My Detroit Jewels
1997 was a tough year for me. I was separated and on the way to divorce from my first wife and involved in a destructive relationship (alcohol,drugs,kids) with another woman. Although I loved Chicago, I knew I had to get out, for the betterment of myself and everyone else. So, I retreated to family in San Francisco, bringing nothing but 500 CD’s (I sold all my vinyl and quite a few discs), clothes, and a car.On the drive out to the coast I had a couple of revelations. The first was: Relationships are not for me. The second was: I needed to work in the music business, but not as a chain store manager (what I had done for the past 8 years). I needed a fresh start.For the first month or so, I just decompressed and routinely went to 2 or 3 movies a day (SF is a great town for that, with numerous single screen theatres). The time helped and luckily I had a little money set aside so I didn’t have to work unless I wanted to. I applied and interviewed for a few record biz jobs, but never landed one, kept up my movie going ritual, and become more and more convinced that a simple life, alone, was the best for me.After about 3 months, I decided it was time to get some work, so I strolled down to Haight St. and applied at Amoeba Records. I was pretty lucky to get hired there and after being on the job for a few months, my San Francisco experience was coming together. Great people, at least at Amoeba , who understood music obsession, interesting culture, and killer restaurants, made it all so easy to forget and move on. I was starting to live again.There was a woman who lived in the apartment below where I was staying and I began to spend a lot of time with her. She had a new condo in downtown SF and a home in Maine, but she was in this basement studio because she was sub letting her condo. She was helping to take care of her daughter in law (and her 2 kids) who was battling cancer. I guess we both needed someone to vent to, and we did vent. Though she was married, I thought there might be something brewing, but I was still quite anti-relationship at the time.Her sub letters decided to move out, so the condo opened up, and she said I should move into the space with her. I said sure. We continued our conversations and my bitterness continued, I was resigned to be alone. Meanwhile, Amoeba was continuing to feed my music addiction, and I was probably spending 100 to 150 bucks a week on music. On a lot of levels things were working out, and when the woman said she was going back to Maine to pack up her house, all of a sudden, I found myself with a rent free deluxe condo in downtown San Francisco, a dream job (for a music junkie), and for the first time in over a year; the shadow of a smile.I was driving all over the Bay Area, listening to music, exploring the scenes, and thinking to myself: This could be it, this could be me. All that changed about 2 weeks into my “freedomâ€, when I got a call from the woman in Maine. She asked my permission for the friend of a friend to stay at the condo. I asked why she asked. It was, after all, her condo. Of course, I didn’t have a problem with it!In the spirit of being a good roomie I called the woman who was to move into “my pad.†She was in town doing summer work for a law firm prior to her last year of law school and was staying at a youth hostel. A lot of thoughts were running through my head as I drove over to the hostel to pick her up, give her a key, and help her move whatever stuff she had. On the one hand I was thinking: affair and on the other I was thinking: I will never be in a relationship again. My 2 favorite records from that week were shuffling back and forth on the CD player when I picked her up; The Parliaments-Testifyin-The Mid 60’s Detroit Sessions and The Detroit Emeralds Greatest Hits. I could go on with the rest of the story; about how I moved in with my future wife on the day we met, how I was resistant to her love because of my vow, or about how the Parliaments-I Can Feel the Ice Melting and The Detroit Emeralds-I Think Of You (old songs we discovered together) became the first 2 songs at our wedding, but you get the point. There’s a whole lot more to the story, but these 2 Detroit -made songs explain a lot. Suffice it to say, I learned to love again, in just one day.The Detroit Emeralds
The Parliaments-I Can Feel The Ice Melting Is In Comments
The Parliaments-I Can Feel The Ice Melting Is In Comments
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