I have a very good memory...it's somewhat freakish. This post is a trip down adolescent memory lane. Even though my teenage years were far from perfect or even rosy-in truth...they sucked. But I guess I've been wanting to write a post like this for awhile (for what reason I have no idea-maybe it's therapy). This writing focuses on my Beatle/60's days and my memories of specific Beatle peebles. It was a very important time for me and maybe I'm a better person for it. I've never regretted my sister introducing me to the Beatles when I was 10 by playing Sgt Peppers.
*Disclaimer: these are my memories--How I experienced these events during this time might not be the same way another person experienced them. I just want to be clear and since I'm not making a bit of sense I will shut up and get to it.
I recently reconnected with someone I knew in high school and actually I knew of her in junior high even though I never talked to her; I reconnected with Laura, via of all places, Facebook. I haven't seen Laura since Beatlefest '87--more than 20 years ago...YIKES!
Many months ago, I was going through old photos and came across some of Beatlefest ('84 I think). The photos were of Jimmy, Melanie, Laura, Laurel and assorted other people in the hotel room at the Bonaventure Hotel (see pic above). I started wondering what all those people were doing now and especially Laura which is kind of funny because I never knew Laura that well. I really only knew her through Laurel.
(*NOTE: From this point forward when I mention both Laurel and Laura I will refer to them as L & L and when I refer to one or the other I will say their name).
When I was in 7th grade at a certain junior high in Huntington Beach, Orange County, I remember seeing this very tall blond girl wearing Beatle t-shirts and buttons. But I never talked to her which is crazy since I loved the Beatles at that time too. The summer before my freshman year in high school is when I first remember hanging out with Laura. However, L & L were very tight so it was kind of hard to break into their circle.
We used to have bday parties for the Beatles, specifically Paul (and I always wondered why we didn't have them for the other three-actually I think I went to one for George). Yes, I will repeat that..we actually had birthday parties for the Beatles. This particular one was my first and it might have been for Paul's 39 birthday. There were about 15 people at the party and most of them were nuts!!! And I guess i should include myself in that group of nuts. I remember wearing a t-shirt that Laurel let me borrow...It was black with the white album images. We all went outside to the parking lot at some point and held hands and went around in a circle singing "We love you Beatles. Oh yes we do etc." (Did we really do that? I think we did!). Ahh...the tape. We made an audio tape for Paul and we all got a chance to send him our birthday wishes. Some people cried. Some people said nasty things about Linda (I now regret ever saying bad things about Linda McCartney because she is someone I really admire now.). I'm sure Paul never received that tape (or if he did, he probably tossed it within the first few minutes of listening to it. HA!). After that period, I didn't see Laura for a year until she came to FVHS.
I was a sophomore when I started noticing the whole mod thing mainly because both L & L were in it. I really loved the whole psychedelic scene even though I was never technically one until I moved away to northern California. I told Laurel that I wanted to become a psych. Actually, I think I had someone else tell her for me because I was afraid of what she would say. Well, she got all huffy about it and she obviously didn't want me to be part of it. So instead I became a closet psych. I started shopping in thrift stores until my closet was bursting with groovy, groovy dresses, skirts, tops, boots, and 60s sewing patterns. Sometimes I would dress up at night and walk the dog (kind of pathetic, isn't it?). It wasn't until I moved that I completely changed--I even cut my hair very very short so it was all one length which was oh so important for the whole look. It probably sounds really stupid now but when you're in high school and someone doesn't want you to be a certain way-- you tend to let that effect your decisions. I now wish I had thought "what the hell and who cares what Laurel thought" and somehow had the balls to be myself and dress the way I wanted to. Ahh well...we all have regrets. (Wow--this is therapeutic!). Anyways, wonder what would have happened if I had told Laura rather than Laurel that I wanted to become psychedelic? Hmmm, something interesting to ponder.
What I remember about Laura is her being tough--nobody got in that girl's face...nobody was going to mess with her. I also thought she was really lucky cause any guy she liked she usually got. There was one conversation I had with some friends and we were all talking about how we wished we could be more like Laura (are you rolling your eyes yet?)--seriously! I just thought she was the coolest person I'd ever met at the time.
One of the best Beatlefests I had was the one I spent hanging out with Laura (1981?) for one of the days (without the other L. for once). Beatlefests usually lasted 2-3 days. We were waiting in line for the doors to open and when they did, we ran screaming trying to get the the front row seats. And then music started and we screamed louder and then the images of the boys came up on the screen and we screamed even louder. What fun!!! LOL. We never got to live through the real thing so we lived through it in our own special way. And those elevators at the Bonaventure--man those were some crazy ass elevators!
There were many times I went to Laurel's house for various get-togethers, parties and such. Laurel always made her famous taco dip and one night we were watching MTV and some 60's videos came on. Everytime someone very cool came on Laura would say "god". For instance, Brian Jones-"god", Keith Moon--"God". Then Madonna appeared and Laura screamed "c***"...and all of us started cracking up because Laurel's mom was upstairs. Because I was in my closet psych faze I always noticed what L. & L. were wearing. I distinctly recall Laura having a very cool green rain jacket-with a striped lining on the inside. It's funny that I can remember little details like that but sometimes I can't remember a person's name whom I just met.
When Laura told someone off she often said "you suck my d***" or "you suck my boyfriend's d***" which I though was incredibly cool. Laurel asked me one year to go to a birthday party her father was having for her. She said I would be doing her a big favor because she had to bring 3 people and Marianne couldn't come. (oh gee..thanks for telling me I was your second choice). So me, L & L and someone else who drove, went out to a fancy dinner theater type restaurant and watched some Grease musical number. I just remember it being weird and I think Laurel's mom was there rocking out to the music. So on the way home, in the car (you will not believe I remember this!), Rod the mod "Tonight I'm yours" came on the radio. And in the part of the song that he sings "rock me baby, rock me rock me", Laura sang along with her own lyrics"F*** me baby F*** me f*** me" and then the "Stray Cat Strut" came on and the part "strut right by with my tail in the air" Laura sang "strut right by with my ass in the air..." We laughed so hard.
Of course there were some bad memories too. The one I think of right away is when everyone went to see Paul in Los Angeles for the premiere of "Give my Regards to Broadstreet"...and no one invited me. I cried so hard that night. But I guess I could have gotten someone else to drive me to Los Angeles. But I'm thinking now..why didn't Laurel invite me? Who knows....
Sidenote: Yesterday I reconnected with another person from this time...Lucy!! I met Lucy at B'fest '85 (I think-it was a couple months before I turned 18). I saw her walking around the hotel with her boyfriend and I knew I had to talk to her. I finally saw her sitting alone on one of those benches/couches that were scattered all over the Bonaventure so I walked up to her and commented on her outfit. She looked up and asked me either if I was in a band or if I was a musician. And I told her "yeah I play the tambourine"--yes, I was regular Davy Jones (not even close-believe me!). I could have talked to Lucy for hours and hours but she was with her boyfriend and well, you know.
When I think of Lucy, I think of Nicole and I think of Dandy. Nicole was, as she claimed, the only "black" mod in the LA scene (this was in the mid-80s). This is how she introduced herself to me when we first met. And no, I have not reconnected with her on Facebook and don't plan to! Dandy (after the Stones song "Dandelion") was a name I wanted people to call me for a short time. I guess I wanted to become a different person or adopt a new persona but low and behold, I finally realized I was the same person inside and out. I once wrote a comparison English paper on Nicole and Lucy (and how I wish I still had that paper). Lucy was a psych...Nicole was a mod...Lucy had red hair...Nicole was black..It was a good paper believe me! I might have to do another blog post about Lucy.
End of Sidenote
It's Laura's birthday today. The thing I remember most about you is that you were always very nice to me and I guess that's the most important thing! I hope you have a great day you crazy groovy chick!
