The Soundtrack, Part II

We moved from the Lenexa house to an apartment in the same school district, so although my school didn't change, my neighborhood and friends did. I still had the David Cassidy obsession that was stronger than the Donny Osmond one for some reason, and I remember looking forward to "The Partridge Family" on TV on Fridays when my mom would let us eat in the living room so we could watch at seven. "The Brady Bunch" was on right before or after, but I wasn't as interested in that show except for the brief desire to be Peter's girlfriend. The Brady Bunch singing was too hokey for me even in the 4th grade.

Fourth grade was the year we moved again near the end of the year to a bigger house and a new school district in Merriam, Kansas. I was shy and didn't like being the "new girl" in school, so I didn't talk to many people until I met my soon to be best friend in the whole world, Jodie. I thought she was so cool. Her mom sewed ruffles at the bottom of her jeans and decorated them with cool patches. She lived near me, so we rode bikes together and spent weekends either at her house or mine for sleepovers, staying up very late and watching music shows on TV, listening to the radio, and playing games like Life and Masterpiece that I didn't have. She loved Donny Osmond too, and we listened to the first album after his voice changed with "The Twelfth of Never" on it. I can still embarrass my kids by singing that song.

Jodie and I found another obsession. We watched "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" (I'm not sure if that is the correct full title), and we thought that Cher was the coolest person on earth. We grew our hair and fingernails long, and Jodie had the limp wrist gestures and the licking of the lips exactly right. All we wanted were Cher albums and 45s. There were other songs by other artists we liked too, after we heard them on the radio or saw them on TV, but to have a Cher album would be the best.

My first purchase of a 45 record was Neil Diamond's "Cherry Cherry." Jodie and I had listened to it one night at her house. We were on the floor of her room in our sleeping bags and listening to the radio; we laughed so hard at the lyrics, but I think it was because it was probably about 2 in the morning, and we were ten. I rode my bike to the TG&Y (a precursor of a Wal- or K-mart type store) with the correct change in my pocket. I think that 45s were about 50 cents in 1974, and I had figured in the tax and was ready. I knew I wasn't supposed to ride my bike that far from home, but I had to have "Cherry Cherry." The TG&Y was about 5 miles from our house, if memory serves, and I knew the way because we rode in the car there all the time. I flawlessly and without incident rode there, bought the record, put it inside my shirt, climbed back on my Huffy and rode home. I made the mistake of telling my little sister, Teresa, what I'd done and although I swore her to secrecy, she told Mom and I was grounded from my bike for a week. It was worth it for Neil.