Friends gathered last night to say goodbye to the one and only Sal Maida. It's always difficult to wrap your head around the loss of a loved one, but it certainly helps to be among so many people who loved the man.
I'll share one story that still makes me laugh over 30 years later.
NYCD had a rotating group of high schoolers that would work on weekends, either watching the crates of dollar CDs, or simply acting as gophers for inventory when the store got busy. One afternoon, one of the kids mentioned that her father worked for the Rolling Stones and if any of us wanted tickets to their shows at Madison Square Garden, she would hook us up. Ever the skeptic, I asked, "So what's your father do?" "He's a lawyer," she said. I might have grunted or groaned, I don't recall. I do remember passing on the opportunity and just buying tickets on my own. But Sal Maida wanted in. So he calmly said, "I'll take a pair." She said, "Okay, I'll tell my father."
A few days later, a slight man oozes into the shop, with a curly, wet-look hairdo, leather jacket, silk shirt, hands behind his back like he was handcuffed. He starts giving us a once over as we stood behind the counter. He paced to the end of the counter, made an about face and paced back. Sal, who was 6'6" and towered over everybody, looked at me as if to say, "What the hell is with this guy?" So, I asked, "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, who wants Stones tickets?!" This guy reeked of attitude. But Sal answered. "I do."
Now the guy goes off.
"These tickets ain't free! I don't know what my daughter told you, but I don't do any favors. The tickets are $400 a pair! Still want'em, yes or no?"
I wanted to tell this guy to go fuck himself. But Sal handled it perfectly. He came out from behind the counter, slowly walked past this creep, opened the front door and said, "Nah. I'll pass. I saw the Stones with Brian Jones. You can keep your tickets."
The lawyer stood there, silent and dumbfounded. Sal just waited by the open door until the guy walked out.
The lawyer's daughter apologized to us on her next shift.
Now, the music.
I put this mix together as a way to celebrate Sal. It consists of songs that he played on, mixed with songs that he played on his radio show "Spin Cycle." A few are absolute gems that I would have never known about if it wasn't for Sal's bottomless pit of rock and roll knowledge.
I hope you enjoy the music.
TRACKLIST
I Never Understood (Where I Stood With You)- The John Sally Ride
Nothing To Do- Sparks
Bad Misunderstanding- The Critters
Wasted- The Runaways
Don't Chop Down My Tree- The Raves
So Many Things- John Bromley
(Dee Dee, You're (Stuck On A Star)- Milk N Cookies
Hold On Baby- Sam Hawkins
I See The Rain- The Marmalade
Jolene- The Lovin' Kind
Come Down- The Common Cold
Nothing Doing- The John Sally Ride
Pyjamarama (Live '74)- Roxy Music
When The Alarm Clock Rings- Blossom Toes
I Didn't Know I Was Saying Goodbye- The John Sally Ride
10 comments:
Nice; thank you, sorry for your loss, may his memory be a blessing
This sounds like a delight, even tho its creation was via a deeply unfortunate happening for you. Thanks for the write-up and the download.
C in California
Very sorry for your loss, Sal. May you find peace in the days to come.
Great way to celebrate Sal. Thanks for sharing the story and the music.
Best way to honor a musician and friend. Looking forward to listening.
Great story, great mix.
Don't suppose there are any recordings of Spin Cycle available? I'd love to hear him do his stuff.
Randy
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=spin+cycle+the+lot+radio
There's a bunch, Randy!
That was a great story. Sorry for the loss of your friend.
Well done Sal -- I'm sorry for your troubles.
I'm afraid I'll keep "I Didn't Know I Was Saying Goodbye" for inevitable uses.
Your warm recollections of your friend Sal remind me of Arthur Alexander's Go Home Girl -- "Now, the love of a girl and the love of a friend are two things you can't compare"
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