BSRR'S Top Five Musical Fantasies

I think the roots of our celebrity-obsessed culture probably started with the royal rock stars and spectacular soul singers of the Sixties, when they commanded the same adulation and awe as movie stars did in the preceding decades. Although there's been no official research whether us baby boomers suffer from rock and roll fantasies, the number of over fifty types who still play air guitar and try to dance to Motown hits is a clear indication that at least some of us have refused to let go of our youthful delusions of grandeur - like:


1. Playing guitar like Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page: How many times have you - in private of course - picked up a broom or a tennis racket and duplicated the stinging riffs from "Red House" or the spine-straightening break from "Whole Lotta Love"? Luckily, you don't have to suffer the callouses on top of callouses that would result from practicing the same notes over and over again.


2. Dancing onstage like James Brown or The Temptations or Michael Jackson: James was the king of dropping, spinning, sidestepping, whirling and just plain punctuating his gut bucket soul with raw funk in human form; The Temps were the kings of flawless execution of soul-drenched choreography, moving smoothly to their own melodies; Michael Jackson's moonwalk simply defined cool.


3. Drumming like Ginger Baker: This gaunt Englishman was probably the first rocker to make the drums a staple of endless solos, although honorable mention goes to the percussionists who backed Carlos Santana.


4. Singing in a high falsetto like Stevie Wonder or Phillip Bailey or Michael Jackson again: All you have to do is put on "Fingertips Part I & II" and let Steve's 12 year old voice tickle your eardrums, or nearly anything by Earth, Wind and Fire that showcases Bailey's crystal clear tones, or "Thriller" - maybe even some of the Jackson 5 hits - to experience one of the multi-million selling voices of the twentieth century.


5. Writing lyrics like Bob Dylan: Who else could spit out angry metaphors and trainwrecks of images that managed to capture and keep pace with the sweeping changes of the life and times of the "Now" Generation, from the commanding folkieness of "The Times They Are A Changin'" right on up to "Someday Baby" on Modern Times?


I'm sure you have your own musical fantasies. My advice is to nurture them and, if somebody questions your lunacy, just remind them that age is a state of mind.