Robert Plant and Garfield too,
I
love you!
by Live Music Head
Robert Plant,
the British singer-songwriter and
Led Zeppelin rocker
was born on this day,
the twentieth of August,
in West Bromwich, England, 1948.
This prompts me to go back to the
mid-seventies,
at the height of the Zep’s success
and remember when I became an
enormous fan,
and fell completely and madly in
love
with the lead singer.
Back to the times
I played their records over and
over again,
and fantasized about squeezing his
lemon.
But it wasn’t until 1980,
at the tender age of 17,
that I became
a full-blown sex-obsessed rock and
roll chick
who could finally go and see them
live!
I was working at Fotomat,
my first ever job,
located in the parking lot of Park
Royal Plaza
in Clarkson,
also known as Mississauga,
a suburb of Toronto, Ontario,
when I heard on the hut radio
that the band announced a tour.
Wha-hoo!
Plans for a road trip to see them
in Buffalo
were made immediately
and my excitement was beyond
belief.
But then the news hit that John
Bonham,
the band’s drummer
had suddenly died,
and that was the end of that.
I would never see Led Zeppelin.
Imagine my disappointment.
Fast forward a few more years
to 1983
when Robert Plant announced a solo
tour
following the release of his
record,
Pictures at Eleven,
and my excitement came back!
 |
Robert Plant and Paul Martinez Sept 10, 1983
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto
|
It was at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens
on September 10 that year
that I arrived dressed in black
spandex pants,
a la Pat Benatar,
with little black boots,
a la The Beatles
and a forest-green top that slid
off one shoulder,
a la Jennifer Beals in Flashdance,
and a thick black leather belt
that wrapped around my waist twice.
(The kind of belt that, as it
turned out,
kinda sorta looked like
the one Robert Plant wore at the
show).
I was with my then-boyfriend,
who in retrospect
was a pretty good guy,
considering how I ignored him most
of the time,
completely obsessed was I
with the golden god of cock rock.
 |
Robert Plant Sept 10, 1983
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto
|
We had floor seats
which made it easier
to sneak closer and closer to the
stage.
But I really don't recall how,
by show time,
we found ourselves standing on
seats
in the front row!
I guess there was no stopping a
full-blown sex-obsessed rock and
roll chick of 17.
And this is where my best memory
unfolds.
Before the show,
as I was rushing out of the house,
I had spontaneously decided
I wanted to throw something on the
stage.
When I ran back to my teenage
bedroom
to see what I could find,
I ended up grabbing Garfield,
the stuffed version of the
ever-popular
fat and lazy, cynical orange and
black comic-strip cat
who’d been sitting there staring at
me
from the coziness of my bed
pillows.
Cheesy thing to bring to a rock
show, I know.
But bring it, I did.
For the first few songs,
I waved Garfield over my head
from hand to hand
wondering if I’d ever find the guts
to throw it.
What if I hit Robert in the head?
I couldn’t bear the thought.
A few more songs went by
and I still hadn’t let it fly,
but my imagination ran wild
for Robert seemed to be looking in
my direction a lot,
like he too was wondering if I was
going to throw it.
When I finally did let go,
I don’t think I even meant to,
but there was Robert
not only alert to Garfield’s
pending arrival in his workplace,
but he had his arms outstretched to
catch him,
mid-air!
Garfield never hit the ground!
Plant then took Garfield and
propped him atop
Phil Collins' xylophone,
(yes, THAT Phil Collins
was in Plant’s touring band at the
time)
where it sat for the duration of
the show.
I was ecstatic!
Sometime during the night,
Dimo Safari,
rock photographer of the day,
snapped a photo of Plant and
Collins,
with my Garfield,
which appeared in the Rock Star
Calendar,
put out by Toronto radio station
CHUM-FM.
Oh, how I wish I still had that
calendar.
But it was destroyed in a basement
flood.
I can’t even remember what month
got the photo.
Anyways...
 |
| Robert Plant - Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan Sept 3, 1983 |
That same week we road-tripped to
see Robert Plant
at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit,
Michigan
where another great memory
unfolded.
I shit you not,
Robert Plant mouthed the words “I
love you”
directly to me from the stage.
I reacted by falling off the front
row seat
I’d been standing on.
Not only could Robert Plant tell
when a stuffed cat
was about to fly toward him,
and catch it mid-air,
but he could see little girly faces
in a crowd of many,
and read lips that silently said “I
love you”
over and over again;
lips unconvinced he could even see
them
with stage lights that must surely
be blinding him.
Wrong.
 | |
| Robert Plant - Joe Louis Arena, Detroit Sept 3, 1983 |
When Robert told me he loved me back,
I not only fell off the chair,
I died,
and went straight to Heaven.
How did we end up in the front row
at this show?
Why, courtesy of security guy
that's how.
After fluttering my eyelashes
repeatedly
at him,
the only one who stood between me
and my love,
security guy let us pass from our seats in the stands
down to the floor.
down to the floor.
But there was no time for
sneaking up to the stage at this
show.
The flirting had taken so long
that the house lights had gone
down,
and the show was about to begin.
Wha-hoo!
Wha-hoo!
We bee-lined it.
