It's April 1965 - You're Gonna Start A Band - People Laugh - You Don't.

It's July 1981 - You're In L.A. - It's Summer - It's Perfect - It Won't Last.

You remember that picture - happiest couple on the planet. She took your breath away. She said yes - you spent all night pinching yourself. Must've done something great in your last life. Guys were jealous of you. The smile stopped traffic - you saw it with your own eyes.

You got a chance to spend forever with her.

That night - 1981. Whole pile of Summer ahead and UCLA in the fall - both of you with nothin' to pull you away and you didn't get out of bed for days. Life was perfect - life made sense - love was everywhere and it wasn't going away anytime soon.

You had it planned. You promised your parents you wouldn't get married until you both had Masters degrees - that was the deal. Dad smiled, mom got teary. Her parents called your parents. This was serious. You remember how you felt when all the parents got together for dinner. The two of you sat, feeling like Defense Exhibits A and B and everybody felt awkward but looked relieved.

You got an apartment in Westwood - played house. Made coffee - watched her brush her teeth in the morning. Even got the flu together.

Somewhere around Christmas; a party - it was loud - it was out of control. Everybody drank like fish and smoked like dumpster fires. You got introduced to rolled up dollar bills and white lines on the bathroom sink - you had arrived - reality got better than real - you could feel your head explode and your mouth taste like aluminum chips. You ran into the kitchen and told her all about it and invited her to join you. She shook her head and pointed to her glass of Cabernet - she was into grapes and the room was floating nicely.

You had it on high-spirited authority that Philadelphia Marching Powder wasn't addicting. You believed them - take it or leave it. But . . .you liked being speedy - you liked doing your homework in ten minutes - you liked listening to The Clash on headphones - Sandinista, side to side, over and over on max all night long.

You didn't sleep much - missed a few classes here and there. Gym, who needed it? You had plans - didn't know what they were but you had them; every hour on the hour.

Your Significant Other started to notice things - you sweat a lot - you stopped shaving - you stopped changing your clothes regularly. She was starting to look at you like she hadn't looked at you before. You had a permanent cold - you ran through boxes of Kleenex like a marathon.

Didn't take long - magic went out the window. You hated being stared at - she was good at staring.

And then came yelling - mostly about nothing. Glasses broke - doors slammed. So much for forever.

Spending more time at your dealers house than your apartment - life was a trip but she didn't understand. She was no fun. Summer was over a long time ago.

Imagine your surprise when you opened the door and there was no trace of her. She moved out - she left a note - she missed the magic - she missed the old me. Love was somewhere, just not between you two. She felt terrible. She said you were killing yourself. You were convinced she was seeing someone.

You developed a tick - you became a liability - you became a non-student. You finally became an addict. You sold your records. You ground your teeth.

Three Days; pay or quit and you spent it all; went straight up your nose - mailbox full of red notices - phone didn't ring - phone didn't work.

Mom showed up, disgusted - apartment looked like a crime scene. You begged her for rent money - she told you to come home.

It got rotten for a while - you forgot how long. Years, it felt like - months for sure. You didn't recognize you in the mirror. You tipped the scale at 100 pounds - your shadow weighed more than you did.

Green paper slippers and Jell-O, antiseptic and starched white. You wound up here - you and a room full of people who looked just like you who probably looked clean and shiny other lifetimes ago.

Hospital - at least it wasn't the storm drain off the 405. Yeah, it got to that.

You joined the Too Much Fun Club and got kicked out. Got assigned a Counsellor - got a bed to detox.

Day Ten - sun is out - sky is blue. Summer. Been somewhere and it wasn't fun in the end - finally felt your toes - finally focused on the ceiling.

Counsellor walks in - pulls up a chair. Voice sounds familiar, heard it a million times. Makes you feel warm.

She asks if you remember. Summer 1981. You turn and glance. Fuzzy at first and then you melt. The Thousand Watt smile - the eyes. She became a Counsellor?

Somebody down the hall has a radio on - KROQ. It all comes crashing back. You gave up on you - she didn't.

You wonder what the future's going to be about. Don't - you did that before. It got you in trouble.

You smile for the first time in forever.

And to remind you that 1981 wasn't that long ago - here's one hour of KROQ from July 27, 1981 to wander into.