Eye in the Sky

When I hear Alan Parsons Project's 'Eye in the Sky' I get reminded of the only public drum solo I have ever done. It was in a garage south of Gothenburg, Sweden, early one spring morning. We had a goodbye party for one one of my friends who was heading off to study at Penn State. My older brother and I were toast masters and as usual in those days, a sure bet to get a party started.

Anyhow, the evening turned into night turned into morning and I found myself alone, drunk and melancholic in the garage. My eyes wandered across the cleaned out parking spaces that had served as dance floor earlier that night. They stopped on a big gray cover and I thought that I saw part of a drum sticking out. I ripped away the cover and, yes, I had found a drum set in the wee morning hours.

I turned on the stereo, put on the Alan Parsons project record and got seated behind the drums. As the music started I quickly turned into one of my drum hereos (Gene Krupa, Phil Collins, Keith Moon, Buddy Rich et cetera) and started 'jamming' with a feverish intensity, trying to keep up with The Project.

I ripped off my shirt and worked up a sweat second to none. I believed this was the start of a new era, the other guests - enjoying the quite morning - thought it was the beginning of the final steps towards completely losing my mind. And I think they were right. That morning I lost my mind a little and I'll do it again anyday.