It was the fall of 1978. I was 13 years old. My dad dropped me off at my boarding school. I had what he had when his father dropped him off: six Brooks Brothers button down shirts, three white, three blue; two pairs of gray flannels and three pairs of khaki trousers, a tweed jacket, a blue blazer, half a dozen ties.
One pair of loafers. One pair of sneakers. An extra pillow. A bathrobe.
As my dad was leaving, a limousine pulled up. Another 13 year old emerged. He watched the chauffeur carry in suitcase after suitcase, boxes upon boxes and a stereo system so immense he could only carry one component at a time.
Man, I was in over my head from day one.
As I struggled with my studies, I heard the muffled sounds of the same five albums emanating from every room. Here now: the 5 albums every boarding school boy owned in the fall of 1978.
1.Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
2. Yes - Fragile
3. Led Zeppelin - ZOSO
4. Boston -Boston
5. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
OK So there aren't any surprises here. It's a sensible list of sensible albums, exactly what you might expect from future Wall Street titans, lawyers, doctors and CEO's. And they all sounded amazing on those monumental stereo systems.
How did I know I was in trouble?
My 1978 collection of cassettes (that I played in mono) ...in a future post....
1978 and no punk? What were you really listening to under the sheets on Radio Luxembourg?*
ReplyDelete* Or whatever your pirate radio station of choice was back in the 70s.
I was in an American boarding school situated in the Northwest corner of Connecticut. No pirate radio available. Only Classic album rock and the Natural 92. We had no idea what was going on in the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteThe inner music snob I would become...was just a tingling in the balls. As you'll discover when I reveal what I listened to in late 78(Thanks for reading)