My preoccupation with Tommy Page started in 1989 when I was but two years short of transitioning from mommy's lil girl and daddy's favourite angel into a rebellious hormone-driven teenager. Of course, I've had my fair share of idol infatuations ranging from matinée idols to sports figures, but nothing beat my obsession with Tommy Page.
Tommy Page was, in my then young and naive mind, not just an idol but also a mentor, in a way. You see, I was sent for piano lessons at the age of six because Mom and Dad could no longer put up with my incessant banging on my toy piano. Classes were fun at first, but they soon came to a point where exams were second to none and pleasure playing was a thing of the past. In other words, piano playing became monotonous. Dealing with two piano exams in a year with a mere six-month gap wasn't easy. Then along came Tommy Page. And snap! he made learning piano a joyful experience once again. I remember how I used to train myself to play the entire version of A Friend To Rely On and his other songs simply by listening to the tracks! This guy wrote and sang darn good ballads. Plus he's super duper drop dead gorgeous!!!! Instant sizzle!
There's one poem which Tommy Page wrote in his fourth album that I live by. It gives me the strength to keep going when I feel like I've almost lost it all.
Much as I adored Tommy Page, I never had the chance to see him in person - up close and personal. I wasn't even close to seeing the strands of hair he left behind... hahaha! (just a figure of speech. Nothing perverted of that sort, please!) Sure he flew in here yearly for album promotions and frequented Kuala Lumpur and Penang. I was living in between these two cities in a small tranquil town of Taiping. I had so much wanted to go see him in person. Mom and Dad didn't share my teenage enthusiasm, unfortunately, while sis - well, sis seemed to think that I had gone cuckoo up in my head, though she now thinks I am level-headed!
There's one poem which Tommy Page wrote in his fourth album that I live by. It gives me the strength to keep going when I feel like I've almost lost it all.
Something turns to nothing
And nothing makes you cry
There was something in that something
It's gone and you wonder why
Life can't be lived on one thing
For that one thing could be that something
So wipe those tears of nothing
For tomorrow there will be something
- Tommy Page
To further laud his influence on me would be superfluous.
That's why I have made it an agenda in my life to one day be in New York City, and not forgetting to visit Minetta Lane - the place that gave Tommy Page the inspiration to write a song, and hopefully to be lucky enough to bump into him on the streets of Manhattan. He's the reason I am so in love with Manhattan and subsequently the United States of America! But what are the odds of that ever happening in a city - according to Wikipedia - with a population of 1,634,795 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles? It's almost like trying to look for a needle in the haystack! Nevertheless, this childhood dream of mine is waiting to manifest itself.
Tommy Page turns 40 today and is aging gracefully. However, I still miss the clean cut decent baby-faced New Jersey son I first got accustomed to 20 years ago. Even though he has long grown out of his boyish-ness, he still manages to mesmerise me and keep me tantalised two decades down the road. Foolish as it may sound to some, I have no qualms admitting my admiration for and infatuation with Tommy Page. After all, there's a child in all of us. At least when I look back on my life, I would be able to laugh at my idol mania and say "Been there, done that" every step of the way. There's just something mysteriously remarkable about Tommy Page that makes me drool and go all ga-ga. And I always have this nostalgic feeling each time I saunter down memory lane listening to his songs.
If Tommy Page were to do it all again, I would have done the same things I did growing up - only this time I would make sure I see him in the flesh by hook or by crook.
Until that day, in the words of Tommy Page, "I'll keep wishing and praying, waiting and waiting......."
