bryan gordon of the a.m. band remembers. buhdge

buhdge remembers yesterday, and then some

Guest Remembrances

"Many of these musical memories have become intertwined with memories of my father."

My First Record Was the Perfect Record
by Bryan Gordon

Sometimes I think I had better taste in music at age seven than I did for many years afterward. I say this because when I look back on the music I was listening to as a seven year old boy growing up in Yonkers, New York, I’m amazed at how well that music stands the test of time. I still get chills when many of those songs come on the radio… even though they are now considered "oldies."

Sunny days in Yonkers may have been spent outside riding bikes with my two brothers, playing “Kick the Can” or “ring-a-levio,” but rainy days and evenings were spent sitting on the radiator looking out the window of our second floor apartment listening to DJ Bruce Morrow on WABC radio. It was “Cousin” Brucie that introduced me to the song that would remain my favorite and spark my obsession for early seventies songs and the people that wrote and performed them. The song was “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes),” by Edison Lighthouse.

From the first time I heard that song I was hooked. After 30-plus years of listening to it, I’ve come to realize why I like it. It was the “perfect” pop song; not too long, a great opening guitar riff, a beautiful vocal--nothing political about it to make it fall out of fashion… It was three minutes of perfection. I wanted a girl like “Rosemary”--some bohemian girl with flowing hair and weird clothes that was out of step with everyone and didn’t care! I needed that record! I took all of my money and hiked over to Sam Goody’s in the Cross County Shopping Center and eagerly went through the racks of 45s… but it wasn’t there! I went home crushed.

Later that week, while playing at my friend John Bottone’s house, I overheard “Love Grows” coming from John's older brother’s room. I proceeded to make John’s brother Al play it over and over again all afternoon until he was so tired of it he offered to sell it to me for 50 cents. The record had a big crack in it that had to be put into just the right position to keep it from skipping, but I didn’t care. It was mine! I proudly took that record home, set the crack into position and played it on my little turntable “She ain’t got mon”--skip--"She ain’t got no mon”--skip… My father got one listen to that and ordered me to get my money back. I was devastated.

In the end, Al gave me back 25 cents, although I told my dad that Al gave me all my money back and let me keep the record anyway. Eventually, I learned how to balance that crack better, and wore that damn record out. I still have it today, crack and all. It’s unplayable and the printing on the “Love Grows” label side is gone, reduced to just silver paper. It is totally worthless to anyone but me, yet it’s still one of my most prized possessions.

About three years ago, when my oldest son Reily was seven, I went on eBay and purchased a small mono record player, the kind with the pop-up-center post for 45s. I gave it to Reilly along with about 20 of my classic singles from the seventies. I explained to him that this is what we had before there were CDs and showed him how to use them. I only wish I had treated those records with the care and respect that he does; they would have been in much better condition today.

I want to thank Cousin Brucie for playing "Love Grows," Al Bottone for selling it to me, Barry Mason and Tony Macaulay for writing it, Greenfield Hammer (aka Edison Lighthouse) for playing it, Rick Wakeman for adding the “strings,” but most of all Tony Burrows for adding that beautiful vocal that made it a “perfect” record.

March 23 , 2005

Bryan Gordon is lead vocalist of the A.M. Band, a New York-based group dedicated to preserving the sound of the seventies pop experience with an exhaustive list of covers and original songs. Check out the band online, and tell them buhdge sent you!