A lot has happened since we last spoke. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their nominees for 2017, a few surprises there, plus some a long time coming. Yes, we had an election, one in which has divided the country. We had two more deaths in the music industry, in a year already filled with many passing's. Thanksgiving is almost upon us and it will be time to ring in the holidays once more.
But this blog isn't about the RRHOP, though I promise I will blog about that really soon. It's not about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton or its fallout. Leon Russell and Leonard Cohen were prolific and talented musicians, singers and songwriters, and they will be missed; my friends have more than posted tributes to these two over the past few weeks, but that's just not today's column.
But early yesterday morning, another musician passed. Unless you are a regular of this blog, or one of my many friends from Roselle Park, chances are you have never heard of this very talented keyboard player. One that I've know since elementary school and at one time, briefly, our paths were identical. But they couldn't be any more farther apart now.
To the readers of this blog, Ron Pietranowicz was the keyboard player of the Milford PA-based Billy Spanton Band, which a couple months ago, hit #3 on my blog with "Shake Your Soul". But that only just scratches the surface as to the kind of person, and friend, that he was. I just saw him last month at our 60th birthday reunion and he was his jovial self, joking and kidding around. And just suddenly, his life ended, a victim of a heart attack. A person who seemed unlikely to have one. You just never know.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ron in the third grade at Aldene School in our hometown of Roselle Park. A nice guy, smart, enthusiastic kid. And a musician. Back then we had once thing in common: We played the piano. In both cases, our Mom's "forced" it onto us, but we took to it rather easily. He was much better than me, though, but we shared that talent, if only for awhile. Our school would often have assemblies, and both of us, thanks to our music teacher Mrs. Miller, would play as the students walked in, or when the assembly was done, walked out. In addition we were both in the schools' vocal Boys' Choir and for a year, Glee Club. Ron participated in his class play, a take-off of Peanuts' "Great Pumpkin", for Thanksgiving, dubbed "The Great Turkey". Ron's character? You guessed it, Schroeder.
We then entered Roselle Park Middle School, and we took the music thing one step further. We both were in the band. I took up the trumpet, while Ron tackled the clarinet. But, while I lost interest in the piano by 8th grade and gave it up for good, Ron just kept going, and started joining area rock bands. While that is probably not what his classical music-minded Mom had intended, Ron just branched out and let his music juices flow.
Of course, there were other things aside from music that we had in common. In 8th grade we were teammates in the Roselle Park Recreation Youth Bowling League, along with Glenn Gallo, our team name was "Hell's Angels" (interesting, since just three months into the season, the incidents at Altamont occurred). And while we finished in last place, it was still a fun time, and Ron, upon finishing the season, shook my hand and said, "Put it there, Rob.....last place team!". But it was fun.
High School came next, and although we had drifted apart somewhat, we were still in the Marching Band with our prospective instruments, but there was no comparison whatsoever between the two of us. While unpopular me just "hammed away" at my trumpet and was pretty much invisible to anyone who "mattered", Ron, was very popular and very much loved; many girls had crushes on him. And why not? He continued being a part of rock bands, and also during the Spring Concerts, participated in the Jazz-Rock ensembles.
As it turned out, we would both go to Montclair State College (now University) and although we had our own circles of new friends, we would run into each other from time to time, with other Roselle Park alumni just to talk a bit. In May, 1978, we both graduated from Montclair, and we hung out right after the ceremonies, pretty much the last person I'd see during my schooling years. And that would also be the last time I'd see him for 32 years.
Like another friend who passed away last year, James McGuirl, Ron never stopped playing. He was part of bands like English Creek Road and its offshoot Wheatstone Bridge with other Roselle Park grads, but was in and out of so many other bands. And then came the Internet.
Around 2001, I had joined classmates.com, which at the time was the way to reconnect with those from the past. Ron wasn't on there, but there were rumors that he had passed a few years before that. Well, don't believe anything you hear on the Internet; Ron was alive and well, when he came to our 30th reunion in 2004; unfortunately we didn't get to talk or even say hello.
It was the Facebook era next, and I had joined the popular social media outlet in September 2008, concentrating on connecting with friends from work and other circles and not high school. But, one of the first friend requests I received from my hometown was, indeed, Ron Pietranowicz. Seems that although he still had family in the Union County area, he was happily married to his lovely wife Kathy, and living up in the Milford PA area. He was also in the bar cover-band Moving Company which played in the tri-state area.
In August of 2010, I saw that Moving Company was playing at Sheridan's in Andover, a pub I had never been to. It was probably the closest they were going to play near me, so myself and my wife decided to check it out and surprise him...after all, it had been 32 years. There we were at the bar, and the band was setting up. Ron had caught my eye as he looked on over. He wasn't 100% if he recognized me, but soon as I told him my name, he knew who I was. Right before the band's first set and during the break we caught up on what had gone on the last three decades.
Moving Company did wind up playing at our favorite hometown hangout of Frenchy's twice, and Ron also sat in on keyboards when English Creek Road got back together for old time's sake. Ron, of course was still on keyboards, continuing his skills from his youth, with vigor. During one of the Frenchy's gigs, I got to finally meet his wife Kathy, and we became friends as well.
Ron was content to be in just one band. Veteran musician Billy Spanton had played alongside him in 2008 with the Rolling Stones tribute band Tattoo You, which later evolved into The Billy Spanton Band. That band released Matter of Pride this past summer, and I featured the song, the Bad Company-inspired "Shake Your Soul", which made it up #3 on September; the song resurges this week. Ron also was in the band The Connected. He often spoke out about the little support from the bars that hired his bands, and how little they were paid for bringing customers into their establishment, a lament affecting other live bands trying to make a living as well.
I'd see Ron three other times in recent years: At our 40th reunion on October 2014, when fellow grad and his best bud Bill Beckman came up from Florida to visit in December 2015, and just last month for our class' "60th Birthday Reunion". He still looked great.
I don't think there was even one soul that hated Ron. He was popular, he was well liked, and would do anything for you. And it just makes it even harder to realize he is no longer with us. One of the joys of doing this blog is to keep tabs on my musician friends like Ron.
"Real Ron". "Ronnie Keys". "Spike". Friend.
We'll miss you.
PRAYERS FOR JAMIE: While we are on the subject, another local musician has had serious health issues. Jamie Heath, vocalist of The Hounds of Winter, which just recently topped my SNS charts with "Oh Paige", is seriously ill. Please keep Jamie in your prayers, and lets hope for a complete recovery. Keep the faith and rock on, Jamie.
CHARTS, BRIEFLY:
As expected, Fitz & the Tantrums racks up its tenth #1 song as "Roll Up" hits the top spot. It's the third single in a row from their current, self-titled third album to reach the zenith. It's also their fifth chart-topper in a row, and the eighth in their last nine entries. The only one that didn't make it? "6 AM", which nonetheless stayed on my charts for 71 weeks. Miike Snow claims the runner-up spot with "My Trigger". Two new top 20 entries include Kjband's "Wave", the aggregate's second top 20, after last year's "Our Art", and Twenty-One Pilot's "Heathens", a song which has long topped the Alternative Rock charts and hovered near the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The big mover on the charts, in the wake of Ron Pietranowicz's death, is the Billy Spanton Band's "Shake Your Soul" which rebounds 53-28.
As for the new entries, Bruno Mars, who delivered one of the few excellent performances on this past Sunday's American Music Awards, has the top entry with "24K Magic" from his newly-released album of the same name. It garners some positive reviews from friends. The xx also return with "On Hold", and Matthew Koma, who had a pair of SNS top 20 songs a couple years back (and who has teamed up with The Knocks on the rising "I Wish (My Taylor Swift)", debuts solo with "Kisses Back", and Maroon 5 team up with rapper Kendrick Lamar for their latest "Don't Wanna Know".
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
November 14 & 21,
2016
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 2 | NUMBER ONE:
"Roll Up"
Album: Fitz and the Tantrums
|
6 |
| 2 | 4 | Miike Snow - My Trigger | 7 |
| 3 | 1 | Michael Kiwanuka - One More Night | 13 |
| 4 | 9 | Maybird - Turning Into Water | 8 |
| 5 | 8 | Paul Czekaj - A Place I Once Called Home | 12 |
| 6 | 11 | Trails and Ways - My Things | 13 |
| 7 | 3 | Us Commoners - Fallin' | 10 |
| 8 | 6 | Leon Bridges - Better Man | 15 |
| 9 | 10 | The Hounds of Winter - Oh Paige | 11 |
| 10 | 14 | Sam Roberts Band - If You Want It | 7 |
| 11 | 15 | Jake Owen - If He Ain't Gonna Love You | 9 |
| 12 | 7 | Dinosaur Jr - Tiny | 11 |
| 13 | 16 | Wild Belle - Our Love Will Survive | 7 |
| 14 | 5 | Santana - Blues Magic | 15 |
| 15 | 18 | Colony House - You and I | 8 |
| 16 | 19 | Red Hot Chili Peppers - Go Robot | 6 |
| 17 | 23 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Waves"
Album: Noise
|
8 |
| 18 | 20 | The Chainsmokers f. Daya - Don't Let Me Down | 9 |
| 19 | 25 | Twenty-One Pilots - Heathens | 8 |
| 20 | 22 | Deerhunter - Snakeskin | 14 |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more plays on my iPod.