Coming of Age

When I was about fourteen years old, Buddy Holly was electrifying am radio waves with incredible energy. Hank Williams led the pack in country music, Elvis took the crown for rock and roll, but Buddy combined both kinds of music in one genre. My difficulty was that I had no way to listen to him at home. After saving up a few dollars, I took the bus into Pontiac to go shopping at the Salvation Army. My thrift instincts proved true for I found an old, steel desktop radio for five dollars.

Upon my return home, I realized my new purchase had one major flaw. To be able to listen to the radio, I had to hang on to the antennae wire. A far cry for the remote controls that we are familiar with today. That meant that I could never be more than a foot away from the radio to hear it. At night, after lights out, I would sneak the radio under the covers, hang on to the antennae, and drift into pure bliss.

Buddy Holly's music influenced many more groups besides just the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Before he died at twenty-two, Buddy had already toured on three continents. Needless to say, "Say it anyway", the man was worth whatever effort it took to listen to him. When the music industry made the shift from analogue to digital, the majority of Rockabilly didn't make the transition. What to do?

My daughter Colleen gave me a priceless gift. A complete boxed set of all Buddy Holly's songs on long playing records. Transforming this music to a digital format is both grueling and time consuming. Luckily, I was able to procrastinate for twenty five years. Yesterday marked the coming of age for the task is completed and I am now able to hear Buddy from any distance.