In an accident, that almost parallels the tragedy of Jan and Dean’s classic “Dead Man’s Curve,” a priceless collection of classic rock gold records ranging from Steve Miller’s “Fly Like and Eagle,” to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” was lost en route to Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Driving from Cincinnati’s classic rock station WKROC (the “W” is silent) to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, DJ Ronnie “Classic Rock” Revival lost control of his 1966 GTO while looking through his case of classic rock 8-tracks.
As Rock and Roll fate would have it, Mr. Revival was driving on Cleveland’s famed Dead Man’s curve on the Memorial Shoreway, just minutes away from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ironically, the classic GTO was propelled through a billboard advertising Mr. Revival’s donation of gold records to the Hall of Fame, resulting in the fiery demise of both Mr. Revival and his prized collection of gold discs.
The classic collection contained only “the hits,” as Mr. Revival proudly proclaimed. “None of this “new music” for me, Mr. Revival was quoted as saying at the peak of the Punk Rock Movement, “If I don’t know the song, it’s not worth hearing”.
In tribute to Mr. Revival, Hall of Fame director Howard Kramer has commissioned an ageing classic rock super-group to eulogize the tragedy by re-recording the Righteous Brothers song “Rock and Roll Heaven, amending the verse to include the story of DJ Ronnie and the gold record’s classic rock ending. Leading the chorus of classic rock semi-retired non-recording artists will include surviving Righteous Brother, Bill Medley, along with Grace Slick, Billy Squier, Edgar Winter, The Doobie Brothers and the surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Grateful Dead.
“DJ Ronnie will never hear these songs again,” lamented Mr. Kramer, We grew up with these songs and will never ever outgrow them.” “I know Ronnie is looking down on us from Classic Rock Heaven,” Mr. Kramer said with a sigh.