I’ve never really been a hard core fanatic of anything. I’ve never bid on ebay for an autograph or a lock of hair. I’ve never written a fan letter.
That said, there were certain times when I could be described as borderline fanatic:
The New Kids on the Block Years Year
Sure, I was only nine. –but old enough to have a crush on Joey of NKTB. I had several t-shirts, books, stickers, posters from BOP and Tiger Beat magazines lining my bedroom. The first concert I ever attended was NKTB. My friend Shana’s father took us- with our matching knee length t-shirts, short Debbie Gibson haircuts, and mismatched neon socks- to revel in the wonders of Donny ripping off his shirt and shaking out his hockey hair to ‘Step by Step’.
After that, it was difficult to imagine meeting the objects of my adoration for one simple reason.
They were either dead or on the road to extinction.
The Beatles. I discovered my father’s record collection and fell in love with John Lennon’s broken voice. Despite all the lovey dovey songs, my favorite Beatles hit is without a doubt ‘I am the walrus’ (goo goo g’joob)
Shakespeare. I worshiped Shakespeare- had the entire play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ hung and framed on my bedroom wall, bought all the renditions of his plays on dvd and memorized my favorite scenes. The movie version of ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is still one of my favorites.
Sublime. I think Sublime was the only group I a: owned every album of and b: knew all the words to every song and said album. I listened to these cd’s relentlessly during my teen years, especially in the summer time.
Have you ever been a fanatic? What music, books, or movies are/were you a die-hard fan of?
