What Do You Want To Do With Your Life?

Where did you first here those words? Your mom and dad? Teacher? Guidance counselor? Friend? College professor? Well, not me. I first heard those words back in 1984. I was 8 years old and I was watching TV. A father is screaming, spitting, and sweating as his son is standing there holding his guitar... What Do You Want To Do With Your Life? Doctor? Lawyer? Baseball Player? No... I WANNA ROCK!!! That's right, I WANNA ROCK!!! Every little kid wants to be a rock star. Whether it was the Beatles or the Stones in the 60's... Zeppelin, Kiss, or Aerosmith in the 70's... Michael Jackson, Madonna, or Bon Jovi in the 80's... or Mariah Carey, Nirvana, or Pearl Jam in the 90's... at some point, you wanted to be a rock star. For me, it was Def Leppard. From the moment I saw the videos for Photograph, Rock of Ages, and Foolin' on MTV, I wanted to be a rock star. I pretended I was them playing in my sister's room playing her records and tapes. My nephew has just discovered Def Leppard and Green Day. Just got a guitar for Christmas, and tells me he's a future rock star. He's 10. Well, I couldn't sing... didn't have the patience to learn drums... and no one I knew could play guitar left handed. Anyway, I didn't become a rock star, but I did make it into radio. Now I get to play the bands I grew up with, which leads me to my shameless plug for 100.7 WZXL. It's A Whole Lotta Hair New Year's Eve on ZXL. All the bands I grew up with... Motley Crue... Ratt... Bon Jovi... Dokken... Twisted Sister... Warrant... Slaughter... Tesla... Scorpions... Whitesnake... Cinderella... and more. I will be your host and I can't wait to rock out as we welcome 2006. I can remember watching MTV throughout the 80's and watching larger than life rock stars... Jon Bon Jovi... Vince Neil... Tommy Lee... Jani Lane... Tom Keifer... and Dee Snider to name a few. Alot of people look at hair bands and think the whole scene was silly. Not me. The hair... the make-up... the outrageous clothes... that was rock and roll to me. They took Bowie, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Zeppelin, and the Stones and made it their own. It wasn't ground breaking, but it rocked and it was a 24 hour party. And then came Nirvana... that's another blog. In time we'll discuss that. For me, the 80's will always rule. So raise your devil horns, break out the pink aqua net, and make sure you tune into ZXL on New Year's Eve for A Whole Lotta Hair. I always considered Whitesnake to be overrated. But for one record, they got it right. 1987's self titled record. Still of the Night is one of the top five rock songs of the 80's. Crying in the Rain... Is This Love... Bad Boys... and the overplayed, but still catchy Here I Go Again. The record has everything you want from an 80's record. Screaming vocals... loud guitars... mindless lyrics. Outside of their '87 release, Whitesnake had a couple of good tunes, but that's about it. Play it loud, play it proud... and rock on!!!