My CD Collection

I was first introduced to Deborah Conway's music while I was on an extended business trip to Melbourne. There was a poster in the window of the Virgin Megastore announcing an instore appearance by Deborah where she was going to record a show for Live at the Wireless. I had never heard of her before but the poster, which was an enlargement of the Bitch Epic cover, was very eye catching. I looked at the CD and saw the song title 'Madame Butterfly is in Trouble' and thought anybody who could come up with a title like that was worth checking out.

The day of the show I went to the store and wondered around trying to figure out where she would be playing when I heard some very loud singing coming from the back room followed by a womans voice saying "OK, I think the mikes are working now". Figuring that must be the place I hung out there until the show started which turned out to be excellent. She did several songs from Bitch Epic and one from String of Pearls.

I was having a great time except for the fact that some guy kept cutting in front of me, blocking my view. He would hang out for half a song then wonder off, then come back again. After about the third time I stepped forward and took the space he kept moving in to. He came back, crowded in and put his arm around a woman who was also standing there. I made the mistake of glancing over in his direction. As soon as he saw I had acknowledged him he said "Hey man, I'm trying to watch the show with my woman. You got a problem with that?" and I said "when you keep coming and going, blocking my view yes I do". He said "I've only left once and that was to go to the toilet. What's it to you anyway?". I just said "Apparently nothing" and turned back to the show where it looked like Deborah was looking in our direction. I could see from the corner of my eye the guy kept looking in my direction for a while then stomped off, never to be seen by me again.

After the show Deborah was signing CDs. I decided to pick one up and stood in line for her to sign it. When I got to her she said "Hi" and asked what my name was. I said "Ron" and she asked if that was spelled "R Y A N". It was very common in Australia for people to think I said Ryan instead of Ron for my name. I said "No, it's R O N" when she floored me by saying "Oh, you're an American, well that explains it" and signed the CD. To this day I still wonder if being an American explained her misunderstanding my name or almost getting into a fight during her show. She handed back the CD and asked if I had listened to it yet. I didn't think it would be too cool to say I'd never even heard of her until a couple of days ago, so I said I hadn't had a chance yet. She said "Well you should go straight home and listen to it. It's really good. Make sure you listen to it". I said I would and left the store laughing.