13 Things Rock and Roll Can Do For You

As proprietor of Events-in-Music.com I occasionally get contacted by someone releasing a new book related to music.

When Fred Gratto contacted me, it was a no-brainer that I would help promote his book, 13 Things Rock and Roll Can Do For You because a) it's about Advice for Leaders and Everyone Else at Home and at Work (and advice about how to succeed is always popular around here) and b) Fred's a Florida Fightin' Gator!

Dr. Fred Gratto and his team manage the University of Florida (Gators!) Campus environment. Fred also teaches classes about leadership and facilities management, and he speaks at conferences nationally.

Fred is now an author as well with the Telemachus Press publication of 13 Things Rock and Roll Can Do For You.

Fred is a baby-boomer so 13 Things Rock and Roll Can Do For You is naturally filled with references to the lyrics from 60s, 70s and 80s era songs.

A quick scan pulls up helpful lyric quotes from notables such as the Beatles, the Dead, Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper — as well as some later acts/tunesmiths like Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson.

This is a very practical self-help book. If nothing else, after you read it, it will help you listen to music in a new way. Listening for lines that pinpoint a problem you are dealing with right at that moment, and finding inspiration or even the answer from the song.

Music is a GREAT COMMUNICATOR and Gratto has been schooled by some of the best musical artists ever. (Sometimes I truly believe that they just "don't make 'em like that anymore.")

Fred didn't know I was a Gator also when he contacted me, I don't believe. But we quickly got right into exchanges about Gator Football, Gainesville (FL) trivia, and Lake Alice, which he helps oversee. (Years ago we used to illegally feed marshmallows to the real live gators down at the Lake, some very big -- and they love marshmallows!! We probably did other illegal things there too! Ahh the good times!)

Fred asked me if, being a baby boomer myself and involved in music most of my life, I could maybe help get his book to some of the artists he has quoted as the basis of his leadership lessons. The first thing I noticed is how many of them are dead! (Not meant to be funny, just true: John Lennon, and Marvin Gaye and Jerry Garcia...and so many more of the greats.)

I didn't have an immediate connection to hardly any of these artists. But on page 69 I found a song quote from someone I know: Melanie Safka.

To me, all things happen for a purpose and this is just another example. Here is the quote from 13 Things Rock and Roll Can Do For You:

Good health is not a spectator sport. Exercise really is king. "If exercise could be packaged into a pill, it would be the singlemost prescribed and beneficial medication in the nation" —Robert M. Butler, Physician and educator. It's pretty obvious that, one way or another, we need to keep moving. We can because it's easy to do, "I ride my bike I rollerskate, don't drive no car"...Melanie Safka, I've Got a Brand New Pair of Roller Skates...."

I needed that lesson!

But then something else happened. Right at this time I had the good fortune to meet Nashville's own Jessica Frech who has made quite a sensation of herself on YouTube with her brilliant "People of Walmart" videos (MILLIONS of views) AND her cover of Melanie's "I've Got a Brand New Pair of Roller Skates"!

In fact, Jessica even sang the song WITH MELANIE at Hotel Indigo in Nashville...all spontaneously...through happenstance (or not)!

If you love music, order a copy of Dr. Fred Gratto's 13 Things Rock and Roll Can Do For You. It will improve your life - it already has improved mine!

Thanks Fred and Go Gators!

See "Dancing With The Gators!"