Updated on 8/9/22
In 1971, Carly Simon's "Anticipation," "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin, and Sly and the Family Stone's
"Family Affair" were at the top of the popular music charts. When those songs were released, I was a little hippie attending 7th grade at St. Thomas the Apostle school in West Hartford, Connecticut. Our teachers were mostly nuns, as was the principal.
A strict dress code was in place at Saint Thomas. Gray pants, a white shirt, school-maroon tie, brown or black shoes, and certain colors of socks were required every day for male students. For female students, the required school uniform consisted of a gray ? skirt, white blouse and maybe some type of neckwear.
At that time, my favorite place anywhere was Irv Jeffrie's Music Town in West Hartford Center. As the town's first 'head shop' and purveyor of all sorts of counter-culture merchandise, Music Town was the coolest store I had ever seen.
A Bess Eaton donut shop was situated next door to Irv Jeffrie's store, and I think it was when I was with my Dad, picking up donuts at Bess Eaton, that I became aware of this far-out place just next-door.
At Irv Jeffrie's store, I first heard of Canned Heat, who have been my favorite musical act for decades now. "On The Road Again" was playing in the store when my Dad and I went there for the first time. That was the first song I heard by Canned Heat, and it instantly resonated with me.
It was at the Music Town store where I saw a lightweight sweatshirt that was designed to look like an American flag. Even though I was only in junior high, I was reading Abbie Hoffman books, and listening to Bob Dylan and Country Joe and the Fish. I really wanted that American flag shirt.
My Parents weren't big fans of the American flag shirt, but I think it was my big Christmas present that year. I do remember my Parents reminding me that I couldn't wear the shirt to school. Stupid kid that I was, I wore the shirt to school underneath my white shirt and maroon tie within a couple of weeks of receiving it.
I'm not sure what I was anticipating by removing my mandatory white shirt and tie before walking into my homeroom. When the nun/teacher saw my attire, she wasn't happy. In my adolescent mind, I was making some sort of revolutionary statement. The teacher didn't want to know about any sort of statement. Right away, I was told to go to the Principal's office.
The head nun/school principal and I were already acquainted, due to my being caught smoking a cigarette on school grounds, after school. The length of my hair was also an issue with the administration. She called my Father at work, and I think he had to come and get me. That didn't make my Dad happy.
There was another incident, where I stole a bottle of vermouth from my Parents' liquor cabinet, and brought it to our seventh-grade dance. That was the first time I drank alcohol, and even though the vermouth made me sick, I loved it.
As punishment for violating the parochial school's dress code, I had to work in the school office for an hour or two, every schoolday, for a few weeks. Shortly after the American flag shirt issue was resolved, a female student at St. Thomas who was actually my girlfriend, locked me out on the roof of the school gymnasium as a joke, after I went out there on a dare.
The students and teachers in classrooms on that side of the building could see me clowning-around on the roof, and the head nun had the school custodian unlock the window so I could get back in.
My Parents had to come back to the school for another meeting with the school administration, and it was requested that I end my affiliation with the educational institution. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Updated on 8/9/22
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