DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME;

THAT WAS THE 70s.

nothing we come up with is out of the blue. i think things just swirl around
as you are assessing your experiences and POOF an idea comes about. i think
all things happen that way. of course, i am only guessing. but a song i had
written contained a description of a place. now, i had only made this place
up. but, a few weeks ago i visited a bar and realized that i had written about
this place. but i hadnt been to it in its present nature. but i HAD been
there before. when i was 11 years old.

but now its a restaurant and bar. but it looked exactly as i imagined it in
the song AND I HADNT EVEN SEEN IT. i didnt know the bar i was in when i was a
child was now a restaurant. but i wrote the song before i saw the inside of
the restaurant/bar. ok, even i am confused. but the visual and the feel of
the place never left me. my step dad, Smitty, used to bring my younger
brother, AJ, and i to this place when it had a different name. and they had
video games. pacman. asteroids. dig dug. galaga.

he would tell my mom he was taking us out for a while, usually when my mom was
making something spectacular in the kitchen on a Saturday and wanted everyone
out of the house. so off we would go, to this bar. and we would have a few
dollars worth of quarters and Smitty would sit at the bar and order Johnny
Walker over ice, a double. this was way before people got pulled over for
drunk driving. this was the 70s. and the bar had a jukebox and everyone was
very interested in disco. i liked disco. and i tell that to punk rockers and
they hate that.

i liked those white suits and i like to dance when ive had a few. Smitty liked
to wear vests, unbuttoned, and sported a mustache. to this day i will never
grow a mustache. now, to play video games, not get nagged by mom and to hear
great Bee Gee songs was simply a slice of heaven. my mom never knew about all
this until i told her a few years ago. nor did she know that Smitty would take
us to the back entrance of Hollywood Park and we would hop the back gate to bet
on horses. win place or show. i bet $3.50 and won $22 once. this was back
when kids could bet and no one would say anything. this was the 70s.

and even at the racetrack the Bee Gees music would be playing. and i thought
to myself those guys are very talented. it must take a genius to make music.
and after the next week Smitty said we all had to go to Mexico City for a month
while he did some business deals. i liked to travel so i was more than
thrilled. Smitty imported south american exotic birds and then resold them to
businesses. the birds had to be quarantined for a while and he paid AJ and i
to help clean the cages. this was disgusting but good money. i was 11 years
old and went out and bought Queens greatest hits and the Saturday Night Fever
soundtrack. even on the radio at the quarantine post the Bee Gees were on the
radio.

So we spent 3 weeks in Mexico City in September of 1977, staying at the EL
PRESIDENTE HOTEL. i remember a mexican holiday or celebration or something and
it also rained everyday. we went to a restaurant and i was dying for a hotdog.
they brought me out a hotdog with a slice of avocado on it. that disappointed
me. and on the sound system were teh Bee Gees. again. in 1977 there was no
escaping the Bee Gees. right before we had left LA my mom took me to see
Saturday Night Fever. she walked out in disgust but was nice enough to allow
me to watch the rest of the movie, which i loved (and still love). afterwords
she told me she would never take me to another movie. that was 1977. true to
her word, she has never taken me to another movie since.

Camino Real

the very week Smitty surprised us all by taking us to cancun. at the time,
there were only a few hotels, as it was only recently made into a resort. it
was nothing like it is now. at the time it was very serene. these two 18 year
old women from san francisco were vacationing at the same hotel as us, HOTEL
CAMINO REAL. i remember that they had brought their own water with them. that
was wise. however, i had already overcome the usual stomach problems that
accompany a trip to mexico. they chatted me up by the pool, they also thought
AJ was cute, him being 7 years old. i liked both women but i was only 11 years
old. it turned out they both liked the Bee Gees and had seen them live. i
said NO WAY. and they said WAY. i thought that was pretty cool.

well, when we got back to LA i had to start middle school. less than a year
later my mom divorced Smitty and, until a few weeks ago, i hadnt step foot in
that bar. it had been over 25 years. it didnt look the same. there was a
jazz band playing live. they served fish and Louisiana style food. i ordered a
Heineken. the only thing that was the same was that the bar was still in a big
square. all this time. still in a square. and then it hit me; i had
imagined this place but had never been here! or was i just losing my marbles?
i didnt know anymore. the jazz band played ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE and the sax
player sang and for once, someone didnt try to mimic Satchmo; he did it his own
way. i took a tug at the Heiny as i looked around. i never would have thought
this place would have outlasted the Bee Gees.

SCOTTISH ROSE RECORDINGS
www.thefreedomman.com

=====

Mike Randle
mike@lovewitharthurlee.com

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