Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face. It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience. The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.
In the mail today was a flyer for a local music hall. I was surprised to see that KISS was listed as one of the shows. Immediately I began humming "Rock and Roll All Nite." And yes, it's pathetic. But that was the first album I bought with my own money back when I was 13 years old. And yes, it was vinyl. I owned albums that I'd received as gifts, several of The Beatles and all of Elton John. There was even a nasty Glenn Campbell that my mother had given me for Christmas one year. But in 1976, I saved up my babysitting money--50 cents an hour, waited until our next trip to the big mall--twice a year in those days, and purchased KISS Alive! along with the just released Peter Frampton Comes Alive!
I spent the afternoon chaperoning the 6th grade social and coming home to see the flyer from Memorial Hall brought me back to my younger days. My husband thinks I had terrible taste in 70s music and perhaps I did. He doesn't think much of my favorites from high school either. But anytime I catch an old Boston or Robert Palmer (yes I know he was a sexist) song on the radio it always makes me happy.
I have the old Elton John and The Beatles albums all on CD now. But I never replaced my Kiss and Frampton albums. The originals are in the attic. And they were the only Kiss and Framptoon that I ever owned. I outgrew the albums fairly quickly but they'll always have a special place in my heart. Thinking about them today was like opening a time capsule.
KISS
Peter Frampton
What was the first album you purchased? And what is your happy story this week?