Steely Dan My Old School

Songs For Father's Day: Dad's Favorites When He Was Your Age

"My dad listened to The Beatles, he still listens to The Beatles, he's always listened to The Beatles. He plans entire vacations around his love for The Beatles. He has a tattoo with the signatures of The Beatles' members. When I asked whether he was going to get his 3 kids' names tattooed on him he said, 'No, The Beatles are permanent, who knows about you people.' HAHA! Now my little sister is obsessed and has her own Beatles tattoo. Yeah, did I mention that my dad listened to The Beatles when he was my age? :)" — Kristi DiClemente

"Music was an integral part of our home. The way some families watch TV, we listened to music. My dad and I were at 'that' stage where every conversation mustered leaned toward difficult — if not an argument. Until the day that I discovered his love for Otis Redding ; he saved us from one another. He gave us common ground, beautiful, melodious, common ground. My 17-year-old son and I now share his music as a pause in time and space where you simply enjoy, and begin to realize sometimes that is enough — just to live in the moment because most things will work out in their time." -- Denise Taylor Jew

"I'm 42 and vividly remember my father when he was this age. He went through a fantastic midlife crisis: He quit smoking, started going to the gym, bought a cherry red, T-Top Camaro and started listening to "rock 'n' roll" in the form of Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band. I remember riding in the car with him cranking "Old Time Rock & Roll" while we sped around town. It turns out he just wanted to be cool. He says, 'John Denver was at his peak and I was really hooked on him. My friends got so tired of "Annie's Song" and "Rocky Mountain High" that they began to rebel. Somebody in the group brought a Seger tape along one night and I can remember thinking, "Maybe my friends would think I was cool if I listened to him." It didn't work. They didn't think I was cool. So I bought a red sports car and a leather jacket. I even tried Jimmy Buffett on the tape player and gave some thought to voting Democrat. None of it worked. I wasn't cool, and my friends knew it.

Midvale School for the Gifted Alumni Association: I Remember The ...

Well, I did go back to my old school today, and it was lovely. Norwood is building a brand new high school, which will be complete and open for the 2011-2012 school year. So the town got together and came up with "The Last Hurrah", a day-long celebration of the school on the hill. There are memorabilia displays, and booster groups selling gear, and people coming from everywhere to say goodbye. Tonight, there will be a ticketed 21+, multi-year reunion in the gym, with DJs and Bud Light. I find that amazingly funny; the champagne of Norwood finally LEGALLY allowed in NHS, as opposed to being snuck in via backpack like the days of old. And this new found embracing of my inner townie has been a long time coming for me. When I graduated in 1989, I never believed I would feel nostalgic for those days, or that building. But time has a funny and amazing way of erasing some of the pain, at least its sharp edges, so that we can take a deep breath, and smile, and hug the people we never would have 20-odd years ago. Plus, being an elected town official has certainly thrust some mandatory rah-rah-Norwood into my life, but I'm at a point in my life where I can embrace this all, rather than reject and scorn.

The Big Rewind, A Memoir Brought to You by Pop Culture

All music guide to rock, the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul

The Steely Dan File

The essential rock discography

Broadcasting