The Last Play at Shea

Ca 1980. Introduction to Beatles. What? You've got to be kidding me, right? 1980?

I wish. I was never really into music while growing up, except for the songs from Hindi movies that I heard on Akashvani or Radio Ceylon (Binaca Geetmala by the legendary Amin Sayani). Even at college, I had very little exposure to Western music, apart from bits and pieces from a dorm mate Somerjit Singh who strummed the guitar to Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens songs. We played bridge and drank cheap whiskey. Somerjit, in our final year (1979), went back to Manipur, joined the Mao-ist rebels and was shot dead by the Indian army. It left a deep impression on me at the time but is not part of this story.

I got closer to a girl during my days at IIMC and she introduced me to the Beatles. As young people at the time tended to do, I plunged myself fully into the experience. I knew all the songs and could identify each one from the first chord. I knew all their concerts, all their shows. The Beatles at Shea stadium was a big deal, though I did not quite know all the detail at the time.

Cut to the late 80's. This young girl is now my wife and she introduces me to the music of Billy Joel. I love it. I enjoy it. I know all the songs. Another late introduction. Joel has been a huge rock star since the 70's. I was just late to the party.

To round off this story (I AM coming to the point!), I had once asked someone to bring me a NY baseball cap. What I got was a NY Mets cap. I thought it was amazingly expensive at 30$ in 1991. To top it all, people looked at it and said "you have a Mets cap?". See, I knew nothing of baseball either!

So when I read about the movie that carries the name of the title of this blog entry, I had to see it. I just had to. There were some associations and it was set to Billy Joel music. (I told you I was getting to the point.)

It was a wonderful experience. Everything just came together. Shea, The Beatles, Mets, Billy Joel. Suddenly it all got connected. I loved it. The twist at the end made it even more worthwhile.

I don't know if you will like this movie, but it's going on my "save" list.