Performer: Genesis
Songwriters: Tony Banks,
Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford
Original
Release:
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Year: 1974
Definitive
Version:
The studio version.
In
my magazine-publishing class at Northwestern—at a time when The Lamb was a
regular play—everyone had to write at least one article for the magazine in
addition to the jobs to which each person won election. That meant everyone had
to pitch story ideas.
I
had a good one. Steve Dahl made regular commutes between Chicago and Detroit,
and on the Steve and Garry show, he talked about a place somewhat along the way
called Cornwell’s. It was known for its turkey sandwiches. So I thought I’d
drive to Cornwell’s, pick up some turkey sandwiches, take them to Steve and
Garry and interview Steve about Cornwell’s and how he found out about it.
It’s
a good idea, right? It was within the range of Exit Chicago’s mission of
weekend travel around Chicago; it was interesting and different; and it
involved a regional celebrity.
Well,
the editors didn’t think so. I don’t know whether they didn’t like that
particular celebrity tie-in or didn’t want to do anything involving celebrities
because it was “too easy.” (I think it was the latter.) Either way, it got a
thumbs-down.
My
second idea was Bronner’s in Frankenmuth, but it didn’t work out as mentioned a
great while back (good ol’ No. 674). Well, OK. How about a Finnish country home
in the Wisconsin Northwoods that featured outdoor saunas? They went for that
one, so in October 1987, I headed north.
I
don’t remember the names of the place or innkeepers, but they offered to have
me stay the night at their place. I suppose that would’ve been the right thing
to do to capture the feel of the place for the reader, but I was a highly
principled budding journalist. I didn’t feel I could accept any freebies, so I
declined.
I
drove to Wausau, where I spent the night and then drove in the next morning to
interview the family. It was at the end of the freeway along U.S. 8. I had a
good interview, and I had a story that I wrote as though it would be the
centerspread. It ended up being cut down to a single page—a two-column job as
part of a department. Well, phooey.
I
had been voted down for every editorial job; apparently my writing talents were
similarly unimpressive to those voted in charge of the magazine. So I buried
myself in my marketing and then other chores.
I
can’t remember why, but at the final hour, editorial began to scramble looking
for things they could fill the prototype with before it was time to publish the
magazine prototype that we would pitch to publishing groups. I guess too many
things fell through.
One
of their bright ideas was to interview local celebrities about their travel
around Chicago. Gee, why didn’t anyone think of that back in September? Naturally,
the editors came to me and asked, hey, what about your idea interviewing Steve
Dahl? You mean the idea that was turned down three months ago? Yeah, could you
set that up?
I
suppose I should have tried to play team, but I had my pride. Besides, I had a
ton of end-of-semester work of my own. Because this request came just a few
days before deadline, I didn’t think I had enough time to set anything up with
Steve and Garry, let alone drive to Michigan to pick up the sandwiches. I declined.
But
I felt vindication. My idea WAS a good idea after all.
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