Here we go back in time..
Feeling older these days because of memories when the kids were young,
Last Monday, it was the 20th anniversary of the first NFL game the New Orleans Saints played on their return to their stadium – The Superdome, some 14 months following the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in late August, 2005.
I have an odd musical memory of this horrific tragedy. We had been on vacation in Santa Barbara, California. Kimberly has wonderful relatives who reside there. She had driven with her parents and Kyle (9), Hayden (almost 4) and Hannah (2) out to California.
I flew out for 10 days, then returned to work for 10 before returning with daughters Megs (12/13) and Courts (11), flying out near the end of August.
At the end of the trip I took the girls to LA before our flight back. It was Megs’ 13th birthday.
We came down on the hotel elevator one morning. A gentleman stepped on the elevator holding a newspaper (they had those then) with a headline picture of the devastation in New Orleans.
I nodded and said to him something about how awful it was. He said he worked for a company that had a store in New Orleans that had been flooded and then looted. I asked for the name and he said “Virgin Records Megastore.” Wow. The music gene in me twitched at that.
[Ed. Note- rex did a bit of research and confirms that the 23,000 sq foot store in NOLA never reopened after the storm. The other 24 stores in the USA closed by 2009.)
I had been to a number of these Virgin Megastores over the years. For example, I visited the Megastore in Chicago on Michigan Ave. the most frequently.
I remember purchasing UNKLE 🇬🇧 as well as JOE STRUMMER & THE MESCALLEROS 🇬🇧 there.
In York York, I anxiously and eagerly obtained what turned out to be the last true NEW ORDER 🇬🇧 LP, “Waiting For The Sirens Call” on the day of release.
In San Francisco, I obtained HOPE OF THE STATES 🇺🇸 a band with high potential who came to a tragic end. In Los Angeles, I found the THE LONG BLONDES 🇬🇧. At their Disney Village store in Orlando I nabbed ARAB STRAP 🏴, to name some of the many purchases I made- CDs mostly at that time.
For today’s song I am going with JOE STRUMMER & THE MESCALLEROS. On a trip to Chicago, I walked into the megastore and heard a nifty track being played. I went to the counter and asked.
The former CLASH 🇬🇧 frontman had passed in 2002. The LP “Streetcore”was pothsumously released. The track I heard (which was actually being played on a “Nova Tunes compilation LP) was titled “Midnight Jam.”
There were no lyrics recorded by Strummer for this track before he passed. Rather, they deftly used his spoken words from a radio show(s) and it works.
Anyway, I think the whole thing fits the story of Hurricane Katrina and the ultimate demise of the beloved Virgin Megastores.
Here is a shorter video of the song, then the full song on both YouTube and SPOTIFY-
Full song- no video
SPOTIFY-
https://open.spotify.com/track/3u5QIX2TBbWsYOdjDqksen?si=NhVjoFc1Spen8VBFpSkk_Q&utm_source=copy-link
(SONG 1760)
Play Loud and Care For Others
10/8/2026
Leave a Reply