I’m listening to a ’70s station on the radio the other day and one of my favorite songs by The Dramatics comes on, “Whatcha see is Whatcha get,” and it really got me thinking…
They don’t make music like they used to…
It also served to remind me that I grew up in a time when records were made of vinyl and album covers (LP or “long playing” covers) were a small work of art. Records (disc formats: 33s, 45s and 78 RPMs) were played on boxy turntables back in the day and we even owned one that had a needle that needed a penny on top of it just to keep it stable (smile); and they were affordable! A 45 single could run you somewhere between 75 cents to one dollar and a whole album (LP) could run from eight to ten dollars… Also, your favorite song wasn’t as accessible as it is today. There was no Google or other search engines to go to when you just had to hear that song. You actually had to wait and hope the DJ would play your song on the radio or better yet, your parents owned the record so you could hear it at your leisure.
I loved Saturdays though because although we did not have YouTube, what we did have featured a lot of Rhythm & Blues & Soul music all in one place. It was called Soul Train (the musical variety show on TV). It was the center of my world back then and my show! I planned my Saturdays around it.
I marveled at the dancing, the fashions, the too-easy-to-solve word puzzles, and Don Cornelius’s ability to use his charismatic personality to captivate audiences each and every week.
I wanted his job, as it seemed like it was more a labor of love than a daily grind.
At any rate, the 70’s were a special time, there were no smart phones for people to listen to music out of and dare I say, we were far less distracted as a result. Plus, music seemed to possess real meaning, as we sang along to heartfelt lyrics which oftentimes conjured up deep thoughts.
‘Watcha see is Watcha get’ by The Dramatics is just one example from the ’70s of a song with meaning. As it turned out, it was far more than a song lyric, it was a way of life for me, a pre-teen coming of age in the small town of Groton, CT…