Hair!

I used to have lots of hair. Or, better said, I had a bunch more than I do today. Thinking of that fact, I found the old picture (on the left) somewhere on my computer as I was scratching around tonight for more thoughts about our years at RHS.

Hair was such a big deal is the '70s wasn't it? We guys and girls, black and white, spent hours and hours on our hair. My friend and yours, Lisa Garner Douglas (aka "Midnight") had lots of hair...tons of it. I think without her hair she would have weighed maybe 50 pounds or so. James Mickey "Fuzzy" Coats had hair. The Brady Bunch could have taken a vacation in Fuzzy's hair. Gary Brewer had hair. Ronnie Word, Freddy Terry, Steve Davis, Ronnie Tillman...the list goes on...we all had long, long hair!

My brother and I were once the owners of a Remington Hot Comb..remember those? We were so proud of it, too! I think Dad frowned on our constant use of the 'ole Hot Comb - he thought we burned too much electricity! But bless his heart, he let us use it as long as we wanted. (He had lots of hair too, but Vaseline Hair Tonic kept his in place without the aid of electrical devices).

Mark Cathey's hair was always immaculate. Mark Trucks' hair never moved - it stayed perfect all the time. Mine blew around a lot, like everytime the wind came along. (Only sissies used hairspray). I always figured that when Mark and Mark got up in the morning, their hair looked perfect. And, to make matters worse, Mark Cathey's Mom was his barber! He didn't even leave the house for a trim! (Life is no more fair today than it was in 1975).

The funny thing is that every once in a while, I still get some crazy idea about growing my hair back to the length it was when I was 18. Then, the pain killers wear off and I realize I was hallucinating again :-) When it gets the least bit long, I remember how much of a pain it was to keep. They don't make Hot Combs any more anyway and my arms get tired when I hold them up that long.

Lisa Garner Douglas and her buddies had long, straight hair...like "down to the waist" hair. You girls used to sit on your hair a bunch...I know because...well, I used to sit behind you and I noticed your...uh...hair. I've always wanted to know, so now's the time to ask: did you wash your hair every night? I mean, come on! How many Hot Combs did you go though in a year?

David Urquehart, John Roshell, William Miller...all my African American buds had Afros. And after every ball game, William and the gang would stand for hours, using probably the only mirror in the locker room, grooming those Afros back into a perfectly round shape. By the way, what I'd give for a "pick!" Not one of those cheap knock-offs, but the original ones that were probably everywhere in the 70's. I don't know if you can even buy them today, but then again, "fros" are coming back, so maybe they're on the street again?

Speaking of which, isn't it funny to see the old hair styles come around again? I don't even know what the names of the styles are today, so you guys with kids will have to help me: what's with the "shaggy" look that the boys are wearing? And are the "new" Afros still called Afros? The new "shaggys" called "Shags?" What about the girls with long, straight hair, like Peggy Lipton from Mod Squad? It reminds me so much of the look that we had (or some of us) in our days.

I guess longer hair is for the young folks anyway. That's way too much trouble for a 50 year old. I have couple keeping fresh coffee in the fridge.

I'm just glad the skin-head look finally went out of style. Or did it?

Rock on,

Ken