the random chronicles of sonicdork: “red red wine”
Growing up in Southwest Virginia, there was never really that much to do. The area is growing quite a bit now. Hell, they have a stadium theater now. Fancy, fancy. We had the crappy mall theaters, the theatre across the bridge, or the Radford Theatre… where STEREO is still cutting edge….ahh but it has charm….root beer…and Old Bonefinger. Back in the 80’s in the NRV, before the mall was built in 1988, you either roller skated or bowled (when the NRV Fair wasn’t set up). I wasn’t much for roller skating since I was always prone to falling on my ass (still the same in 2007), so I bowled.
You had some choice bowling alleys in the NRV. Before the NRV Superbowl, there was the classic Triangle Lanes (sadly torn down…now a Walgreens). You could bowl in the basement of Heth Hall at Radford University. OR… you could go with your Mom and all of her co-workers to Leisure Lanes in Pulaski, VA. Ahh, Leisure Lanes. It’s been a hard week… you deserve some “leisure” at Leisure Lanes. It was a redneck haven… a redneck haven with great chili dogs. Mom would take me to bowl and meet up with her pals almost every weekend. I loved it. I would dream of Leisure Lanes every single minute of the school day…waiting for school to be over so I could experience the greatness of musty bowling shoes and their wonderful jukebox…. I would fantasize about that jukebox, full of all of the hits that I would hear on K92….and every single fucking Ray Stevens song you could think of.
One of the choice hits of the day was UB40’s cover of Neil Diamond’s classic “Red Red Wine”. I would listen to it during every visit to Leisure Lanes. I would get some change from my Mom, and while she would be on the other side of the bowling alley chatting up her co-workers, I would sneak off, lean against the jukebox, select “Red Red Wine”….and cry…and cry….and cry. I still don’t know why. I couldn’t resist. I had to hear it and I had to cry my eyes out. Here was this pudgy little kid with a bowl haircut standing next to the jukebox, crying his eyes out. The rednecks would stare…God would they stare…..”Myrtle, that fat kid is crying at the jukebox again..”
Myrtle, that fat kid has grey hair now…and he is listening to “Red Red Wine” on YouTube…and somewhere deep inside of him….a fat kid is crying.
