KGIL/Pacific Drive-In – Week Of July 18-31, 1962 –
All Summer. Pacing back and forth. Staring holes through the Phone. You’ve been working on getting the nerve to call. It’s July already. It’s the weekend. You’re finally going to do it – no turning back. Sweating gallons, sponges for fingertips – fingers slide all over the phone. A few tries and you get it.
You have this plan. You’ve been working on it since the last day of school. Movies. This weekend: Premature Burial and Tales of Terror. Dynamite double bill. Guaranteed ice-breaker and lip-lock. You’ve heard horror films are good for dates. Lots of grabbing and screaming.
A man answers the phone – saliva goes missing – you croak out her name. Man asks yours. You go vacant. Seems like an hour later. You remember. Phone goes silent.
She picks up the phone. She’s not sure. You stammer out your name. She remembers. Blood rushes back – you’re back in gear. She giggles – you laugh – you make up things to say. She actually may like you. You make the pitch: Movies on Saturday Night. She laughs – you giggle. You’ll be at her house at six.
Plan is working – take the bus to her place. Swallow a fistful of Certs. She opens the door. She’s ready to go.
And so are her parents.
Drive-in? Chaperones?
They sit in the front seat. You’re in the backseat. Can’t even hold hands. The in-car speaker hanging off the window drones strange music. Mom chainsmokes. Dad stares at you in the rearview mirror. Hatari is on the screen.
And you waited all summer for this.
And as a reminder, here is a half hour of pre-recorded intermission music from KGIL as it was played in just about every Drive-In Movie theater in the Valley on July 18th 1962.
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