On that day in 1978 - 17 July

I thought this day was interesting as it's difficult for me to imagine now waking up and deciding to hop on a train to Glasgow! I was in the UK until September but I had a two-week rail pass, which allowed me to board any train at any time.

I had met 'Johnny Cash' Phillips the summer before in front of a record shop in central Glasgow; I had been wearing a Nazz T shirt and he had noticed it. We were both huge Todd fans. He lived at home, in a suburb of Glasgow. My friend Dorota (who had originally been my pen pal; found her name in the back of an Archie comic book when I was 12 or 13) lived in another suburb and I had stayed with her the year before. I stayed with her again the night following this.

I moan so much it's almost embarrassing to transcribe this, but I really did (and do) love Glasgow. It was still rather seedy in those days but that was part of its charm. On the days following this one I rave about the record shops - "best in the world!" - as well as the clothes shops, but I'm also bought a "hamburger" which was a piece of spam (yeah, the stuff Monty Python sang about) dipped in batter and deep-fried, and I'm taken to this American joint, the 51st State, where the waitresses wore hot pants and "they were out of everything - got warm Cokes - yuk!!"

17 July 1978

Well, I got up this morning and there really was no reason to stick around London so I walked to the phone booth and called John Phillips. He was in bed so his mom said to call back in ten minutes.

So I walked down the street - never did find Virgin Records but I found HMV and so I bought the Big Star albums. [Those suckers were impossible to find in the USA; I'd been searching fruitlessly for months! But they had been re-released as a double album set in the UK. I found No. 1 Record soon afterward for a couple bucks.] Found three other phone booths all together but they were washing them all down!

So I went back to the original phone - John said to come - and I had to go back to Paul's and pack and get the tube to Euston. Got there 'bout 11:25 [I am impressed! The day before I had slept till 1:30!!] and found out there was a train at 11:45, so I made two quick calls, to Paul and John, and got on. Sat there and sat there and realised the train was 'late'. It's didn't leave till after 12:30 - strange. And of course there was no way to contact John! [Yes, kids, that's the way it used to be!!]

The ride up was awful - listening to those horrible redneck army American guys - yuk!!!! No one says "man" in Britain - oh yeah. [I think it was the Americans who were saying that, man...] And their horrible music on their tape player!! [Details, teenage self, where are the details?!!!]

So I got there and went and stood under the big clock. [This is the famous meeting place in Glasgow Central.] A couple minutes later John and his brother came. John sure looked different! I mean he still has a very good looking face but his hair - yecch!! [Sorry, John; I had no tolerance for long hippy hair in those days - what a snob!] And Dorota told me later that his hair is usually worse - that he must have washed it especially for me!

So we took the bus to his house - it was terrible [not his house; my comprehension!] - John had to repeat everything three times! [I had grown up among Scots, mainly from the Glasgow area, but his accent was rather thick - no problem these days though!]

John has the same kind of motorcycle as Tiger. I was so envious of his collection of Todd pictures - they have so many different ones over here!

John made me a hamburger and soup for dinner. It was almost a real hamburger... [Well, in those Wimpy-burger days ...]

So we went to a couple local pubs. The first one was full of old people. A scummy friend of John's was in there. [I am so scathing!]

Then we went to the other one, which was in a hotel. Oh, I forgot to describe the 'entertainment' in the first one - some loser playing the guitar and singing, first alone - then along with a John Denver record!! What a joke!!!

The entertainment in the hotel pub wasn't any better - an MOR band. [Or as they would call it, cabaret...]

John got me two pints of beer and then they took one away - what a waste! [I have always been a slow drinker so one at a time, folks!]

I forgot to say, John always calls me KARIBROMO in one word; Dorota didn't just write it like that! [I must be referring to an account of Dorota running into John in one of her letters to me.]

We went in the den but nothing was on TV any longer, so we listened to a Todd tape, till about 3am. John kept asking me and asking me about going to see the Loch Ness monster on his motorcycle ... Well, he finally went to bed and I slept in the den.