Blast from the Past

So, last night dad and I were talking. About a lot of things. About my book (which is still flying of the shelves, btw), about Neil possibly coming to live with us, about his musical influences growing up.

Of course, during these chats you usually find out things you wouldn't ordinarily. My dad mentioned a long-dead rock star called Mick Lassiter.

Apparently, when dad was growing up, Mick Lassiter was the biggest star in the land. Everyone wanted to be him, everyone wanted to be friends with him, everyone wanted to be around him. Of course dad, as a little boy, was one of those people.
Mick Lassiter wrote and performed nearly every hit song that was on the radio. His concerts were standing-room-only and sold out months in advance. Every musical commentator in Simland has compared dad's style to his, even though they worked in different genres.

So it turned out that one of grandma's friends, Madison VanWatson, was married to him. Naturally, as she and grandma ran in the same social circles, Madison wanted to share her good fortune with them. So one Sunday she offered grandma 2 front-row tickets to see Mick perform at what was then called the Wilsonoff Community Theater.
According to grandma's journal (which I consulted later), she was trying to decide between taking her boyfriend at the time (Orlando Paine) and my dad, who was still a young boy. When grandma took Orlando, Dad was really upset. So somehow he got to the theater and sneaked backstage where Mick was getting ready to perform -- and was caught. But dad got what he wanted in the end -- one moment with his idol -- and it changed the course of Sunset Valley history.

"I ran as fast as I could, as far away from the theater as I could," dad recalled. "I wanted to get back home before mom did."
After grandma got back, she gave him a sound tongue lashing. But it didn't matter.
Dad never saw Mick Lassiter again, but he still listened to his music. Mick sent dad an autographed copy of his record, a record, by the way, he still has.