The Days of Lore

25 Random Things: The Musical

Thursday, February 5th, 2009 | musiX

(Disclaimer: The following information should not be held against Mark Lore or The Days of Lore. If any of the following items are brought up in future casual conversation, they will be denied.)

I’ve been tagged at least a half-dozen times on Facebook to do that silly “25 Random Things” questionnaire. I still haven’t done it. I’ve thought about it, even started on one, but just never sealed the deal. If you don’t know what a Facebook is, or what being “tagged” means … then good for you.

The other day I saw that Matt Tyson over at Ear Farm had done a music-themed “25 Things.” Now we’re talking. It was a fun read, so I decided to ape the idea. Here it is … the good, the bad and the embarrassing.

1. My first concert was Exile at the Red Bluff Fairgrounds. My parents bought me a white Exile hat. I still like “Kiss You All Over.”

2. My first “real” concert was actually right here in Portland back in 1988: Whitesnake and Great White. Still have the armpit-stained (teen years don’t smell so good) Great White T-shirt to prove it. I remember my cousin, her friend and I just stood there. Didn’t move. I also remember Whitesnake playing a song called “Tits” and thinking it was the coolest thing ever.

3. There’s a song written about me called … wait for it, “Mark Lore.”

4. The first record I ever owned that wasn’t Star Wars- or comic book-related was a 45 of Gene Simmons‘ “Radioactive” from his 1978 solo album. My parents kept it with their records, and I could only listen to it when I got permission (I was 5 or 6). I’d listen to it on one of those old Sears stereos that looked like a piece of furniture. When I finally got my own record player (a Mickey Mouse model), I’d listen to the guitar solo from the B-side “See You in Your Dreams” over and over.

5. By the time I was 7, I owned three KISS shirts and a pair of KISS pajamas.

6. My five guilty pleasures are as follows: Green Day, Sixpence None The Richer, Fleetwood Mac, RATT and Crowded House. Bonus bands: Third Eye Blind and Hall & Oates.

7. (Cred alert!) I saw Nirvana in 1993 at the Cow Palace. Also on the bill was L7, The Breeders and Disposable Heroes of Hipoprisy. L7 was my favorite that night.

8. I played cello in the fourth grade.

9. I started teaching myself to play the guitar in 1994, but wasn’t in my first real band until 2005.

10. Since then I’ve been in seven bands, and didn’t actually play guitar in any of them. They are as follows: The Party (drums), Lott Lyzzyrd (bass), Holocene (drums), Calimocho (drums), Red Track Jacket (drums), The Sleaze Tax (bass) and Murder (drums).

11. I cried the first time I saw Willie Nelson live.

12. In the last three years I’ve seen and enjoyed Michael McDonald and Steven Seagal in concert. Yes, that Steven Seagal, with his blues band … and his ponytail.

13. I’m pretty sure everybody knows this: I have a semi-unhealthy affinity for the Old 97’s. I made a (still) excellent mix CD in 2004, and proceeded to get nearly every person at my college newspaper into the band, and to eventually ask me for a copy of said CD. I’ve seen the band six times, including a show in Chico, Calif. in front of about 40 people.

14. I can play flawless air drums to Metallica’s “Sad But True.”

15. I’m not really an autograph seeker, and when I meet someone famous I’ll usually forget to ask for one. But, I’ve ended up with autographs from Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Willie Nelson, Steven Seagal, Billy Bob Thornton, Ken Bethea and Stephen Pearcy.

16. I’ve talked baseball with Huey Lewis.

17. KISS makes me sick these days, but I will always defend them.

18. These songs remind me of the following events: “Don’t You Want Me” by The Human League = Going to the 1980 Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach; “Caribou” by the Pixies = Living in Spain in 2003; “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac = my entire childhood; “Borderline” by Madonna = hanging out with my cousin in Redlands; “Don’t Stop Believin”’ by Journey = my mom’s house-cleaning soundtrack.

19. My first cassettes were Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, Weird Al Yankovic’s In 3-D and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. There’s a connection between this mighty trinity. See it?

20. To this day I don’t own a Ramones album. I’m a sinner.

21. The first song I ever sang karaoke to was INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart.”

22. I loved Barry Manilow when I was a kid. My parents still like to remind me of this.

23. Some of my favorite covers I’ve played live:
“Let’s Build a Car” - The Swell Maps
“Kids Are Alright” - The Who
“That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate” - Mission of Burma
“12XU” - Wire
“Big Sky” - The Kinks
“Public Enemy #1″ - Mötley Crüe
“C’Mon and Love Me” - KISS
“Dressing Room Walls” - Old 97’s
“Tomorrow Never Knows” - The Beatles
“Uncomplicated” - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
“Two States” - Pavement
“Second Hand News” - Fleetwood Mac
“With You” - The Flaming Lips
“Barbed Wire Love” - Stiff Little Fingers
“Ghost On the Highway” - The Gun Club
“Final Solution” - Pere Ubu

24. My first rock T-shirt was a RATT shirt.

25. If I played in the Bigs, my at-bat music would be “Victoria” by the Old 97’s.

Addendum!: 26. I used to headbang to Pantera, and my neck would be sore the next day. Now I get sore just sitting on the couch writing about headbanging to Pantera.

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