1973 at a glance:

• The Watergate hearings had begun.
• Abortion was legalized.
• The Black September Terrorist Movement attacks Athens airport.
• The Watkins Glen Rock Festival (bigger than Woodstock BTW), happens.
• Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the Houston Astrodome. It was close too, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
• Spiro T. Agnew resigns as Vice President.
• The Endangered Species act is passed.

I was seventeen and eighteen years old in 1973

How many times have we all said it? "I wish I could go back and do it all over again knowing the things I know now."

But that's just it, we can't go back. Life only gives us one shot at lesson learning; we either blow it, or take what we learned and put it to use. Energy was high, and so was I. I was an artist without a model, an unsung and unstrung guitarist that never hit the high note, but even so, life was all great!

The vibes were pretty good in 1973. Though padded in reality, and laced with strangeness, it was a highly educational period. As a nation, we'd taken our first steps toward impeaching the president. Kung Fu was in its second season. Kwai Chang's hair was longer, but he was just as sagely as ever. Great music was coming out, newer and newer adventures in sound expanded my cultural library. Albums cost about $3.87 at Pay N' Save, a department store that still existed at Eastport Plaza. Two-record sets cost around $5.69 depending on who they were. Cut-Outs at 99 cents, or $1.99 were still the best way to go, but could only be purchased at record stores. That meant having to travel across town.

Meanwhile, old things were just as great; The Allman Brothers Band Live at Fillmore East" was one of the hottest LP's in my collection. Deep Purple was as on top of their game as ever with "Made in Japan". Though released in '72, I didn't get my copy until 1973.

Though record album prices were about usual In 1973, prices were still going up as the dollar went down. The world was becoming a crazy place. The strangeness of the years only made me realize how quickly childhood things ended, and the innocence of the 60's was only a vapor compared to the heavy 70's. LSD was circulating dabbed onto a "crosstop" (speed) for a high-level high, and my first taste of chocolate chip cookies laced with marijuana crunched like chocolate sand.

Most everyone smoked cigarettes including me — L & M's to be exact — and they were up to 35 cents a pack then. They had really beautiful outdoor scenes on the packs which I thought was different. The cigarettes themselves — like L & M's — had white filters only with brown paper. Very odd, and very cool. A brand new AMC Javelin cost a whopping $2,900. Rent was close to a median $175 a month, and gas was up to 40 cents a gallon.

Emerson, Lake, & Palmer released their vinyl masterpiece "Brain Salad Surgery." This album was a miracle, I was fortunate enough to see them play it live at the Memorial Coliseum. Fleetwood Mac released "Mystery to Me" and the song "Hypnotized" was the best thing I'd heard in years. Though the EL&P concert was only $5, more and more top bands were coming to Portland. Concert prices stayed about the same, but there were so many more of them. I had abruptly come to the realization that I needed more money than I'd ever needed before. With that said, I now move on to the world of employment, and becoming what I'd so protested when I was a stupid kid: a capitalist.

Babette Manor

This was an apartment building I lived in during the early spring of 1973. This was a great place to live, and the neighborhood was very old. We were within walking distance to Laurelhurst Park, Music Millennium, The Laurelhurst Theater was right on the corner, and a Chinese Restaurant was on the other corner. The building was just off of 26th and Ankeny Street, one block off of Burnside. A couple blocks down was a Nicky Cruz Outreach For Youth center. I met a wonderful friend here named Dennis who was as wild as I was, yet a little older. There were so many adventures in his living room that I can't keep up with all of them. I learned a great deal about music I'd never heard before, and likewise, turned him on the world of Hawkwind. In turn, Dennis introduced me to Gentle Giant and I loved them.

Come the summer of 1973, I remember plenty of outdoor concerts and day festivals where we used to go and hang with epic crowds. Sometimes they were promoted by beer companies, and these festivals featured a ton of local and out-of-state acts. Trying to capitlize on the Woodstock Festival craze, these outdoor fests were a lot of fun, and a great way to spend a day.

The Revolution of Revelation

The taboo and terrifying number of 666 — the mark of The Beast was the title and subject matter of a rather obscure LP from the Greek band Aphrodite's Child. Most notably, the band's keyboard player and composer would become the now world-famous composer Vangelis.

What was most interesting to me about this record was that people were apprehensious toward it. Listening to it almost seemed more of a dare than enjoyment. But once I'd heard the album enough to where the songs were familiar, then it became a favorite of mine. Still, a strange power hovered over this LP, lingering like an invisible force. I didn't know it then, but I believe now, that it was the Holy Spirit of God leading us to pay attention to it.

One girl that hung out with us was afraid to listen to it, and we'd have to coax her into it. But it was just an album, and it was quite an interesting one too. Some of it was very good. Two songs "The Four Horsemen" and "Aegian Sea" were superior tracks on this two-record set that focuses on The Bible's Book of Revelation. How closely it follows the book is another story, but it made for a landmark LP, one that I've yet to see an equal.

"I've always been mad, I know I've been mad..."

thump-thump....thump-thump....thump-thump....thump-thump....thump-thump...

That's how side one began; a distant heartbeat pulsing an awkward cadence in a background of a cerebral mish-mash of sounds. Each audio loop was sequestered together and edited into an cryptic array of psychological feedback. A typical Pink Floyd opening led to a soft crescendo of lap steel guitar and breathy vocals, all of which had an aural effect equivalent to a strong dosage of valium. In fact, as the years passed on, future generations were to refer to this record as "Valium on vinyl."

"Dark Side of the Moon" was the eighth studio release from Pink Floyd. This album was a bit awkward to get accustomed to in the first listens. It was a breakaway from the Floyd's style, and it featured saxophone and female singers. Dark Side was a structured LP unlike any of their previous releases. However, it didn't take long before it became our anthem.

No one could have possibly imagined just how far this LP would sky rocket to ever-lasting fame. It has sold $45,000,000 copies world wide out-performing The Beatles' "Abbey Road" to which the album nicely compares to in style and quality. Even Alan Parsons who co-engineered "Abbey Road" engineered "Dark Side." However, the studio execs must've had a clue that it was big as they included a fold out poster with the record.

There's really nothing new that I can add to the legacy of "Dark Side of the Moon", except for how it impacted my life upon its release in March of 1973.

The Girl Next Door

Out of all the crushes and worshiping from afar I'd done with actresses, models and Playboy centerfolds, my first real life crazy crush came from the girl next door. She was the "kid sister" of a woman and a guy who moved in next door to us. They were all very cool people, and I loved hanging out with them.

The girl's name was Sherry. She was 17, I was about to turn 18. She fit the perfect 70's girl mold: long brown hair parted in the middle, glasses, and all the appropriate clothing from clogs to Tie Dye. Mostly she wore levis, tank tops and rubber thongs on her feet. She also wore a leather thong on her wrist, and occasional chokers.

That was a great summer in general. The Doobie Brothers, Alice Cooper and Black Oak Arkansas were her favorites in her record collection. Sherry loved "Billion Dollar Babies" from Alice Cooper and Black Oak Arkansas' "Raunch and Roll" which soon became a favorite of mine as well. She was in love with Jim Dandy whereas I could barely tolerate him.

The one song that really hit me right was Steely Dan's "Do it Again" That song alone basically epitomizes the summer of 1973. I never listened to Steely Dan before, so it was Sherry's influence that got me into this record.

THX 1138

One cold night in late fall I settled back to watch a movie on TV called "THX 1138". The movie featured Robert Duvall, and was a futuristic nightmare of a society gone utterly haywire. In fact, society was completely gone, and all that was left was solitude, depression, aggression, and a governmental enforcement of the correct way to live.

The android police were very cool, but the depiction of life in this dystopian society was nightmarish. Physical contact between men and women was prohibited; they had to take mind-altering drugs on a daily basis, and all society is under video surveillance. Religion was nothing more than a confessional booth, and after one session, the character THX is blessed with the following: "You are a true believer, blessings of the State, blessings of the masses. Work hard, increase production, prevent accidents and be happy."

Favorite Albums of 1973

Also during this period, I was drawn to Carly Simon, but only because of the "No Secrets" album cover. Let's face it, the cover design had no more intent than to attract teenage guys into buying the record. If Carly wasn't an eye-popping creature, then I had never seen a woman before. The album though, was actually pretty good. I soon fell in love with the song "The Right Thing to Do," and realized what a great songwriter she was.

Another song titled "One Fine Morning," by a Canadian rock n' brass band called Lighthouse led me to the purchase of a double-live album from them titled simply Lighthouse Live The record includes some truly inspired performances. 1973 was my first introduction to the album Doremi Fasol Latido" by Hawkwind.

1973 was the year I discovered many diverse bands, and dove deeper into the headwaters of Prog Rock. Prog was now getting stronger and more sophisticated. Bands like Gentle Giant, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Yes, & Genesis, were turning out high-quality works. Yes were reaching their peak. Gentle Giant's first album showed me how sublime, surreal, and talented one band could be. The Mahavishnu Orchestra had me spellbound, and I went to see them 3 times in concert.

During this period, I was a longhair, a freak, a head; The Mahavishnu John McLaughlin looked exactly like a straight. In fact, he looked like a minister. He had short cropped hair, and he wore all white. Seeing pictures of him made me not want to listen to the records. It wasn't until I first heard him play that the hook went in irrevocably deep. John Mclaughlin played guitar with an insane, lightning fast style. What a surprise he was. He taught me one very valuable lesson: what we see isn't always what we see.