Pink Floyd

I can’t imagine a person not reflecting upon how “they ended up here” or “why did I end up in this profession”? I think it’s pretty natural for people to wonder exactly how or why these things happen. Teachers are asked all of the time, “Why did you become a teacher?”, and are required to know the answer. We often hear of teaching influences, always knowing from “2nd grade on”, always loving the school experience and wanting to share it with others. If I was forced to pick an answer from that lot, I would definitely say my school experience was incredible, and I wanted to help others have that same experience. That would be the answer AFTER being in the profession, and it’s more of realizing the answer than actually knowing.

I graduated from Kent State with a degree in Telecommunications in May of 1988 with the intention of working in TV and broadcasting and had, along the way, worked some freelance “grip” work with ESPN in Cleveland (Pro Beach Volleyball - I made sure all of the cables were out of the way) and other really small items here and there. I had been a DJ at 730 AW WKSR on campus at Kent, had sent resumes to stations all over the place, and delivered my resume to Channels 3, 5, and 8. Truth be told, it was worse trying to find a job than it was not having any money from the inconsistent work in the area. None of this work was making a difference to me, but something else was: Being back in the gym at Norton. I was hanging out with some great kids whose high school careers were in front of them, playing hoops, and coaching here and there through various professions and workouts. The problem was the reality that coaching wasn’t my degree or my intended life’s work. I wanted to be a broadcaster.

On my very last day at Kent State, one of my great friends had landed a job on the Film Crew for Pink Floyd’s Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, which was making a stop at the Richfield Coliseum in August. She handed me a slip of paper with a phone number in Los Angeles and told me, “they are looking for more people”, so I called. One would never imagine a phone call from Kent, Ohio would be picked up in Los Angeles, CA, but it was. Unfortunately, the other end of the line told me, they didn’t need any more workers, so that thought was shattered - until the phone rang a minute later asking me if I was still available. Well, not much had changed in a minute, so it all worked out. I had a job! For three days.

I officially was a go-for. Go-for pizza, go-for cables, go-for equipment runs, etc. I actually picked up the film crew at Cleveland Hopkins and was literally responsible for getting them to and from the hotel in Beachwood to the Coliseum and back for 3 straight nights. The hours were 8 am - till it was over, which got me back home at about 1am, only to do it again the next night. I made $100 a day, but everything I’ve shared was far from the best part. The first best part is that I was actually a part of the film crew, so wherever they went, I went. When they knocked on the door of David Gilmour’s hotel room and he invited them in, I went in. When they went out to the pool to talk with the band, I went with them. I had one job - get them to the show and back. When the show started and they were in place, my job was done, and I had a press pass to go wherever I wanted. That's the second best part.

Where would you go? If, as a fan of music and mesmerized by the thought of performing on stage in front of 20,000 people, where would you go? That’s right...the stage. That’s where I went. Now, I, of course, wasn’t walking around the front of the stage getting in the way of electric guitars, flying pigs, or a hospital bed that came crashing onto the stage, but I was up on the stage, in the back, with the same exact view of the band. I will never again be afforded the opportunity to experience looking out at an entire concert full of spectators the way I did on those nights. It was beyond incredible and, without a doubt, one of the best “brushes with fame” of my life. This was Pink Floyd!

When Monday morning rolled around, and I wasn’t schedule\d to get another $100, and no new gigs were planned, I was forced to get back into things. Find a way to make some money and, of course, head back to the gym. It kept calling me. For some reason, when I was there playing or talking with coaches, kids, etc., it brought me something I needed. It was, in a way, a calling. How does Pink Floyd relate to this? At the same time I began reflecting on how good the gym felt on every trip there, I also began reflecting on how “lost” the Pink Floyd life felt for me and my life. It was beyond amazing, but it was SO fast paced, and so full of the lifestyle that has been presented in every Hollywood Rock and Roll movie. The movies don’t lie. It was a rat race, an adventure in every behavior imaginable, and a lifestyle that really wasn’t fitting this suburban born kid. In fact, I will never forget that the Moody Blues were at Blossom at the same time, and one of the musicians in the band attended a Floyd show one of the nights. I won’t forget because I saw my first-ever drug overdose and watched the ambulance wheel him away. A little part of the story, but I don’t want to lose the purpose for the Floyd reflection.

Maybe we all have a moment that smacks us in the face and asks us to take a look at what really moves us, and the Floyd weekend definitely did that. The setlist on that tour included “Learning to Fly”, “Signs of Life”, “On the Turning Away”, and “Wish You Were Here”. In title alone, many of them would indicate a life moving out of one thought into the next. I would never say Pink Floyd is the reason I ended up going back to school and eventually getting a teaching degree, but I would say it was a piece of the puzzle. I would also say that the piece pushed me into a career that brings no regrets, as I am thankful for so many incredible lives that have influenced my world. It’s still happening, and I’m still thankful.