Through the Past Dorkily: Rock Me Tonite

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.

Friday, June 22, 1984

Song of the day: I Don't Know - Ozzy Osbourne

I got up at 9:30. I got some gas for the lawn mower. I filled the tank and everything and I mowed half the big lawn when the engine started smoking. I figured it was overheated so I took it in. Then I took a shower. Wow.

At 3 I went to work. Me and [buddy] had the same lunch so I took him to Dairy Queen. He paid. We got out at 10:30. He and [friend] met me at McDonald's. He bought me some grub and then took first [girl], then [buddy] home. I got home at 11:30.

I still don't know if [cute girl] can go to the movies tomorrow night. I couldn't get ahold of Jeremy (what else is new?) today so I'll haveta see tomorrow after work. I sure hope she can come!

- The Barbarian

Saturday, June 23, 1984

Song of the day: Ghostbusters - Ray Parker, Jr.

Whew! What a day. I got up at 6, showered, shaved and went to work. I got a 1-hour lunch break at 12, so I came home for lunch. Mom and JP went to see Indiana Jones. I got out of work at 4.

I called Jeremy. [Cute girl] couldn't got the movies, but his cousin went instead. We got there early. We saw [female classmate] there. Ghostbusters was awesome! Wicked funny! Rick Moranis was awesome (so was Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Sig Weaver, what a babe!).

The scary part was when we were leaving the parking lot. A car beside us was blocking the view. Jeremy thought it was OK so I went out. A car was heading straight for us! Fortunately we got out of the way in time! I almost died! Man, that was close.

Thank God we got out okay.

We went to [Jeremy's girlfriend's] house and watched MTV till 10:45 and then I dropped [his cousin] and Jeremy off. I got home just before 11. In one piece.

I have to work Sun 12-6, Tues, Thurs and Fri 3-10 and Sat 7-4. I'm gonna try and get Tuesday off.

- The Barbarian

Sunday, June 24, 1984

Song of the day: Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Stevie Ray Vaughan

Man, am I tired. I got up at 8:30. We went to church, then I dumped the trash and went to work at 12. Just before my lunch, I ripped my pants in the back room. My brown cords. That sucks. I went home for lunch and changed. I didn't get home til 8:10. Mom and Dad were pissed! They said I should've called 'em or something. Gimme a break.

Jeremy called right after that. The weather tomorrow stinks. It's supposed to rain. Me, I'm just gonna veg all day. Anyhoo, Jeremy said that his girlfriend thinks I should ask [cute girl] out, too. Fine, if I ever get to see her! She's a babe.

Jeremy said somewhere around July the 4th he'd have the house to himself. He said he'd have a small party with me and [cute girl] there along with him and his girlfriend. Sounds good to me.

- The Barbarian

Monday, June 25, 1984

Song of the day:  Wanted Man - Ratt

Top 5 at Five

1. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
2. Round and Round - Ratt
3. Life Sucks, Then You Die - The Fools
4. Back Where I Started - Box of Frogs
5. Voices - Russ Ballard

Some awesome concert info! Cheap Trick, Ratt (!) and Twisted Sister are playing the Kingston Carnival grounds on July 14th! I heard it on WAAF, of all places! I called Ticketron and tickets are $15.50. Tomorrow I'm going to the Methuen Mall to get one. Jeremy's coming with me.

I got up at 12 today. Good night's sleep.

I called the Bucket. [Supervisor] wasn't there but [another higher up] said I could come in at 6.

- The Barbarian

Tuesday, June 26, 1984

Song of the day: Coming Home - Scorpions

Top 5 at Five

1. School's Out - Alice Cooper
2. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
3. Round and Round - Ratt
4. Life Sucks, Then You Die - The Fools
5. Voices - Russ Ballard

Busy morning. I dropped Mom and JP off at the hospital and his friend's house. Then I got $20 out of the bank, registered a letter at the post office and bought a quart of milk. Then I picked up Jeremy and his girlfriend and went to the Mall. I got a ticket to the concert and the new Scorpions album. We saw a guy we knew there and Jeremy purchased some more [items] from CVS. Ha!

I got home around 12. I called in sick and didn't go to work. [Guitar instructor] called and said that guitar lessons are stopped until September.

I found out that Lita Ford and the Lines are the other 2 bands playing that concert on the 14th. Great! Lita Ford's a babe and she can play guitar! It's gonna kick!

I called [cute girl] and she said she might have some people over for a pool party tomorrow. Great! She's a babe.

- The Barbarian

Wednesday, June 27, 1984

Song of the day: We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions - Queen

Top 5 at Five

1. Round and Round - Ratt
2. Missing You - John Waite
3. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
4. Drive - The Cars
5. Rock Me Tonite - Billy Squier

I got up at 9, showered and had breakfast. I taped Grace Under Pressure and tomorrow I'm taping Animal Grace by April Wine.

Jeremy called around 11:15 and said [cute girl] was having the pool party. I left at 11:45 for Timberlane on my bike. Around 12 I met Jeremy there and his girlfriend, him and me headed for [cute girl's] house. Man, she lives way the heck out there! There were hills everywhere! Anyhoo, we got there around 12:45. We swam for a while, played badminton and swam some more. [Cute girl] was looking good! She was popping out of her swimsuit, if you know what I mean! What a babe!


-  The Barbarian

Thursday, June 28, 1984

Song of the day: Rock Tonite - April Wine

I took Mom to work this morning. Then I taped Animal Grace. After that, I picked up my paycheck. I got $112 and change. I put $50 in the bank and I bought a money order for $22.94 so I could finally pay my Columbia House bill. Tomorrow I'm gonna pay off my RCA bill. I have $120.20 in my account now.

I was working with [rocker dude] for a while tonight. I gave him my phone number. He said he'll call me tomorrow so we can get together and he'll teach me rhythm guitar.

[Dude] was closing tonight and he let us out at 10:20. Good deal.

- The Barbarian

Friday, June 29, 1984

Song of the day: Sunglasses at Night - Corey Hart

I took Mom to work. On the way back I bought a money order for $11.56 to pay off my RCA bill. Then I bought a book of stamps. When I got home, I used an extra order form to order 3 more albums form Columbia to complete my agreement:  Dio - Holy Diver, Michael Schenker - MSG, Accept - Balls to the Wall.

I got the results of my SAT - I kicked butt! I got 620 on Verbal, 610 on Math. I finished in the 90s in percentiles. Awesome!

- The Barbarian    

Postscript: Things were slowly picking up with my buddy's girlfriend's cute friend. At least I had the good sense not to get my hopes up too high.

Ah, the days when $120 in the bank was a lot of money. Of course, there were stretches in college when I would have killed to have that much money at my disposal.

It's kinda crazy that the Kingston Fairgrounds would host a concert of the magnitude of the one I was about to attend. This would be my first rock concert and even though Cheap Trick wasn't at the peak of their powers, they were still one of my favorite bands, and Ratt and Twisted Sister were on the rise and growing in popularity by the day. And the ticket cost $15.50! The modern day equivalent would be about $75.

I was so pleased with my SAT scores. Of course, my brother was shooting for 800s on each test and took the SATs a few times to try and get there. I never even considered taking them again; I probably could have done a little better. But I think he ended up with 780/760. And that's why he went to an Ivy League school and I went to a state school.

Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonite" had just come out on the radio and it sounded like a Squier song, which was a good thing in my book. Of course, when the video hit MTV, it basically killed the poor guy's career: