KRLA – Roy Elwell – June 22, 1962 – Rob Frankel Collection –
You couldn’t wait to graduate Junior High – you were leaving the Kid World and you were on your way to being an adult. The idea that you get to take Drivers Ed has you bouncing off the walls. Now it’s getting serious – you’re going to take real classes and study real things and you’re going to be part of the amazing world – the one that’s going on all around you, that one you were afraid you were going to miss out on.
You like life – you like it a lot. You are convinced it’s the best it’s ever going to be and it can’t get any better than this. You’re smack in the middle of 1962 and the world is one big insane adventure. You fell out of your seat when you saw Alan Shepard get launched into space. You religiously watch Ed Sullivan every Sunday – You’ve seen every episode of Dr. Kildare since it started – you have a huge crush on Ben Casey – you swear Dr. Zorba is related to you.
You’re in the right place at the right time and it’s never going to be this way ever again – of course, last week you were terrified of an Atomic attack – you read all about it in the L.A. Times, including the map of L.A. and what parts were going to be vaporized. It looked like your street was somewhere near Ground Zero – you were convinced the entire planet was doomed; there was no hope. It was rotten and it was going to stay rotten and it was never going to get any better.
But then you bounced back – you’ve been doing that a lot lately. First; life is incredible and then after a while it becomes awful. Hot and cold and it’s been that way all through your last year of Junior High. Thank god your parents bought you a transistor radio for your birthday – it’s your constant companion.
And being in the 10th grade and in High School, you can use all the companions you can get. You really wonder what the world is going to be like in 1965, when you go to college – may be completely the same – may be totally different. Who knows?
Here’s roughly 30 minutes of Roy Elwell on KRLA from June 22, 1962. Have a listen and compare notes.
