During a quiet moment at our lakeside cabin this weekend, when the crowds had cleared and the charcoal was glowing embers, my son went inside and put on a couple of records. RECORDS, you say? YES! On Saturday nights at the cabin, we tun to our favorite programming on North Country Public Radio, starting with A Prairie Home Companion, then Riverwalk Jazz, and then even more wonderful jazz into the night. But on other nights, it's fun to dig into my old vinyl collection that goes back to my childhood. It's arranged alphabetically, and goes from A & B (Joan Armatrading & Jackson Browne) to Y & Z (Neil Young & Warren Zevon) and contains treasures including the likes of Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Buffalo Springfield, Van Morrison, and many more.
My son is a music lover, and enjoys exploring the collection. For his first pick, he selected The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, which brought me back to my college days. We would go a popular bar in town, where you'd pay $1 to get in, and get tickets for 4 draft beers (the drinking age then was 18). Late into the night there, we'd dance to Eric Clapton (Layla), Don McClean (American Pie), old Beatles music, and especially the Stones.
For my son's second pick, he surprised me and put on my oldest record, pictured at the top of this post. Oh my! My very first celebrity crush! I broke into a huge smile as the music started to play, because in my preteen days, when music's British Invasion hit the USA, I was madly smitten wit the adorable Peter Noone, the lead singer of Herman's Hermits. The music is still catchy to hear today. Looking at his photo now, I think Peter Noone had a little of the same type of look as Justin Bieber, which helps to explain why some of my female preteen students like him so much.
In my younger days, my crushes were usually different from those of my friends. During Beatlemania, when everyone else went nuts over Paul McCartney, the "cute" Beatle, I secretly adored the darkly mysterious Beatle, George Harrison. I think it was the eyes.
Then, in high school, I had an unusual crush: the talk show host Dick Cavett. He had gone to Yale and I was very impressed. He was smart, cute, and had a sense of humor with an 'edge', and I loved listening to his voice.
Then of course there was Sweet Baby James (which is in my vinyl collection) James Taylor. Those eyes! And a rock icon with intense eyes: Jim Morrison (The Doors) also in my vinyl collection.
And the 'Z' in my alphabetical record collection, Warren Zevon, reminded me of a boy I dated for a bit in college, and I liked his music too, so I guess he gets on my oddball 'crush' list.
Then there's vampires - long before it was 'cool' to love vampires, I had a bit of a crush on Brad Pitt as the vampire Louis in Interview with a Vampire. I admit I liked the long hair. And more recently, I had a HUGE crush on Alex O'Loughlin as the conflicted vampire/private eye Mick St. John in the terrific TV series Moonlight, which unfortunately didn't last. You may recognize him from Hawaii 5-0, but I personally liked him better as a reluctant vampire.
My celebrity crush with the longest duration was another actor - the magnificent Christopher Reeve. Be still, my heart. Just LOOK at this photo! Another celebrity with intense eyes - do you see a pattern in my choices?
I first fell in love with him watching Superman, and then discovered the most romantic movie EVER: Somewhere in Time. I could watch either of those films over and over, just to see him, so luckily they are both good movies!
Since then other celebrity crushes have come and gone - Johnny Depp for example, but nobody has swept me away quite like Christopher Reeve, who died too young.
Who are your celebrity crushes? Do you have a vinyl collection? What's in it?
