Long, long time ago, I can still remember a Don McLean concert I attended come 25 or so years ago. It was a quite enjoyable evening, just Don and his guitar playing many of his wonderful songs, and almost bringing me to tears with "Vincent (Starry Starry Night)".

To my delight, he did not play "American Pie" during his regular set, and I hoped against hope that he would not. I always hated that idiotic song, with its cryptic lyrics and stupid rhymes. But what annoys me the most is his claim that February 3, 1959, was "The Day The Music Died".

                                                                                With no disrespect to the deceased, and the tragic circumstances of their deaths, what was the loss to the music world? Buddy Holly was a pretty good songwriter, but had he lived, I'm afraid he would have been consigned to nostalgia shows in Atlantic City and elsewhere with the likes of Dion and Jay & The Americans. The other two would have been subjects of "Where are they now?" specials on VH1.

                                                                                Lest we forget, The Day The Music Died was followed by an explosive revolution in popular music, with Elvis, the Beatles and the British invasion, Motown, the Laurel Canyon sound of Buffalo Springfield and CSNY, the Haight Ashbury sound of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, and also, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and many others.

                                                                                While the crowd at the Don McLean concert was screaming for "American Pie", I was begging him, "Please Don, don't do it! Don't ruin this concert!" He came back, caved, played the offending song as if he were phoning it in, then ended the show.

                                                                                So, let's get real - would anybody care about 2/3/1959 if there had been no "American Pie"? I don't think so. The Righteous Brothers don't even mention these three in their classic "Rock and Roll Heaven".

                                                                                "The Day The Music Died"? I don't think so.