1982-83-84 - waiting for things to give

I was saying "if I thought of anything else that happened in 1982" last night - I said that because I was half-asleep at the time! - but I did actually think of something that might have been '82 or maybe even '81 - again, I'm saying that because of who I remember being with me at the time... We went to this thing, I think it was a political fundraiser, actually, but we hadn't given any money (as I keep saying, I was always quite broke during these years, I didn't really have any money to give) - somebody got hold of these tickets somewhere, though, and we went to this concert at the Austin Opry House. It was several different acts and I don't really even remember who all it was, but at the end Jerry Jeff Walker came out - he lived in Austin at that time, and may still for all I know - and Gary P. Nunn was with him and they did "London Homesick Blues" which I was absolutely thrilled by because I've always had this sort of inexplicable love for that song - inexplicable, I mean, given that I am not generally much of a country-music fan. (If the name of the song doesn't mean anything to you, you may know the chorus at least - "I wanna go home with the armadillo...")

It occurs to me that I also went to see Willie Nelson, maybe in '82 (actually on reflection I think it was a couple of years earlier), with my sister in Houston. It was at quite a small venue, somewhere on Richmond near the Galleria, so it was really cool. I say I don't like country music but actually there have always been certain acts that I like, including Willie and Jerry Jeff and others of those so-called "Texas Outlaw" guys. (I forgot to mention it, but I also know I went to see Michael Murphy on campus, in maybe 78 - I think it was at the old gym across from Jester, which is long-gone - Gregory Gym, I think? He wasn't considered a country act that time but like a bunch of those 70s acts, he was heavily country-influenced, anyway, even before he crossed over to officially being country.)


So in 1983, I graduated again. But instead of going out and getting a job, I elected to stay and do co-op things. Taos Co-op was opening that fall, and I went and was part of the group that went over in the summer and remodeled and did the paperwork involved in getting going. I got a part-time library job - it wasn't anything befitting a professional librarian at all, but I didn't care at the time (money is money), and I also got almost-free room and board from the new co-op. So that was enough to go on with. When the rest of the new co-op's residents arrived in late August (with Hurricane Alicia hot on their heels, as it happened) there were certain people that I bonded with immediately. A whole new set of friends (besides the old ones, some of whom had come over with us.) Several of these friends were male - I always do get along well with guys. A guy named Paul was my buddy for many afternoons of sitting in the hall drinking wine coolers, and a guy named Rick introduced me to a lot of new bands I hadn't heard before. One of these was Echo and the Bunnymen, who he adored, and soon I did too.
Here's "The Cutter"

I will go ahead and skip to the next year, when we would see Echo & the Bunnymen live at the Austin Opry House - it was general admission and a pretty small floor and we were packed in and in danger of getting squashed to jelly because we were right up against the stage. (There were a couple of bands opening for them - one had their own cult following which basically came for their performance and left. - I can't exactly remember who this was. I remember that the people who came and then left before the other performers seemed much more "punk" than the rest of the crowd, generally.) The middle act was Billy Bragg, who was pretty unknown in the US at the time, but he was awesome.) And then Ian and the boys. I don't remember specifically what they played. I just remember dancing my head off. (I also remember that we stopped on the way home and bought bottles and bottles of Gatorade and chugged them down. (It was August, I believe. It was damn hot.)

(I'll come back and fill in & around this later. Right now I'm going to try to get some sleep.)