what great cd (or album) they just got and I need to listen to it, they tell me their complaints about concerts, they tell me I have to see this local band at this bar and hundreds of other things they want to talk about.

I have become the Dr. Phil of music, only with hair!

There are a lot of people I have to thank for getting me here and I know I’m going to forget a ton of them but here goes nothing. I want to thank John Gorman who was pumping my site on his before I even knew John had one (check out the great WMMS “Buzzard” blog of John’s), Matt from addictedtovinyl.com (another great site) who answered all of my endless questions about blogs, websites, etc and shared a few beers doing what else “talking music”. Brian (brokenheadphones.com) for keeping me up on indie and metal, Jim Clevo for supplying me with endless issues of Scene’s from the 70’s and catching my mistakes on the site, Dusty (the best DJ on the air, hands down) for her encouraging emails on my stories, thank you for reading my stuff!, Bob The Cop (a familiar character in my stories and the biggest ABBA fan I know…just kidding Bob) for being like the little devil on my shoulder calling me out, Alex Bevan for being a friend and keeping the music going, Reena and Margaret from the Rock Hall for including me in the party, Rick and Kathy for so many beers around the fire doing what else “talking music” (do you see a trend here beer + music), Barry Gabel (the hardest working man in show business!), Elise from the House Of Blues, Eroc for a couple of the best shows I saw this year,, the always cool Jonah Koslan, Scott from the Artful Dodger fansite who was one of the first to help out and turned me onto Roger Cline And Peacemakers!, Roger Cline for throwing me props, Ann Thompson from afterthegig.com, Kevin and Sheela from ROAM (a great organization to get involved with), Dave W. and Dave H. for all the Michael Stanley info, Dom for ….the trend again…all the great beer and music talk, Janet Macoska for allowing me to use some of her amazing photos, Oprah for being my role model (okay just kidding..seeing if your paying attention), Jimmy from The Winchester Tavern for the great shows and putting me on the air, Greg Rollie, Michael Carabello, Susan Tedeschi, Carolyn Wonderland, Ray Benson and the others for great quotes from the interviews this year, to Shannon, Joanna, Brooke, Janiece, Matt and the rest of the great folks I met at the Art and Craft Shows where I showed my rock poster designs this year (thanks for the warm welcome), my boy Rick from Sony for being a great friend, and all of the friends on Facebook that keep me going with their support and comments and are quick to post them (I love that from you guys!). Some of the more active were Angelle, Leslie, Michelle, Perry, Rhonda, Elaine, Denise, Donna, Danny, Rick, Linda, Pat, Deb, Chuck, Dawn, Ro, Joe, Lisa, Rik, Ted, Billy, Rick, Laura, Chuck, Jim, Roger, and Melissa (okay I know I missed a few…hundred) I could always count on you guys and gals. Alan and Sarah for putting up with me and of course the biggest thank you has to go to Mrs Bear for putting up with my sitting at a computer typing all night, using her in stories, making fun of her for liking American Idol, and for giving me the idea and inspiration to do this and for being my best friend for 30+ years. Love ya..

This year has been a blast and here is too many more good times shared with you my friends.

Nuff said, least till next time.
Peace Out
Bear