It was the era of muscle cars, ugly clothes, bad hair, earth shoes, and 8-tracks. I had all of those things, except for the car. In truth, I didn't even have a non-muscle car. That summer, I had to rely on my friend Billy and his folks' blue Chevy Nova. We did put on some miles on that thing but hey, movies had to be seen... girlfriends had to be chauffeured. Endless hot nights and no particular place to go — it's a beautiful situation that can't really be appreciated without gaining a little distance. A decade on or so and you realize that you never had it so good, that complaints about the heat, lack of money, or or-no-he's-playing-that-Supertramp-tape-again were just plain silly.

It was also the era of shameless music consumption. By 'shameless' I mean that we just didn't care that the lyrics may have been stupid or the riffs simplistic. Back then, it wasn't known as classic rock. No, it was just 'rock.' And rock we did, to Alice Cooper (Billion Dollar Babies), Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Four Wheel Drive), Thin Lizzy (Jailbreak!), Deep Purple (Machine Head), and Kiss (Alive!, Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over).

And Rick Derringer. There was just something about Derringer Live that made us listen over and over again. Songs like "Still Alive and Well," "Uncomplicated," and (particularly) "Teenage Love Affair" were burned into my brain. The insane volumes we listened at might have had something to do with it.

Mmmm... "Teenage Love Affair," it was the summer for that too. When the end of August rolled around, it was heartbreaking. I had to go back home, and we know what happens with long-distance relationships. During that last car ride to drop her off, "Give A Little Bit" rolled around on the Kraco and we both completely lost it. I felt like I was dying a little.

Maybe it wasn't so silly after all.