To the Farm and Back Again!

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By Paul Dugan, Groovy Reflections Team Member

It was a hot August and I was in my off campus apartment awaiting start of college classes. I’d returned to school early because of being on a couple of athletic teams that started practices prior to the start of school. Okay, mostly to get out of the house where my parents didn't seem to understand that I wasn't a kid anymore; that I was a man with a whole year of college experience under my belt, that whole “while you’re living under my roof” thing, just didn't cut it!

Since my two roommates hadn’t arrived back to school in western Massachusetts yet I had the place to myself. I could play my guitar without them complaining after the 200th time I played “Sounds of Silence”! I was into the whole folk rock scene, a natural progression from my days as a folkie!

That’s exactly what I was doing, sitting on my bookshelf, strumming my guitar and sipping from an illegally obtained bottle of vodka, when a friend from the cross country team named Phil, suddenly burst into the apartment!  “Quick!” he said; “They’re having a big rock concert over in New York and they’re letting people in for free!”

Now one would assume that I jumped at that, but I didn’t know that history was being made! I wasn’t into the heavier rock from people like Hendrix and Iron Butterfly. I DO have a much greater appreciation now than I did then. So I said “No thanks”.

Phil looked at me like I had two heads! “Don’t you understand?” he pleaded. “It’s gonna be great! They have all these acts lined up, it’s a three day event; it’s gonna be awesome! “No thanks” I said, wishing he’d leave so I could play Sounds of Silence for the 300th time! “The drinking age in New York is 18”, Phil said in desperation. “Well now you’re talking! Let’s go”! And with that I was out the door and into a van with six other guys I barely knew!

When we crossed into NY we stopped and got beer, I remember thinking, this stuff’s gonna be heavy to carry, so I started trying to lighten the load. When we got there, we pretty much all just separated, and I started wandering around. A group of people included a blonde with long straight hair (okay that just described every blonde there), and she said “hey man, want to join us”? She didn’t have to ask me twice!

I sat down and shared my beer and they shared their food and a funny looking cigarette, which since I didn’t smoke, I politely declined, at least the first time, and to this day I’m not sure if I partook later or not, but shortly after that things are a blur, but I do have some specific memories.

Of the groups I heard, the one I remember most was Sha Na Na! Not sure why they stand out. I remember doing the Fish Cheer when they did that, of course there was a half a million people doing it at the same time; so not even sure if they were on stage or not. I remember bits and pieces of other performers like Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane, Sly and his Family, CCR and of course I tried to get closer when someone said Arlo and Tim Hardin were on stage, (folkie, remember?).

There was something in the air, besides the blue haze: All around me was basic chaos yet it was somehow peaceful. I don’t remember sleeping, I do remember the rain and the mud, but most of all I remember the sharing, and the feeling of belonging like I’d never felt before. The music was like back ground music. It’s why we were there. We listened and we cared.  It was something I had never experienced before and probably never will again.


I don’t recall the trip back to school or how I even found my friends again. There have been many attempts to recreate that weekend, but it’ll never happen, there was something magical and in the words of Joni Mitchell, I am grateful, that for a little while, I made it “Back to the Garden”.


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Eddie and the Radio Skaters

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By Joe Haller, Groovy Reflections Team Member

Remember the days before global warming? Long, long time ago, back in the 1960’s it would actually be cold in December. It seemed every second year even brought us a “White Christmas”. By the way, I grew up in Rockland County, NY, about 30 miles northwest of the big city. My parents were Rockland County natives, as were two other sets of parents in our neighborhood.

The rest of the neighborhood consisted of New York City cops. The moms were the kind of stay-at-home moms that sent us outside to play while they watched soap operas and/or “kawfee klatched”. I had one brother, Eddie. He passed away in 1976, but that’s not what this story is about. It’s about a time when we could go out all day and our parents didn’t have to worry about us. We respected each other’s parents because we knew if we didn’t, our own parents would kill us.

AM radio ruled in those days. Everybody had transistor radios, the ones that took the rectangular 9 volt batteries. You knew you had a good battery if it jolted your tongue before you put it in the radio…the battery, not your tongue. We had two great AM radio stations. 77WABC had a powerful signal and great DJ’s. 57WMCA had “The Good Guys” as DJ’s but a much weaker signal in the suburbs. There was fierce competition between the two stations over us baby boomers. 77-W-A-Beatle-C!!!, they would call themselves.

WMCA would get Beatle records from London before they were released in the USA and play them first. 77WABC would play songs AFTER they were proven sellers in NY area record stores. The exceptions were of course The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Herman’s Hermits and other major acts.

WMCA would take chances and play The Young Rascals, The Critters, The Turtles, or The Byrds before anybody ever heard of them. 77WABC had Cousin Brucie. WMCA had Harry Harrison, until he went to WABC in 1968. 77WABC had the great Dan Ingram. WMCA had Dandy Dan Daniel.

WMCA’s Good Guys “toured” together, wearing matching suits and haircuts like the early Beatles. You were REALLY cool if you managed to win one of their “Good Guy” sweatshirts. I never did. 77WABC lasted as a pop/rock music station from 1960 until 1982 while WMCA was only around from 1960 to 1970 as a music station.

So, WMCA was a bit hipper than 77WABC.

However, 77WABC did one thing that WMCA didn’t do. Beginning in 1964 they had a top 100 songs of the year list you could send away for. The last week of every year they would play only songs off that list in random order. That week was of course part of Christmas vacation as it was called back then.

The un-named pond behind Kreider’s house was always frozen. We would spend that week ice skating around with our transistor radios, trying to fill in the Top 100 list because we didn’t want to wait until mid-January for it to arrive in the mail. There was always one song that they didn’t seem to play, like #91 or #96 or one of those. If we finally heard it, there would be a huge celebration that we completed the list.

One other thing happened every year during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

The pond wouldn’t freeze over where the stream came in. You know how still waters run deep, and freeze? Well flowing waters don’t freeze unless it gets extremely cold. So there would be a half circle of open water at the mouth of the pond with thinner ice blending into thicker, safe ice.

My brother Eddie would always have to test the limits. Every year he would skate out closer and closer to the water. Every year he would break through the ice. Fortunately, the pond wasn’t deep and he always got out alive. My mother would threaten to kill him each time he walked home soaking wet and freezing cold, but she never did.

It’s my favorite memory of my brother Eddie….dripping wet, cold, and in trouble again! If I had the whole Top 100 it was a perfect day!!

The Day Color Television Came Into My Life

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By Pete Frecchio, Groovy Reflections Team Member

September 17, 1973. A very important day in my life. That’s when my family got our first color television set. No more watching favorite shows and cartoons in black and white!

Prior to this historic date, viewing of color TV programs was limited to what I saw at friend’s homes or catching a glimpse of my favorite shows when visiting relatives. And even then, I was never in control of the channel selector.

Most importantly, after years of living in a TV world void of the greenest greens and the goldest golds, I would finally get to watch my beloved Green Bay Packers in COLOR!  That evening, the Packers would be hosting Joe Namath with his kelly green and white clad New York Jets on Monday Night Football. It didn't get any better than this!

And, come Easter time, I would finally get to see CBS’s annual showing of Wizard of Oz in color! Having to watch the Munchkins in black and white had left my heart yearning for a world wrapped in the hues of a rainbow. Saturday mornings would never be the same; all of my favorite super heroes would now save the world in a bold dash of color. On weeknights, the Bunkers, Waltons and the Bradys would all look as groovy as my color filled world!

The school day could not go fast enough for me. I was bored silly listening to my teachers ramble on about history, algebra and science. By 5 o'clock a Zenith 19 inch color TV would find a loving home in my living room!

Sure enough, just after 5 o'clock, my mom pulled into the driveway. There in the back seat of our cherry red 1973 Dodge Charger SE was my new beloved color TV! It was like Santa Claus coming down the chimney and leaving the best present ever at my feet. In a matter of minutes the cable was clipped on to the back of the TV and a rainbow of colors appeared!

Unlike today's high definition flat screen multi-purpose TVs you didn't need to read much of the instruction manual to get the TV working. Of course, I double checked channel 11, where my beloved Packers would soon be playing, to make sure all was well.

Our new Zenith was a very heavy "portable" TV with a metal cabinet painted to look like simulated wood grain. It had a directional antenna mounted on the back, but since we had cable, that didn't matter. Being in a somewhat rural area, the UHF channel selector would not come into play either. Our city owned cable company offered 12 channels for four dollars a month, in today’s dollars that’s just shy of $21. The TV was set on a stand with wheels so the position could be changed to avoid the glare during bright, sunny days.

Hunter

I was so excited I barely ate any supper. Nervously, I sat through the local newscast and ABC World News, counting down the minutes until I would hear Howard, Dandy Don and Frank talking about my Packers. Finally the moment I had been waiting for was here; the only thing that would make this night any better was a Packer win.

Namath

It would be a battle between two quarterbacks who had played for the University of Alabama: Second year signal caller Scott Hunter against the legendary "Broadway Joe" Namath! Scott threw touchdown passes to Carroll Dale and Len Garrett and Chester Marcol booted three field goals as the Green Bay Packers defeated the mighty Joe Namath and his New York Jets 23 -7!

My life was now complete.

The next day at school, it was all I could talk about. My friends got tired of me going on and on about the "newest member" of my family, but I didn't care!
Many color television sets have come and gone from my home since that day, but I will never forget that  day in 1973 when the wonderful world of color TV came into my humble home in the tiny town of Norway, Michigan and changed the life of one young Packers fan forever.