TBT ESG

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is your’s. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

as i often reminisce about chicago in the 1980’s, this thursday lands me on the nyc band made up of sisters that called themselves esg. they played at medusa’s music hall in 1984 or so. ed bahlman was the executive director of 99 records at the time and was really promoting a funk punk mashup style that included liquid liquid, bush tetras, and the sweet, sensorial, and very sassy esg.

as an acting emissary for the club, one of the perks was to entertain the artists the evening before their late night performance. i took the girls to dinner. we chatted and giggled and they shared some of their lives with me for a coupla hours as our ships passed in the night. one detail i have never forgotten is how they named their band- emerald, sapphire, and gold. the show immediately became one of my golden memories from medusa’s. and i now know that all those days were a good training ground for the work i do today. i learned so much about working with so many different types of people. and it helped open my heart to cultures i didn’t know first hand.

another kooky memory from that evening involved one of my mother’s best friends from central illinois had driven up in her gold caddy and came by to say hello. i’m pretty sure she had never been in any sort of atmoshphere like medusas. it was early on saturday morning- just barely having closed the prior night’s doors. ed bahlman needed some to get to a different part of town and so jackie drove him in her caddy. here he was being chauffered by a sweet and colorful and simple hairdresser from peoria illinois. i’m sure it was a trip for him (and her).

anyway- esg’s recording of “moody” still gets my heart going and brings a smile to my heart. and i continue to find myself feelin moody yeah yeah yeah.

#80schicago #esg #moody #tbt