We left off with my new found passion for The Beatles after Dad had generously purchased 2 albums for me - the double compilation record "Rock n' Roll Music" and "The Beatles - Live At The Hollywood Bowl" on cassette. It was at this time I think I became more aware of music as something that was bigger than me, bigger than my circle of friends, maybe even bigger than all of us. However I was still only in the 3rd grade. I discovered the Beach Boys thanks to my older cousin's visits - they would come and raid my Dad's record collection and play "The Spirit Of America" album over and over again. My father's record collection was varied but did not stray to far from the norm, although the Ventures 1969 album "Underground Fire" was a big hit with me since they covered Arthur Brown's "Fire" - my sister and I would play the beginning of that song and scare the crap out of ourselves.
Here's a version by the crazy Arthur Brown
So being a kid in extreme northern New Hampshire is not without it's trial and tribulations, especially when it comes to music. I was to young too go to the bar to see bands play, there was very little culture that far north, and the "local" radio was abysmal. By local I mean there was not a radio station for miles around. With the exception of SHOM FM out of Montreal which we could sort of get on a clear night and WTOS out of Skowhegan, Maine which, again had spotty reception due to mountains getting in the way, the local radio stations consisted of pop country (WOKQ), easy listening (WEZF - can't spell easy without EZ) and WHOM that played actual elevator music. Really. Re-recorded songs without lyrics and and played very unobtrusively. Somehow I survived, fell into KISS, and started playing air guitar with a tennis racket.
Somewhere along the line I received The Beatles "Red" album (a collection of hits from 1962-66) and my brother got the "Blue" album (1967-1970). Despite my efforts I was a bigger fan of the earlier stuff at that time. It was, to my young ears, more accessible and easier to understand. The Red Album contained a lot of love songs and rockers... even "Nowhere Man" seemed less difficult to understand than some of the Blue album's songs. (I figured it all out when I was older.)
And yes I got into KISS big time. KISS was one of many bands influenced by The Beatles and like most kids the imagery appealed to me more than the music although I think "Destoyer" is probably their best album. My walls were covered in KISS posters and I walked home from a Halloween party in the dark (well over a mile) to watch "KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park". Awful. Terrible. But when it's 1978 and you're a 9 year old kid it was magical.
Here is the NBC trailer... you have been warned.
As I grew older I was listening to more and more music although to be honest I can't remember what it was - I'm sure it was a combination of pathetic radio, recommendations from friends, and whatever my Dad my bringing home from the store. Including disco. This was the late 1970's after all. Eventually all this listening of various music, however bland it may have been, is all leading up to 5th grade when I discovered that you could be in the school band. And that is where we pick up tomorrow...
