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| Moondog Johnson |
The year was 1984...or then again, it may well have been 1985. I get them confused. Either way, they were better times. Within a year of when I joined the Navy and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Looking back at this video I can spot the symptoms even then. I held them in check, though, and very well. I just thought of myself as being creative. Recording funny little skits like this on a borrowed video camera were nothing more than killing time on a bored weekend afternoon when the wife was gone to work. It wasn't until many, many years later that the condition became a real problem, so I don't think of these gems as a manifestation of a manic swing. Just something to laugh at and wish I was young enough to do again.
The thing I like the most about the video is my hair. Really! I wish I could get it to grow that long and wild today, I definitely would. The idea behind the gag was to have a very unkempt stoner review record albums on a show called "The Record Rack". Having never been high before that period of time I'd say I pulled it off with a good degree of authenticity. The character, known as "Moondog Johnson", winds up reviewing nothing but Grateful Dead albums, almost the entire catalog at the time. And of course he gives them all "10"s on a scale of 1 to 10 (double records get a "20 on a scale of 1 to 10 because it's double album", and three-fer "Europe 72" actually gets a "30 on a scale of 1 to 10"). He offers commentary, always praising the band, and has a spastic attack whenever he comes to a record that contains the song "Truckin'" (the joke was that there were SO many of their albums that featured that song...it's probably my least favorite Dead song).
Anyway, I won't say anything more about it so you can watch with at least a couple of surprises left. Be prepared for some goofy nonsense...
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