For Those About To Rock
Though Fall River, Mass was where I lived until I was eleven, when people ask me where I grew up, I always say, Jamestown.
Jamestown, RI, a small 3x9 mile island, was a wonderful and a little wacky of a place to live in 1976. The year round population of three thousand, as one might imagine, especially if you lived in the downtown area, allowed for everyone to know everyone.
Parents weren’t carting kids back and forth those days and the high school choices were Rogers in Newport or NK in North Kingstown so it wasn't easy to get to and from. The kids didn’t have much to do after school and late busses weren’t a thing for Jamestown kids. Sports and after school activities relied on parents and for many of us, that was just not happening.
By the time high school came around, my parents had divorced and my brother and I found ourselves living with my father who worked every day. My father whether consciously or unconsciously decided that parenting was unnecessary. We were left to our own devices.
Our father had moved on with his life, remarried, and basically started another family while I lived in a bedroom that happened to be in the house they all lived in. My brother being five years younger was more a part of their family, but I resisted any of this new dynamic forced upon me
One big happy family we were not so I found family in my friendships, lovely misfits whose family had also given up parenting. We found (and ultimately) saved each other in those friendships, but not without a lot of angst. When teenagers find themselves living on an island with no curfew, no boundaries, no rules and regulations, lots can go awry.
I don’t know how we all managed to come out alive from some of the shenanigans, but we managed and many of us are still friends to this day. It astounds me how we turned out to have reasonable and successful lives, but I am grateful we found each other along the rocky path of adolescence.
In the late seventies, music and partying was our main source of entertainment.
And partying we did.
When I drive around Jamestown, Fort Wetherhill, Potters, Heads Beach, and many other beautiful areas, I recall keg parties, bonfires and camping. It was freedom our kids didn’t experience like we did and as wild and likely dangerous as it was, many memories from that part of my life are happy ones.
The theme of that time was rock and roll and lots of air guitaring. Zeppelin, Bad Company, ACDC, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith were the backgrounds of our lives. I still love rock like a teenager and when I hear a song like BACK IN BLACK, or SWEET EMOTION or any LED ZEPPELIN song, I am transported to head bobbing, hips swaying and fist pumping. Music is power and brings a smile to my face every time.
This is why when I first found Rock and Roll T shirts, I had to carry them. They fit great, they wash and wear really well and have a vintage vibe that make them look original.
When I put on my ACDC or LED ZEPPELIN shirt, I feel like a kid again. These days, the more I can do that, the better.
