Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Band of Goofballs -The Lost Tapes

One day in 1968…

Rob: “Hey, we all play instruments, let’s form a band.”

Dave:  “Yeah, good idea, except that’s not going to meet the Trifecta prompt requirements.”

Curt and Rob, whining in unison:  “ What?  We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dave:  “Well, it’s hard to explain, but in thinking about my future, about 40 years from now, I imagine I will be doing these writing challenges and I will have to use the word “band” as a verb, not a noun.” 

Rob:  “For God’s sake, ok then, let’s band together and form a rock group.”

Dave:  “Ok, that’s better.  What instruments are we going to play?” 

Rob:  “Well, Curt can only play drums, so he’s the drummer.”

Curt:  “Cool.”

Dave:  “Well, I wanted to play drums but…”

Rob:  “Dave, your drum playing sucks.”

Dave:  “Ok, I’ll play guitar.”

Rob:  “Well, we really need a bass player since I can play the lead guitar on ‘Spoonful’, you know, the Cream song.”

Dave:  “Ok, I’ll play bass.”

Later that day in Curt’s garage…   

Rob, singing:  “Could fill spoons full of diamonds
            Could fill spoons full of gold…”

Dave:  “I only have two notes to play for this song.” 

Rob:  “I know Dave, but the bass is the backbone of the whole song.”

Curt:  “I thought the drums were the backbone.”

Rob:  “Yeah, those too.   Ok, one, two, one, two, three, four… ‘That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful…’  oh man we suck.”  

Dave:  “Jeez, I thought this would be easy.” 

Curt:  “I thought it sounded good.”

Rob:    “Yeah Curt, but you thought it sounded good because the drums drowned out the other music.  Maybe it’ll be better if you don’t hit the cymbals after every note. ” 

Curt:  “Yeah, ok.  Hey, I’ve got this reel to reel tape recorder.  Let’s record this stuff.”

Rob:  “Why don’t we try to play it better first?”

Dave:  “Aw come on, it’ll sound better if we record it.”

Rob:  “Yeah, right.” 
________

I wrote this for the Week 88 Trifecta Writing Challenge where we are to write a 33-333 word composition using the word “band” as a verb in the context of people gathering together or uniting. 

22 comments:

  1. Were these your real band members? Do you have the tape?Original, for sure!!! As always, I like your creativity. Thanks for linking up with Trifecta this week, lum!

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    1. Yeah, these were the real "goofball" band members. I am Dave, and all real names were used to indict the guilty. As the title indicates, the tape is long gone. Thanks for your comments Gina and glad to see you back. :)

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  2. Fun scene! It's funny how the music always sounds better when you're participating in it. Tapes don't lie...too bad they're lost :)

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    1. Thanks Janna. I think it's lucky the tapes were lost! I've been trying to catch up with your story before I comment. I'm afaid I've missed several chapters. :(

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  3. Since you been gone, all that's left is a band of gold.

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    1. I think it's more like a band of tin, as in "tin ear", but we had fun. Thanks Chamblee.

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  4. love the humour in this!

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    1. Thanks Bryan. I was afraid the humor wouldn't come through as it really is just a "slice of life" piece.

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  5. Oh Chamblee's comment was what I was thinking.. And now I'm giggling.

    This was fun, creative, interesting and informative.. I do love the way you write Dave.

    Thanks for linking up!!!!

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    1. Thank you Kir. You are so sweet to say that :) I really like to write about things that really happened and sometimes I worry that there's not enough conflict in my work. Anyway, the main objective of getting chicks didn't really work with this band. :/

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  6. Fun to read. I remember the reel to reels. OMG.

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    1. Thanks Maggie. Yeah, reel to reel recorders were a big deal. I still have one recording from about 1965 but I'm afraid to listen to it!!

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  7. Hilarious! I felt a little deja vu here, as I seem to have sat in on a few of these sorts of sessions.

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  8. lol
    Nice to have such insight into that other you, lumdog. Or should I say Dave?

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  9. This was great, lum! I was in a band once too, called The Wardens. We made a lot of really excellent noise;) (And I remember reel-to reel tape decks well!)

    I really enjoyed this piece!

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    1. I like how you put it, "excellent noise". This perfectly describes our band. The Wardens sound like a kick ass band. Thanks Valerie. :)

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  10. What a fun piece. And having made many recordings, it never sounds the way you think it sounds when you are performing! Rude awakenings, but keeps it real, and hopefully makes for incremental improvements! I loved this!

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  11. This is wonderful!!! I always thought the guitar play was the backbone of any band. haha. :) Nice post.

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  12. I love this! So clever, especially the opening discussion on the word band. And yep, I can relate to your band story – my "band" never made it to the rehearsal stage. We got hung up on choosing a name for ourselves. :)

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