AC/DC "Back In Black"

Yesterday's post reminded me of my "glory days" of high school sports.

We had a really great basketball team when I was a senior in high school.  A few good players in my class, and a bunch of really strong juniors to create a deep team.

These were the days of boom boxes and cassettes, and somebody usually brought one to the game.  I think there were varying opinions about what song the team should come out to, and I'm sure it changed frequently, but the one that really sticks out for me is "Back In Black."

I can remember standing in that sweaty, adrenalized, anticipatory hallway, my own nerves jangling, not just because we were about to play a Big Game (I wasn't one of the stars or starters, so playing wasn't something to be too nervous about), but because I was going to have to run out of this darkened hallway into a gymnasium full of peers and parents, wearing what amounted to just slightly more than a bathing suit (1920s-style, anyway).

Some Youth Basketball waterboy would be tasked with waiting outside the door, and hitting play on the boom box.

"Back In Black" starts with the cymbal count-off, and I can remember hearing that and feeling the team surge forward, toward whatever thrill of victory, agony of defeat and possibility of my shorts falling down, lay ahead . . .



Hear the song on Youtube.

J. Geils Band "Whammer Jammer"

I'm on vacation this week, so please enjoy a week's worth of mini-stories . . .

Kids can be so cruel.

One time, in the high school basketball locker room, we were listening to the J. Geils Band, and I said, "What kind of a**hole would want the nickname 'Magic Dick.'"

And one of the guys in the locker room looked at me, deadpan and said "What kind of a**hole would want to go by the nickname 'PJ'?"

Sans comeback, I quietly returned to straightening my non-magic jockstrap.



Hear the song on Youtube.