In hindsight…PURE VICTORY. At the time…a battle for control of the universe. I am so happy my “trip” never got ugly inside the show; heavy hallucinations such as the band being in a rainbow tinted “bubble” or “phish tank” and Kuroda’s light work being the only thing that could permeate the bubble. Trey’s guitar howling off The Centrum walls was pure heaven and really got me though the night smiling.
HOWEVER.
The music has to stop sometime despite anything Bob Weir may tell you. It was at this time, on the walk to the car that I realized I could NOT go home in this state. No other options presented themselves; the kids I was with were leaving for family vacation in the AM and my other counter culture constituents were elsewhere for the Holidays. I was faced with the terrifying notion of going home THIS raged up. The whole ride home was a cavalcade of thoughts and visions I wouldn’t wish on anybody. Then we pulled in the driveway. The lights were off. My family, of course, was nestled in their beds. THE DANGER ON THE ROCKS HAD SURELY PASSED. I was going to be ok.
Fast forward to Summer ’97. We were getting solid “L” from these kids down the street. These Pink Dragons were out of sight and are still some of the best hits I’ve ever had. Having stock piled some for “The Great Went” we decided on a random Wednesday we would eat some and go to a house that was considered haunted. BAD IDEA JEANS. The house itself wasn’t too scary, but the buzz sure was. Never leaving home without a Walkman meant always having Steely Dan around this summer.
Once we fled the house we needed to find refuge and drink a hundred beers or so somewhere. Wally, my trip friend for the evening was TERRIFIED to go home. I threw in Home at Last, explained my debacle from 12/29/95 and laid out a plan where we would slip downstairs with some beers and not wake anyone up. The mixture of the soothing melody and my steady stream of bullshit got him to his happy place and the plan went perfectly.
Still we remained tied to the mast. (till 7AM!)
I Got The News
In early June we were still trucking away at Enfield High School. Many snow days had extended the school year making this beginning of June a bummer fo sho. One day, my friend Jake and I decided to cut school. Jake had to score some weed and I had to kill some time in the woods by his house before he got back. I strolled around the woods rocking Aja when I finally got to a song I hadn’t heard yet called I Got The News. Very groovy. Very sexy.
What lesson did I learn from this song? MICHAEL MCDONALD IS A FUCKING PIMP. This is a lesson I would learn over and over again as my music collection expanded but this was my first true taste of “White Lighting”. That breakdown is GOLD, Jerry. I have since aquired a House remix of this song that gets lots of play in my set. Steely Dan revived this one two summers ago on the “Sugar Tooth McDan” Tour with Michael McDonald. Long live “the kid down the street”.
Josie
One final song. One final lesson: THIS BROAD EXISTS. I had always hung around with the older kids in high school as I had been playing Premier League soccer for many seasons, putting me on teams with kids much older than I. They would go off to college for the year and return some time in late May with great drugs, hilarious stories and a car to get us all around in. WELL, the girls would also return from college with their own drugs, stories, and most of all new found sexual attitude.
Most of my guy friends in college were doing just fine in the hook up world, but the girls OWNED that shit. After all, wasn’t it up to them what went down? The raw flame…The live wire…HA. That’s putting it mildly. I mean when our “Josies” would come home all hell would break loose in the best way possible. There were these certain types of women that commanded this raw sexual energy that controlled a room. It was palpable. It was delicious.
Break out the hats and hooters.
Yes, Aja taught this 17 year old many things. Some insight. Some life lessons. A peek into a part of the subculture only so many people were part of. Buy your kids this album even if you think its going to sit on the shelf for years. One day it will be put to use. These lessons, like the record, stand the test of time.
