What do
“Forrest Gump”, “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”, “We Are Marshall” and “The Nanny Diaries” all have in common? OK, other than that they are all movies . . . and they are all in English . . . and they’re all in color. OK, never mind – I will tell you. They all used songs written by Tommy James. Some of you not as old as I am will be more familiar with a song called “Mony, Mony” by Billy Idol which went #1 in 1987 replacing the #1 song “I Think We’re Alone Now” sung by Tiffany. Both were originally written and recorded by Tommy James.
I know what you’re thinking: “What does all this have to do with you?” Well, Tommy James helped me learn how to play guitar. When I was growing up, I always wanted to be in a band and play guitar. So my dad, who mastered many obscure instruments like the accordion and ukulele (also taught himself to play the piano by ear), told me that if I learned to play our beat-up ukulele I could get a guitar. Of course, I jumped at the chance and said, “Gee, that would be swell, Pop! To the Negative 10th power.” (Of course it would have been much simpler to just put “NOT” . . . but saying “NOT” had not yet been invented so I can’t in good conscience use it here.) When you are a teenager, you really don’t want to be known as a rocking ukulele player, so I declined. Then a friend gave me his electric guitar so I taught myself to play along with records, including Tommy James & the Shondells. My youngest brother, Terry, still remembers hearing me using my guitar wah-wah pedal playing the song Crimson and Clover . . . Over and Over. That helped me fulfill a dream I had to be in a band, which I was for 10 years.
So back to Tommy James. When I saw that he was doing a concert here in San Diego awhile back, I got excited at the thought of hearing one of the musicians who helped me through the traumatic transition from listening to 45 singles to the huge vinyl record albums. (For any of you teens scratching your head, Google has language translation tools which may allow you to put in "Old guy English" and find out the translation in today's language.) The concert was phenomenal as they played 1 hit after another (at least 7 made the top 10 over the years) and reached a crescendo with a moving version of Crimson and Clover. After the standing ovation, he came out for the encore with these words, "Keep looking up, Jesus is coming back soon!" I was stunned. Kristen and I looked at each other dumbfounded as our expressions turned to big smiles. It's one thing to hear a message like that in a church service, but it was surreal to hear a message of hope in Jesus at a secular concert!
It was a few days later before I realized that my favorite jacket (a leather jacket given to me in the 80's) did not make it back with me from the concert. I called the lost and found, but the jacket apparently chose the "lost" option. I was disappointed until I remembered a unique occurrence at the concert. As we were standing in a long line, in hopes of buying some reasonably priced tickets (we only found out about the concert the night before), the will-call window opened up. The lady called us over. I asked her for the least expensive tickets she had and she asked me if "free" was OK!!!! Early in our marriage, I had decided to discuss all lucrative business decisions with Kristen, but instead I contemplated the pros and cons, ramifications on the economy, theological implications and after a good 2 seconds I said, "Yes!"
As I searched for a new leather jacket, I thought back on the free tickets. The discounted closeout jacket, which was also on sale, ended up costing exactly the amount we saved from the free tickets! In my mind, God was providing before I even had a chance to ask or even know to ask about the jacket. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us" (Eph. 3:20).
Well, I no longer remember how to play Crimson and Clover . . . but I can rock out on the ukulele!