1 post tagged “ramones”
In the early eighties, I lived on Long Island, worked in New York City, and did what I could to take advantage of the city's music scene. One of my best friends, John Lee, introduced me to a guy named Eric Schmuckler, who was one of those passionate music lovers that you come across rarely. While I just liked music a lot - OK, obsessively - Eric was the kind of fan who really made it part of his life, who seemed to know something about every worthwhile kind of music, and loved to share his knowledge. After I moved away, I heard from him occasionally in the email circle of my NYC friends - his email address was "recordlovr".
Last week, John Lee emailed me, and said that Eric had died of cancer. He was actually diagnosed ten years ago, and at that time he was given six months to live. Cancer didn't know what it was getting into. Eric fought for a decade, and his love for music, as well as his wife and two children, gave him the strength and energy. John wrote "his love for music was unstoppable; despite his impending fate, he was on ebay ordering cds, shopping for tickets to Broadway shows, having a ball editing his own obituary.
This week's random ten is for Eric; but first, here's a song that makes me think of him, by the Ramones, a band with some other tough New Yorkers who died too young:
1. California 2005 - Phantom Planet
2. If It Takes All Night - Roxy Music
3. Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols
4. Anastasia - Elliott Murphy
5. Sweet and Dandy Toots and the Maytals
6. Love > Building on Fire - Talking Heads
7. Hand of Fate - The Rolling Stones
8. Real Love - David Gray
9. Cowards in a Brave New World - Kim Richey
10. When the Rain Starts Falling - Johnny Copeland
