What do Todd Rundgren, Andrea Bocelli, Britney Spears, Cyndi Lauper, Katy Perry, Dan Aykroyd and ME all have in common? We all have stories included in “88 MORE Ways Music Can Change Your Life”, by Vincent James and Joann Pierdomenico. As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m neither a professional musician nor a writer, so I was very surprised when my friend Vincent James and his wife Joann asked me to write a chapter for his upcoming book. The proceeds from the book series benefit music education and music service organizations, which include Musicians On Call, Hungry for Music, Rock to the Future, and Keep Music Alive. I first became aware of their work when Simon Kirke promoted the first volume of their book at his concert at Sellersville Theater a few years ago- “88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life”, a book of inspirational stories from artists such as Eric Bazilian of the Hooters, Bobby Kimball of Toto, Rick Wakeman of Yes, Bill Champlin of Chicago, SImon Kirke of Bad Company and many others. I met Vincent and Joann that night, and had a great appreciation of their mission. I gladly accepted their offer several years later to write a chapter for the second volume of their book. Music is a big part of living life in my retirement years, so I will repeat my story here. But I strongly recommend you buy the book to see it in print, and help support Vincent and Joann’s mission.
Living Retirement “In The Pocket” – by Jack Leitmeyer (from “88 More Ways Music Can Change Your Life” by Vincent James and Joann Pierdomenico)
A child of the 60s, music was always an important part of my life. Although I never learned to play an instrument myself, not a day went by without me putting on the headphones and pumping up the volume of my favorite albums to celebrate the good times and help get me through the stressful times. During my High School years in the 70s, I could frequently be found rocking out to the famous groups of the day at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. But then after meeting my future wife in 1979, we discovered more of the local acts at Philadelphia area clubs. And there was no one more exciting than Robert Hazard and the Heroes! We became big fans, and saw them regularly- I still remember the smoky packed bars, the ultra cool Robert Hazard walking out on stage, and the wild crowd singing along to every song. I’ll never forget those days! Then life happened- work, marriage, kids, scouts, Tae Kwon Do, school events, and vacations. Our love for music continued, but we no longer had time to go to many concerts or clubs for live shows, other than the rare occasion when a favorite rock band came to town. The radio and our record collection helped fill the void.
Flash Forward 30 years. The kids are grown, and I was ready for retirement. I start thinking about some of the local bands we used to see back in the 80s. We now had the amazing internet, and I decided to do some searching. I spent hours surfing the net, reading whatever I could find on some of my old favorites. I came across the name Steve Butler, from another favorite band from the 80s, Smash Palace (formerly “Quincy”). Just for kicks I decided to send him an email. I never actually talked to him in person before, and I certainly didn’t expect a reply. Needless to say, I was thrilled to actually get a response, along with a copy of a CD version of the Quincy album- one of my all-time favorites. And I was beyond excited to learn that he had reformed Smash Palace and was still playing in the area. That marked the beginning of my first friendship with a true “rock star”- a guy who I still recall seeing play on MTV now knew my name. This old guy was in heaven! It was not much later that Steve mentioned he was also involved in a project called “In The Pocket”, the brainchild of The Hooters’ drummer David Uosikinnen and his future wife, Dallyn Pavey. Their goal was to bring together a rotating lineup of Philly’s most celebrated musicians to cover classic Philadelphia songs. It sounded exciting, and we got tickets to see In The Pocket perform at the World Café Live in Philadelphia. And what a show it was! So many incredible musicians, from all the bands I remembered listening to when I was young- The Hooters, The As, The Soul Survivors, Smash Palace, Beru Revue, Tommy Conwell. The list went on and on. But without a doubt, the highlight was when In The Pocket introduced their version of the late Robert Hazard’s song, “Change Reaction”, with former band member John Lilley on guitar. The memories of dancing to the song so many times 30 years earlier brought tears to my eyes. Here we were again, a 50+ year old couple dancing and singing along like we were 20 again. I will never forget that night.
Shortly after that, we went to see Smash Palace again at the Tin Angel. I was returning from a trip to the men’s room, and a woman called out to me, saying “I like your In The Pocket shirt!”. I smiled, and said “thanks”. Then she told me that she was the one who sent it to me. She was Dallyn Pavey, David’s future wife. David was now playing drums for Smash Palace, and she was with him at the show. Around this time I discovered “Facebook”, so I became friends with David and Dallyn, and started following In The Pocket and all of the musicians in the band. In our “golden years” we now had time to go out more and enjoy live music once again. Through “In The Pocket” we got to meet and become friends with so many great musicians and their fans. At that first In The Pocket show my wife and I knew no one. Now when we see them play, half the people in the audience are our good friends. We stay in touch, hang out, talk about what shows we’re going to next, and share in our joys and sorrows. In the past few years we have sadly lost several dear friends, but we are there for each other to help us get through the rough times. When my best friend Adrian was in his final days, many of our musician friends visited and sang to him at his bedside. It was truly touching, and even the hospital staff was deeply moved.
The term “In The Pocket” is defined as “When two or more people play musical instruments together, and are perfectly on-beat, never missing a note or going off tempo in any way.” Well as for me, this 60+ year old on social security is living retirement “In The Pocket”- perfectly on beat, in tempo with an incredible group of friends all brough together through our love of Philadelphia music. To quote a favorite song from The Hooters- “I’m looking older now than when I was a kid, but I’m feeling younger now than I ever did.”
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