by William Kennedy, Gwynedd, PA

I have been in the music business for 30 years, and a huge music fan for 10 years probably before that. So many amazing, wonderful, sometimes stupid and hopefully faithful rock and roll full-on adventures have been the daily fabric of my work life, and sometimes my private life, too. ….just beautiful. I could include 88.5 experiences without a second thought, but instead will remember one that I still enjoy for the impact it had on me.

When I was a freshman at Temple, I took a couple of guys from school to the Electric Factory on 22nd Street to see a show. I had been there half a dozen times maybe, and this night was must-see Pink Floyd. They were beyond belief. I sat on the floor, and listened to the quad sound system, watching Roger Waters scream and whisper “careful with that axe Eugene” into the weirdest looking mic, and the rest of the band just hammering away on keys, drums and guitars. It was the tour for Ummagumma, and the material, pre-Echoes, had a certain ambition and urgency to it that was magical to watch and sit in the middle of for a couple of hours. I think it was the most important musical presentation I had witnessed to date, and was so blown away that the band I had put so much faith in turned out to be so great. That night, and every day since. Nice.