Thursday, May 08, 2008

School Of Rock: The Jukebox At The Laundromat

Okay, so we are going to start at pretty damn near the beginning. Now, I will warn you right now...School Of Rock will not always be pretty...But it will (mostly) be honest.
When I was a wee lad, (in the mid '70's) my family would travel via the family truckster(Country Squire Station wagon-it was not "metallic pea", though it did have the faux wood paneling) to my Grandfather's house in upstate New York in the summer.

The house had a washing machine, but no dryer. Sometimes, the clothes would get washed and then hung on a clothesline, but other times, we would go to the laundromat. It was always exciting to go to the laundromat. For me, anyways, I doubt it was quite the same adventure for my Mom, and it was probably torture for some of the other people in the laundromat whenever I was there, for reasons I will now explain.

You see, the laundromat had a jukebox. A jukebox in the mid '70's. The mind races with the possibilities, doesn't it ? Now, I would love to tell you that I regaled those folks with some early Bruce Springsteen, or some Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones. I would love to tell you that...But I did say that I would be honest. No, I played none of those tunes. I rotated three songs faithfully whenever we visited the laundromat. Brace yourselves....

Rocky Mountain High- John Denver:





Rhinestone Cowboy- Glenn Campbell







Seasons In the Sun-Terry Jacks




I played them OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. Dontcha wish you were in the laundromat with us ?

I looooooved those songs. And, if I am being completely honest, I still do. I am a total sucker for very corny '70's tunes.

I can remember singing along with these songs, probably not having the slightest clue what nay of them were about. Most likely getting the lyrics wrong. but it didn't matter. And, as awful as you might think these songs are, for me, they go to the very heart of why this whole "School of Rock" thing is worth doing. Music touches me...And yes, sometimes it touches me in the bad places, but even then, I cannot help but love it.

To be plain and stupid about it...I think music ROCKS !! And I think, regardless of the specific songs, that jukebox in that laundromat in upstate New York was when I first figured that out.

Thus endeth today's lesson.

Coming Up- Don't you wish you knew ?


p.s. Jeff over at Pretty Vacant has opened up a School of Rock campus as well. Go check it out.

p.p.s.- and don't forget- Praise Ogma, It's Thursday !!!

4 comments:

Feral Mom said...

Excellent maiden rock voyage, Paticus. I'd forgotten about my own sordid John Denver/Glen Campbell era. Thank God I'm a country boy! Yeah!

In addition to the nostalgia factor, these are also excellent hangover accompaniment.

Paticus said...

Feral Mom- Why, thank you.
I think John Denver will probably garner his own post at some point. I think the School Of Rock may be in session for a long time.
What a great idea you had. Thanks for letting me use it.

Anonymous said...

There's a jukebox at my laundromat now. You've inspired me. . .

Paticus said...

*jaime-My ultimate goal is to inspire.
By the way, if the jukebox at your laundromat has any of those songs on it, be careful, as you might actually be traveling back in time. :)