i first heard about organized air-guitar competitions in '79 when my radio station asked me to host one. my reaction was typical: i couldn't believe they were serious. they were. i said yes. the prize was a brand new fender stratocaster. people sure thought that was cool, while more than one jealous musician said "you're giving away a strat for that!?" yep, go figure. the event was held in a hartford nightclub and it was packed - on a wednesday. people were into this totally. lots of screaming. lots of crowd participation. it was all news to me. big success. well, we did give awy the prize (plus cash to 2nd and 3rd) and we gave it to a guy who turned in an extremely energetic performance, but you know it was still, well, air guitar - the stuff kids do in thier rooms while pretending to be rock gods because they can't actually play the real thing. never would i have guessed in a million years how big this would be 25 years later. it's amazing really. btw, that kid we gave the strat to only had it for a few minutes; it was stolen out of the club parking lot that very night. it looked pretty bad for all involved pr-wise so the station bought him a brand new one. i think at the time it was $1300.
- js.
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