Continuing a look back at my first exposure to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss.
The debut installment of The Everlasting First appeared on August 17th, 2016. My original intent was to write a 26-part A-Z series of reminiscences about my first exposures to various rock 'n' roll acts and comic-book superheroes. Each installment would cover one music subject and one costumed crusader: A is for Aquaman and Artful Dodger, B is for Batman and The Beach Boys, C is for Charlton Comics and Cheap Trick, D is for The Damned and Doc Savage, E is for E-Man and The Easybeats, F is for The Flamin' Groovies and Flash Gordon, G is for The Go-Go's and The Green Hornet, H is for Buddy Holly and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, I is for The Inferior Five and The Isley Brothers. Each entry concluded with Quick Takes, which were single-paragraph discussions of other letter-appropriate subjects.
By the time I got around to the letter J, I realized that some rock 'n' rollers didn't want to read about the comics stuff, and some four-color fans were indifferent to the music. So I separated the subjects from that point on: J is for The Jam and Jimmy Olsen, K is for Kid Eternity and The Kinks, L is for The Legion Of Super-Heroes and The Lovin' Spoonful, M is for Marvel Comics and The Monkees, N is for The New York Dolls and Not Brand Echh, O is for The Occult Files Of Dr. Spektor and The Ohio Express. After publishing P is for Gene Pitney, I went back and re-posted all of the old combined entries as the stand-alone pieces you see linked in our first paragraph above, and also re-posted J-P as separate entries without their attendant Quick Takes. The series will return shortly with P is for The Powerpuff Girls, the first new entry of The Everlasting First in months.
As the series resumes, I will conclude the alphabet with separate entries for Suzi Quatro, Quicksilver & The Scarlet Witch, The Red Tornado, either The Ramones or The Raspberries (I haven't decided which), and so on. To lessen redundancy, all of the originally-posted A through Gene Pitney entries have been edited to show only the Quick Takes. The A-Z series will conclude when we finally hit Z for The Zombies and Zorro.
But I like The Everlasting First, so that won't be the end of the series. On beyond zebra, it will continue sporadically as whim dictates. I think I'd like to go back and write full-length entries about The Animals, The Lone Ranger, and who knows what else. That's all yet to be written. But you never forget your first time.
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