What About Bob!
Bob Ringwood cannot be put in a box; there is nothing “typical” about him. I suspect many would agree, when it comes to “Brother Bob” you never know what’s going to happen! Happy Birthday (November 2024) Robert; enjoy this newest RFT addition.
To be honest, I have started and stopped this little piece a number of times. Typically, the thoughts jump around my head and the essay outline appears. This time, not the case. Bob’s story stands on three pillars: a concert experience, something I didn’t know about him, and a recent lunch at downtown Auburn’s CAFÉ 108. I will share a bit about each.
#1
A number of years ago, I joined Bob at the Amphitheater at Lakeview, Syracuse’s beautiful outdoor concert venue, to see and hear STEELY DAN! (Pull up Steely Dan Greatest Hits on Spotify – I am listening to it right now!) It was a fluke; Jen couldn’t attend, and I jumped at Bob’s offer. A beautiful summer evening, grabbing some Bob time all to myself, and the amazing Steely Dan. It’s a bit of a beautiful blur. We rushed to Syracuse, stopped at a convenience store for a slice of pizza, parked, grabbed lawn seats and let the music wash over. “Reelin’ In the Years” can you hear it, can you feel it? Music has the ability to transcend the spirit, take you back to another time. That evening, my ears captured the sounds, but my eyes told me another story. Bob loves music – Bob knows music. He was joyful! Bob seamlessly shifted between knowing each line of the song, background information, time and place of when he first knew the song, hellos and conversations to fellow concert gatherers, and me! It was a ball. I would guess that Bob and I had very different but awesome experiences. For Bob, it was the music … for me it was watching Bob experience the music.
#2
How much do you know about MTV? Well, you can guess that Bob knows LOTS. For older Ringwood siblings (and perhaps future Ringwoods) let me share a bit about the history. MTV launched on August 1, 1981, to a cable television target audience – teenagers. The MTV introduction became iconic, featuring a rock infused Space Shuttle launch and a MTV flag moon plant! The 1970s rolled out live music television such as “Midnight Special” but MTV was different, it was innovative (sometimes provocative) and FUN.
Cable television delivered a 24 hour platform for music! Early criticism of MTV stems from the fact that there was simply little music video content and songs were repeatedly looped. However, that just opened the door. MTV “showcased the strengths of the music video format and proved that exposure on MTV could propel artists to superstardom.”
The first music video on MTV was VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR by the Buggles. “Within two months record stores were selling music from MTV that local radio stations were not playing. MTV was a driving force that capsulated music videos to a mainstream audience turning music videos into an art form as well as marketing machine that became beneficial to artists.”
Michael Jackson’s BILLIE JEAN and BEAT IT exploded on MTV. “It changed the music industry. Looking good or at least interesting on MTV became as important as sounding good when it came to selling recordings.”
Bob was a middle schooler when MTV launched, and he loved it. It was often viewed at friends’ houses since Mom did not have it on her cable subscription. That changed with the purchase of a VCR, including MTV. Bob shared with me his top four videos – watch them! He described them as artistic storytelling with visual interpretation. (I kid you not – Bob said that!!!)
#3
CAFÉ 108
Bob and I coordinated a lunch to both celebrate his birthday and to wrap up ideas for this RFT piece. He arrived, dressed for work, happy to be carving out this time, complete with notes and xeroxed copies of favorite song lyrics. I don’t remember what we ate, what I do remember is that this experience was much like my concert experience with Bob. Bob operates in this world on another level, fusing lots of senses. He has this way of blending everything together. It can be both confusing and wonderful at the same time. I was watching Bob more than I was listening.
MTV segwayed to the development of his own personal music collection. Watching videos shifted to attending concerts. Memories, like music, can transcend our spirit. This lunchtime Bob was just as joyful talking about his musical memories as he was when we attended the concert.
I concluded that Bob too makes music, his own music and we are all lucky to be a part of his band!
-Teresa
PS I am curious to know if Peter and David have equally strong memories of MTV. Do us all a favor and pull up some of your favorites from YouTube and add the links into the comment box.
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MTV Favorites - David