19. Januar 1943

My all time favourite singer Janis Joplin was born today 19th of January in the year 1943. Member of the 27 club (musicians who died at the age of 27, among them Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morisson, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain or more recently Amy Winehouse) she was long dead when I heard first heard her sing. It was an evening after summer, I had heard Angel by the Rolling Stones somewhere and was browsing through my parents vinyl collection looking for that one Rolling Stones I remembered seeing before. While going through all the vinyls I found Pearl by Janis Joplin. I had heard about her and was delighted to see such a colourful person. Expectantly I placed the vinyl on the record player, put the needle on the record and made myself comfortable on the armchair waiting. I can still feel and hear the scratches of the needle when suddenly this torrent of voice and feelings fell upon me. I sat there being amazed by the emotions that women was transmitting. I listened carefully to the whole record that night. From then on I would often sit in my room, listening to Pearl (I got the record player when my parents refurnished the living room) while dwelling on all the heart aches and weltschmerz I was feeling. Not to forget the incense sticks, the posters on the wall, the candles, the diary… Thank you for bringing me trough my teen age years. They wouldn’t have been the same without you.