February 8th, 2010
The best I ever had…
Sometimes, it’s funny how things work out.
Because of the Super Bowl, the music of The Who was everywhere yesterday. The moment I got into my car to drive to Long Island, I heard the song “Bargain.”
And whenever I think of The Who, I think of my old buddy Tom who died of a heart attack at the age of 45 back in 1999. No one loved The Who more than Tom. One summer, he and I went to Who concerts in NYC and L.A. There was something about the group’s power chords that spoke to Tom. That was not surprising. Friends often joked that Tom was “too intense for reality.” His email address began with the initials TNT, and he lived life the way Keith Moon played the drums — all out!
Yesterday, hours before the Super Bowl, I found myself driving to Long Island for an engagement party when I realized that I was driving on Glen Cove Road. I almost never go to Long Island but this road was eerily familiar. Now you should know that I’m terrible at giving directions but I have an almost photographic visual memory of places I’ve been, even if only once.
And suddenly, I realized I was on the road where Tom was buried. I began watching for the cemetery I was sure was there. And moments later, there it was — East Hillside Cemetery. Incredible! I gave Tom a wave, and remembered he was buried along with a copy of a Rolling Stones CD, Tom’s other favorite group. I can’t remember if The Who had a place of honor also but I hope so.
So last night, I watched with new intensity as The Who took the stage at the Super Bowl. As usual, the show was wildly over the top and Daltry and Townsend can no longer sing as they once did. But the performance was great anyway. They’re The Who, and for sure Tom would have loved it.
When he died, one of the men who worked with Tom said, “I’ll always think of him as one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.” That’s just about the best eulogy anyone can have.
Nice “remembrance.” I thought of him yesterday too. And he was one of the nicest people one could hope to meet.