“The work of memory collapses time.”

— Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), philosopher, cultural critic, essayist

I’ll never forget the day I drove the first car I owned and bought myself off the lot at LeBrun Motors in Waterloo. It was a used, gold 1971 Datsun 1200 four-speed with a cool, fast-back look about it. Not knowing how to work a clutch, I didn’t actually drive it off the lot myself. My good friend Ron came to the rescue, drove it and me away, and then taught me how to change gears on the back roads.

Then came the next major upgrade: an 8-track tape player. I bought it at Cass TV up at the Town & Country Plaza, along with my very first tape: “Glenn Miller’s Greatest Hits.” My friends were bewildered that I’d bought “old fogey music” instead of the Beatles, Stones, or the Who. Such is life. I still have that 8-track somewhere.

My love of WWII-era culture just seemed to come as standard equipment with me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits (“Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” was my favorite), and the Beach Boys, etc., but there was something about the big bands: Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey,........

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