Then I met the Leaping Gnome.

No, it wasn’t some drug-induced fiction. He has a real name I choose not to give right now.

The gnome was pure ADHD, only more focused, more easily distracted, and less organized. But he had/has an encyclopedic knowledge of music, alternative music.

And when I met him, in that eventful Fall of 1986, he introduced me to REM, The Jam, and, of course, VU.

It re-shaped my thinking. It made me realize that listening to what everyone else was listening to was boring.

The Velvet Underground rattled me, and I could never quite get into the jangly rhythms and cacophonous sounds. But today, I listened to the Banana album and relived those memories.

And every so often, I catch myself singing “Waiting for my man”, with alarming accuracy, almost word for word.

The Velvets broke the ice for me, and I haven’t been able to go back. But the doors that opened in front of me were astounding.