The KCAC Archives: Where Were You When You Were Listening Then?

It's 5:30am, and I have yet to hit the pillow. Oh, I know I'll wind bleary eyed through my day, but my spirit will be wide awake! And I'm stuck on wondering what goes through other’s minds when they listen to these wonderful time capsules? Where were you? What do you remember about that time? Do you remember what you were doing when you when you heard 'that' song, or some commentary by Bill or to one of those Marty produced commercial gems?

Tell me, are you transformed by it all too?

I couldn't think of one good reason why I should have gone to sleep when I could listen all night to amazing music and exchanges like the one from Marty's funny, off the cuff remote at the Bootlegger! It all floods me with 'sense memories'. Yep, those voices create memories that transport me back to a time when we were made of hope, quick witted intelligence and unabashed individuality...not to mention occasional fits of giggles in between peaceful demonstrations and 'love ins' at the park. Listening to these treasured tapes sure beats the "mad, mad, mad, mad world" dreams that sometimes stomp around in my brain as I sleep.

So there I am, thirty six years ago, sitting on the floor in my little old house with my Siamese cat sleeping on my lap, purring like the motor of the world, listening with me. My hair's in those braids friends said me made me look like Leigh French (the hippie dippie flower girl of Smother’s Brothers fame) That thick, rod straight, waist length mop of hair (forever gone!) that I wore like a badge of honor. “Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair, shinin’, gleamin’, clean ‘n flaxen, waxen…” Listening to these tapes I am once again powered by lightning bolts of hope and wonder; a bona fide catholic schoolgirl 'flower child' (talk about an oxymoron!) forever transformed.

It’s the little miracles that keep us sane. Thanks from the bottom of my heart (and from deep in my ears) for bringing these little miracles back to us. Just for a little while, we can go back in time, feel nothing but the good vibrations and pretend that nothing interfered with the bliss.

God is alive, and magic is still afoot.