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“Operator, please connect me with 1982.”

That’s the opening line to a great old country song by Randy Travis.  It’s fitting.  Not too long ago, while having beers with my brother like pal Marko Vasko we got to talking about all the things we saw happen in 1982. Some of our milestones from that year matched up identically and others were of our own individual experiences.  1982 was FORTY years ago, and yet some of what went down seems like it happened just yesterday.

1982 is the year that brought us landmark movies like “E.T.”, the gender bending “Tootsie” and the teen horn-dog romp “Porky’s.”  This was also the year when the mysterious Tylenol murders were happening as random bottles of the pain reliever were laced with poison that killed several innocent people.  That still unsolved case led to safer ways to package not only over the counter medicines but thousands of food products as well.

Here are some of what was going on in my life from that year. The summer of 1982 is when a former high school classmate of mine, Lori Borowski was kidnapped as she tried to open the local real estate office where she worked.  Missing for several months, Lori’s body was eventually found.  Her twisted killers did some kind of satanic mutilation of her and they were all caught and brought to proper justice.  While I did not personally know Lori Borowski, I knew others who did and seeing a contemporary of ours murdered shook me to the core.

In more cheerful happenings, 1982 was the very first time I ever visited Poplar Creek Music Theater as me and Dave Potter enjoyed pavilion seats and rocked out to an Elton John concert with opening act Quarterflash. (Remember them?)  The Clash’s popular “Combat Rock” album hit stores that summer and me and several pals went to see the band play an incredibly intense concert at the Aragon Ballroom.  Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and company blew the roof off the joint that hot August night!

The Who brought us the “It’s Hard” album along with their first ever “farewell tour.” I was lucky enough to catch their three shows that fall at the Rosemont Horizon.  The last one happening near the tour’s end in December which was the best of the trio of gigs.

1982 also saw the release of REM’s debut record, a great EP titled “Chronic Town” which began my love for that band.  And I can’t forget Bruce Springsteen’s stark “Nebraska” record which remains my favorite Bruce album.  I love it because its raw, bare bones recording was as close as I’ll ever get to having Springsteen play a solo show in my living room.  The songs on “Nebraska” are dark but they tell true to life stories.

Earlier in 1982, I enjoyed a Spring Break trip to Daytona Beach with college classmates.  That wild party week saw me and some others run afoul of the law on a misdemeanor drinking on the beach issue.  The judge withheld adjudication of that charge which kept my criminal record clean.  That was also the week I first got to know a woman in the Biblical sense.  A lovely 30 something bartender named ‘Candy.’  My experience with Candy is best summed up by the 1986 BoDeans song “That’s All.”

In late June of 1982 my sister Marianne married her first husband Gary O’Brien.  Sadly, less than two years later Gary would succumb to a recurrence of cancer. This tragedy left my only sibling a widow at age 26.

In January of 1982 we adopted a rescue dog named Molly.  Molly was a dynamic Boston Terrier and helped cement the idea that Bostons are the best pure breed of dogs ever!  September of that year is when my dear pure white kitty Miss Priss died of old age. Not long after that, our house was recharged with a schnoodle puppy named Minnie who was the sweetest pooch we ever had.

That fall while attending Elmhurst College and thriving on the air at the school’s radio station WRSE, I began a side gig of D.J.-ing on campus weekend dances in the campus cafeteria.  Many of these were for the school fraternities and sororities. My rate of pay was 25 dollars cash for 3 hours of being the record spinning life of the party.  I also recall a couple of romantic hook-ups happening for me at those gigs and a year later my pal Jim Turano would join me for several years of doing dances all over the western suburbs.

Thanks to the urging of my high school friend Rob Dicker, I began writing a weekly local music column for Press Publications.  Rob was a photographer for that newspaper chain and he suggested the idea to his editor, who asked me for a sample writing and boom!  I was a local music columnist for the next three years before passing that writer’s pen on to Jim Turano.

Finally, I can’t let 1982’s happenings go without recalling the most significant occurrence I had that year.  It was meeting and being carefully mentored by Lee Swanson.  Lee was a former record store, rock club owner and rock band manager who was the western suburbs’ best known music and media mogul.  Lee was Yoda to my Luke Skywalker and over the next 12 years he taught me more than I could ever write down on a list.  To put it bluntly, without Lee’s tutelage, I NEVER would’ve landed at WLS am 89 as Larry Lujack’s producer at the age of 24.  Lee has been gone for 28 years now and he remains someone I’ll never forget and will always be grateful for his knowledge, guidance, kindness and friendship.  

There you have it.  1982 was an action and event packed year filled with some vital highs and a few lows.  

Forty years ago and I loved every minute of it…

A month ago, I attended a memorial for Barry, a friend I knew through my closest pal Bobbo. Barry and Bobbo became close when they were on the same bicycle racing team for years. The memorial was held at a craft brewery as one of Barry’s passions was sampling various specialty beers whenever possible.  The first time I met Barry was many years ago on a car ride up to Summerfest in Milwaukee.  He and I just clicked talking about music, movies, sports and more.  Bobbo’s wife Tammi was with us and commented how quickly and easily we bonded.  

Barry had a fatal heart attack while out on a bike ride.  Some might say he died doing what he loved but being just a couple years older than me, his leaving this world was way too early.  It really didn’t matter what Barry was doing when he was stricken, leaving behind a wife and two teenage daughters just ain’t right.

So fast forward to the last week.  Meeting up with three different sets of friends, I learned of the deaths of five other contemporaries.  Two of those deaths occurred a couple years ago and I was just learning of the news now. These were guys who I knew well back in grade school and high school.  I played sports with a couple of them and knew the others from being in classes together.  I hadn’t talked to any of them in years but had fond memories of the times we spent together.

As sad as their passings were and are, two of them I learned died due to long battles with alcoholism.   I’ve known other classmates who succumbed the same way but it’s still a shock to learn how an addiction can grab someone so hard that they can’t break free and it becomes their cause of death.

I’m at the age (61) where passings of my former classmates are becoming more common.  I remember my 40^th high school reunion three years ago.  They held a memorial role call of those in the York class of 1979 who were no longer living.  Some of the names read stunned the hundreds in attendance.  I heard many audible gasps and there were tears streaming down some faces. 

I often quote a line the late great Harry Caray used to say when he’d talk about the passing of some notable at a younger age.  Harry would comment, “Live now, it’s later than you think.”  True enough.

So where does this leave me?  This summer I had a good report back on my annual physical. Some weight was lost (plenty more to go there) and all blood panels, heart rate and blood pressure, etc. are all good.  I can thank my good parental and grandparental genes for much of that. 

But like anyone else, I could go at any time.  Stroke, heart attack, aneurism, car crash, shooting, freak accident, etc.  Anything can happen to any of us at any time.  So, I keep learning to appreciate every day above ground that much more.  Heck, Barry’s passing shook my dear pal Marko so much that he’s altering his retirement plans so that he can enjoy more of the life he has left. 

I’m so sorry to learn of those guys I knew way back when who are no longer living.  It’s sobering news and makes me think of the words spoken by Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption.  “Get busy living or get busy dying.  That’s Goddamn right.”  Duly noted.

I’ll close off this post with a song from Clint Black. He wrote and recorded it almost 30 years ago and it’s as true now as it was back then.

NEXT BLOG- Remembering a busy 1982.

Recently I did some binge watching of TV shows, a couple of docuseries and caught some new movies on demand.  I also took time to re-watch a film I hadn’t seen since it came out in the summer of 2002.   I’m talking about the coming of age movie “Tadpole.”  This was a very low budget, off the beaten path feature and that was in spite of it co-starring  known names like Sigourney Weaver, Bebe Neuwirth, John Ritter and newcomer Aaron Stanford in the title role.

How low budget was “Tadpole”?  According to Wikipedia, the whole tab to make this 78 minute movie was only 150,000 dollars!  The payback was the movie earned over three million dollars.

“Tadpole” covers the Thanksgiving weekend adventures of fifteen-year-old Oscar Grubman (played by Stanford).  Oscar is home from prep school and has the hots (in a respectful manner) for Eve, his step-mother. (Weaver) He admits this to his prep school buddy Charlie (Robert Iler from ‘The Sopranos) who awkwardly tries to help his friend. 

Oscar is book smart but not in an obnoxious way and speaks fluent French as his birth mother is French.  This character puts on the demeanor of a kid much older than his teen years but his four days home in New York City reveals he still has plenty to learn.

Oscar’s father (John Ritter) is a writer of deep think books who appears to be clueless in connecting both with his son’s maturation into manhood and his wife’s seeming lack of interest in anything but her work in a medical lab.  Bebe Neuwirth plays just turned forty Diane, Eve’s best friend, who admits that turning forty leaves her tired yet she finds time to play and be playful.

Sharing any more plot of such a short film, would be unforgiveable.  “Tadpole” is subtly clever, funny and touching.  I think it resonated with me because like Oscar Grubman, I’ve always had an appreciation for women older than me.  It was more than a sexual thing, just as it is with the fifteen year old ‘Tadpole’. From my teens til my mid-twenties I figured women in their thirties and forties had more wisdom and knew more of who they were than the girls my age.  

“Tadpole” features insightful quotes from Voltaire that are interspersed at just the right times in the movie.   The use of the wistful Simon and Garfunkel song “The Only Living Boy in New York” which is ably covered by the group Everything but the Girl” was also appreciated.

“Tadpole” is a fun to watch small movie.  While not a new version of “The Graduate” (Oscar is still in high school) it’s more than worth your click in on demand and the four dollars it will cost you. You’re welcome!

“I turned on the radio and a voice came over sweet and low and I didn’t know the tears were gonna start, what amazed me even more is I’d never heard that song before but somehow I knew each word by heart.”    (“Three Chords and the Truth”- Sara Evans

This music memory I have isn’t about those lyrics but for a different tune.  But the circumstances of me driving and hearing an unfamiliar song and how it impacted me, mirror exactly what Sara Evans wrote. 

In the early spring of ‘87 I began my first serious adult relationship.  Her name was Holly and for ten months we had something very special going on.  Then there was a break-up over trust issues we both had. 

For the next year Holly and I were off and on.  We’d get back together for short spurts then split off again.  Holly was more experienced in relationships than I and not to start a pity party for me but she treated our split up as ‘just another thing that happens, no big deal.’ She was pretty casual about the whole deal.

I remember my parents asking if she broke my heart and my answer was, if not broken, certainly seriously injured.  Still, I felt there was a chance for us to have a ‘happily ever after’ ending.  Maybe things could work out, maybe. 

Then over time I realized this wasn’t going to happen.  Holly and I were through and I was looking back at the relationship with loads of regret and hardboiled bitterness.  I also had zero interest in moving on and dating other women.  To quote J.Geils, “Love Stinks.”

So then in late June of 1989 I was still carrying these sour feelings until one night when I turned on my car radio.  Returning home from a WCKG radio station movie screening for “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” I dialed into the national radio show “Rockline.”  This weekly music program featured well known acts who would be interviewed live and share new music they were releasing.

The “Rockline” guest that night was former Eagle Don Henley and he was talking up his new album “The End of the Innocence.”  The title track sounded like a surefire hit but it was another song that really got to me.

It was a cut titled “The Heart of the Matter”, a song that covers the subterfuge of a broken relationship and the moving on that both parties resolve to do.  The chorus roped me in and changed my emotional direction for good:

“I’m trying to get down to the heart of the matter but my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter but I think it’s about forgiveness, forgiveness, even if, even if you don’t love me anymore.”  

Wow!  Hearing these words for the first time over my Toyota Celica car radio was a freaking epiphany.   Then things got even better with these lines-

“There are people in your life who’ve come and gone, they let you down, you know they hurt your pride. You better put it all behind you, baby, ’cause life goes on. You keep carrying that anger, it’ll eat you up inside.”

It was as if Don Henley & co-writers Mike Campbell and the great JD Souther were tuned into my head. With this five minute song they cleared up my issues.  It was like a baptism.  The regret over my relationship with Holly instantly disappeared.  So did the bitterness, the anger and the hurt. They were washed away and replaced with the wisdom of moving on and to stop allowing myself to be ‘eaten up inside.’  What a relief this was.  I found what I was looking for, simple and sane closure to a love that was over.

I’ve been to several Don Henley solo concerts and when introducing “The Heart of the Matter” he tells the crowd, “This song took 42 years to write and about 5 minutes to sing.” Songsters write what they know. Henley, like all of us, had been through these kinds of downs in relationships yet he found redemption.  And he helped me find that redemption and reckoning. 

Anytime that old song is played, I think back to that car ride in 1989 when I first heard those lyrics.  My guess is this track is one Don Henley probably gets the most thanks from his fans. I’d like to meet him some day to ask that very question, and also to thank him for reaching me that night and every time since then when I hear “The Heart of the Matter.”

NEXT BLOG: A small movie recommendation.

“…then softer than a piper man one day it called to you, I lost you, I lost you to the summer wind.”

Plenty to look back on in the summer of ’22…

As promised back in June, here is a rundown of my 6 ½ week summer break from teaching.

A FEW SMALL REPAIRS-

My handyman (Bill Kaliebe) put new window shades in my bedroom, fixed a kitchen light switch, secured a downspout by the back porch and re-set the power in my garage.

Had my friend Mark Peters install a new bathroom vanity.  (Looks great!)

I water sealed my front and back porch steps.

The Helping Hands Maid Service did a fantastic job giving my house a major cleaning.

My landscaping service (Macias Bros.) kept up the yard nicely all summer and will continue into the fall.  I’ll for sure book them for next year’s work.

Luis, my computer guy cleaned out and updated my home PC.  Great job as always!

I got a couple of minor car fix-ups done by Jeff Durante and the great mechanics at JMS Auto.

Had to get 5 cavities filled in my pie hole.  (This after not seeing a dentist for 11 years) Lesson learned: From now on, go for dental check-ups every 6 months!

My cell phone was stolen (don’t leave it unattended in an unlocked car, dummy) and got set up with a new phone, new number and new account.

Received 3 checks from the IRS that reimbursed me for past years of teacher supplies purchases.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

I saw and enjoyed these movies: “Elvis”, “Top Gun 2: Maverick” and “Where the Crawdads Sing.”  Also realized the York Theatre popcorn is the best tasting of the suburban cinemas.  It’s not even close.

Netflix had some great offerings- “Not Just a Girl”, the Shania Twain documentary was well done. Ditto for “It Ain’t for the Weak” which is a stand-up special by David A. Arnold, and the three-part documentary titled “The Most Hated Man on the Internet” was fascinating stuff.

I watched loads of White Sox and Cub games and kept scorecards at home for about 10 games.

Guested twice with Jim Turano when he filled in for Dean Richards’ Sunday show on WGN AM.  We talked about a wide variety of pop culture happenings.

Al Flash and I had two of our music videos played on the WGN Morning News TV show. “Taste of Chicago” was a rerun and then we did “Beer Snake Boogie” which covered the drunkenness some Cub fans enjoy in the Wrigley Field bleachers. 

With Morning News co-host Robin Baumgarten getting engaged, we’ve produced a fun music video for her. However, while me and Al know who Robin’s ’Mr. X’ is, most everyone else does not.  This means we have to wait until Robin reveals the name of her fiancée before I can send in the tune.  Robin knows what we’re up to and is thrilled that a special tune for her is ready to go.

THIS AND THAT

My cat Trouble celebrated his 17^th birthday and got more Facebook greetings than I get for MY birthday!  For his big day Trouble got a turkey burger for breakfast, chicken for lunch and cooked salmon for dinner.  (I really got into eating salmon and tilapia at home this summer and now like it more than red meat)

Attended an Elmhurst Park District board meeting along with many fellow East End Pool regulars to voice our concerns in changes in adult swim policies at the pool.  (Hopefully some adjustments will be made in the 2023 swim season)

Of course, I spent countless hours at East End with my ‘summer family.’  I swam miles of laps and loved every one of them. All that time at the pool got me my usual dark tan with no burning or peeled skin as I went through 2 tubes of Banana Boat SPF 30 Sunscreen. (I’m on my third tube as we wrap up the swim season on Labor Day)

One non-accomplishment- I failed to do the creative writing I planned and the final edit of my radio memoir continues to languish.  This is one goal I expect to work on in the Fall and Winter.

So that pretty much covers my time off.

In the summer of 2021, I did much less and graded that time off as a ‘C-.’  This summer would be graded as a ‘B.’  We’ll aim for an ‘A’ next summer.

My summer vacation is officially here.  Whew!   It was a long and difficult school year.  COVID and mask issues, adjustments to a new class of students who I had to get to know, being short staffed, new employees learning how our school program works and the tragic passing of a beloved behavior staffer made it a rough ride. 

But we survived the ride and so did the kids. 

IT WAS A CHALLENGING SCHOOL YEAR BUT WE MADE IT THROUGH.

Still, there were bright spots during the past 10 months. Six of my students graduated high school and another transitioned back to their home school.  Several passed their Driver’s Ed curriculum and three more kids found and flourished in gainful employment. 

I learned better skills in classroom management and how to help our students find their way through school and prepare for the ‘real world.’  Any teacher who says they have nothing new to learn about their profession is either lying or clueless.

This past weekend I partied it up a bit to celebrate the care free days of summer.  Daily swims at East End Pool are tops on my list.  As I noted in my last blog, it’s great to see my “summer family” again at the pool and my tan is already bronzing up.  Nothing better than the mixed fragrance of chlorine and sunscreen at the pool.  Woo Hoo!

As for my summer apparel, gone are the long black slacks, polo shirts, socks and shoes; replaced by gym shorts, swim shorts, T-shirts, no socks and either flip flops or well worn gym shoes, and walking around the house shirtless most of the time, thank you.

MY SUMMER TAN IS JUST STARTING.

Around the house, there’s improvements to do.  Yard work, patching cracks in my driveway, cleaning up inside and a few repairs that are being delegated to professionals are some of what will happen. 

I’ve got friends to see, baseball games to watch (and yes, I’ll nerd up and keep a scorecard for a bunch of them) and there are writings to work on. 

Beyond those things, who knows what else will happen?  I think the best part of my six-week plus vacation is that I can do what I want, when I want.  No set schedules, no deadlines to hit, no reports to file.  Just a free life. And not to bemoan how the school year went but this break is well earned and well deserved!

Here’s a fitting song to kick off my summer break.  Cheers!

FYI- I’ll be back to blogging sometime in August to let you know how my summer was.

Summer buzz haircut?  Check.  New brown lens polarized sunglasses from Shady Rays? Check.   Large tube of Banana Boat 30 SPF sunscreen?  Check.  Two pairs of swim shorts 1 navy blue, 1 gray? Check.  Annual Elmhurst Park District pool pass updated? Check.  In other words, swim season at East End Pool is totally on and we’re back in the water!

Last year, thanks to the Pandemic, the pool’s season didn’t kick off until mid-June but this year East End opened on time for the Memorial Day weekend.  Elmhurst’s other swim facility, Smalley Pool opened a couple weeks later than expected due to a lifeguard shortage that has since been mitigated.  I just saw how that lifeguard shortage is delaying the opening of Chicago Park District pools until probably early July!  This in spite of offering lifeguards 600 dollar signing bonuses.  Yikes!

But forget all that.  I’ve been back in the water for the last couple of weekends and it feels great.  I really missed my time at East End and appreciate every single minute I can spend there.  It’s also been fun catching up with some of what I call my “Summer Family”, pals who are daily regulars at the pool like me.  There are just a few folks I haven’t run into in the water yet because I still have one more week of summer school to go. 

After June 24^th, I’m all in the pool as many days as the place is open; doing my laps (starting with 20 and adding 1 more lap each day) and talking to my pool pals about sports, movies, music and our daily goings on.  Sadly, we did learn of the passing of ‘Don’, an East End regular who succumbed to a brain aneurism this past winter.  Don, in his tattered red baseball cap was always up for some baseball talk and loved spending time away from the pool with his grandkids.  Rest in peace Don, you’re already missed by us daily swimmers.

There’s also been some schedule changes at East End, including the elimination of the one hour adult swim before younger swimmers can hit the pool.  They switched that out with an opening hour of time in the water just for those with seasonal passes.  This new deal isn’t going over too well with some folks and I understand their frustrations.  Maybe if we make enough noise to the Elmhurst Park District things can change for next year.

But right now, changes be damned, it’s water time.  Once my summer break starts, I just want to focus on the sun, splash and laughs had with that summer family.  So, here’s to warm weather, blue skies and all the fun hanging at my hometown pool brings. 

Next Week’s Blog: Summer Break is Finally Here!

Naomi Judd’s death over the weekend has left my head and heart spinning.  As daughters Wynonna and Ashley so bravely noted in their public statement, “We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness.”   Yes, this mean Naomi Judd took her own life. 

Right away I thought back to a few weeks earlier when I posted a comment on my Facebook Page about the unusual hairstyle Naomi sported at the CMT Awards.  I said it looked like she was wearing a giant ice cream cone on her head.  Yeah, not the worst thing to say about someone’s style but not the nicest either. 

I know I wasn’t the only idiot making a comment on Naomi’s hair from that night but that doesn’t make me feel any better.   A Facebook friend messaged me and wondered if comments like mine, his and others had anything to do with Mama Judd’s suicide.  I don’t know.  Who’s to say what pushes someone to an unthinkable edge to end their own life?  But I feel bad about what I posted.

Naomi Judd was very open about her lifelong struggles with depression and wrote a book about how she overcame suicidal plans and ideation.  I have no doubt her openness helped countless others seek help for their own emotional issues.  Yet, in the end, Naomi’s depression demons got the best of her.  That sucks so bad.

What’s so strange is the day after her passing Naomi and daughter Wynonna were scheduled to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  The Judds also had a short final 10 date tour of concerts scheduled for later this year.  Things sure seemed to be on the upswing for Naomi and yet, she still ended her life leaving her daughters, other family members and millions of fans heartbroken and scrambling for answers.   The lesson learned here is no matter how things look to the naked eye, what’s in the heart, soul and mind can be totally different and not understood.

Back in my US*99 radio days. I had the pleasure of meeting Naomi and Wynonna Judd a few times.  Naomi was always the brightest star in the room.  She glowed with warmth, great humor, charm and colorful beauty.  When I asked her to autograph her autobiography for my mother Dorie, Naomi signed it, “Love to Dorie” then her name.   It’s hard for us to fathom how that kind of a brightness can be shut down by depression but it happens.  So sad for all concerned.

I won’t take down that stupid hair comment on my Facebook page. Can’t be a hypocrite and pretend I didn’t write those lines.  I said what I said and whether words like that affected Naomi Judd or not, I have to own up to being snarky with my thoughts.   It’s a reminder to me and maybe to others to think better thoughts of others whenever possible.

So long Mama Judd.  You’ll never be forgotten. 

Love to Naomi.

“Are you gonna kiss me or not?  Are we gonna do this or what?  (Thompson Square)

Once upon a time on my Facebook page I posted the question “Who gives you or gave you the best kiss ever?”  Some talked up their spouses, some recalled first kiss experiences and other encounters as well.  I noted my “Greatest kiss” happened when I was 22 and that’s all I said.  Oh, what the hell, I’ll share a little more on that happening.

This was back when I was on the air at Elmhurst College’s radio station, WRSE, 88.7 on your FM dial where I had a number of faithful listeners.  So, while emceeing a local band’s concert, I met radio fan Vicky.  She was a couple years younger than I and we did the requisite “I love your show”, “Well thanks for listening Vicky” type of chat.  As we talked about music, I took the opportunity to invite her to an upcoming Genesis concert that I had tickets for and she accepted.

The show was a good one and we had fun that night. Yet when I drove her home, I didn’t attempt a good night kiss.  More often than not I would go for the night ending lip lock but this situation didn’t feel right, not yet at least. 

Fast forward a couple of Saturday nights. I was hosting my six to 9 pm show.  Vicky called me on the request line.  She invited me to her house for a small party she was having with friends and her older sister while their parents were out of town.  Why not?  Right?  After getting off the air I came over. We had a few beers and watched some concert on M-TV.  It was just a nice easy time with some fellow music fans, no big deal.

After the TV concert, it was late and I was getting ready to put on my coat and leave.  It was just Vicky, her older sister and me talking in the kitchen.  Then I politely asked her sister if I could have a couple minutes alone with Vicky. Thankfully, big sis quickly obliged and now I was full on ready for a move.  By the way, the ‘couple minutes alone’ request is not an easy play to make!  It’s like doing the 7-10 split in bowling or trying an onside kick in football and the kicking team recovering the ball.  But I made this play flawlessly.

I walked closer to this lovely blonde thanking her for inviting me over as I reached to hold her hand.  Vicky was fine with my gesture but noted she wasn’t sure I was romantically interested in her since I didn’t go for a kiss after the Genesis concert.  I made some lame ‘Oh, I didn’t want to rush up on things’ excuse and she smiled.  With that I went all in to kiss her.  

And she was all in too.

Whoa! Wow!  And holy s***! That first smooch lasted about a minute and in my young love life I’d never been smacked like that.  Just the perfect touch, smell, taste, everything. Electric! To quote Prince in the song “Raspberry Beret”, “I could tell when she kissed me, she knew how to get her kicks.”  A snug embrace and a couple more, deep kisses followed and then it was time for me to go.  

I drove home that night thinking, “Man, that was special!” I mean my head was spinning and it wasn’t from having too many beers.

So, you’re probably wondering what became of that potential relationship.  Not much.   Why?  My fault.  There were a couple more times when Vicky called me asking to get together and I honestly had other plans going on and couldn’t make it to see her.  

After the second time turning this lady’s invite down, I felt like a schmuck and figured she’ll probably moved on and thinks I’m a knucklehead.  You can either fish or cut the line and I cut the line.

Still, ever since then, I’ve compared any romantic kiss with a woman to the ones Vicky gave me and not one has matched up.  There’ve been some close calls but still, not up to what she offered me.

I think my memory of those kitchen kisses could best be summed up by the re-working of the Crystals song “Then He Kissed Me” that Bruce Springsteen sometimes sings in concert.

“She kissed me in a way I’d never been kissed before, she kissed me in a way I want to be kissed forever more.” 

Here’s Springsteen singing “Then She Kissed Me.”

Next blog- Songs for Secretaries.

Surfing through YouTube the other day I came across an old song that brought a sly smile to my face.  It took me back to a specific memory.  The song was Sammy Johns’ 1975 top 5 hit “Chevy Van.” 

“Cuz like a princess she was laying there, moonlight dancing off her hair, she woke up and took me by the hand, she’s gonna love me in my Chevy van and that’s alright with me.”

In Chicago and the outlying suburbs, you could not tune into 890 AM WLS or AM 1000 WCFL without hearing this tale of a guy in a van who picks up a lady hitchhiker. They end up dancing the dirty hula in said van before he drops her off the next day for the walk of shame in bare feet on a dirt road main street. 

However, my memory is from two years AFTER this song was a radio hit.  I take you to a warm summer night at the Ski Hi Twin Drive-In Theater on Route 53 in Addison, Illinois.  I was with four high school buddies and we saw a double feature that night; I think the first flick was “Kentucky Fried Movie” and for sure the second was the low budget flick “The Van.”  It was about a dorky guy who cruised around in his new van trying in vain to score with women.  I won’t spoil any more of the plot in case you want to check out this cinematic classic.  The song “Chevy Van” was prominently featured in the movie and this was at the back end of the whole late 70’s ‘Get a customized van all tricked out’ craze.

At the drive-in, we were in Ed Bergstrasser’s parents’ AMC Pacer.  Remember those cars with the funny wide back end to them?  Ed and I were in the front seats, Jim Briegel and Will Costello in the back seat and Mark Fredriksen was in the hatch in the back.  Besides munching on popcorn, we had a decent load of beers in a cooler which we guzzled through the night.

After draining several Old Styles, Fredriksen had to take a pee and we wouldn’t let him out of the back hatch. He was stuck there and had to go.  Mark, ever the resourceful type, took one of the empty popcorn containers and gave it a good fill.  We thought he was bluffing, until the unmistakable sound of a urine stream filling up a popcorn tub was heard.  We laughed our asses off and then Ed let Mark out to dump the pee out on the gravel road.

Sometime before the end of “The Van,” I ended up sitting in the back hatch and that’s when the trouble started.  As the cars at the outdoor theater filed out at night’s end, Ed, hopefully less buzzed than the rest of us, made his way into the slow bumper to bumper traffic going south on Rt. 53 as we headed to North Avenue.

Thanks to the beers loosening my inhibitions, I thought with this wide back window, why not moon the car behind us?  Not that any of my pals discouraged me, just the opposite.  ‘Yeah, drop your shorts and show something.’  So, I did just that.

We laughed when the car I mooned honked their horn loudly as we all waited at a stoplight.  However, those happened to be honks of anger.  This became apparent when a very large and tough looking man in a black T-shirt and jeans came barreling out of his car to yell at us.  This offended dude actually looked like ‘Dugan’ who was the tough guy character in “The Van.”  The guy was pissed off because his girlfriend was with him and he didn’t appreciate me showing off my vertical smile to her. 

The guy pounded on the roof of Ed’s parent’s car and wanted us to get out so he could pound on us.  Our doors were locked and Ed tried to make like ‘Hey I didn’t tell him to moon you, be cool!’  But this guy was still ticked off; so ticked that he kneed the driver’s side door and put a dent in it!  Fortunately, the red light turned green and Ed was able to speed off from our mad as hell antagonist.  Luckily this door pounding man didn’t follow after us and we were home free.

 We wondered how Ed was going to explain to his folks the dent in the driver’s side door but it turns out the dent just bounced out and wasn’t noticeable.  My buddies and I saw lots of movies at that Drive-in but never had quite that kind of adventure again.  The 53 Ski Hi Twin Drive-in has been gone for years, and I haven’t dropped my pants for strangers in a long time. 

Now let’s take another spin in a “Chevy Van.”  Country star Sammy Kershaw did a good cover of the song, but thanks to this musical memory, we need to hear the original.

NEXT BLOG- My Best Kiss Ever.