RockaBob66

Bob is one of a small group of Chicago area roomies who have been a part of the chatroom over the past years. Because of this I have had the pleasure of having lunch a few times with both Bob and the other Chicago area roomie Frank, SUPERBIRD66BBL. Bob thought very carefully about what he wanted say in his comments and his unique perspective comes through below. ~GOHAWKSGO

When we were Music Oldies

There’s a world where I can go and tell my secrets to….
In My Room, In My Room.

I was in the Music Oldies chat between the years of 1999 to 2003, give or take. Back then it was called Music Oldies not Oldies Music. I rarely go in anymore, but will sometimes look to see who’s in the room. The first evening I had my new computer in April of 1999, I ventured into the Oldies room. I guess I was intrigued by the concept of Chat Rooms and Music Oldies was my first choice. I don’t recall who was in the room that night of who was the first to talk to me. I had no idea at that time just how important this strange place in cyberspace would become in my life. It felt like a friendly neighborhood hangout place. A place where you go in and are recognized and greeted by friends. For the longest time, there was no reason to check out any other chatrooms.

I live on the far North side of Chicago, but I’m not much of a city person. I’d rather live in the country or up in the mountains somewhere. I have lived in the city, the country and a few small towns. My name is BOB. I was born exactly 2 months before Elvis cut his first record at Sun and I ain’t dead yet. I’m a Computer Operations Supervisor at a Health & Pension Benefits Fund office near O’Hare Airport and am married. As for music taste the 50’s and 60’s rule. The 70’s weren’t bad but after 1977 it was all over. I grew up on 60’s Pop/Rock,The Beatles and the British Invasion and all that. I remember the Folk Hootenanny Craze, circa 1963 and I watched the Beatles debut on Ed Sullivan. I learned many of the Beatle songs while watching the Beatles Saturday morning cartoons on TV. I used to hear a lot of my cousins old 45’s and I would look at the records themselves. I was intrigued by the labels. Many of them the old independent labels like Dot and Flip. I started becoming more aware of AM radio in 1965 and started listening regularly in 1966. Consequently to this day I believe 1966 stands as the greatest year in the history of Rock although 1967 is a close second (With a nod to the 60SSHOP LOL). Generally the music you grew up with remains your favorite throughout your life.

Around 1980 or so I became completely absorbed in 50’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard and all those rockin’ cats. I read all I could about those early artists and bought a lot of their music. This music became quite an obsession to me and led to a passionate interest in Rockabilly and Sun Records, which continues to this day. I have been to Sun Records in Memphis several times and that place is sacred to me. As the years went by I developed a love of classic 50’s and 60’s country music. I love classical Music due to my 7th grade Music Appreciation teacher Mrs. Mitchell. I like delta Blues. Jump Blues, R&B, Bluegrass, Reggae and more. Just about anything but Rap, Hip-Hop and Polka…which brings me to a line from the Blues Brothers first movie where the Brothers are told “We like both types of Music here, Country and Western” LOL.

I have never attended a chatroom party, but have met several roomies who came to Chicago in 2003. Had a great time meeting the likes of RICH and MAME, SUZANROSE,HUGY and others, plus local yokels GOHAWKSGO (Mark) and SUPERBIRD (Frank), both of whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting for lunch. It would be interesting to go to one of the parties, but that’s probably an unlikely scenario for me (but you never know). MARK has shown me several party pictures.

My chatroom history is erratic. Sometimes I was going in every day or I would skip a week or so. I went in there for the better part of 4 years from 1999 to 2002 or 2003, and then I guess I lost interest. The thrill was gone and I realized that I hardly played my guitar for those 4 years. I would sit at my job every day looking at a computer and I reached a point where I just wanted to do something else when I got home. The room can become extremely addictive to a newcomer and in the beginning I must have spent 4 hours or more every evening in there. I recall one Saturday spending 14 hours in all in the room. Now I don’t log that in a 2 or 3 month period. My priorities were upside down and the room was as addictive as hell.

Sometimes when the right people are in there (The Old Screen names) and I am in the mood I might pop in to say hello. I try to stay in touch with a few friends, although sometimes I don’t come on AOL for days or weeks. I have made some good friends in the room.

There were times in the early days when I would go in there and everything just clicked. The people were great, the music trivia was flowing and we shared lots of laughs. You would know you were having fun when you actually laughed out loud! LOL. Those were the best times for me. The laughs and joking were a lot of fun for me. I always had a lot of fun joking around with people like GOHAWKSGO and SUZIEQ.

There would be AIDY and her dyslexic spelling, FREE spewing his hilarious nonsensical lines utilizing all the screen names in the room. SUZIEQ, DUKE, GOHAWKS, SUPERBIRD, GWITHEC, NORWOOD and a whole cast of characters, I used to call SUZIEQ my “Tech Support Person” as she was always giving me tons of computer maintenance tips(many of which I have saved). I always used to bug her with dumb AOL questions (sorry SHIRLEY, I was so much older than, I am younger now LOL). GUS (NJ15125) has sent me countless 50’s WAV’s and DAN (RECORDLOVER) used to send me just about any WAV I would ask for. JAN (MEJANBABE) would help me a lot with graphics and sent me many nice ones. Thanks guys. It was much appreciated!!

I remember when Burton Cummings of the Guess Who came in the room. It was very cool hearing him talk about the band’s heyday (and yes it was him folks!). I met people like JACOFAN and THE60SSHOP, who’s musical knowledge simply astounded me (and still does). KENT’s Forgotten Hits series has been an absolute joy for all these years. How he finds the time to this consistently great series is beyond me. Another good friend GUS (NJ1515) recently sent me 10 classic 45’s from the 50’s and 2 dynamics CD’s of Rockabilly classics. ELENIA1 sent me cassette of a Bob Dylan Concert recorded in Denver in June 99. She was one of my first friends and she also sent me my first WAV, C’est La Vie by Emerson Lake and Palmer. I miss talking to her. Sometimes you lose touch with friends over time and sometimes you just lose—-DAWN (CLASSY SC BELLE) was a sweet girl and good friend who we lost several years back. I could mention many more names here. I am grateful for all the good times we used to share.

IF WE EVER USED TO CHAT YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!
Like we used to sing as kids: make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver the other is gold—–Golden Oldies.

I always used to look forward to good times with my friends, most of whom I had never met. What’s interesting is that in most cases you actually get to know the personalities before you actually meet them, which I believe is actually the opposite of normal that we are all used to. It is to say the least “very intriguing”.

I always loved the music trivia and the WAV’s. Finding somebody who shares your passion for music was amazing. I never really liked the Diamond Stylus Awards and I considered it just a popularity contest and I likened it to Crowning the Homecoming King and Queen. For my money the most knowledgeable people were MALE — JACOFAN and FEMALE—FLOWERCHILD68 and ROSANNA2. I think that’s the right Rosanna ? LOL. I have made some damn good friends in here, MARK, FRANK, GUS, AIDY, FLOWRSONG, KWUNDER, SUZIEQ, KENT, ED…

My friends know who they are and while I may not be on AOL as much anymore, you are not forgotten.

My views changed a great deal after 911. I morphed from Hippie Idealist to Realist and became somewhat outspoken. My opinions and sentiments were unsolicited and not always well received or shared by others. At that time I felt I needed to speak my mind and vent. I have learned that it’s better to leave politics and religion out of the Oldies mix. It’s much better to debate the Beatles contribution to music vs Motown.

Lets just friggen get along with each other. Accept that each person in the room has their own musical tastes and be respectful of that, be civil to each other. That’s all.

And in closing……..
THOUGH I KNOW I’LL NEVER LOSE AFFECTION.
FOR PEOPLE AND THINGS THAT WENT BEFORE,
I KNOW I’LL OFTEN STOP AND THINK ABOUT THEM.
IN MY LIFE I LOVE YOU MORE….
IN MY LIFE,
I LOVE YOU MORE

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