KYA – Norman Davis Substituting for Tom Donahue – December 26, 1964 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
‘Tis the morning after Christmas; 1964. You are laying in bed, you are very quiet. You gradually open your eyes. Your mouth feels like Death Valley, the rain outside thunders in your head like a pinball jackpot on firecrackers. Your left leg is draped over the side of the bed, pressing on the floor. You don’t remember ever feeling this hideous. You rally every ounce of strength to lift your head off the pillow. You’re still dressed from last night, well . . .sort of. You collapse back in bed and stare at the ceiling. It’s not spinning anymore. It’s just frozen.
You try to remember what happened last night. You recall a punchbowl and eggnog and even though thinking about it now makes you want to throw up, at the time it was the most wonderful elixir on the planet. You recall it was very sweet, with a faintly burning sensation heading down your throat. After three of them you felt amazing – life was amazing – the world was amazing. Everybody seemed so interesting and you danced a lot. You were French-kissing someone, but you don’t remember who – you laughed; constantly. Your friends laughed – your family looked confused. You didn’t care. You were having the time of your fourteen year-old life.
The last thing you remembered was singing Kansas City by The Beatles at the top of your lungs. You never really sang before. Well . . Happy Birthday, but that was once a year. You were belting and people were laughing and covering their ears. Your Aunt Charney looked horrified – she was so straight-laced anyway . . . .
And after that it goes sort of blank.
And here you are. Not sure what time it is, or what day it is or where everybody went.
The only thing you know for sure is that New Year’s Eve is in a week – and you can’t wait to do it all over again.
And to accompany the “morning after’, KYA from December 26, 1964 with Norman Davis substituting for Tom Donohue, who is probably “sleeping it off” too.
