Things I Miss The Most...

Well, the impending closure of Tower Records has gotten me all nostalgic, for all the great reasons of the past that it's been great to be a music lover, especially here in Chicago. In no particular order, here's my list of gone-but-not-forgotten musical entities that have forever tattooed themselves to my ever-lovin' rocknroll heart...

• Lounge Ax
• Thurstons
• Morseland mk 1 and 2
• Material Issue
• Verbow
• Limited Potential (the label)
• Happy Tails (the label)
• Tail Spins (the 'zine)
• The Great Brain
• Wesley Willis (with and without the Fiasco)
• The Differents
• WMWA
• the original Water Tower campus studios of WLUW
• Showcase Chicago (the 'zine, for publishing some of my stuff)
• The Good
• The Webstirs
• Harp & Shamrock (they had a cool jukebox)
• Triple Fast Action
• The Midnight Zone (I know that it was my radio show and all, but I think I did a damn good job of it)
• The Dollrods
• Monster (the band)
• The Smoothies
• Apocalypse Hoboken
• Liz Phair (need I really qualify that?)
• Avalon Nite Club
• Thirsty Whale
• seeing my friend Meg develop a serious crush on Patrick of the Shakes (now the Safes, and still going strong)
• Rainbow Records in Park Ridge
• The Lyons Den
• Medusa's
• Smashing Pumpkins
• WaxTrax! (both the label and the store)
  

And now with CBGB's closing, it really casts a pall on the music lovers of today. Maybe it's me being a fogeyist, but with the above list of defunct entities, I can only pray that my son will be able to look back longingly at his still-to-be-determined musical journey, and be able to look back with as much fondness to a similar list of gone-but-not-forgottens. To all the folks who made the above happen, thanks forever. Your labors will never be forgotten for as long as I can recount the tales I've had there.