You Ain't Just a Whistlin' Dixie

Oh, Randy. Lainee's first boyfriend was sooo cool. Blond mullet. Maroon jeans. And a 1970's Chevy Monte Carlo.

To 8-year-old, brother-less me, having a dude hanging around the house was the best thing I could have ever imagined. Randy would wrestle with me and go to my baseball games. I loved it. And because Lainee was the first dater in the family, my parents were more than happy to let me tag along with them (Lainee was not so happy).

More than just the memories, Randy left behind The Bellamy Brothers. Every time we were in the Monte Carlo, Randy would blast his Bellamy Brothers Greatest Hits 8-track and sing along to "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me?), "Redneck Girl," and "Old Hippie."

Listen to a bunch of tunes here.

To this day, that greatest hits album is the only country entry in my entire collection. So of course I jumped at the chance to interview Howard Bellamy for IN. (I'm sure my editor thought I was crazy when I volunteered to take it. )

He was a totally cool old dude. He talked about living on the same farm where he grew up and still having his 85-year-old mom still sign their performance contracts because it's always been "a family business."

Here's the article in its entirety. This one goes out to Randy.