Note: this entry contains SPOILERS! for the novel Blast from the Past. If you want to read it (Would I recommend it? No. But I've read it so you don't have to.) then you might want to refrain from reading most of my review.
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In addition to the overall cultural influence which "Owner of a Lonely Heart" has exhibited for the past 40 years, it's also been used as the title of three different books. Two of them were published this year and they are both romance novels. It's a perfect title to be sure. One of them is even set in 1985. But what about, I wonder, the novel yet-to-be which pays tribute to those who gifted us that catchy inspiration in the first place? Well, it turns out there is one...sorta.
Last year Jeb Wright, former owner/proprietor of the
Classic Rock Revisted website, self-published a novel which strikes me as a cross between a time-travel fantasy and the movie
Detroit Rock City. That novel is
Blast from the Past and why am I reviewing it here, you ask? It's because the concert which is the lynchpin of the story is one of the dates on the 1984
9012Live tour, taking place on March 14th at Myriad Arena in Oklahoma City.
Over the years Wright interviewed Steve Howe and Alan White for his website several times, and he also spoke with Trevor during the Jacaranda promotional cycle in 2012 - here is the link to that interview.
https://www.classicrockrevisited.com/show_interview.php?id=157
Blast from the Past begins thus: Miles Goodwin, age 55, resident of Arkansas City, Kansas, has a life which might be a long time away from his youthful hijinks but is pretty good, all things considered (while in the midst of the pandemic). Happily married and with a adult daughter, he's looking forward to having time to himself as his wife and mother-in-law depart on an all-day shopping trip. Present day is October 2020 and he's about to have an encounter which will change everything.
But one of the first things we learn is that his favorite album is 90125:
For over thirty-five years, this music had remained close to my heart. On this album, they were the best they'd ever been. They combined their musical virtuosity with pop sensibility. Each song on the album was perfect. When I listened to 90125, I felt better about myself and about life. It brought back memories of a different era. Music had always been my higher power, and this album was one of my most sacred listening experiences.
Miles is a GenXer, and this tracks for me in terms of 90125 being the album which probably resonates most with that generation (which is also my own), especially those who might have been Yesfans before or after this point in time. It was Yes' biggest moment in the cultural zeitgeist and I believe the work continues to resonate on more than a few levels.
With the album blasting through his empty house, Miles does the typical old guy things one would expect: making a grilled-cheese sandwich and opening a beer, looking forward to a nap after this indulgence. After a minor accident (he receives a bump on the head), there is a summons at the door, which reveals...a dead man. Or his ghost, at any rate. Miles is confused and amazed, but also seems to accept the situation fairly quickly. Soon they are drinking and smoking and reminiscing, as old friends do. Ashley may be some kind of supernatural phenomenon, but he seems to appear as an actual corporeal being to Miles.
To my mind, this story isn't so much about the possible terror of being visited by your past mistakes...but the wonder of being allowed to escape back into your youth. For Generation X, it's often been said that we were somewhat "feral" in terms of what kids were allowed to do (or got away with doing) and it makes sense in that GenX also invented Helicopter Parenting as a course correction for our own chaotic childhoods. This story means to echo classics such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dazed and Confused, Licorice Pizza and Heavy Metal Parking Lot which evoke the nostalgia of being young enough to do what you want with few if any of the attendant responsibilities - adolescence/young adulthood as the last bastion of true freedom.
The reason I state this is because the ghost of Miles' friend Ashley (whom he then named his daughter for) comes to offer Miles an opportunity: go back to the past to witness the events leading up to the dissolution of their friendship and Ashley's untimely death, and understand that he doesn't need to blame himself for any of it...because apparently Miles' life isn't as fulfilling as we might perceive it to be. He carries the weight of those events with him always, even though there is no inkling of this in the initial assessment of his life at the beginning of the novel. It would seem Miles believes his best days are far behind him.
So are we meant to think that this could be merely Miles' imagination brought on by his head injury? Perhaps, given that the time-travel aspect is laughingly simple: Ashley sends Miles back in time to a specific day and when Miles wants to return to the present, all he has to do is say the code word, which is 90125. In the industry they call this a "handwavium" - meaning an impossible situation/occurrence which is not going to be explained in any rational way. Because, as I say, the novel is not about time-travel, that is only the device which allows the story to unfold as it will.
A few chapters in, after Miles returns to the year 1983, it is revealed that he is a Yesfan. This may prove to be controversial with some people, given the line in the sand which the greater fandom considers 90125 to be. However, plenty of people were fans, and continued to be fans after YesWest debuted. And there were certainly Yesfans in Kansas (as example, Tool drummer Danny Carey, who hails from Paola)!
There is a lot of what I would classify as "period-typical attitudes" in this story, the way in which people spoke and acted and thought in the early 1980s. And that verisimilitude is no doubt why many readers have stated on Amazon and Goodreads that it was wholly enjoyable, as the nostalgia aspect is the focus. I can't see any GenZers being into it, however.
Back in 1983 at the last kegger of the summer before Senior Year, we witness an encounter between Miles and his future wife Danielle bonding over relationship woes and my first strike is that the author uses clicks as well as cliques. Unfortunately, shoddy editing is often the hallmark of a self-published work. We learn that Ashley is Miles' best friend and has a girlfriend who might be a little too wild. Ashley recently lost his mom to pancreatic cancer and Miles is worried about his state of mind. In typical male repressive fashion, Ashley deflects and gives Miles grief for chasing after a girl who will never fully commit to him.
But as these events unfold, we are reminded that Miles is both in the moment and out of it, because he is cognizant enough to call out the code word and return to the present day. He does this several times throughout the novel. Apparently Ashley is a ghost and an actual physical being. At this point I'm ready to just throw up my hands and say "Well okay then!" But Miles is grateful for being able to revisit his hedonistic teenage years, and who wouldn't be? There are timeskips, and Ashley tells Miles this will be the way in which the time-travelling will occur, reminiscent (I suppose) of A Christmas Carol. Next we jump ahead a couple months, it is October 29th and Miles and Ashley hear "Owner of a Lonely Heart" on the radio. Miles enthuses to his friend about the song:
"I love this song man. I can't wait till the album comes out. When I heard Yes was getting together without Steve Howe I thought 'no way this is gonna suck ass,' but dude, this song rocks."
The friends are introduced to an older guy at a local street fair who seems the very definition of sketchy, but there's a toga party happening later that night and naturally that's the most important thing! There's a reviewer on Goodreads who characterized the book as basically about a group of teenagers doing drugs and going to a Yes concert and at this point I kind of have to agree. Miles is candid regarding how he and his friends spend most of their time drunk and stoned. And that was the '80s for a fair number of adolescents. I can't help but wonder if Miles stating that the era was better because people used that for time displacement rather than other forms of entertainment is a truly convincing assertion.
There is drama at the party but Miles reiterates that he wants to be there for his friend, as Ashley seems to be traveling a downward trajectory of sorts, even as he is the one with a future full of promise. And this is a familiar narrative trope: the star and the fuck-up are best friends and their bond will be tested by this very fact. And in this journey through the past, both Miles and Ashley are reliving these events - sometimes together, sometimes separately.
At this point during their present day post-mortem (a strange choice of phrase, perhaps), Ashley reveals that they will also be going back in time to the YesWest concert they attended together, but there's more things to relive along the way. Next, it's November 12th, and Miles' friend Zeke gifts him with a cassette copy of 90125 (strike two: Zeke states it had been released on the 9th but actually it was the 11th). Miles then infodumps regarding how the album came to have that designation, and the history of YesWest entire, as he is the designated "music nerd" which in those days meant reading music magazines, listening to radio interviews, and watching MTV (which was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world in August of 1981) as well as other music-related television programs, to be in the know regarding one's favorite artists. Miles learns that he needs to be careful about speaking the title of the album while back in the past.
While listening to the album, the boys get pinched by the cops for underaged drinking in a public park, but luckily not arrested. It is revealed that the sketchy older guy is a drug dealer on the run, hiding out in the relatively small town of Arkansas City. And he brings hard drugs into their circle, but it's presented as something relatively innocuous to these inveterate partiers.
He tells them: "Be good. If you can't be good, then be good at being bad."
Now that is foreshadowing.
We are treated to a number of scenes which show how the guys are royally fucking up their chances to get the hell out of Arkansas City and move on with their lives after graduation as well as various emotional revelations and secrets. The one I thought was most interesting was another present-day discussion between Miles and Ashley which appears to reveal the bromance I knew was there all along.
"To think...Ash just THINK about this. We only knew each other for two years before it was over. That's it, two fucking years. I fell in love with you man...in the non-gay way. You were the best thing I had in my life."
So this explains to me the real reason why Miles considers that time the best part of his life, despite the turmoil he experienced in regards to the breakup of his family and having to move to a place where he knew no one, which is always hard for kids to go through. This is a love story, of sorts. But of course Miles has to continue to proclaim No Homo bro, which I suppose was normal in the '80s.
It's also revealed that Danielle had children which then Miles helped to raise once they were married. Ashley was the father of one of them. But it's weird to me that at this point in the story he only mentions one of them by name, the namesake of his best friend.
The day before the concert the sketchy dealer scores some magic mushrooms for the show and I'm thinking this is not really the vibe for YesWest, but whatever. They hear a radio ad and I call strike three because Sparkomatic is not mentioned as the sponsor of the tour. Also, one of the characters describes how one would buy concert tickets via Ticketron in those days but the specific store mentioned was not the same as was advertised, and that information is available online. But what I will say is valid both historically and emotionally is the importance teenagers would give to concerts, like, there would be nothing better in a year than one particular show. We get some more lore in the chapter which chronicles the drive to the venue, about the creation of the videos for "Leave It." But, this is yet another strike because the mini-documentary on the making of those videos was broadcast on MTV in April of 1984, and as noted they are going to the March 14th concert. One of the characters is the only Black male in the friend group and he discusses how he believes he will be the only POC at the show, and this reminds me of Trevor's enthusiasm for 90125's cultural reach in that he was seeing Black fans in the audience, quite a different situation to his career in the South African years.
Finally, I've reached the section of the book about the concert itself, which is almost halfway through the text. Naturally, Miles and his friend Zeke are wandering around the venue before the show and somehow manage to get into a backstage area. After getting chewed out and chased by Security, they continue to miss the beginning of the concert but then manage to get into a restricted area to the right of the stage. Eventually they get kicked out of there as well and return to their seats. In the next chapter is an overall summation of the show which seems somewhat accurate. The part I would disagree with is his observation that Jon was the only one who moved around the stage, which is not true - Chris and Trevor did their share, especially in regards to their bromantic antics. As well, he notes that the album cover lighting rig came down during "Roundabout" (the encore) which is also incorrect. It was the big finish of set closer "Starship Trooper." Speaking of, I was disappointed that the narrative didn't at least include a description of how transcendent a moment the performance of ST was within the show entire.
When the show was over, everyone was on their feet. The concert had lived up to our expectations. Yes mixed the past with the present perfectly, both visually and musically. This was the beginning to a three to four year run for the new pop friendly version of the band.
Things start to go from weird to bad thereafter, and I take it that the concert is meant to be the demarcation point in regards to the trajectory of that year, and their lives in a larger sense. Each scene is meant to evoke that ever-present nostalgia, as if to underscore how bad the good times are about to get. The remaining chapters set in the past cover a two-month period, right up to Graduation. The last five chapters return to the present day.
There is one moment where the Steve vs. Trevor debate is addressed, and this is where Miles comes down on the side of YesWest as I expected him to...
"Well, that's a tough one, Kerry. I mean, you were there at the concert. That was a hell of a show. Trevor played those Yes songs really well. And he played the ones off the new album good too. Take one of the classic Yes tunes 'Starship Trooper.' That solo at the end had my blood pumping. And that intro to 'Roundabout' was pretty creative."
...but then he walks it back a little.
"[...]Technically, Howe is the more accomplished guitarist. I just think Trevor has more tricks in his toolbox, that's all."
By this point in the story I think we're supposed to care about the characters. We are told why, all the trauma they've been through, particularly Miles and Ashley. But we're not really shown, or shown in a way which makes us care - and this is the primary failing of the novel. I think one of the reasons has to do with the first-person POV which means we only know what Miles thinks is important between the two timelines. The appearance of Ashley is significant in part because it provides more information that we likely would never know otherwise. It's not that Miles is unlikeable, but he's not really interesting either. I don't have to like a character, but I do have to find them interesting in order to care about what happens to them. And this book does deal with some heavy subjects: depression, grief, isolation, heartbreak, substance abuse, suicide. But it makes clichés of these things in that the emotional devastation is not nuanced nor articulated in an impactful fashion.
For example, we come to understand that Miles has been forever traumatized by having to witness his best friend commit suicide. But what Ashley tells him before pulling the trigger - it's a callback but also incredibly corny.
"Miles...it's like the song. Your heart's not broken. It's lonely. You're the owner of a lonely heart. When Melissa dumps you, you're heart isn't broken...it's just lonely.[...]"I'm the owner of a broken heart, Miles. Just like the song says...that's bad...really bad. There's nothing left to say. I'm just fucking tired of living this way."
In the final part of the story, Miles goes back in time on his own to observe the aftermath of Ashley's suicide. And speaking of clichés..."Free Bird" is played at the funeral (this kind of thing happens so often in pop culture it has become an example of the Iconic Song Request trope), as well as "It Can Happen." This reminds me that I have thought about how I'd like "Würm" played at my funeral.
And then what happens is another trope, this time Sex for Solace. Miles and the femme fatale Desiree snort coke and have sex. The next chapter is about Graduation, and finally Miles' family makes an appearance but again, this isn't that unusual regarding narratives about kids in trouble - normally the parents, as well-meaning as they might be, are in the background and the kids seemingly exist in a world of their own making. After the ceremony, Miles goes to visit Ashley's grave and tells him this:
"I want you to make me a promise, okay?[...]I want you to promise me that if there's any way you can come back and see me that you'll do it. If I get to Heaven and find out that all along you could have come to see me and you didn't, then I'm going to kick your angel ass! No excuses, motherfucker!"
So it appears this "haunting" wasn't Ashley's idea so much as his preordained destiny, of sorts.
Once Miles leaves the past for the last time, in the present day he and Ashley continue their dialogue, but it seems as though Miles could have chosen to stay in the past and continue to relive it, which just seems very strange to me. Even though many Xers would like to go back to the '80s and just stay there, for Miles, having to face that trauma again, no matter the era, it seems too overwhelming.
Miles' family returns with daughter Ashley in tow and it is revealed that not only is Ashley named for his best friend, but she also is Ashley's daughter.
All along I've been wondering what happened to the sandwich Miles had been making and remember when I said that this could all be a hallucination because Miles suffered a head injury? Yep, he's dying, and Ashley tells Miles he had to convince him to let go of the past so Miles could move on to whatever Eternity he was meant for. To be a ghost is to remain tethered to the Earth, and in best friend fashion, Ashley wanted to save Miles from that fate. And so enabled his soul to travel back to the past to relive the best and the worst of their friendship. But...Miles doesn't die after all. His recovery is termed a miracle, because of course it is.
The best part of all this was learning that when you go to Heaven, you're on a shuttle like at the airport. Funniest shit ever.
During his recovery at home, Miles finds proof that he was indeed visited by a ghost, or whatever Ashley was supposed to be. He is visited one last night and it is a bittersweet goodbye. And then receives a call from their mutual friend Zeke who says Ashley appeared to him in a dream and then Miles begins to tell Zeke his side of the story.
And that's where it ends.
What do I dislike about this novel? The writing is pretty amateurish (but again, what I expect from a self-published work) in that it had potential to be something insightful, humorous, absurd, and emotionally moving but the clunkiness of the prose prevents any of that from happening. Coming of age stories are always interesting both for what they can remind us of and reveal to us. But there's no heft to this text at all. Plus, I feel that - for all the mentions throughout the story - the use of YesWest and 90125 in the novel is just a device and not truly resonant. An example of how this kind of thing can be wonderfully achieved is in Paul Tremblay's novel The Pallbearers' Club in which the protagonist is a big fan of '80s indie rock band Hüsker Dü. So yeah, I'm disappointed that a novel which does feature my favorite version of Yes isn't really worthy, or takes full advantage, of their inclusion to produce an interesting well-crafted story of a time when a revamped Yes brought excitement to a generation in their glory years.
But I can certainly understand why people would enjoy this story if they did. So I'll leave it to you to decide if you want to read it for yourself.
