Lou Albano is dead, as of yesterday. He was 76. As I write, the fate of a little boy is still unknown. He was thought to have been 5000 feet up in a balloon. Watching Captain Lou and Cindi Lauper on Friday Night Videos was more my thing when I was little Falcon’s age. Ok, maybe twice Falcon’s age. But still, a little boy. I was pretty scared of heights, so getting into a home-made balloon for a jaunt to Utah would not have been my thing.
Captain Lou wore rubber bands on his face. That was pretty weird. Cindi Lauper was pretty weird too, especially her speaking voice and her clothes. And “Goonies.” I was ready for weird at about that time. Weird for me was more like black trench coats and peroxide streaks in my hair. No rubber bands for me, thanks. Boys just want to have some space to themselves and maybe a Spiegel catalog.
Cindi Lauper had a song called “True Colors” which I think is maybe a commercial for something now. There was a girl at school named Melissa or something who I thought was really cool and who said she actually knew Cindi and had written the song. I thought that was pretty cool and was surprised Cindi did not mention Melissa on a radio interview I heard. Sometime later I saw Melissa at the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and she seemed a little intimidated and out of her element. I began to suspect she did not have it all together and might not be on a first name basis with Ms. Lauper.
I still like “True Colors” though. It’s a sweet, encouraging song and 13 year old boys need sweet, encouraging songs whether they tell you so or not. Hell, we could all use a sweet, encouraging song from time to time. If Falcon did make it through this little balloon adventure, and I sincerely hope he did, someone should sing him a sweet, encouraging song soon. It’s gonna be a tough road for him for a little while. Cindi and Captain Lou got me a little further down my tough road, and I appreciate that. Requiem eternam et lux perpetua Lou Albano.