Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day. The other day, I had one of those radio moments, when I was driving with the radio on, and all of a sudden they played Marshall Crenshaw’s “Someday, Someway.” That was on his first record, Marshall Crenshaw, which came out in 1982.

That song took me back to my freshman year in college, and to the greatest friends anyone could ever had. There were — and still are — six of us in our core group, two girls and four guys.

We all loved Marshall Crenshaw, whose early career coincided with those magical years where we were forging our identities away from home, and taking the first steps into adulthood.  Marshall — we called him that — played a concert at our college in support of Field Day, his wonderful second album. Of course we were in the front row.

It wasn’t just Marshall, though. Music was part of the fabric of our friendship. There were also R.E.M, Elvis Costello, the Replacements, Bruce Springsteen, New Order and too many others to mention.  We played music constantly, we talked about it and we went to concerts in New York and then later California. I can’t remember what I cooked for dinner two days ago, but I can tell you what a young Michael Stipe wore on a tiny stage in Binghamton, New York in the early 1980s.

What better day to appreciate family and friends than Valentine’s Day?  So I’d like to wish a Happy Valentine’s Day to all, old friends and new, near and far, online and offline.  And especially to those five wonderful friends from freshman year to today — one of whom has a birthday today. Thank you for the days and years.