Through the Past Dorkily: Train Kept a Rollin'

Editor's note: Through the Past Dorkily is a recurring feature that looks back at the embarrassingly dorky diary I kept as a 16-year-old in 1984.

Monday, February 13, 1984

WAAF Top 5 at Five
1. In the Beginning/Shout at the Devil - Motley Crue
2. Sister Christian - Night Ranger
3. Some Heads are Gonna Roll - Judas Priest
4. Don't Say Goodnight - Jon Butcher Axis
5. ?

Strange day. Fell asleep in NH/Civics today. [Math teacher] was wasted (sick) and he wasted time and didn't give us the test. I also fell asleep at 4 p.m. and missed the first song of the Top 5 at Five.

I'm going to bed.

- The (tired) Barbarian

Tuesday, February 14, 1984

WAAF Top 5 at Five
1. Jump - Van Halen
2. New Moon on Monday - Duran Duran
3. Sister Christian - Night Ranger
4. In the Beginning/Shout at the Devil - Motley Crue
5. Send Me an Angel - Real Life

Valentine's Day, huh? I gave one of the carnations I bought to [cute girl I liked] and one to [cute girl out of my league]. There's a dance on Friday. I'm gonna see if I can get a ride to it. If I can't, then I won't go (DUH!).

Both [math teacher and French teacher] weren't here today. We had [soccer coach] in Geometry today. [French teacher] will be gone all week. Yay!

There was a live Aerosmith concert on WBCN tonight. Aerosmith played the Orpheum tonite! Great show! They ended it with a killer version of "Train Kept a Rollin'"! Yeah!

- The (Valentine) Barbarian

Postscript: Funny thing about Valentine's Day. I had a stretch of several years where it was pretty much a dud for me. Plenty of at-bats, no hits. In hindsight, I know it's a bullshit "holiday" that creates fake pressure for guys to be all romantic and stuff. 

These were the days when Aerosmith was at a serious low point. Aerosmith was still playing locally fairly often, including at the Kingston Fairgrounds; Steven Tyler was infamous for passing out during shows. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford had left the band a few years earlier, and actually, they were in attendance at this show that I listened to (which featured replacement guitarists Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay). Perry and Whitford met with the band backstage and a few months later, they rejoined Aerosmith. It was a few years before the band teamed with Run DMC to remake "Walk This Way," which was a huge success on MTV and reignited Aerosmith's career.  Here they are at the end of the year, back at the Orpheum: