Exposing myself for my 500th post

[zill]

I thought for my 500th post I would share something personal and maybe even downright embarrassing…what the hell!

25 years ago I was a punk-ass teenager living in a remote coal mining/industrial town in backwater Nova Scotia. Today, with the internet, cheap air travel and the globalization of the world economy, it is hard to even imagine the isolation I felt growing up then and there. My brother and I often dreamt of wild plans as to how we would escape one day.

My brother and I were always close, and we shared a love of synthpop. It’s a long story, but we came to “acquire” a couple of low, low, low end keyboards in the early 80’s. Although we had no musical training (or talent!) we started writing our own songs on these tinny “instruments”…it was part of the whole fantasy of escaping our prison. We shared a lot of laughs and never took it too seriously.

Then one day my brother became very ill. He had cancer. He battled it for a good 6 years before he passed away, on Christmas day, just before his 19th birthday. In those last few years, when he was bed-ridden and couldn’t see well, goofing around on a keyboard was one of the few things we could really do together. It brought him a little happiness and a few moments right out of a Michael Landon production.

Attached is a snippet out of one of our songs, recorded live to cassette tape with my brother on a Casio, me on a Yamaha and singing (if you can call it that!). Don’t expect too much…we were not Georgie Rockwood after all. I’m sharing it with you guys not because it is good, but as a tribute to my little bro (hey, it’s Remembrance Day to boot!).

http://www.zshare.net/audio/48410458732630/
The One That I Love

I do think it is pretty amazing that synthpop music of that era brought so much joy into our lives, and created remarkably happy memories for me during such dark days. This is not to mention how it encouraged a couple of shiftless youths in a backwater town to experiment with creating music, regardless of the end product. One thing is for sure, these simplistic efforts of ours gave me a whole new appreciation for good music.

Cheers,

zill

PS Feel free to have a laugh at the song, we always had fun with it!

[wherewereuin82]

Zill,

How wonderful to have these memories saved to share with us. It's certainly not horrible, especially compared with some of the stuff that actually did end up on vinyl [:)]. You are probably thankful now that you did grow up in that small town and were as close to your brother as you were. That may not have happened had you been in a larger city. Thank you for sharing something so close to your heart.

"Don’t take life too seriously, you won’t get out alive"

[enzfan]

Bet your brother or yourself could have never imagined your song being heard by persons worldwide. I'm sure he is looking down getting a kick out of it. Nice job.

[MARV]

Wow, what a way to honor your brother on a site like this. Zill, thank you for sharing that story and that music with us. That took guts and I look forward to your next five-hundred posts.

<a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/cetaceans/index.cfm">Own. Rule. All.</a>

[marie3]

Zill, thank you so much for posting your story and snippet to the Zill Brothers song. I am sure your brother is smiling from the heavens while his song has become a little earworm in my head. [:)]

[bruiser]

I LOVE THIS SONG!

[WolverineSyr]

That's a great tribute & I'm glad you shared that with us. It certainly is going to jangle around my head for a while.

[zill]

[quote][i]Originally posted by bruiser[/i]
<br>I LOVE THIS SONG!
[/quote]

Thanks for all the kind comments. I think my brother would find it pretty cool to know that even one of you fine folks enjoyed this...[8D]

[coop41]

Zill, thanks for sharing that, it was so cool and the background story makes it even more special. What a tribute.

[glokstadt]

The tune is very catchy, I like it. Is there an extended version…[;)]

Thanks for the personal share.



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[KYYX4ever]

Anyone got the 12" remix of this?

Very personal story; thanks for sharing both a part of yourself, and the song.[:)]

[birdmadgirl]

I have to say, I almost didn't read this because of the title [;)]

Thank you for sharing something so personal and touching, zill.

[club80]

That's great Zill!
Enjoyable little song made extra special because of the composition of the band. Thanks for sharing!




We didn't sell a lot of records, but somehow we left an impression.
-Johnny Ramone-

[sunzgem]

[:)]That made me smile!

"So Lonestar, now you see that evil will always triumph...because good is dumb."