I had already planned to write something like this even before I learned of the recent passing of musician Tommy Keene. David Cassidy's death was the specific impetus, but it's something I've thought about many times, as this finite world continues to claim so many of our musical favorites.
When Cassidy's death was confirmed, one of our loyal listeners suggested we do a tribute to Cassidy and The Partridge Family on this Sunday's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. This isn't a bad idea, and I'm not opposed to it; I watched The Partridge Family TV series every Friday night when I was young, and there are two Partridge tracks--the single "I Woke Up In Love This Morning" and the LP track "Somebody Wants To Love You"--that I think are just plain fantastic. But I don't feel prepared to do a proper tribute to Cassidy. I have a decent representation of Partridge Family tracks handy, but really not much--hardly anything--of Cassidy's solo career. Would that be sufficient tribute? Maybe. I'm not sure.
The media had Cassidy on a death watch since last weekend; Tommy Keene's death was a shock. I feel like we should play a lot of Tommy Keene's music on this week's show, and I do own a lot of it. But Keene is one of those artists I always meant to get to know better, and I never quite got around to following through with that. Keene's "Places That Are Gone" is a classic; we'll certainly play that one, and probably a few more of Keene's many gems, too. I don't know that I'm prepared to do a proper tribute to Tommy Keene.
When Tom Petty died, Dana and I opened that week's show with a solid half hour of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. However, because I don't have anything Petty's done in the last couple of decades, I didn't feel like we could accomplish a larger tribute. This in spite of the fact that I've always adored Petty's music from the '70s and '80s. Judgement call.
Sometimes I feel that we can accomplish a fitting tribute, even for an artist I might not know all that well. For example, I really don't know much about The Tragically Hip, but another one of our regulars was a big fan, and she asked us to play some Hip when the group's leader Gord Downie died. I gave myself a crash course in Tragically Hip, bought a bunch of digital tracks, and we managed to pull off a show with The Tragically Hip as our Featured Act. (A "Featured Act" on TIRnRR requires that we play at least one track by the designated artist within each six-song set throughout that week's show.) When David Bowie, Prince, and Glen Campbell died, I felt compelled to pay tribute to each as a Featured Act, but didn't make the decision until showtime. (On the other hand, I cancelled a planned night off when Chuck Berry died; there was no way I could skip out on paying tribute to Chuck Berry!)
Middle-aged rock 'n' roll fans can't move an inch without bumping into some unwelcome reminder of our own mortality. It's a sad fact that we'll have an abundance of opportunities to pay tributes to fallen heroes. We'll do what we can. We're sincere. We're fans. And we always seek to strike the balance that feels right.
And seriously: The Partridge Family's "Somebody Wants To Love You" is a hell of a great song. Rest in peace, Mr. Cassidy. Rest in peace, Mr. Keene. These are places that are gone.
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