1975

As you all probably recall, I performed a well-received lip-sync sendup of "Philadelphia Freedom" during a third-grade talent show at Paducah's Concord Elementary School in the autumn of 1976. Here was Elton John performing it on today (Saturday, May 17) 1975's episode of Soul Train ...

 

I've spent a fair amount of time in Philadelphia, and I was a big fan of the Bicentennial. And I think I have specifically experienced a close version of what Bernie Taupin was thinking about when he wrote about how "the whippoorwill of freedom zapped me right between the eyes." 

I can draw a direct line of sight from that lonely experience--on a bicycle on a Sunday morning in an alley in Cary, North Carolina--to a very happy and non-lonely experience in Morganton, North Carolina, a few years later. Now here's a song that Johnny Bristol wrote about Morganton ...

Johnny Bristol, a breakout star for me of 2020, was on American Bandstand today in 1975 ...

My youngest sibling, who is older than me, really loved Elton John. He preferred American Bandstand to Soul Train. I hope, though, he wasn't too busy watching Johnny Bristol and instead got to see Elton John do this excellent performance on this Saturday, because I know Kurt really, really loved "Bennie and the Jets" at least at the time ...

In conclusion: Wow ... TV! And: Internet!