Strike Up the Band (Sequel to Blind Faith)

Seven

Rob couldn't help a laugh any more than the drummer and his younger equivalent could help an excited hoot as they muted their strings and stilled cymbals once they'd rounded out the song. The applause from his Music appreciation class was almost immediate, the adults gathered at the back of the room taking a few more momentsta start clapping along with them. He'd been expecting such a reaction, though, and he was pretty sure even the younger brunette'd been expecting such, too.

        "Well, Mr. Dall–that's certainly one way to kick off a class," Dave finally chuckled once everybody'd Calmed down so he could be heard.

        "Hey, nobody ever said I wasn't a Creative Soul," he retorted with a grin. "In fact, three of us up here used to get paid to be just that."

        "Wait, really?" This was asked by one of the kids in the third row, who'd introduced himself as Gage at the Beginning of the semester.

        "Sure did, kiddo," Rikki answered from where he still sat behind the drum kit.

        "Allow me to reintroduce myself, ladies and gentlemen," the older brunette said. "Some've recognized me as such, others haven't–and I honestly prefer it that way–but I'm the former bassist, backing vocalist, and slave-driver of the band Poison."

        Jaws all around the room dropped in shock when he said that.

        "These two're close friends and former band mates of mine–drummer and backing vocalist, Rikki Rockett, and multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist, Richie Kotzen," Rob continued as he settled on his stool. "Mr. Kotzen now serves as Woodlawn's band director, but agreed to come up and gimme a hand today, while Mr. Rockett got roped into it due to Timing."

        "Really?" This was asked by the freshman principal, André Henry.

        "Mr. Rockett blew into Town over the weekend for my birthday," he answered with a nod. "Since he wasn't planning on leaving till either this afternoon or tomorrow Morn, and we were getting into the Music of the mid-to-late-eighties in this class..."

        "Couldn't have asked for better Timing, I suppose," sophomore principal Kristy Hunt chuckled.

        "Nor a better way to get into the Music than by getting a few of the tamer accounts from some of us who lived through that era," the older brunette agreed.

        "Obviously, we're not gonna go into some of the wilder tales, but rather the history behind the Music," Rikki said. "I mean, I'm not even gonna discuss what Talk Dirty to Me is about lyrically–should be pretty obviousta anyone who listensta it–but that one was actually more of our former lead guitarist, CC DeVille, than anything."

        The kids–and even the teachers who were on their planning period and decided to sit in to listen–were enthralled as he went on to explain what he meant. Most folks didn't know it, but CC'd actually been writing the lead riff for the aforementioned song before he met the rest of the band in 1985. Over Time as more of the Music and especially the lyrics were written, it became the song that was now one of the band's biggest hits ever released.

        With a grin on his face, the blonde'd absolutely no shame in saying that all four of them took different lil bits and pieces from artists that Inspired them and kinda threw it into a musical blender. Foghat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, KISS, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones–their list of collective Influences was so long, he didn't even wanna try naming them all. But each of those Influences could be heard in various places throughout the band's Music–such as Rob being the Led Zeppelin lover coming out in his thumping bass riffs and a lotta the new wave and East Coast punk coming out in their Cracker Jack's lead riffs. However, it wasn't just the Music that Inspired them–it was also the looks of the bands they grew up on that did it, too.