Where were you on Thursday, April 13, 1972?
I was about to become the Battalion Motor Officer of the 58th Signal Battalion at Fort Lewis, just south of Tacoma. I had never been west of Niagara Falls, so this cross country move was an adventure for me. I had served for four months under a Motor Officer who had been a helicopter warrant that had gone through shake-and-bake and come out a captain. He wanted to fly again, so I ended up getting his job. I was a second looie filling a captain’s slot.
On weekends, I went into Seattle and hung out at KING in my attempts to infiltrate a 50 kilowatt rock and roll station, an effort that eventually succeeded. I was Mr. Rock Trivia, and that permitted me access to the roster of DJ’s. Pretty soon I was getting calls at all hours asking, “What year was this song? What else did the songwriters write or the producers produce? Who was down the hall in the bathroom when it was recorded, and was he doing #1 or #2?” I could usually answer these questions off the top of my head.
Let’s cue the Rockumentary theme!
San Remo Golden Strings: “Festival Time”
Jay Siegel of the Tokens did the background vocals for this remake of the Tokens’ hit from 1961. The differences are minor, to include a tuba replacing the original clarinet line. It came in at #10 this week.
What an awesome opportunity going to Seattle offered you! Rock on! :)
I’ve always liked The Lion Sleeps Tonight....I like the tuba part. Cool.
I was at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, studying nineteenth-century German history, the history of socialism, post-WWII East European history and Russian. On Thursday, I would have been going to class and hitting the books, but I would certainly have been looking forward to Friday evening, when we would have our Stammtisch, or "table for regulars," a party at which we would socialize and make merry.
Saturday, when the student union was closed, I would go into town to eat, most likely at an Italian restaurant. In only a couple of weeks after arriving, I had eaten at every Italian restaurant in town.
Here are some of the hits of the day:
And a couple of oldies: