Our Favorite Things: Our Music Time Machines

This week's Our Favorite Things poll is about songs or bands that transport us back to a certain time or place in our lives. We all have them, whether they be songs remembered from childhood or that song you heard wafting from the bar the first time you were handcuffed and put in the back of a police squad car for drunken/disorderly. So without further ado here's what our murder of writers came up with this week. And we would love to hear about any Music Time Machines that you may have. Feel free to comment below or post on our Facebook page. Enjoy!

“The River”
Bruce Springsteen
By Ken Zurski
Man, I love old album covers. I can go through my stack of LP's like a box of old photos. Each one brings back a different memory of why I bought it and where I was in life. No surprise that most of my album buying took place in the early 80's when I was in high school and trying to find my place. I was making a little money then - going to school and working at a fast food joint. I bought a cheap older model car and worked it up. I hung out with friends and went to the record store. I was also choosing my own music. So the one album cover which evokes strong emotions for me is Bruce Springsteen's "The River." It's a simple cover really, just a head shot of Bruce looking straight ahead, serene and thoughtful, with tight lips and dark, static eyes. The hair tussled a bit; the chin a little shadowed. Bruce is wearing a flannel shirt (I had one just like it). And although you can’t see it, I was sure his sleeves were rolled up (just like mine). I wanted to be that guy! Or maybe I already was in my own mind. Plus I loved Bruce's music. It spoke to me. And "The River" is a terrific album! But that simple cover shot? It still takes me back. Makes me want to get out those old photos - er, I mean album covers - and look around again.

“Sweet Emotion”
Aerosmith
By Paul Gordon
One of them for me would have to be “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith. It was the first song I remember hearing from what became my favorite rock group and whenever I hear it even now I remember listening to it and other Aerosmith songs and turning my girlfriend at the time onto Aerosmith. I got to see them in concert in Evansville in June 1976 (Rush was the opener) and my friends and I got very lucky in that we saw Aerosmith getting out of limos outside that town’s top hotel at the time, The Executive Inn. We got all their autographs, found out Steven Tyler was a cool guy and that Joey Kramer was, at first, stuck-up then warmed up to us a little. Like an idiot I gave those autographs to that girlfriend. I haven’t seen them since. Not much of her, either. Oh well.

Needtobreathe
By Lindsey Tanner
They’re Seneca, South Carolina's trio. It’s the rich acoustic guitar, tinny banjo and raw vocals that take me back to the evening friends and I piled in vehicles, CD in play, caravanning to a Smoky Mountain summit. We traveled the familiar road, running alongside the wild waters. With the windows down, the deafening rush of the rivers should have overtaken our music but the southern rock, nearly bluegrass, was its perfect complement; it was its soundtrack and it became the sound of our summer. As the sun retired, the forest of trees held tightly to the humidity of mid-day. The choir of crickets joined the lyrical stories told by Needtobreathe’s vocalists Bear and Bo. That night we were venturing to see thousands of synchronous fireflies flash in unison; a phenomena that must look as though the stars fell down to wrap man up in their beauty. But we were already wrapped up — the summer-rain smell, ink-black atmosphere and dropping temperatures of our destination — we were surrounded by the beauty of June and friendship. 

“The Show”
Doug E. Fresh (with Slick Rick)
By Kevin Kizer
It’s the winter of ’85-’86 and my friend, Aaron, had just picked me up to give me a ride to high school. We already had a growing interest in the burgeoning world of rap music when he popped a mix tape in his truck’s stereo and played this song. It was like a whole new musical world had opened up with its funky rhythm, jazzy style, sing-song lyrics and wait, was that a sample from “Inspector Gadget”? We must have listened to it 4-5 times before we got to school that day. I can still see in my mind the snowy subdivisions we were driving through, letting this wonderful new sound wash over us, with Doug E. Fresh beat boxing like nothing we had ever heard before (the best known beat box at the time being Buff Love, a.k.a. The Human Beat Box, from the Fat Boys, who sounded more like someone having cardiac issues, which wouldn’t be a surprise). This song was critical in turning me into something of an anomaly in 1980s rural Indiana: a hip-hop fanatic.

“More Than a Feeling”
Boston
By Terry Towery
My musical time machine (and I have tons of them, believe me) would have to be Boston’s “More Than A Feeling.” Besides being one of the best rock songs ever, it immediately transports me back to the late summer of 1976 when I was just graduating from Air Force basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. When I hear the song on the radio today, I can close my eyes and feel, hear and smell that summer – the first time I ever stepped way out of my comfort zone and did something completely crazy. Would I do it again, knowing what I know now? You bet I would.

“Christopher Cross”
Christopher Cross
By Matt Richmond
At age 6, no activity made my life more pleasurable than operating my parents’ record player. I held the large vinyl disk by its edges in my tiny hands, set it gently on the pin, then carefully positioned the needle over the disk, setting the table in motion. I dusted each record with the Magic Touch vinyl record duster and then, to consummate, I flicked the lever that dropped the needle. That, my friends, was living.

My parents had a lot of albums. As a 6 year old, I was only interested in two of them: Supertramp’s Breakfast in America and the eponymous album Christopher Cross. While Supertramp has had staying power, muddying my memories with classic rock replays throughout my life, the sound of “Sailing” or “Ride Like the Wind” instantly transports me back to that moment when the needle dropped, the speakers crackled and I picked up the album cover to enjoy it like a morning newspaper. What was that flamingo trying to tell me? I still don’t know.

“The Blueprint”
Jay-Z
By Shaun Taylor
It's a warm, beautiful morning in Charlotte, NC. I'm a junior at Belmont Abbey College, driving in my '95 Honda Accord (which I still drive,). Windows are down, with the Notorious B.I.G blaring over my puny speakers. I get to my American Government class and find out to my pleasant surprise that it's been cancelled. Only when I find out why it's been cancelled, my surprise is no longer pleasant. You see this warm morning in September is no ordinary morning. It's the morning of September 11, 2001. I jump back in my car, zip back to my dorm room and turn on the TV. Several of my teammates join me. We watch in shock and horror as the planes crash into the Twin Towers. Snapping out of my trance I pick up my Timeport cell phone and call my grandparents who are travelling from Florida back to our hometown of Washington, DC. The lines busy! I call my other grandmother who lives in NYC and works only a few blocks from where the planes hit. I can't get through! I start to panic. Then I pray. I walk over to the quad where a sea of students and faculty are in a frenzy. One of my teammates and best friends, Jon Jon, tells me Coach cancelled workouts (which never, EVER happened). Everybody is either crying or frozen with shock. Jon and I went back to our dorm, when I remembered that it was Tuesday and my favorite rapper, Jay –Z, was dropping his highly anticipated album, THE BLUEPRINT! But with everything that's happened there's no way the album is still coming out right? I ponder this aloud for a few minutes then decide to go to Best Buy to see for myself. Jon and a couple other teammates joined me in this trek. Fifteen minutes later, I'm in the checkout line at Best Buy with a copy of “The Blueprint” in my hands. We piled back in my Honda, I ripped the packaging off the CD and popped it in. When I heard the first few bars of "The Ruler’s Back" I knew that I had just purchased something epic. For the rest of the short ride back to campus and for several hours back in our dorm room, my teammates and I listened to “The Blueprint” and time sort of just stopped. The brilliant analogies, vivid storytelling and razor sharp punch lines (directed at Nas & Mobb Deep) combined with beats from a young Kanye West make “The Blueprint” a masterpiece AND my favorite album of all time.

By early afternoon, I was able to get a hold of my grandparents in DC and New York. That day was chaos for myself and so many of my fellow students. But as Jay-Z proved with “The Blueprint”, good music can be like honey for the soul. And even though workouts were cancelled, Jon and I took a boom box up to the gym and had a great work out with Jay-Z serenading us in the background!

“Touch of Grey”
The Grateful Dead
By Greg Stewart
I suppose I’ve had many “Musical Time Machine” moments in my life: a 45 of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” when I was about 8, various compilation albums from the K-Tel collection during my pre-teens, pop radio on Peoria’s KZ93 during junior high, the high school progression through classic rock, metal, punk, alternative and hip-hop, but the moment that changed my outlook on music, and life, is still very vivid.

It was June of 1987, just a few weeks after my high school graduation. A friend of mine who had just completed his freshman year of college was home for the summer and said we absolutely had to go see this band playing at Wisconsin’s famed Alpine Valley Music Theatre. Three friends and I, in an enormous Ford LTD borrowed from somebody’s parents, set out early for the Dairy State and my introduction to the Grateful Dead.

I had been to a handful of concerts before, but nothing like this. The people, the colors, the energy … sights, sounds and smells like nothing I had ever experienced. I was hooked before I even heard the band play.

Coincidentally, 1987 was the year the Grateful Dead released “Touch of Grey,” the band’s only commercial success. That song sparked a transition for the band, as its followers swelled from a devoted cult fan base to a bandwagon of part-time Deadheads from the college crowd.

I fell into the latter group, someone who truly appreciated the music and the scene, but never considered growing dreadlocks and going on a permanent trip. But from that moment, and until the Grateful Dead played its last show with front man Jerry Garcia at Soldier Field in July 1995, I made it to 35 Dead shows. Saw many, many other bands, too. All told, I’ve probably seen more than 500 live performances.

Because of that, I like to think I have a very broad and diverse taste in music. But since that glorious summer day in 1987, I tend to look at people in one of two ways – those who know Jerry and those who don’t.

Franco-mania is coming! "Oz the Great and Powerful" to premiere at PRM's Giant Screen Theater

The Peoria Riverfront Museum has just announced that "Oz the Great and Powerful" will be coming to the Giant Screen Theater on Friday, March 8, 2013. Here's what the movie is about:* James Franco is in some depressing place then puts on a weird hat which creates a tornado time warp sending him to a new land where he finds all kinds of weird creatures including some hot witches who've also starred in big movies. Obviously, the witches are suspicious -- they had seen Franco's performance as co-host of the Academy Awards -- but then Franco waves his hands, makes himself cry on command and gets all wizardy. In the end, his Franco-iness wins the day but then it is revealed that all along he's been in a post-apocalyptic America where apes rule the land and humans are cheap slaves.**

Tickets go on sale Saturday, March 2 at 10 a.m. Movie show times and days are available online at www.PeoriaRiverfrontMuseum.org. The GST has a screen that measures 52 feet tall by 70 feet wide and features RealD 3D, Hollywood’s preferred 3D provider. With the newest and brightest projectors available, visitors take in ultra-sharp, ultra-detailed images. A state-of-the-art audio system with surround sound and stadium seating also enhance the viewing experience.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Kevin has no idea what this movie is about.
**ADDITIONAL EDITOR'S NOTE: Sometimes Kevin gets his movies mixed up.

OSF to acquire certain Proctor assets, including First Care centers

OSF HealthCare has acquired all of the Proctor First Care offices and other assets of Proctor Hospital, increasing the size of its Peoria holdings, the companies announced on Wednesday.

Expected to be completed by the end of March, the transaction will not affect the quality of care or the delivery of care to patients of Proctor Hospital, its primary care physicians or the First Care facilities, officials of both entities emphasized. "Patient care was foremost in all our minds," said James Farrell, senior vice president of marketing and communications at OSF.

"We intend to preserve and maintain the quality of care for our patients, not disrupt it," said Steve Wilson, director of communications at Proctor Hospital.

According to a news release, Proctor officials approached OSF about acquiring the assets because of financial difficulties. "It was clear that their ability to continue to provide primary care services was at risk. With that in mind we looked to do what was in the best interests of care for area patients," it said.

OSF will acquire the five Proctor First Care centers and its primary care sites as well as Proctor's primary care physician practices involving 17 doctors. Those practices and the physicians will become part of the OSF Medical Group. OSF also will acquire Proctor Medical Equipment.

The cost of the transaction was not revealed on Wednesday.

Proctor will continue to own and operate the 223-bed hospital on North Knoxville Avenue as well as the Hult Health Education Center and the Illinois Addictions Recovery Center, Wilson said.  

The hospitals said the move works because of a "longstanding relationship" between OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and Proctor Hospital. "The transition means area patients are able to maintain access to the same facilities and physicians they have come to know and trust. OSF has a tradition of meeting and exceeding the needs of those we have the privilege to serve, and we look forward to continuing to fulfill our mission," OSF said.

Proctor officials said their hospital has faced the serious financial challenges many freestanding community hospitals deal with on an increasing basis. Those are caused by changes brought by health care reform and decreasing Medicare reimbursements, among other things. As a result, they said, "it has become apparent that we do not have the resources needed to maintain important primary care services."

Calling the decision to sell the assets a responsible one, the result will be an influx of much-needed financial resources to the hospital.

Wilson said hospital officials are confident the decision will be in the best interest of the Proctor employees, physicians and patients. "This was important for the community. Patients will have the same choices tomorrow as they have today," Wilson said. He added he has fielded calls from concerned patients, including some whose primary care physicians keep offices in the Proctor First Care centers. "There will be no changes. They will continue seeing those physicians in those offices," he said.

The Proctor First Care offices are located:

•  At Willow Knolls Court, 3915 Barring Trace, in Peoria; open seven days a week 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; telephone 689-3030.
• At Knoxville Square, 9118 N. Lindbergh Drive, in Peoria; open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; telephone 693-3993.
• At 1120 E. War Memorial Drive in Peoria Heights; open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; telephone 685-4411.
• At 2535 E. Washington St. in East Peoria; open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; telephone 694-6464.
• At 621 W. Jackson St. in Morton; open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; telephone 263-4343.

Hours and telephone numbers will not change after the transaction is completed, Wilson said.

Rebuilding Greatness: A Look at the Career of Shaun Livingston

Very few NBA stars have risen so quickly -- and so young -- as Peorian Shaun Livingston. In 2004, the Los Angeles Clippers made him the #4 pick in the NBA draft, the highest ever a high school guard had been selected. And immediately this young man who just a year earlier was running the IHSA tournament was making his presence felt in the NBA. Then, just as quickly as his star rose, a devastating knee injury -- some say the most gruesome they've ever witnessed (his knee literarly looked like a pretzel) -- brought it all crashing down. How devastating? There was serious talk of amputation. Yes, amputation. But now, at the age of 27, Shaun is back in the NBA and showing flashes of pre-injury brilliance. Check out this great story on the Peoria basketball prodigee from Grantland.com.

Here's Shaun at his best on the court:

And here he is recovering of one of the worst basketball injuries ever: