Rocktober 10: Mr. Big

"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"

I believe I've mentioned that I don't have a concrete plan for how this month is going to go. I have a couple of basic ideas, but for the most part each day I pore over the list I made of bands/songs/albums/videos/experiences I want to write about and pick the most likely topic for the day. Occasionally a random stimulus decides for me, such as when I woke up with White Lion stuck in my head. Today I happened to see somewhere, it may have been Twitter, that it was Eric Martin's birthday (59), and so today becomes Mr. Big Day.

And that's perfect, because Mr. Big's lead singer ties into the story—such as it is—that I have to tell about the band. And here it is: at one point, a high school classmate, a fellow hair metal enthusiast, told me she thought I looked like Eric Martin. Keep in mind that I was sporting a glorious mullet back in those days. I didn't see the likeness myself (and I wanted to be Bobby Dall anyway), but that has always stuck with me nonetheless.

I'm trying to recall exactly how and when I got into this band, hoping against hope that it was before that comment was made, and I honestly can't remember. If I had to guess, I'm thinking their ballad "To Be With You"—far and away their biggest hit—may have coincided and resonated with a particularly melancholy time for me. I definitely remember listening to it on repeat and singing along, so that's probably accurate. So while that would have been a fine selection, I'm trying to focus on rockers rather than power ballads (don't hold me to it—no promises), and this was a song that really set them apart for me. I didn't come around to the music of the '60s for quite some time after this came out, so in the moment I didn't totally understand what "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" meant, but I still really dug the vibe of it.