Re: summer '75

jaws (surf is breaking RIGHT NOW)
poor gerald ford
yanks: munson,nettles, reggie. fuckin roy white!

the who.
by jove #1

Ian Hunter's solo debut was my soundtrack that summer.

I first heard of The Ramones then. I think I read about them in a magazine. It may have been Hit Parader, of all things. I thought the stripped-down concept of the group was interesting in that era of over-production. I didn't actually hear them until their first album came out in 1976. I think I was listening to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here in 1975, The Who By Numbers, Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow as well as Dressed to Kill and Alive by Kiss.



Post Edited (12-04-08 01:09)

To quote Mark Burgess:

“…Nostalgia will eat me away…”

In the summer of 1975 we were listening to our parents (read: stepfather’s) record collection. A few Beatle LPs …let me think … The White Album (Mom eventually smashed one of the two LPs in a temper tantrum over the mess in the basement. I think it was sides 3 & 4 … “No Revolution #9 For You!”), Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, and Help!. Yes, I think that was the tally. We’d break out some old tennis racquets for guitars, turn the Lincoln Log canisters over for drums and lip-sync along to the music. Beatlemania for kids! Who needed a Playstation? Many a nasty brawl would have been avoided if we’d realized that there was more than one singer in the Beatles. We were always fighting about who got to be the singer. There was also a Beach Boys live album. It included a version of “The Monster Mash,” so as far as we were concerned it very, very cool. Another favorite was “The Turtles Present … The Battle Of The Bands.” A concept album wherein each song is attributed to a different band and played in a different style. Country, Surf, Rock, Psychedelia, World Music and Pop styles all get covered. Great fun. “Buzzsaw” was our favorite track (you could do weird dances to it), alongside “Surfer Dan” and “King Kamanawanalea” (the pun escaped us kiddies at that age. We were fairly sheltered). We had no idea that there was a recipe for “funny” brownies included on one other song. Based on the inner jacket photos, we just naturally assumed that the song in question was about getting fat.

(((more about The Turtles at the end of the post)))

Then, we had the dark side of the record collection. It was a very scary place, where the children feared to tread. There was the first Black Sabbath record (scary witch woman on cover .. Uh Uh! Not playin’ THAT), a Steppenwolf Live LP (with a snarling wolf on the cover that scared us away every time without fail. I don’t even think we had the gumption to touch the thing), and a whole slew of Grand Funk Railroad titles. I remember one shaped like a coin. At the time, we must have equated “funk” with smelling bad and never played those records either. There was also a Grateful Dead LP with a skeleton on the cover (weird, I know) that we avoided like the plague.

Lastly, there was what I now call the “One-Hit-Wonders-Of-Childhood” section. Albums that we only listened to for one song that got over on us based solely on juvenile novelty appeal. These included a Byrds double LP with a song called “Take A Whiff On Me” on it. We’d drop the needle on that track and then proceed to run around the basement shaking our butts and making the loudest Bronx cheers we could manage. Ahhhh … those were the days! Strangely enough, “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison also fell into this category. We’d cue up “Isn’t It A Pity” and proceed to walk around the basement in circles; moaning and dragging our feet and pretending to lament until we had tears in our eyes from trying not to laugh. Sackcloth and ashes, man! I cannot for the life of me explain how we ended up fixated by that one track. Imagine how delighted I was with the Galaxie 500 cover!

Did I mention “Revolution #9?” Tell me that we were not the only little kids who wound up sprawled out on the floor … laughing hysterically … tongues lolling and spazzing out like epileptics (mid-fit) every time we listened to that track! We'd make the needle skip! It was like LSD for the tykes. Don’t believe me? I’m flashing back as I type this.

Sad Note: I just moved, and found that the air conditioner (window unit) had been dripping water all summer. Some of my LPs were within range of the water spot that the carpet wicked up and one box got a bit damp. All of the titles inside were in plastic bags EXCEPT for a few odd 12” singles by The Wonder Stuff and (((Cue Gut Punch))) … my childhood copy of “The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands!” Black mold all up both faces of the record jacket! I opted to keep the treasured vinyl and tossed the ruined sleeve. Just a good excuse to go out and find it on CD, if it ever made it to that format. Did it?

Also, back in the late 80s/early 90s when “tribute” CDs were all the rage, I always wanted someone to do a tribute to that Turtles LP. It would have been the coolest thing. With all the stylistic variety, it seemed like a no-brainer to me. I’d include my wish list for the artists and track assignments here, but this post is already perilously long. Maybe some other time and thread?

Hope this made someone else laugh besides me.

Thanks to Steve for sending me on this headlong bobsled run down Memory Lane.



Post Edited (12-04-08 11:25)

Okay - you have to post the wish list for the Turtles tribute CD.

Actually, that might be a good idea for a thread - fantasy tribute albums.

You should see my White Album wish-list. Quite a few of the cover versions already exist.

man, if you play vintage gibsons the way you write...

thank you!

Quote

All of the titles inside were in plastic bags EXCEPT for a few odd 12" singles by The Wonder Stuff and (((Cue Gut Punch))) my childhood copy of "The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands!"

http://www.amazon.com/Turtles-Present-Battle-Bands/dp/B000003GXZ
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_m?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=The+Wonder+Stuff+single&x=0&y=0

(((ahem)))

As far as being collectible, those Wonder Stuff singles are basically trash, as they’re radio promos with magic marker all over them. The actual vinyl is intact, so whenever I want to listen to Miles snarl his way through a live version of “Gimme Some Truth” there will be no need to panic.

Anybody that wants to line up to throw down some serious scratch for some slightly soggy, Sharpie-defaced promos can take a number …

“…line on the left, one cross each.”

> Then, we had the dark side of the record collection. It was a
> very scary place, where the children feared to tread. There
> was the first Black Sabbath record (scary witch woman on
> cover .. Uh Uh! Not playin’ THAT),

You know, I think you finally solved something that has been nagging me for decades.

Back then, at my Elementary school, there was a summer program where kids could come and play games in the cafeteria and the playground. The monitors was a couple of adults and some teenagers. They used to play records (mostly Beach Boys) but one time it was something that freaked me out and I remember the cover of the album had a scary scene on it. I always wondered what it was and your description sparked something in the old memory cells. I looked at my copy and listened to the first song - storm going on, church bell tolling - yep that was it.

Hooray! No need for a movie to be made about trying to figure out why my dying words were 'Black Sabbath'

"... You know, I think you finally solved something that has been nagging me for decades."

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Glad that I could be of service. That’ll be a nickel, please.

The Doctor is IN OUT.

Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night" came out Summer of '75...........and I suspect if that great record was your album of choice that Summer ................you don't remember that Summer.

thanks for being here and now mats.
i remember my sister playing 'born to run' every day until my mom threw her ass out onto the street. Born to run baby! The age of tough love. She works a real boring job in biochemicals or something now. Scared straight- you bet!
Anyway, I thought that her getting tossed was pretty cool at the time, so I one upped her by lighting up my first joint in the house and cranked up Uriah Heep's 'easy livin' on dad's old tube amp. But I didn't get the ticket to fly-quite the opposite, grounded. Come to think of it, maybe thats why I didn't see led zep that year.

Pink Floyd was big, so was Fleetwood Mac. This was the era of stadium rock. Supertramp was cloying, Eric Clapton had turned easy listening, and Steely Dan was going strong with pop jazz fusion. Tom Waits released Nighthawks at the Diner, making skid row almost seem romantic. Reggae was crazy popular and, curiously, so was smoking pot. Cat Stevens was still Cat Stevens. Pop and rock were big, hair was long.

Roxy Music had the interesting tunes and album covers. Neil Young and David Bowie were going strong. It was a fine time to live at the beach.

And then there were the mullets. The horror! We had gas rationing and a nationwide 55 mile an hour speed limit. Pickup trucks were jacked up & had enormous tires, and C. B. radios were the new technology that brought with it a new language and culture. Talking like a trucker was "in". Neanderthal chic.

My mum said I'd get nightmares from Jaws so she took me to see The Great Waldo Pepper.