I Was Real (1983) | Colleen | official music video

I wrote this more than 39 years ago, to myself. It was originally called "Picture" or "Hey You" and I wrote it as a warning, to never forget my younger self if I ever got too lost in life.

Then I lost it somehow.

I was archiving all my music from cassettes in 2020 and 2021, and only had a warbly instrumental version. After re-reading an article Greg Burk wrote about me in the LA Weekly back in 1998, I realized that he had it, that also Dave Van Heusen and Spot would have copies. It found its way back to me. Thank you all so very much, for Spot insisting and helping me record it (and spending after-hours time at the sound board that I never knew), for Dave Van Heusen for safekeeping and archiving it, and to Greg Burk for loving it enough to write about it.

Just over the weekend, we learned that Spot passed away. I had gotten back in touch with him briefly this last year, right after Thanksgiving, and we talked on the phone for a few hours. When I didn't hear back from him, after a few tries, I made the rounds and Dave told me Spot had suffered a stroke just before Christmas. I'm so very grateful I got that opportunity to talk with him. Throughout my music release this year, there were already going to be tracks that either Spot features on in some way (drums, banjo) or that he helped produce.

I originally wrote "Thinking of a Friend" (the song) about people falling out of our families and groups of friends back in the day, either to addiction or death. The whole album has that theme. Now, the album is dedicated to Spot, as without him much of it wouldn't exist. Now he is the "friend" I'm thinking of the most.

Album 1: "Those Quiet Nights" Out Now -
https://music.apple.com/us/album/thos...
https://open.spotify.com/album/6BOkgc...

https://www.colleenofficialmusic.com
https://www.instagram.com/colleenoffi...
www.reddit.com/r/colleenofficialmusic