Holding Onto O Positive
Some will argue how I discovered the legendary Boston band O Positive back in the mid eighties is truth literally mixing with fiction. There are many versions, and many family and friends claiming that they were the ones who introduced me to one of my all time favorite bands.
This is how I remember it. It was either August of 85’ or 86’ (hence the fiction) and I was heading to the Falmouth Heights Beach for a late afternoon swim when I bumped into my buddy Mark Penta (the “tan man from Framingham” we used to call him) returning from his day on the sand.
He grinned and handed me a mixed tape. On the back of the case in black marker were names I had never heard before – New Order, General Public, Echo and The Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, etc.
I opened the case and on the black and gold Maxwell tape written in cursive lettering – Progressive Mix.
“What’s progressive?” I asked.
“I’ve heard some of it before. It’s pretty good. I think you’d like it.”
“I don’t get it. Can’t you give me a better description since you made the tape.”
Mark smiled. “That’s the point. I didn’t make it. I just found it lying on the bench down at the beach. Someone must’ve lost it. So, do you want to come over and listen to it tonight?”
That night I went over to Penta’s patio and we drank Slice soda and listened to this new music (to us) called, “Progressive.” Song after song spoke to a part of my soul. I knew the main reason was that these songs had real lyrics that told stories I could relate to. In my head, I pictured the videos I would make if I were a director (my dream at the time). But of all of those amazing songs there were three (the most by one band on the tape) by O Positive. Mark and I played them over and over. The songs were:
“With you”
“Say Goodbye”
Listen on their site!
“Up, Up, Up”
After that night, there was no turning back for me. I had to find out who this O Positive was. In a world before Google, this wasn’t an easy question to get answered. But one day that fall, I was listening to WUSM (which was the radio station for what is now UMass Dartmouth) and I heard the DJ talking about the Boston band O Positive. I couldn’t believe my new favorite band was from Boston!
Armed with this information, I soon found more of their music up in a record store (yes, record store) in Cambridge as well as friends who listened to it (My sister Sarah’s friend Brooke Aldrich who proudly owned the album, Jen Jensen, Kim English, Todd Humphrey, to name a few).
There now was a group of us at Falmouth High School that continued to grow into our own little nation of O Positive followers and we tried to see them at any underage venue they played.
I remember coming out of Mr. Cali’s English class and finding out that O Pos (as we liked to call them) were opening for the Psychedelic Furs at Great Woods. Christen Nelson packed about ten of us in her powder blue Volkswagen station wagon and drove us to Mansfield (which was usually an hour trip that took us about four hours!). The Furs were great but OUR band O Positive stole the show that night!
A few months later, Todd Humphrey, Jane Smith, and maybe Paula Soares told our parents we were going to study late at the library so we could see O Positive have center stage at S.M. U. (now UMass Dartmouth).
When I got home at 1:30 that morning my Dad was sitting in the darkness and said, “Library closes pretty late, huh?”
I confessed to him where I had been, and he said, “Never lie to us again. OK, pal?”
I apologized profusely and agreed to always to tell my parents the truth… Well, most of it.
Before my father headed for the upstairs he stopped and said, “Were they any good?”
“Yeah, Dad. They’re the best.”
“Ted,” he sighed, “I won’t claim to understand your music but I do know that feeling you get when music moves you. For me, it was Bing Crosby. Every time I heard that guy sing… Wow! It sent chills up my spine. Of course, now that I know he beat the crap out of his kids it’s not quite the same listening to the bastard. Goodnight, buddy.”
It is those memories and many more that occurred - seeing them play back to back shows at the Paradise or meeting lead singer Dave Herlihy before they played at Conte forum that will always make me love O Positive. The other great thing that happened was I was able to get my little brother Seton into them. That is why it was a must to give O Positive a brief shout out in The Running Waves. Our ultimate dream is when the book comes out May 30th and ever does take off and later becomes a movie they would actually use the music we loved. That’s a lot of ifs but we can dream, right?
The song we picked in the book is “Holding Onto You.” It is important in the book as it was important to Seton and me in real life. We would listen to the song while thinking of our friends who had gone before their time. I wanted to post a video of the song but I couldn’t find one so I contacted band member Dave Martin, who in one day, graciously made the video you’re going to see below. That also tells you how classy these guys are! It was our hope that this post would be our way of thanking all of the members of O Positive for the impact their music made on us, our friends, and family, but that won’t completely happen because on October 20, 2009, O Positive’s drummer Alex Lob passed away of diabetes. I hope you when you view this video you do it as a tribute to him and all of the bands known and not known who have moved you over the years.
This is how I remember it. It was either August of 85’ or 86’ (hence the fiction) and I was heading to the Falmouth Heights Beach for a late afternoon swim when I bumped into my buddy Mark Penta (the “tan man from Framingham” we used to call him) returning from his day on the sand.
He grinned and handed me a mixed tape. On the back of the case in black marker were names I had never heard before – New Order, General Public, Echo and The Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, etc.
I opened the case and on the black and gold Maxwell tape written in cursive lettering – Progressive Mix.
“What’s progressive?” I asked.
“I’ve heard some of it before. It’s pretty good. I think you’d like it.”
“I don’t get it. Can’t you give me a better description since you made the tape.”
Mark smiled. “That’s the point. I didn’t make it. I just found it lying on the bench down at the beach. Someone must’ve lost it. So, do you want to come over and listen to it tonight?”
That night I went over to Penta’s patio and we drank Slice soda and listened to this new music (to us) called, “Progressive.” Song after song spoke to a part of my soul. I knew the main reason was that these songs had real lyrics that told stories I could relate to. In my head, I pictured the videos I would make if I were a director (my dream at the time). But of all of those amazing songs there were three (the most by one band on the tape) by O Positive. Mark and I played them over and over. The songs were:
“With you”
“Say Goodbye”
Listen on their site!
“Up, Up, Up”
After that night, there was no turning back for me. I had to find out who this O Positive was. In a world before Google, this wasn’t an easy question to get answered. But one day that fall, I was listening to WUSM (which was the radio station for what is now UMass Dartmouth) and I heard the DJ talking about the Boston band O Positive. I couldn’t believe my new favorite band was from Boston!
Armed with this information, I soon found more of their music up in a record store (yes, record store) in Cambridge as well as friends who listened to it (My sister Sarah’s friend Brooke Aldrich who proudly owned the album, Jen Jensen, Kim English, Todd Humphrey, to name a few).
There now was a group of us at Falmouth High School that continued to grow into our own little nation of O Positive followers and we tried to see them at any underage venue they played.
I remember coming out of Mr. Cali’s English class and finding out that O Pos (as we liked to call them) were opening for the Psychedelic Furs at Great Woods. Christen Nelson packed about ten of us in her powder blue Volkswagen station wagon and drove us to Mansfield (which was usually an hour trip that took us about four hours!). The Furs were great but OUR band O Positive stole the show that night!
A few months later, Todd Humphrey, Jane Smith, and maybe Paula Soares told our parents we were going to study late at the library so we could see O Positive have center stage at S.M. U. (now UMass Dartmouth).
When I got home at 1:30 that morning my Dad was sitting in the darkness and said, “Library closes pretty late, huh?”
I confessed to him where I had been, and he said, “Never lie to us again. OK, pal?”
I apologized profusely and agreed to always to tell my parents the truth… Well, most of it.
Before my father headed for the upstairs he stopped and said, “Were they any good?”
“Yeah, Dad. They’re the best.”
“Ted,” he sighed, “I won’t claim to understand your music but I do know that feeling you get when music moves you. For me, it was Bing Crosby. Every time I heard that guy sing… Wow! It sent chills up my spine. Of course, now that I know he beat the crap out of his kids it’s not quite the same listening to the bastard. Goodnight, buddy.”
It is those memories and many more that occurred - seeing them play back to back shows at the Paradise or meeting lead singer Dave Herlihy before they played at Conte forum that will always make me love O Positive. The other great thing that happened was I was able to get my little brother Seton into them. That is why it was a must to give O Positive a brief shout out in The Running Waves. Our ultimate dream is when the book comes out May 30th and ever does take off and later becomes a movie they would actually use the music we loved. That’s a lot of ifs but we can dream, right?
The song we picked in the book is “Holding Onto You.” It is important in the book as it was important to Seton and me in real life. We would listen to the song while thinking of our friends who had gone before their time. I wanted to post a video of the song but I couldn’t find one so I contacted band member Dave Martin, who in one day, graciously made the video you’re going to see below. That also tells you how classy these guys are! It was our hope that this post would be our way of thanking all of the members of O Positive for the impact their music made on us, our friends, and family, but that won’t completely happen because on October 20, 2009, O Positive’s drummer Alex Lob passed away of diabetes. I hope you when you view this video you do it as a tribute to him and all of the bands known and not known who have moved you over the years.
Please check out Dave Martin’s solo music! Great stuff!
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davemartin
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davemartin2
-Ted
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