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Scruffy hair, denim and a whole lot of fast strumming made up my first attempted rise to stardom.

That was in 1986, when my band, the End, had a great shot at winning the Battle of the Bands competition in Lexington, Mass.

Hell, we practiced for months on our own catalog of songs, 16-year-old me singing and playing rhythm guitar, my best friend, Pedro, on bass and friends Steve on drums and Andy on lead guitar.

We even had groupies hanging out at our practices after school.

We had to win the contest and, well, after that it's just one more step to the big time, I thought.

But that was 20 years ago.

Feeling some bizarre, cheesy need for a stroll down amnesia lane, a few weeks ago I decided to revisit those dreams for my second attempted rise to stardom - with a plastic guitar and my PlayStation 2 console.

I bought a copy of "Guitar Hero II," which was this month released on the Xbox 360 - a console I'd love to have but am afraid to spend tons of money on.

With that and the original game, "Guitar Hero," I thought that I could quickly tear up the toy-like fretboard and show the younger set a thing or two about music.

Problem is, the rapidly paced button mashing needed to beat the game is harder than it looks.

But at least playing "Guitar Hero" is not as disastrous as my first run at stardom.

Back in 1986 everyone agreed the Battle of the Bands winner would be either the End or Pedro's other group, Lucky the Wonder Duck.

It was going to be a hell of a show, our groupies all said.

But then crunchtime came. A week before the event.

And two apparently "hot chicks" invited Andy to go to New Hampshire with them, alone, during the contest weekend.

In a decision I'm not sure to this day he regrets, Andy left us, soaking our rock 'n' roll dreams like matchstick guitars under a sweaty deluge of teenage hormones.

And it was, well, the end of the End.

Lucky the Wonder Duck won all the acclaim, with its own set of songs including the band's classic: "I Walk With Legs."

My gun-metal blue American-made Fender Stratocaster has been sitting in a corner of my house, mocking me, ever since.

But it's a new decade, and this time I have a plastic guitar-shaped video game controller.

Time to get those dreams back.

"Plastique," as I call her, has five buttons on her neck, and you must hit those buttons in the proper order, with the proper break-neck timing, to beat the game.

Rhythm guitar I can do. Crazy button combinations mimicking Eddie Van Halen leads, those are a bit harder.

But I'm giving it the old Lexington High School try - practicing with the understanding that Andy can't possibly screw me over this time.

At least, I don't think he can.

Shiver.

I'm also noticing that the game, which looks sort of comical, actually could be a good preliminary step to playing real guitar.

The concepts it teaches - like hammer-ons and pull-offs, vamps and crazy fingerings - are used on all guitars, not just plastic ones.

If a kid eventually wanted to learn guitar, this could be a nice first step.

It's also a fun, nonviolent offering for the younger set and those who just want to try something different.

It's cool to hear the songs when you hit all the right notes - many are hits from the '70s and '80s, back when my rock 'n' roll dreams were still alive.

If you miss the notes, however, you get the unruly "doink" noise of strings missing frets - which just ruins your ability to do windmills with your right arm while playing Cheap Trick's "Surrender."

But you can always try over.

The crowd doesn't mind.

And the band will always back you up - since your fellow members are actually computer-controlled avatars that live only to play with you.

If you get really good, you can even participate in Guitar Hero tournaments.

They're not uncommon in Albuquerque, what with local Guitar Hero ambassador Daniel Serna hanging around.

Serna, who is about to hit the ripe old age of 20, is in an MTV documentary about the game and went to New York last week for the Xbox 360 launch. He organizes tournaments here when he's not jet-setting about.

I'm not sure I'll ever be that good, but it doesn't matter.

I like the game fine as it is. It's a nice way to experience music and participate in your own small way.

And a way to enjoy what Serna tells me is "classic rock."

Come on - I can remember when "Surrender" came out!

At least I don't need Andy to play.

He can go off to New Hampshire all he wants.

Because I'm finally a one-woman rock star - even if it's just in my living room.