Early on ERIC (EMGRUBE1970) and I had a conversation about the project and ERIC thought it would be a good idea for a so-called NEWBIE to put in a preface. I thought it was a terrific idea and here it is. GOHAWKSGO

Hello… AOL?

In September 2003, I made the call. (RVB thinks he is the only one!!!)Who knew such a simple question could change someone’s life so much for the better in so many ways? Not me. AOL was just an internet connection to me that I was familiar with. It was easy (I thought!!) and I knew how to navigate the internet with it. Plus I liked the email system….seemed more personal than Yahoo! little did I know I had no idea of what was to happen next.

Preface to the Preface

As a rock music fan, I was looking for online conversation about my favorite acts. One day, “whilst” on vacation, I posted a letter to the Rolling Stones Yahoo message board about the top ten obscure stones songs that people should know but don’t (or something like that).
Within hours a roomie instant messaged me, to talk about the Stones. A lovely lady known affectionately as GlimmerTwins from Philadelphia, who was looking for someone to intelligently talk about her favorite band, was on the other end. Little did I know that instant message was gonna change my life.
We chatted for a few weeks before I was invited into the Tuesday night Legends room, and to listen to the legends web cast. This is where I met my first group of “roomie’s” en masse. The first night, TJBeatlesFan was amazed at my connection speed, commenting I could hear the song before he played them. (I think he was just tired of giving me wtg’s for naming the songs after two notes!) After a few weeks, I started to come out of my newbie roomie shell, and take up in the conversation other than the music trivia. Little did I know there was more to this room than just listening to music on Tuesday nights.

Then one night after the legends room had broken up for the evening, I was begged to go across the hall to the oldies room. I thought public chat rooms were for crazy people….and boy I was right!!! I had a blast in the oldies room….trivia flying around, general conversation, lofting…the whole nine yards. This is when I realized this thing was big and beautiful and crazy. Within days my chatters subcategory on my buddy list grew from about 10 to over 50! Little did I know this was still just the beginning.
In this newfound world, I found out there were gatherings where these lovely people meet and have a great time. The first one I was invited to was Hugyfest 2004. I could not attend this fest but remember how left out I felt when they talked about it. This is when I felt like a roomie for the first time, because I missed out on something great. That’s when I made a vow to myself I was going to Hugyfest 2005! Little did I know something new was on the horizon.

The following year something happened… a new fest!! The first Texfest was taking place in Dallas at the end of March 2005. This was the first time I was gonna meet the “fonts”. (Hee Hee) Little did I know what was gonna happen next.
At Texfest 2005, I was so overwhelmed by meeting my friends for the first time; much of it seems a blur…or was that the alcohol? I couldn’t wait for Hugyfest 2005.The first thing I did when I got home to Florida, was to make my reservations for Hugy’s. I did the same thing for Roc’s BBQ after Hugy’s. I went to three fests in 5 months, and had a blast at all three. I have enough stories to last a lifetime from just those three fests. Which were only a total of ten days spent with roomies! Little did I know what is gonna happen next.

[message_box type="inset"]To read the rest of Marks publication “Music in The Air” you need to be a logged in member of this website and also member of the Group “Music In The Air”. you can apply for membership on the group page (under groups on the main menu)[/message_box]

Is this my story? Yes it is, but it is only the smallest bit of what is inside these pages. In these pages there is a history that cannot truly be explained by any one person. Or even a hundred. Inside these pages is a true story of friendship, love, commitment, respect, humor, and camaraderie that cannot be explained to those who have never seen it, felt it, or lived it. This is the most tangible evidence we can create of the love that is inspired by those who love and appreciate the gift of the oldies room.

My personal goal for this book is for an outsider to curiously look at it one day and want to contribute to the Oldies Room World of the Future!!! I truly hope this book can describe to an outsider what this is all about. Maybe that outsider can join our “crew”, and the room can make them smile once and make their day or (even better) lives brighter.

This chronicle of 100 or so stories of how this little chat room has become a social hub for many people across this nation (and Europe, too!) has been a labor of love of Mark (Gohawksgo) for just a few months but has grown bigger than anything he could have imagined. A big round of applause goes to him.

Another round of applause goes to the fest throwers, such as IrishJigger, Pennylane and Tallpaul, and TjBeatlesFan.

A standing ovation goes to Hugy’s for allowing the zaniness to come to Temple, Pennsylvania once a year. (The sheep farm is never the same after we leave!)

Finally, A standing ovation goes out to Roc’n Steve for starting the BBQ ten years ago, The Granddaddy of them all!!!!

My last statement is….Who wrote “The Book of Love??”

We Did.

WTG Meeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

[message_box type="inset"]To read the rest of Marks publication “Music in The Air” you need to be a logged in member of this website and also member of the Group “Music In The Air”. you can apply for membership on the group page (under groups on the main menu)[/message_box]

Between the months of November 2005 and March 2006 I emailed over 250 past and present roomies a questionnaire asking them to relate their favorite chat room memories over the years as the basis for this project.

I honestly had no idea how many of us would participate but I feel that the fact that over 100 of us chose to participate says a lot about what this room means to so many of us. If any of you reading this want to be part of a future revised version, feel free to contact me by email and I will add you to any future versions.

GOHAWKSGO

The years have gone by so quickly. It seems just like yesterday that I somehow found this little area of AOL named Oldies Music Chat.
I went in that first day and I have been coming in ever since. Somehow the “CHATROOM” became the place to be, for this person anyway. At times it was thought provoking, educational and always fun to just unwind and get my mind off the pressure most of us endure in our everyday lives.

I came into the room thinking that I was the expert and that I knew it all about the music I grew up with. Boy was I proven wrong.
I soon realized that I really didn’t know anything about the music I thought I was expert in. It amazed me when I actually saw roomies like MFPING, RECORDLOVER and REMO in action. God were they good.

What a fun place to come to. There were incredible, funny comedians who made me laugh so hard that I would break into smile days later just thinking about something I had heard. I soon realized that my sense of humor came across in the chat room also and soon I was the one telling the funny stories and getting the responses from the roomies in the form of an LOL or LMAO.

Quickly it became apparent to me from talking to all these wonderful people that not everybody had been as lucky as I and that some of the roomies had major problems in life and that for them anyway, the CHATROOM was a much bigger part of their lives than any of us could Imagine. I know in my heart, that I was thankful for the chance to at least try to put a smile on some of those faces and make it a little easier for them to cope with their problems.

This was a caring group of people who shared the happiness and the sorrow with each other.

GO, Boddyhep and Toolboxkitten Hugyfest 2001

That fact hit home for me in March of 2001 when I suffered a heart attack. At the time I was working on a Top 100 songs of the Oldies Chat Room project and I asked my then 14 year old daughter to find my address book and Email to everyone that her dad had suffered a heart attack, was going to be alright and that I would not be answering any Emails for a
week or so. What followed
was truly amazing.

I received dozens and dozens of heartwarming Emails from the roomies wishing me well. I had my wife bring the Emails to me at the hospital and to this day and for the rest of my life I will always think that one of the reasons for my quick recovery was the fact so many total strangers cared.

I recovered quickly and was able to go on a little vacation that included a day at HUGYFEST2001. It was there that I was able to actually meet so many of the people who I chatted with almost daily and to thank everyone for their concern and help in getting me well.
In 2003, with the help of 30 roomies who sent me their thoughts and comments about HUGYS, I was able to put out a little 30 page story about that incredible weekend.
It was a little time consuming but to be honest was a labor of love for me, to be able to put in print, what that weekend had meant for me and for so many others. And then my writing career was over or so I thought LOL.
In late summer of 2005 I went to ROCSBBQ2005 in Long Beach, California.
While there I was able to reconnect with some of the wonderful people and had met in 2001 and to meet so many new ones. I came home, energized and came to the conclusion that I wanted to do something else for this room that had become such an important part of so many lives. I wanted to somehow chronicle the wonderful moments we had all shared and to somehow put it in writing so those of us who took part had a little something to preserve over time.

So friends, that’s it in a nutshell.
What follows is not for everyone. It’s for all of you who have been there over the last 7 or so years and been a part of this wonderful experience we share.

To use a quote from my good friend Rich, RVB442, directly from the 2001 HUGY story. I have stopped trying to explain the room to people who are not part of it. They think we are weird and just don’t get it.

Well, Rich, we do get it and for you and everybody else who has been a part of this incredible journey, sit back put on your favorite oldies and prepare to smile, laugh a little, shed a tear or two and remember the past.

GOHAWKSGO

Hugyfest 2000 Group Photo

What follows on the following pages are pretty much word for word what has been sent to me by the members of the chatroom. Except for an occasional edit as I saw fit, I have tried to tell the story as it was told by all of you. Thanks for all of your input in telling the story from your perspective. GOHAWKSGO