Already out of the A’s – Done with Alice and on to the B’s and The Beatles’ Abbey Road.
I had to face it, I had gotten fat. I had started to put on weight and a belly about five years ago due to this never-ending menopause thing that had been causing me not to sleep more than three to four hours a night. It began with the arrival of the cousins, the once 34 A breasts that became 36 Bs. I thought it may be time to invest in a 36 C bra, but the appropriately named Raquel at a Victoria’s Secret sent me off with a 34 D. The belly was following suit. Then I had a pesky surgery and quickly tacked on another 15 pounds. I hit 167. In February I had started yoga. I had a Groupon for three months of unlimited yoga that I had wanted to use in the fall, but that surgery thing put a kibosh on that. So I went faithfully once a week, twice if I could, but seldom, walking the hour from my apartment to Chelsea, did the beginner class, and realized I felt no different but kind of started to like chanting. Didn’t do much after the Groupon ran out. And then came the record player, largely due to Ram.
Unfortunately, I don’t have Million Dollar Baby, and had to exercise to Alice Cooper’s Killer, which proved to be one I may have to look into as a Ram alternative, when I get through all of this. Who knew? And here I was disappointed that it wasn’t the album I thought it was. I found myself singing along with “Be My Lover,” the words coming back to me from decades ago – in another century. I even played it a second time to get a little more aerobics in.
Each night, I unplug the CD player to which the record player is attached, otherwise it’ll keep popping back to life saying HELLO as if I had called it. And I put the album on for next time, so I am better aware of what’s coming up.
I’m starting tonight. I have been very good about exercising recently. I even look forward to it – adding different movements here and there. I’ve gone from one side of an album to the whole album, and then some, particularly if it’s a short album.
I bought myself a record player. A darned good investment, but I soon got bored and found myself not enjoying albums or artists I used to, and not able to put up with all the other songs surrounding that one song I bought the record for anymore. I tried exercising to different albums. Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow worked when the whole routine consisted of less than 20 minutes of me on my back with my legs up against the wall, but as I expanded the routine, adding weights and aerobics and needed a whole album, I kept coming back to Ram, Paul McCartney’s second solo album. Playing side two first followed by side one, as it suits my routine better. I played the whole album the four to five nights a week I would exercise starting at 9pm. The neighbors, I thought, must think me mad or obsessed, the same record often night after night followed by four chanted notes.
So tonight, right now as soon as I’m done writing, I will start – A to Z. I counted about 127 records, give or take, given the multiple album sets and that when counting I got a little forgetful around 80. I will start with Alice Cooper, the group not the singer, and end with ZZ Top, pre-MTV. Good luck to us all.
Alice Cooper – Love It To Death
Side one is uninspiring, and I know I didn’t buy the album for “I’m 18.” Or did I buy it? I think I borrowed it way back in high school and never returned it. Well, this is so not a good way to start. I do believe I owe my friend’s brother a couple of bucks. Side two showed more promise. Short workout that didn’t go much beyond the length of the album, which is shorter than Ram, but considering it is a full moon, I’ll excuse myself. Who’d a thought those guys could come up with a catchy little ditty like Sun Arise?
More Alice Cooper next. Looking forward to Million Dollar Baby.
The Walrus Was Paul 