The Days of Disco

I want to be 10 again. If only for a little while. I want to go back to the blizzard of '78 and the music of '79. I want to ice skate to the music of Donna Summer at the local skating rink. I want to cram myself into a car with 10 of my friends to go to the movies and then I want to wait for one of our parents to come pick us up to cram myself back into the car for the ride home. I want to go back to the late 70's and early 80's.I want to go back to when life was good.

I can't really blame it on the fact that it's a little dreary outside that I'm so nostalgic. I've been that way ever since the 70's slipped away. I admit I loved the 80's, but probably only because I was a little bit older and had a little more freedom. I was able to actually leave the street and stay out longer than when the first street light came on. But, even while enjoying the 80's, I stilled pulled out the record player and listened to my 45's. When I went out with my walkman in the 80's I was usually listening to music that I had taped from the radio in '79. I was listening to Donna Summer, The Bay City Rollers and more than a few of what we now refer to as lost 45's. I love all the one hit wonders of the 70's and 80's. And although now we have CD's, live streaming over the internet, and music delivered directly to our cell phones, so sans the crackling...I now have all my 70's and 80's on my phone, internet and Ipod. However,I still sometimes miss the white noise of my old vinyl.

Not only was the music so much better back in the days of Disco, without all the swearing and lyrics we could actually understand and relate to, but television was also a much more simple pleasure. Yes, I have shows now that I just absolutely have to TiVo, like the new Hawaii Five-O, Criminal Minds, Law & Order SVU and the Mentalist, but when television was simple we had great shows like the old Hawaii Five-O, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Charlie's Angels. There was no blood, guts and gore. There was no swearing, raping, robbing, pillaging and everyone was pretty much covered by clothes. It was a time when Starsky and Hutch were about as violent as it got. It was television that you could watch with your children. And you watched it all on 9 channels! 9 channels with "Rabbit Ears" that you didn't have to pay for! Oh, those were the days. Even Archie and Edith thought so.

Saturday mornings were the BEST! We sprang from our beds right to the parlor to catch the morning cartoons before breakfast. With cartoons like the Flintstones, we also had shows with people in puppet costumes like Sigmund The Sea Monster, H.R. PuffinStuff and of course the Banana Splits! They were just plain silly and fun. But we also had educational shows. And apparently these shows must have been pretty good, because they have stood the test of time and can still be found on TV today if you sift amongst the trash. Who doesn't let their child watch Sesame Street or Zoom? Ok, Maybe Scooby-Doo wasn't quite educational, but does Saturday morning get any more simple than he and Shaggy? Transformers? I can't even understand half of what they say. I suppose it's ok though, because I no longer watch Saturday morning cartoons. But, perhaps I would if I knew I could turn on the boob tube and catch a quick episode of Casper the Friendly Ghost or I could "follow the bouncing ball" during an episode of Mighty Mouse.

Oh those board games! "Who wants to play...?" A question that was constantly being asked. Monopoly, Sorry, Stratego, Payday, Trouble, Clue. What, nobody wants to play? Well, I can't play by myself! No worries. Somebody always wanted to play. It's what we did. When it was raining out and we couldn't play Hide and Seek, Relerio, Kick the Can or Red Rover, Red Rover, we all gathered at one kids house and pulled out the tried and true board games. When we were done with one, we moved on to the next. All day playing video games? Hysterical. If you were lucky enough to own an Atari when it first came out, you were allowed to play one dimensional Frogger or Pac-Man for an hour. There was no way on God's green earth you were going to waste a whole day in front of that thing! But, it didn't matter, because after an hour's time, we were bored with it and wanted to go out and play. What a strange concept that seems to be for so many these days...GO OUT AND PLAY. Kids these days just don't know how. They look to their cell phones or hand held devices such as DS to play their games. Challenge your friend who's standing right next to you? Why bother when you can play with someone you have never met, from a country you have never heard of over the internet. Children just don't know one another anymore unless Mommy sets up a "play date". What exactly is a "play date" anyway? Oh, isn't that when children see each other in person and actually play? That's right, it's kind of like what we did back when times were GOOD. Only Mommy didn't set it up; we were able to figure it out all by ourselves. We were a social generation.

Ok, as much as I miss the 70's and 80's, I have no choice but to admit that I'm happy that most of the fashion back then turned out only to be fads! I'm all set with the bell-bottom pants and flower shirts with striped pants. But on a brighter note, at least we wore those bell-bottom pants above our waists and not below our asses. And as far as hair goes, afros looked hysterically funny back then, so why are some people still walking around with picks in the back of their head? Don't people realize that the only person who ever looked good in an afro was (and still is) Lenny Kravitz? However, how many of us are still wearing Nike sneakers? I know I am. I got my first pair when I was 10. So for the past 32 years, I have had a new pair every year. Unfortunately, Nike Cortez are much more difficult to find now than they were back when times were good. But when all is said and done, if nothing else, the fashion non-sense of the 70's make for a great way to break the ice at any party, because we all laugh about it. I wish I could laugh at the trends of today the same way. I find it hard to do, because every time I try to go out and buy clothes or sneakers, I'm stuck sifting through all the rubbish. Maybe I wouldn't mind if I were taller or my feet were larger, because then I wouldn't have to shop in the Jr's department where the teen shoppers are targeted. Oh, well I still have those good 'ol Levis and If I scour the internet or take a trip to NYC, I can still get my Nike Cortez.

So, now that I've thoroughly depressed myself with this overwhelming attack of nostalgia, I've decided to console myself. I suppose that's one good thing about not being 10 anymore; I can add some spirits to my Kool-aid. It's off to break out the old 45's and the record player. I'm going to listen to all my old favorites with all that beautiful white noise. I'm going to sing "Ring My Bell" at the top of my lungs and I'm going to dance the Freak! I'm going to let all the good times come flooding back and then when it's bed time, I'm going to put it all away and thank the Lord for giving me some of the best memories anyone could ever have.