berlinnot the place
but the band
never owned any of their stuff on vinyl
but I do recall the catch and cool songs in the clubs
sex and metro seem to come to mind
the singer was hot in a liquid sky sort of way
they were clearly new wave
it was dangerous to admit any attraction to anything so new wave
I recall going to the clubs around dupont as a high school student
charmichaels, cagneys, and whispers
whispers being a tad more friendly as a high school friend's older sister was the bartender
thus allowing a little less fear to our being turned away
then of course there was larry the doorman who was good enough to let us pass with our assortment of less than perfect ids
at this time the drinking age was 18 years of age
so being 15 or 16 seemed like splitting hairs
we were there to dance
not so much to drink
no one wants to dance on an empty dance floor
so I am sure that they did not mind letting a few kids slip through the cracks to fill the void
funny to think that we were all children trying to pass ourselves off as adults
with our thrift shop garb and our home made haircuts
the jarheads stepping in between me and my dates
nothing that my boyish body could do against the threat of these obnoxous men
my dates never caring for the attention from the jarheads but not knowing how to respond
never flattered by the attention of these overbearing types
usually more of a threat than a friendly approach
crazy misspent youth
hitchhiking to get downtown
as these were times before the metro train...
well... the train only went as far as Van Ness UDC
not as far as Bethesda
so thumbing it was usually the method of choice
the warmer months involved skateboarding and hanging in the parks
drinking forties in dupont
meeting up with friends at the exorcist stairs or under the bridge at the canal
although neither of those places were my home court... I did go down there from time to time
then of course the shows
the afternoon shows at the community centers
my brother ran into one of my old friends from that era the other day
that song and the mention of that name brought back so many memories from that era