Of Desmond and Molly Jones or how I don’t want anymore to become rich and famous

Judging by my personal experience, I think that there is no guitar player in this world who never dreamed of being rich and famous. I think we all dreamed and wanted it with all our heart. I know I did! From high school to the end of the university years I have dreamed about this. I was ready to make sacrifices for this, to go anywhere for this and do (almost) everything.

I remember that at one point there was this show on TV, organized by a national television channel, where bands all over the country came and play on a professional stage on the beach, being broadcasted all over the country. Of course every band in this country wanted to get there and play. So we wanted too!

We went there, we tried on the first day but there were too many bands and we came in late, so we didn’t succeed. Because it was already too late (in the night) when we realized we will not make it for that evening, we couldn’t go anywhere to rent a room for the night(private rooms at the local people, cheaper than at the hotels). Of course, we were young and with no money so we didn’t afford a hotel so…we slept outside, on the beach. It was somehow funny since there were all of us there and the instruments were stored somewhere in the city near the beach so we had a strange but interesting night. Of course, in the morning, everybody looked at us in a strange way, look at these guys, sleeping on the beach. Yeah, we were a strange bunch, the drummer was very thin and white, he didn’t take sun baths that year, I think, with a dark and long hair, reaching his belt, put next to the keyboard player which was (very) fat and short haired,kind of a blonde, always a joker. Me and the bass player had also long hair while the lead singer was shaved (he’s like this even now).

The second evening it happened just the same, again we struggled to get a place in there, but we didn’t manage so again we slept outside, swearing all the organizers of that event and everything that stopped us from going on that stage. That night it started to rain big time, the show was late and then interrupted, it was like in some kind of a law of Murphy. So, again, as I have already said, we slept outside.

We have never played those nights, we only got an experience that we didn’t forget and the drummer got a severe cold, that was all.

I told you this because I was thinking about the stupid things we were ready to do in order to play and be seen. I asked myself, would I still want to do this today?

Well, the answer is no. For sure, today I would not do the same things again. And you know why? Because today I am not hunted by that “become rich and famous” thing anymore. Today I love the music, I love my electric guitar, I love my acoustic guitar, I love discovering new songs and new bands, I love playing but I don’t have the eager to make it big, anymore.

Today I love to play the guitar in a dark club somewhere with a couple of friends, in the evening, I love this kind of events. I think it is like in that song, “Obladi, oblada”:

“Happy ever after in the market place…
Desmond lets the children lend a hand…
Molly stays at home and does her pretty face…
And in the evening she still sings it with the band… “

What do you think?

By the way, that’s me in the picture, on the right.

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