The Seventies Ghost

It's the stereotypical seventies house, built in 1970. Large, sprawling split entry in what was a suburb back then. Now, of course, it's mid city. Still has the harvest gold counter tops, the dark woodwork, seventies plumbing. And there's one other thing this house has:

A seventies ghost.

We've owned the house for 3 years now and have heard him from the start, definite and distinct footsteps through the house. My kids have big feet, he sounded just like them. He turns the radio on and off. He opens doors, and sometimes plays a single note on the piano. Finally, my wife sees him. A perfectly clear view of him. Medium height, stocky build, thick blonde hair that's seventies long. Tight white tennis shorts and nothing else. Oh yeah - he had big feet.

A seventies ghost. Why am I not surprised?

Alvis Edgar Owens Jr

The country music star known as Buck Owens died last week, at the age of 76.

Now many Products of the Seventies will be wondering why they should remember a country hayseed. Buck Owens was HUGE, and any POTS should recognize this.

First, as co-host of the hit show "Hee-Haw" he was one of the most recognized TV celebrities of our age. Everyone claimed not to watch Hee-Haw, but we all did. That's OK, you can admit it now. If you think you never watched, that's just your chemically induced memory loss kicking in.

Next, he was an important force in music. Not just country music, but rock & roll and popular music. He influenced countless of musicians of that era, and had a hit with the song "Act Naturally", that the Beatles also recorded.

"We played rhumbas and tangos and sambas, and we played Bob Wills music, lots of Bob Wills music," he said, referring to the bandleader who was the king of Western swing.

"And lots of rock 'n' roll," he added.

Owens started recording in the mid-1950s, but gained little success until 1963 with "Act Naturally," his first No. 1 single.

There's a giant doing cartwheels a statue wearin' high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola list'ning to Buck Owens.
Doo doo doo Lookin' out my back door.

The M-80

One of my best friends in high school drove a little Datsun. Back then, there were not that many Japanese cars. You'd see some German Opels, and a few British MGs and Triumphs, but very few Japanese cars. For small cars, Vegas and Pintos as far as the eye could see.

One night we were cruising in my buddie's Datsun and he had scored some M-80 firecrackers. Firecracker is misleading, these things were close to dynamite strength. You'd put one in a mailbox, and it would shred the box. And that's exactly what we were doing - putting them in mailboxes. I'm sure our experience was enhanced in some manner, they usually were. Schlitz, Bud, PBR - it could have been any of them. Or it could have been something different...

We were down to our last M-80. We had driven into a field, wondering what we could do for maximum effect. Finally, my buddy said screw it, let's just get rid of it before we get busted. He rolled his window halfway down, lit the M-80 and through it hard at the window. It hit the edge of the window, and bounced back into his lap.

SHIIIIIIIITTTTTTTT! He yells and bails out of the car brushing off his crotch. I'm still clueless as to what's happening and he's running full blast away from the car. I look down and see the M-80 burning fast, the fuse almost completely burned. I bailed too. I get a few steps away and...

WHOOOOOOOMP! We look, and smoke is rolling out of the car. There was so much smoke we thought the car was toast. Literally. The smoke cleared after a few seconds, and we crept back. My buddy gingerly reached in for the overhead light, and we took a look. A burned spot on the carpet. That was it! We got in, still shaking a little, and drove away. We didn't screw with M-80s again after that. When we wanted to take out mailboxes, we did it the old fashioned way - with a baseball bat.

Any Major Dude Will Tell You

It fits my mood today.

I never seen you looking so bad my funky one
You tell me that your superfine mind has come undone

Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend
Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again
When the demon is at your door
In the morning it won't be there no more
Any major dude will tell you

Have you ever seen a squonk's tears? Well, look at mine
The people on the street have all seen better times

Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend
Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again
When the demon is at your door
In the morning it won't be there no more
Any major dude will tell you

I can tell you all I know, the where to go, the what to do
You can try to run but you can't hide from what's inside of you

Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend
Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again
When the demon is at your door
In the morning it won't be there no more
Any major dude will tell you

Steely Dan
Any Major Dude Will Tell You
Pretzel Logic
©1974 MCA Music Publishing, a division of Universal Studios, Inc. (ASCAP).

The Neighborhood Drive In

What would a seventies blog be without a drive-in movie post?

We had one in our neighborhood, about 8 blocks from home. When we were kids, if we were lucky enough to get out after dark and able to stay out a while, we would walk down there. We had to cross a highway to get there, and if our parents knew we'd get in trouble. But there was a golf course directly behind the theater, and we'd pull a bench from the course up to the back fence, and watch the show.

I had a paper route when I was a teenager, and I'd deliver papers from my Schwinn Orange Crate, and later, from my 10 speed Schwinn Continental. If I got done early, I'd pedal down to the drive-in.

There was a couple of big, mean, brothers my age that cleaned up the drive-in parking lot the morning after shows. You had to get there early to beat them to the lot. But if you did... There were always cans of un-opened beer, partially full bottles of Boones Farm, and all kinds of assorted goodies. It was a teenagers paradise. I'd make a quick swing through, throw the best stuff in my paper sack, and pedal home before the clean-up crew got there. I'd ditch the stash somewhere on the banks of the creek that wound through our neighboorhood park. We'd come back later and pretend we actually liked the stuff.

Later, when we were actually driving, we hit that drive-in with buddies and dates. I saw "Star Wars" for the first time there. Yet another memorable night was spent with a few friends, beer, and other leafy "illicit substances". We watched "Marathon Man". The sound of that dentist's drill was absolutely horrific.

All in all, it was a spot of significant memories for this Product Of The Seventies.

Old Mill Hill

Building on my last post about Old Mill Hill.

We would scrounge behind service stations (remember those?) for old tires. Every sorry excuse for a service station had a mountain of old tires behind the station. Depending on who was driving, what vehicle they had, and how many people were in the vehicle, we took as many tires as we had room for. We would drive up to the top of Old Mill Hill and wait for cars to come along. When they got about 200 yards away, we'd start the tire rolling. It took great timing, skill, and luck, but we did manage to nail a couple of cars. Funny, looking back we never considered it vandalism or criminal, it was just a way of having fun.

Then once the tires were gone, we had more room in the vehicle. If Jud was along, he had some big ones. He'd go to the back door of the Holiday Inn, and steal an empty beer keg. Then he'd take it back to a liquor store for the keg deposit. We weren't often lacking for beer money...

My 72 Bug

All through school I drove a 72 bug. Not the one pictured here, but pretty darn close. While I hated that car, it was memorable.

We had a hill in our part of town called "Old Mill Hill". There was a Holiday Inn hotel at the top of the hill. You could drive the road around the hill, or you could gto across country, and climb the greater than 45 degree slope up the side of the hill. Guess what we liked to do in the VW? I'd get started up the hill, and we were pointing so far up you'd think you were going to flip over backwards. The people in the back seat were always terrified. It was a great time. More on Old Mill Hill in future posts. A lot of stories around that.

One time, we were off-roading in another field close to a highway. We had 3 or 4 of us in my VW, along with beer, of course, and we cruised across the wooded field to a big lighted billboard next to the highway. Crazy man Eugene (Geno), climbed that billboard, and stood on the lighted platform in front of the sign. He was mooning all the cars driving by, and they were honking, of course. We finally got him down, and drove back towards the road. As we get close to the road, we saw a vehicle trailing us, but a quarter mile off. We looked hard, and thought we say lights on the top. We floored it, hit the road, made a couple of quick turns, and were home free. A friend in a nearby house saw the whole thing, and confirmed that it was a police car. Yet another escape by the skin of our teeth.

I could tell stories about the VW forever, and probably will. When I got into college, they used to kid me about having 7 back seats in that car. But that's another topic...

Walk The Line

Watched "Walk The Line" last night, the movie about Johnny Cash. I was a little surprised. It was good, but not as good as I expected it to be. And it was much more critical of him than I imagined it would be. It also had a very unsatisfying ending. The characters were not developed well enough, Johnny and June were, but that's about it. The music was OK, but didn't show much of the stories behind the songs.

Overall, I give it 3, maybe 3.5 out of 5. Fair to good, but not great.

Peter Benchley Dies

Peter Benchley, Author of 'Jaws,' Dies at 65

Peter Benchley, whose 1974 novel "Jaws" turned shark attacks into a national obsession and who later used what he called his "fish story" to help promote oceanic conservation, died yesterday morning at his home in Princeton, N.J. He was 65.

The cause was pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive scarring of the lungs, said his wife, Wendy.

In Honor Of Oscar Night

The Top Ten box-office movies of the Seventies were, in order:

1. Star Wars (1977)
2. Jaws (1975)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. Grease (1978)
5. Superman (1979)
6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
7. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
8. The Sting (1973)
9. The Exorcist (1973)
10. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

I don't understand why "Logan's Run" didn't make the list...

Here is a cool site with this information: http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/70/70movies.htm

Indispensible Seventies Music - Part 1

I've said numerous times in past posts that us POTS should be very careful not to get caught in the past, musically speaking. A regular feature here is newer music that POTS would enjoy. And there is a LOT of EXCELLENT music out there to be explored and enjoyed.

But I also don't want to leave the music of the seventies completely behind. There was some INCREDIBLY good music that came from that generation. With this regular feature I will attempt to list MY favorites. Not VH1's, or Rolling Stone's, or any other columnist's favorite. The favorites of a regular guy, Jon, born and raised in Heartland, USA.



Steely Dan's Aja.

One of the most unique albums of the decade by one of the most unique "bands" of the decade. How do you even begin to describe The 'Dan?

Steely Dan is 2 people - Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. After the 2 constants comes a long line of some the the world's best musicians from the world of pop, rock, and jazz. Steely Dan is NOT about live performances, although they have and do tour from time to time. Steely Dan is about complex melodies and changes, biting lyrics, and musical perfection. All wrapped up in a pop package. How they became a pop fixture is beyond me, but it all works. I'm going purely by memory here, but through the seventies, they released 7 albums, every one a true classic. I believe Aja was their last album of the seventies. The eighties brought more good music, by Steely Dan and Fagen solo, but that's a different post.

Aja was something completely different in the pop world.

In the mid to late seventies pop music had been moving a different direction. The hard rock of the early seventies was not as prevalent. Jazz was becoming a force on popular music, as the fusion movement gained momentum. Several bands, such as the Doobie Brothers, moved to a lighter, jazzier sound. Personally, I didn’t care as much for the Doobie’s later work, but it was successful for them. Aja captured that sound without losing The ‘Dan’s edginess. Pretty incredible, when you think about it. It included the pop hooks Steely Dan is famous for - “They call Alabama the Crimson Tide, call me Deacon Blues”, but also included lyrics such as “Spanish kissin', See it glisten, You came ragin', Love rampagin', I got the news…” from the little known classic “I Got The News”.

But out of all the incredible Steely Dan tunes over the years, the title song Aja is maybe the best. It opens with a beautiful piano, light and airy. The drummer, light on the cymbals, catches your attention, and the bass, showing classic Dan restrained bass work is melodic. The tempo speeds up, slows down, speeds up, and the chord changes would challenge an experienced classical musician. A xylophone (?) shows up, and even a police whistle. The guitar, weaving it’s way through the complicated melody is incredible. Into the mix jumps a raucous saxophone while the drummer picks up his presence to complement the intrusion. It slows down to reprise the opening melody again, and prepare for the finish. I slows to nothing, then a drum solo kicks in, and an incredible solo it is. Steve Gadd is the drummer, a well known fusion studio musician. If you’re looking for a John Bonham drum solo this ain’t it. It’s subtle, laid back, and kicks ass. And rumor has it that Steve Gadd's drum work on Aja is the ONLY track ever laid down in a Steely Dan recording session that was done in a single take.

Steely Dan is a lot like Scotch Whiskey. It’s an acquired taste, one that doesn’t appeal to everyone. It takes some getting used to, and when you start to develop a taste for it you can spend a lifetime exploring the nuances.

Leon Spinks

I have your attention, don't I?

Sports fan or not, who could forget Leon Spinks? He beat Muhammad Ali in 1978 for the championship. He smiled his way into America's heart.

Today he smiles his way into the hearts of residents of a small town in Nebraska. He lives in Columbus, Nebraska and cleans the YMCA several days a week. He also does a lot with the kids in that town.

Here's an article done by the Lincoln (NE) Journal Star. Very well done, and The Champ sounds like he's happy and doing well.

Ex-champ Leon Spinks cleans up in Columbus

Music for Products of the Seventies - Part 4

The Eels are a very unique band. They have done everthing from music too vulgar to be played on the radio to songs featured in Disney movies.

A recommended album is Daisies of the Galaxy, released in 2000. While their lyrics are sometimes dark, their music is almost always uplifting, and sometimes downright ditty-like "...cause I like (dit-dit-dit): birds"...

Below is one of my favorites. There is an obvious link for POTS, click the picture above and click the "Indian in Canoe" link to view the original commercial. Beware the lyrics, they might offend some:

The smokestack is spitting black soot into the sunny sky
The load on the road brings a tear to the indian’s eye
The elephant won’t forget what it’s like inside his cage
The ringmaster’s telecaster sings on an empty stage

God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah
God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah

The girl with the curls and the sweet big ribbon in her hair
She’s crawled out the window ’cause her daddy just don’t care
(come on!)

God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah
God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah

The clown with the frown driving down to the sidewalk fair
Finger on the trigger I tell you he is quite a scare

God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah
God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah

The kids fit their lids when their heads hear that crazy sound
Their neighbour digs the flavour still he’s moving to another town
(and I don’t believe he’ll come back)

God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah
God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah

And I don’t know how you’re taking all the shit you see
You don’t believe anyone but most of all openly agree

God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah
God damn right it’s a beautiful day ahah

My Name Is Earl

I caught this show for the first time tonight. What a great show! He made a list of the 200 + things he's done wrong in his life, and he's out to correct every one of them. He believes in karma, and thinks he has to make amends for everything.

It made me think about all the things I did wrong.

Ome time, I talked the majority of the low brass section of the high school pep-band into chipping in for several cases of beer before a basketball game road trip. So we're slamming beers just before getting on the bus. People are filling their instrument cases and pockets with cans of beer. Just as I was getting on the bus, they said it was full, and asked for volunteers to drive. I ended up riding with a couple of senior tuba players, and we drank heavily on the way. By the time we got there, I was trashed. So was the entire trombone section. The problem was, they got caught. Every person I talked into this scheme was kicked out of school for a few days, and kicked out of band for the remainder of the year. Except me. I didn't ride the bus, there was no physical evidence I participated, and all they knew was that I was stumbling around the bleachers.

Another time...

Well, this could go on forever. I do know I'm not going to miss this show, it's GREAT stuff!

Cornhusker Heartbreak

Growing up in Nebraska, I became a big Cornhusker football fan. To a person in Nebraska, Cornhusker football is all there is. And what a time for college football it was. It started with National Championships in 1970 and 1971. Heisman winner Johnny "The Jet" Rogers, Jerry Tagge, Jeff Kinney, Vince Ferragamo, Steve Runty, Dave Humm, and COUNTLESS other quality people. Coached first by old school coach Bob Devaney, then by Dr. Tom Osborne. Osborne set the mold for the Huskers for the next several decades. No matter what critics might say, Dr. Tom ALWAYS had the best interests of his kids at heart. He had many successes, and a handful of failures such as Scott Baldwin and Lawrence Phillips. He and his staff ALWAYS sounded like true professionals, always kept their composure, and always made me proud to say I was from Nebraska.

That is why the events of the last several years are so hard to take. Athletic Director Steve Pederson has gutted the program in favor of starting over. He has brought in a former pro coach, and a complete stable of new assistants. No longer do we brag about our in-state walk ons. No longer do we brag about our graduation rates, or student athletes, or the number of Nebraskans on the team. In general, the pride is gone. We have traded our soul for the chance to win with a different type of game.

Today the Huskers lost a close heartbreaker to Texas Tech. They showed some very good things, but made some critical mistakes also. But you know what? I really don't care in the least.

Steve Pederson, for making me and other life-time Cornhusker fans feel this way, may you rot in hell.

Dialogue (Parts One and Two)

When I was a younger teenager, my favorite band was Chicago. I loved how they worked the horns into a rock band. I saw them in concert in 1975, and LOVED the show. In fact it was my first "real" concert.

But, Chicago was an interesting band. They turned out some decent rock and roll on each album, but they also turned out some real trite garbage. It was like the members couldn't decide if they wanted to be a rock band or a pop band. Pop won out, unfortunately.

But they still put out some very good, and I would say important, music.

A song I haven't heard in a long time came up the other day, and it struck me how relevant it was today. Other than the single line about the campus being very free, it could have been written today. And the song is done very well, and delivers the lyrics very effectively. A very good song, WELL worth another listen today.

Dialogue - Parts One and Two
Chicago - From Chicago 5

Part i

Are you optimistic ’bout the way things are going?
No, I never ever think of it at all

Don’t you ever worry
When you see what’s going down?

No, I try to mind my business, that is, no business at all

When it’s time to function as a feeling human being
Will your bachelor of arts help you get by?

I hope to study further, a few more years or so
I also hope to keep a steady high

Will you try to change things
Use the power that you have, the power of a million new ideas?

What is this power you speak of and this need for things to change?
I always thought that everything was fine

Don’t you feel repression just closing in around?
No, the campus here is very, very free

Don’t it make you angry the way war is dragging on?
Well, I hope the president knows what he’s into, I don’t know

Don’t you ever see the starvation in the city where you live
All the needless hunger all the needless pain?

I haven’t been there lately, the country is so fine
But my neighbors don’t seem hungry ’cause they haven’t got the time

Thank you for the talk, you know you really eased my mind
I was troubled by the shapes of things to come

Well, if you had my outlook your feelings would be numb
You’d always think that everything was fine

Part II

We can make it happen
We can change the world now
We can save the children
We can make it better
We can make it happen
We can save the children
We can make it happen

Earth Wind & Fire Back With "Illumination"

Regular readers know how much I love NPR radio programs. The best radio in the world, bar none.

They did a show about a new album by Earth, Wind and Fire. EWF has always been one of my favorite bands. From slow dancing to "Fantasy" to boogie-ing to "Shining Star", EWF was a band that seemed to be able to transcend pop music. They were one of those bands that were able to achieve commercial success and still crank out great music. And when you bought an Earth, Wind and Fire album, it wasn't about one or two hit songs. The entire album was always worth hearing.

To this day, I can't hear the song "Reasons" without loooking for someone to dance with. The music was THAT significant to me.

A few years ago one of my kids bought me an EWF concert video. Incredible. I never had the opportunity to see an EWF show, and it showed me what I missed.

Here's a link to the NPR Audio story. The song clips they play will take you back.

Earth, Wind & Fire, Back with 'Illumination'

You can find the new album here: Illumination

George Carlin Quote

Please… save me from people who are told what to like and then like it. In my opinion if you’re over 6 years of age and you’re still getting your music from the radio, something is desperately wrong with you. I can only hope that somehow mp3 players and file sharing will destroy FM radio the way they’re destroying record companies. Then, even though the air will probably never be safe to breathe again maybe it will be safer to listen to.

I love George Carlin. He's such an incredible wordsmith.

The Pig

Several years ago, after a number of difficult years, the wife and I finally made the decision to sell a business we’d owned for many years. We set a date by which it would be sold, and proceeded to set a price that would allow us to accomplish this. Essentially, we gave it away to get out from under it. But I found myself at 40 years old searching for a job. I decided to go back to school, so I enrolled in an accellerated programming course by a well respected private university. Looking back, I let an opportunity pass by, I should have used this as a reason to fill a dream, and go to law school. But I wanted to be out earning an income sooner than 2 years in law school would have allowed. So I put in my 8 months of intense education, finished at the top of my class, and missed the tech bubble by a couple of months. I worked my ass off to land a job that paid me $23,000 a year. I really blew it by not doing the law school thing. But I digress.

While in school, I was interviewing at every opportunity. One day I had an interview with a small software company, and as part of the interview process they gave me a blank piece of paper and told me to draw a pig. I was taken aback, a little annoyed, and thought it was ridiculous. But I drew the pig, and did my thing. I don’t remember how Idrew the pig, but I was never called back for a second interview, so I obviously wasn’t what they were looking for.

I came back to class that afternoon, and told my classmates about the pig drawing. One piped up and said it was a personality test. I did the research, and here’s what I found:

If the pig is drawn:

Toward the top of the paper, you are positive and optimistic.
Toward the middle, you are a realist.
Toward the bottom, you are pessimistic, and have a tendency to behave negatively.

Facing left, you believe in tradition, are friendly, and remember dates (birthdays, etc.)
Facing right, you are innovative and active, but don't have a strong sense of family, nor do you remember dates.
Facing front (looking at you), you are direct, enjoy playing devil's advocate and neither fear nor avoid discussions.

With many details, you are analytical, cautious, and distrustful.
With few details, you are emotional and naive, you care little for details and are a risk-taker.

With less than 4 legs showing, you are insecure or are living through a period of major change.
With 4 legs showing, you are secure, stubborn, and stick to your ideals.

The size of the ears indicates how good a listener you are.
The bigger the better.

The length of the tail indicates the quality of your sex life.
And again more is better!

Ummmm – OK. I took all this in while shaking my head. I still thought it was pretty ridiculous.

Shortly after our discussion about this, a classmate walked in. She was a semi-attractive farm gal who was married, but I got the impression she might have strayed from time to time. She heard a snippet about drawing a pig, and she jumped up and exclaimed “I know how to draw a pig!”

Knowing nothing about why, and not knowing about the personality test, she marched to the large white board at the front, grabbed a marker, and went to work. She started with an inverted “U” that was the rear end of the pig, it was obvious the rear end of this pig was the focal point of this drawing. She went on to quickly draw this pig, very little detail, but obviously coyly looking over it’s shoulder at you, rear end prominently on display. It was large, taking the entire grease board. It had a single small ear that was visible, and only the rear legs were visible. It’s tail of course, was larger than any pig I had ever seen, and the pig was actually winking at you from under long eyelashes.

It was all I could do to keep from rolling on the floor laughing on the spot. The other guys were obviously struggling to maintain composure themselves. I glanced at another lady that was in the class, she looked to be in shock. The artist finished with a flair, adding a little emphasis to the end of the tail (I’m not making this up!) and dropping her marker walked away proudly rubbing her hands together.

I don’t think anyone ever told her about the personality test, but she was certainly MUCH more popular with the single guys after that. She ended up spending quite a bit of time with a young classmate who was at least 10 years younger than she was.

I would have expected no less.

Sweet Caroline And The Red Sox

While technically recorded in 1969, this trite ditty of a song has become an anthem of sorts for the Boston Red Sox.

This story is exceptionally well done, and had me laughing till tears were in my eyes. It's an audio file from NPR.ORG.

The Mystery of 'Sweet Caroline' and the Sox