Lately I wax sentimentally about how “things” have changed, and not necessarily for the better.  Then I always catch myself, for I remember how bitter those sentiments sounded when my parent’s generation (the “GI generation”) espoused similarly. 

Sometimes I chagrin metaphorically when I see how greed is dividing the country I was fortunate enough to have been born into among the rich and poor with a diminishing middle.  I often wonder, if prices will ever truly fall while income rises?  Wouldn’t that be headline  good news?!  I see how many things are adding-up on my list of needed replacement or update that I cannot currently afford: my car, my lawnmower, my eye check-up, my dental check-up, my music amplifier, my mixer, my television, my computer, my hammer, my file cabinet, my playstation, my wardrobe, my vinyl milk crates when customed shelves are needed; my bicycle, my glasses, my location, my cordless telephone, my mobile telephone, my fence in my yard, my PC’s monitor and I think, “Damn, this stuff is outpacing my ability to live comfortably, and yet, I’m considered ‘lucky’.” 

Then the verse came to me from a past favorite song that is just as relevant today as it was in 1973 when they sang it for the first time.  It is from a song called “Shoe Shoe Shine” by The Dynamic Superiors; “Shoe Shoe Shine used to cost a dime, A penny would buy you plenty/A nickel was a fare that’d take you anywhere, Troubles we didn’t have many…” penned by my radio personality days acquaintances, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson.

So I am reminiscing the “good ole days” for my generation (the Baby Boomers), in a similar way as our forefathers did and as every generation will as they age until the aliens really DO come from a far away world in another galaxy, and make prices fall simultaneously with the sky, paving the way for the income of a species that will rise to scorn that we humans squandered thousands of opportunities to finally get it right…or not.  At least that is what tonight’s full moonlit crystal ball is revealing here in me humble casa. 

Now, check out the outfits, their “steps” (choreography) and the “business” falsetto of the late Tony Washington on this record that I cannot get out of my mind…

Pickhit:  Obviously and joyously effeminate (which wasn’t an issue back then), Tony Washington’s sound was so unique! I miss it.  On “Feeling Mellow” he really stretched-out in 1975; Yes, that is emcee Don Cornelius (LOL); “Love, Peace and…SOUL!” who appears to ignore Tony, by the way. Hmmmm… I would have let the lead singer be the spokesman for the group in the interview.

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