May 1965 – KHJ – Robert W. Morgan – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
You remember. You got very serious, somewhere around 11th grade. Maybe it started last summer – Station 8 and one of your girlfriends showed up with a pack of Larks and you started smoking – took you all Summer to get inhaling down, but you liked it. It made you feel worldly and not a kid anymore. And then you discovered Sylvia Plath and life got deep and boys your age seemed like idiots. And you started hanging out in the library at UCLA. And you remember your first Demonstration. You still liked The Beatles but someone turned you on to Erik Satie – and now you wake up in the morning, get into your routine of coffee, a smoke and flipping your radio back and forth between Robert W. Morgan and KPFK.
Your parents are baffled – your mom thinks you smell like an ashtray. Your dad shakes his head – they both smoke; they should talk. You argue with your teachers a lot – your Social Studies teacher calls you “feisty” and your English teacher pretends to ignore you. You’re thinking about running for Class President, but you’d rather edit the school newspaper.
You made up your mind you’re going to Europe when you graduate, get a Eurail pass, see the world, meet a writer or musician and have adventures. You don’t want to be like your mom and dad. Life is jammed full of possibilities and real issues and you don’t want to miss any of them.
Well . . .that was then. Twenty years since your last smoke and you shoot hate-stares at anyone who lights up around you. The world baffles you now – the people in it are strange. Nobody knows who Sylvia Plath is and go vacant when you mention Erik Satie.
And you’re still trying to find time to see the world.
But there is always May 1965 to think about – and KHJ’s Robert W. Morgan to listen to.
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