This past Sunday morning, I was reminded of how an insignificant moment will sometimes stick in your mind. It also reminded me how potent sound can be to create moods or trigger memories.
Here’s the setting: the usual Sunday A.M. gig, checking the program log at PAX TV while catching two weekly radio shows about The Beatles. Both shows were spotlighting George Harrison, as he would have turned 61 this week if he were still alive. The second show cued up an odd chestnut from 1977 called “Crackerbox Palace” which, strangely enough, triggered a very vivid memory.
Around five years ago, I was out of town on a job at Amelia Island, off the east coast of Florida, very near the Georgia border. The people I was working for had booked rooms at this resort on the island, and my room was not far from the beach.
It was early Sunday morning. I was awake because I had to take the video gear from this place down to the Miami area, and I was going to get an early start on the drive which would take me almost the entire length of the coast. I had the sliding glass door open, so the sound of the ocean could be heard. I also had the TV on.
On the TV was “Saturday Night Live.” But it wasn’t new, it was from 1977. And on this episode of “Saturday Night Live” was a video for “Crackerbox Palace.”
What struck me at the time was that this song and the accompanying video were both very much a product of the 70s. The fact that I was watching this at 3 A.M. seemed oddly appropriate. The vibe I got from other artifacts of the 70s usually felt like late nights – “Rocky Horror”, disco clubs, parties a la “Dazed and Confused”. It felt like being up all night was changing from something strange to something to celebrate.
The feeling I had was one of nostalgia, which is odd considering I was but a baby in rural upstate New York in 1977. My mind often conjures images of people out in the city at night, and it feels like the late 70s and early 80s. It seems like a dark and dangerous time, but an adventurous and pure time as well.
All these years later, I felt like I was the only one getting this glimpse back in time at that moment. I was both comforted and isolated by the night, and I felt like I was there, even though I never was.
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