We were so far off the grid that there was no TV and no radio available to kids — there was AM, but not loud enough for a portable radio to hear, you needed to string a long antennae. Back then there was still music on AM radio, but only country and “easy listening” and religious.

My parents had country and folk on 8-track — think Charlie Pride and Joan Baez and Tennessee Ernie Ford. My older sisters had Panasonic Personal Cassette Players (monaural, requires six C batteries) and were listening to ABBA. I don’t think I got a single opportunity to control what music I heard in 1977, with one exception.

I’m pretty sure it was 1977 (possibly 1976) when an older friend and I spent two or three bored days sitting around in a shed with a turntable and a dusty box of old pop singles that did not belong to us. The only song I remember (he liked it, I didn’t) was a song called I Won’t Go Huntin With You Jake (But I’ll Go Chasin Women).

It wasn’t until I got to college in the mid-1980s that I got any meaningful control over my sonic environment.

I’m so glad you liked this story. So who were you listening to in 1977? If you say you weren’t born yet, I will blush.

After reading Suzie’s posting (re: “…you had to NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL APPROVAL.”), it gives Joan’s “I don’t give a fuck about my bad reputation” lyric a more defined meaning.