VISTALITES: I'M "MISSING YOU!"

Way back when I was a junior in high school, I performed at the annual "beauty contest" with my older brother; Cynthia Durham, who was the best singer in the tenth grade; and the most awesome chick who ever lived and played bass guitar, Sally Dubose.  I could say many things about my good friend Sally, most importantly that she was a huge Rush fan, but she passed away when she was much too young and beautiful, and that thought makes me quite weepy.

Anyway, back in those "pre-Fortress" days I was playing a see-through Ludwig Vistalite five-piece with a few Zildjian cymbals.  The funny thing is, I absolutely hated this drumset, mainly because it was relatively impossible to add on additional pieces (other than roto-toms and a second bass drum I miraculously located), and simply because it wasn't a brand-new Tama.

The set had a 22" bass drum, 12 and 13" rack toms, and an 18" floor tom.  It also came complete with a clear Vistalite snare, which is very rare.  The second bass drum I added was a big 24" cannon that sounded great, but I never liked the fact that it did not match perfectly in size with my other kick.  I wasn't interested in being unique or creative in those days, I wanted a cherry-red, double-bass Tama kit like Neil Peart.  What can I say?

I couldn't wait to get rid of this kit, finally selling it to another kid at school and using the money towards the Tama set that eventually became The Fortress.  Now I look back and realize what an incredibly valuable vintage Ludwig drumset I had on my hands, the likes of which sell for top dollar on eBay.  My set was nice and clean, too, with relatively no nicks or scratches!  I could probably get over a thousand dollars for it now!  (But if I still had it I would never sell it!)

Without further boring and unnecessary backstory, here is a brief video clip of our performance at the beauty pageant, offering a pretty good view of this old kit of mine, which I miss dearly.  I regret that I have no old photographs of this kit, so this is the only evidence I still have that it ever existed.