Bumping Into Ghosts

More from my magical memory tour. Here I revisit my father's old nightclub. He featured all kinds of music, from The Archies (I was disappointed that Betty and Veronica were hippies), to Gary Lewis and the Playboys, to Faith, a mid-70s local rock band that had an intense following, to country legend Dottie West. It remains one of my favorite haunts from my youth, as you'll see. You'll also notice that my friend Jim has trouble with the camera's off-switch, though we could pass it off as an artistic choice.



This is the only house where I had any real fun. There were bad times, too, especially when the IRS targeted my father and threw our world into chaos. But this place holds some happy memories for me. As we were taping this, a stray pit bull was crouched and growling to my left. An animal control truck suddenly appeared, chasing the dog through the nearby housing development. None of this broke my narrative stride. Training, baby.



The greatest record store of my life: Second Time Around. Exposed me to my generation's "Sgt. Pepper" -- "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols." I return here every time I hear the opening boots and beat of "Holidays In The Sun." An electric shock that charged me back then, and remains with me still.