Hey There Junior

In case you might be wondering, the picture just to the left is from my old school - Frankfurt American Junior High in Frankfurt, Germany. The picture is from what I can tell, a rough scan taken from the 1980/81 yearbook which means that buried in the middle of all those plastic winter jackets and faded blue jean clad kids could be yours truly. What does this have to do with pop culture? Well Frankfurt, Germany circa 1978-1981 had a ton to do with my personal cultural upbringing and after all, this blog IS about the pop culture junkie that is John J. Cannon.

To be honest I actually lived in a military housing area in Höchst which, while part of Frankfurt am Main, was situated between Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, and Mainz Germany. This made for an interesting time as we were located smack in the middle of a mainly German area yet still had cool stuff like an AYA (American Youth Activities) center, gym, bowling alley, movie theater, snack bar, etc. While other military "brats" may have lived in a much larger housing area, I lived in one that had about eight buildings which housed three stairwells of apartments each. This actually made for a closer knit group of kids to hang out with creating a sort of gang-like bond. (Gang in like good way) It was pretty much like living in any other American neighborhood in the late seventies. We'd ride our bikes, hang out, play sports seasonally, etc. When we felt froggy it cost very little to jump on the bus/train/subway and head into Frankfurt for all kinds of cool stuff like hitting the big Post Exchange, head shop, skating rink, and every Franfurt teenage partiers dream spot...Gruenenburg Park. (think the kids on "That 70's Show" sitting around the table in Eric Foreman's basement and you'll get my drift!)

Now in late seventies Germany I, like many other red-blooded American males had only two things on my mind - music and girls, and a lot of times they usually went hand-in-hand. I cannot recall too many moments NOT hanging out with either a) a boombox cranking the likes of Ted Nugent, Rush, or Aerosmith, b) Farrah Fawcett haired girls, or c) both. This oddly enough created a situation which would amount to getting in the least amount of trouble. Hanging out with the just the guys somehow always ended up with someone tanked, bloodied, bruised or worse yet...something set on fire. This might explain why I didn't get in too much trouble between 1978 and 1981. I mean, I did things that COULD have gotten me in trouble but no one is trying to be too loud when...well you probably get the idea.

Not that "no trouble around girls" rule never seemed to work at Frankfurt American Junior High. My fascination, obsession, whatever, with girls constantly made me late for class or got me in trouble in class. Once I remember in math class (a class I hated then and still hated when I took in college a while back) I got detention for making out with a girl. Why I ever thought I wouldn't be seen is beyond me. I guess maybe I just didn't care. To make matters worse, I was busted making out with the same girl in detention which led to more detention and you guessed it - a third offense which led to a short suspension. Was it worth it? I'm sure I thought so then.

Now if the above paragraph makes me sound like some 13-year-old Don Juan then think again. I was about as experienced as a rookie ballplayer and shyer than a scared puppy. But I sure had fun learning!

When I wasn't trying to be with girls I was daydreaming about girls and that usually meant lying on my bed (slow down - it gets way less interesting perves!) with a giant set of headphones on listening to any of my numerous record albums with thoughts of minimalistic teenage rock & roll debauchery bouncing around in my head. It was usually Styx or Boston for romantic thoughts, Nugent or Van Halen for dirty thoughts, and Rush or Pink Floyd during many moments of utter confusion in regards to the fairer sex. Yeah we all grow up to realize that chicks are hard to figure out...well they were hard to figure out then we were just too young and stupid to realize it!

Now as teenagers sharing a common school but spread out across the expansive area known as Frankfurt we would have to gather to see each other outside of school and that usually happened at one of three places - football games, Gruenenburg Park, or the skating rink and each had their pros and cons. The skating rink was cool due to the low lighting, loud music, and close proximity to pizza. Many Friday and Saturday nights were spent huddling in dark corners. Football games were fun only if you left and walked into town or took the path into Gruenenburg Park where you were pretty much free to do whatever the hell you wanted to. This usually involved everything from getting high, to drinking beer or Jagermeister to of course...being naughty. I can 100% pinpoint Gruenenburg Park as the place I first got high, drunk, and past first base. But one particular day stands out as the funnest day I had there and that was the day that was SUPPOSED to be my second to last day in Europe.

I was set to run my final track meet before flying back to the states and way before the race I had decided that winning, or even placing, was pointless. So once the gun went off I took off around the track and headed into the park. (the race went through there and then back to the track for one more lap) This was a distance race and the rest of the runners must have thought I was nuts...but I had a plan. I ran into the park well before anyone else and there were some friends (names withheld for sake of possible repercussions) waiting with a nice collection of Henninger beer, a pipe, and some hash. As the other runners breezed by I caught a nice buzz, kissed a pretty girl, then headed towards the field. Somehow I still managed to come in fourth. Not good enough to place but not bad considering that I "floated" across the finish line! Needless to say I promptly threw on my sweats and headed off for a great afternoon and night of drinking, listening to tunes, and saying farewell to friends.

Sadly this was the last of the good times for a while. We temporarily moved to Atlanta, Georgia and I, with my long hair and jeans, was forced to spend a year in a school surrounded my stuffy preppies who listened to the worst possible music ever. It was hell! But thank God on the last day of school we relocated to Augusta and while I would not call my life a "dream" life it improved 100% over the stay in Atlanta.

So now it's like twenty-five plus years later. Even though I rarely drink and never get high I still love my music loud and still cherish those fond crazy memories of living in Germany!

If only I could just find a way to get back into those size 29 jeans!