Nostalgia.   Longing for an idealized past.  Hmmm.  It’s not that I want to be in the eleventh grade again.  But I remember moments, comfortable moments.  Jack Bogut¹  in the morning while getting ready for school as Mom made oatmeal for Dad.  Do you remember Farkleberry Tarts?  It was while listening to Bogut In The Morning on KDKA that I heard so many songs for the first time.    

Where Were You When You First Heard…?

Here’s one.  Where were you when you first heard Dave Loggins’ Please Come to Boston?  – the 1974 conversational ballad about the ramblin’ boy.  I was a junior in high school in the first half of 1974 and would not have admitted to listening to, much less enjoying, such a song.

But I liked the song (Please don’t tell my friends in physics class).  I still like it.  Follow this link and listen: Dave Loggins – Please Come To Boston

Every morning Mom turned on KDKA and we listened to Jack Bogut.  So, if Jack played Please Come To Boston, I heard it there.  It wasn’t my fault!  I wanted to listen to something cool, like David Bowie, which is what I told my friend Steve who was a huge Bowie fan.  But Bogut didn’t play much David Bowie.  I guess Jack wasn’t cool.  Neither was I, actually. 

Not too long ago, in a fit of nosalgia (or late night insanity), Linda and I bought one of the CD song sets promoted on the tube.  Tony Orlando talked us into it.  Nostalgia in a box.  Takes me back to what was happening in 1974, or whatever song I’m listening to.         

What Was Happening When Dave Sang The Song?

In 1974 Dave was being wooed back to Tennessee and…President Nixon resigned.  Speaking of Boston, in 1974 the Red Sox finished third in the American League East after losing catcher Pudge Fisk to a knee injury for the season.  The 55 MPH speed limit was imposed nationwide, and Isabela Peron — Evita — became the President of Argentina.  The Pirates won the National League East under Danny Murtaugh, but lost to the Dodgers, who lost to the dysfunctional Oakland Athletics led by Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter.  Remember Rollie Fingers’ mustache?  

The same year the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted four future Hall of Famers: Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster.  Not that they need much help.  The 1974 Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings to win Super Bowl IX with Penn State grad Franco Harris winning the game’s MVP award.   

Not everything was comfortable.  In 1974 the Viet Nam War was smoldering to an end.  William Calley was freed after serving 3 1/2 years under house arrest following his conviction for the murder of 22 My Lai civilians.

But, in 1974 Barbara Streisand’s The Way We Were and Terry Jack’s Seasons In The Sun were Billboard’s #1 and #2 songs respectively.  The movie Blazing Saddles was released that year. 

Where were you in 1974 when you first heard the song?

Wait.  I remember American Pie .  1972.  I am sure I first hear it on KDKA, on Bogut In The Morning.  Here’s the 8-minute version:  Don McClean- American Pie

Where were you when you first heard Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie ?

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2009).

1. For those of you not familiar with Pittsburgh radio, Jack Bogut was a popular morning host on KDKA.  He still broadcasts in Pittsburgh but now with WJAS AM 1320.  I first mentioned Bogut in a previous article Jack Bogut Is Still Alive.