Rickie found out my blog through his friend, and he contacted me the other day. It is so nice to meet you, online, Rickie. As a former band member, he contributes a new perspective on the 70s Asian dance scene:
I just wanted to drop a quick note and say that it seems when people mentioned the music from back then, they forgot to mention Jo Mama. “Sailing” was one of my favorite songs.
I was part of one of the lesser garage bands from back then, a group called Easy Livin’. The other members were Teri Kusumoto on vocals (she went on to sing for Hiroshima for a while), Michael Kosaka on bass, Duane Kamei on guitar (his brother Jerry was the keyboard player in the Chosen Few and Free Flight) and Dennis Yokotake (currently with the Music Company). We got together in 1971, around the time when Free Flight, Carry On, Winfield Summit, Long Time Comin’ etc., were popular.
Anyway, just wanted to say hello and that I am looking forward to reading all your blog entries! BTW, I graduated from Dorsey in 1972.. so these posts bring back some good memories!
Rickie Miyake
Later Rickie wrote:
I think that’s a great idea you had about the blog. Back then we never really thought about any cultural implications, it was just something that we did for fun. I always looked forward to these dances and the weekends in which there weren’t any seemed kind of empty. Now, I didn’t dance (still don’t, despite my wife’s attempts to get me to do that) but the reason I liked the dances was to go listen to the bands.
The first dance I ever attended was a pretty memorable one – it was the last appearance of the Chosen Few, which I think was at Roger Young. I remember the very last song they played was a cover of Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time.”
Back in junior high and high school I was constantly listening to music – back then it was KHJ’s Boss Radio and the Boss Jocks, and KRLA. I always wanted to be in a band, too. One day we were at Duane’s house and his brother’s band, Free Flight, had practiced there the day before and left all their equipment set up. Well, you can guess what happened next. That was the very beginning of Easy Livin’. After our first laughable “jam session” I posed the idea, why don’t we start up our own band? Everyone else thought I was kidding but I kept nagging them because it had been so much fun. Gradually, the idea set in.. the final group had only Duane and myself from the group of us buddies who commandeered Free Flight’s instruments and amps that day but we found three others to play with us.
I was never very good but I have to say, those were just about the most fun days of my life. I mean, how much better could it be – doing something that you really love to do. We were blessed having someone like Teri who had such a great voice. She was like the glue that held us together. Playing as a group was great – not once was I ever nervous because it felt like we were all there for each other. If I were to be by myself I know I’d be very nervous. I suppose it was kind of unusual since Asians were supposed to be more sedate.
As for the culture part – back then I did used to wonder if other ethnic groups did the same thing. I always kind of felt like this was a distinctly Asian-American event; even with the bands, it was odd when a non-Asian band would play at a dance. Their music was always different, too.
You have probably seen this video already but just in case you haven’t, here’s something a friend of mine sent me last year. I thought it captured the spirit of those times very well, although they seem to give short shrift to us Westsiders, haha.. here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nukJYZT1SCw
I’ve written a lot about my experiences growing up in my own blog. If you’re interested, you can take a look. A lot of the entries are mundane or goofy or whatever was on my mind, but a number of them do have recollections of things past – the older ones in particular (before I ran out of memories to write about). The blog has an obvious address: http://www.rickiemiyake.com
Thanks, and it’s nice “meeting” you!
Rickie
