Long before I wrote for Goldmine, my first-ever piece of rock journalism was this rant I wrote over winter break of my freshman year in college, 1977-78. It was subsequently published as an emeritus contribution to The NorthCaster, the literary magazine at my alma mater, North Syracuse Central High School. You can laugh at it now--and you probably should--but I've been told the future members of Syracuse's legendary punk-pop combo The Trend liked it a lot at the time. This would have been written a mere matter of weeks (if that) before I saw The Flashcubes for the first time. The level of teen snark expressed herein makes me cringe now, but it's who I was, just before my 18th birthday in January of 1978. I present it as evidence supporting my claim that I was the first punk in North Syracuse. Now, I'm just the oldest.
Some cropping here and there, and you may need to enlarge page two for easy viewing, but I betcha you can follow it. Top illustration was by my friend Michael DeAngelo. Additional art was by Steve Eckhart. The bloke who asked me to write the piece was my pal Joe Boudreau, older brother to singer-songwriter Maura Kennedy of The Kennedys.
Oh, and that title: "Groovin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)." Sounds sorta familiar, don't it?
2017 POSTSCRIPT: My original closing line was "Naw--it'll probably get nailed up, like that other Messiah." I'm pretty sure I stole that line anyway, but there was no freakin' way it was ever gonna get past editorial.
Otherwise: some of my opinions have evolved since 1978. But I hadda start somewhere.
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