| Columbus, Ohio / October, 2002 |
| We leave a gig at Shadowbox 2 Co's Cabaret. It's a hometown show (for me), I get to sleep in my own bed, it's a good night. We pass a classic rock radio station billboard touting Creedence Clearwater Revival as the No. 1 American band of all time. Ed asks me if I concur with that opinion. "Uh, no." I reply. "So who would be the No. 1 American band of all time?" Ed muses. We both toss out various names - the Stooges, the MC5, the New York Dolls, Bob Dylan & the Hawks, the E Street Band - the rest of the short drive north to a suburban 24 hour Denny's where we're meeting my lovely wife Debbie and friend/roadie Kyle for a late night breakfast. After ordering, we run the No. 1 American band question past Kyle. Kyle's 23 at the time, he's a smart kid and he knows rock & roll. Ed and I throw out the various names we've come up with. Kyle listens attentively, looks at us funny for a second and says, "Is this a joke? Or a test? Are you setting me up?" We reply, "No, we're serious." And Kyle says, "Uh, the Velvet Underground?" Ed and I are dumbstruck by our sin of omission. How did we, how could we, forget the Velvet Underground? We exchange an embarrassed glance and both of us are humbled by this 23 year old. As a result we secretly or not so secretly resent Kyle for the rest of that meal, the rest of that night, the rest of that year and possibly right up to the moment that I'm typing this sentence. All material © 2004 by Ric Cacchione, all rights reserved. |