It was a long hard winter in New York City in 1969. I was glad it was February 1970.
Listening to WBAI news at work at the phone office on Amsterdam Ave. I had a little FM radio I listened to while doing wiring at the office. I still had the black eye from getting punched in the eye by a NY Bell guy. He did not like "commie-pinko-faggot-anti war-ni** loving-hippies", but that was his problem. The union sided with him any way. It was my fault "for being in the way of him expressing himself".
But I degres, news was that the Chicago 7 verdict was out and they were not going to be taken out and shot after all. After the news was over they had a record review of a group that I did not know, but I fell in love with them instantly and still crazy in love with after all these years.
They played all of "Bridge over Troubled Waters" which stayed on #1 for so long. Spring was almost in the air. A couple of months later I took off work to go downtown and look at the first Earth Day. I remember a chalk drawing on a manhole cover. Around the edge of the cover was written "have you ever seen a flower on a sewer". There seemed to almost be a future. I am of the generation of "duck and cover". We knew we would not live to be a teenager. Then Viet Nam and we knew we would not live through that. And then everything else. But there came "Bridge over Trouble Water". Maybe.
Me and a couple of kids were the only weird ones that worked in that office. There was this guy from Georgia who would do his racist crap walking from the subway to the phone office. Telling the "Ni****s to get out of his way". We always looked in horror as he said all that crap. The neighborhood guys always looked like they had almost had all they could stand. One morning as we were walking to the office some of the neighborhood guys grabbed him and started beating the crap out of him, the rest of us just kept walking. The black teens looked at me and I just shrugged my shoulders and kept walking. The Georgia guy was sent home. A few weeks later one of my friends dropped his wallet and did not notice that he had. One of the teens came running up to us out of breath saying that one of you "Honkies dropped this" with a smile.
Why all this? I just got in a USB turntable today. I got it set up and the first album I put on was "Bridge over Troubled Waters" and the memories came flooding back. 21 years old and was in the greatest city in the world at the best time. LP'S bring back more memories than digital, something about the pops and crackles.
EDIT: I forgot some words.