I Heard the News Today
Mar. 9th, 2016 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drpaisleyReturn with me now to those turgid days of yesteryear, August 1, 2005, to be exact. Rohanna, Dragonet and I, along with a couple of friends had travelled to the UK for the Worldcon, which was held in Glasgow that year. We had spent a wonderful week in London and Dublin, but it was time to head north, to Glasgow, and Gloryyyyyyyy! Or something like it.
We had reserved two black cabs to take us and all the bid crap (and my clothes) to the train station. I was riding in the front seat with our driver, checking out the sights, when the radio came on, telling another driver to proceed to "Number 3, Abbey Road," which got my attention. That was one of the places I wanted to see(1) whilst in London, but time and life and other commitments(2) kept that from happening.
We continuted along, and were just entering a roundabout(3) when the radio crackled again. The voice queried the other driver, "You don't know who Sir George Martin is? I thought you were an educated man!"
Our driver and I locked eyes, then proceeded to laugh our asses off. I suppose I should have been concerned that he was howling away whilst negotiationg a morning rush hour, but it all worked out.
And now, Sir George Martin is dead at 90. He was, though I didn't know it at the time, one of the most important influences on my childhood self. He was instrumental (both figuratively, and occasionally, actually, literally) in the musical development and growth of the Beatles, and thus to mine as well. I had the good fortune to come to musical awareness right at the beginning of the first British Invasion, and the Beatles took over my brain, followed by so many others.
So thank you, Sir George. You helped change the world, for the better.
(1) For values of "see" that included recreating the cover to *Abbey Road* in multiple exposures, including McCartney flat on the ground, with tire tracks up and down his back, because Paul Is Dead.
(2) But the trip to Oxford that Friday was *totally* worth it
(3) Yes!
We had reserved two black cabs to take us and all the bid crap (and my clothes) to the train station. I was riding in the front seat with our driver, checking out the sights, when the radio came on, telling another driver to proceed to "Number 3, Abbey Road," which got my attention. That was one of the places I wanted to see(1) whilst in London, but time and life and other commitments(2) kept that from happening.
We continuted along, and were just entering a roundabout(3) when the radio crackled again. The voice queried the other driver, "You don't know who Sir George Martin is? I thought you were an educated man!"
Our driver and I locked eyes, then proceeded to laugh our asses off. I suppose I should have been concerned that he was howling away whilst negotiationg a morning rush hour, but it all worked out.
And now, Sir George Martin is dead at 90. He was, though I didn't know it at the time, one of the most important influences on my childhood self. He was instrumental (both figuratively, and occasionally, actually, literally) in the musical development and growth of the Beatles, and thus to mine as well. I had the good fortune to come to musical awareness right at the beginning of the first British Invasion, and the Beatles took over my brain, followed by so many others.
So thank you, Sir George. You helped change the world, for the better.
(1) For values of "see" that included recreating the cover to *Abbey Road* in multiple exposures, including McCartney flat on the ground, with tire tracks up and down his back, because Paul Is Dead.
(2) But the trip to Oxford that Friday was *totally* worth it
(3) Yes!