There we go, yup, that's the place...maybe not the from the date in the 70s I worked there...any how... I decided I had a job and I was Big Time Bad. I decided to go to get my haircut and styled... Not at the barbershop my dad took me, where you got a piece of Bazooka Joe, but a place where they washed, conditioned, cut and styled you hair, and it was just for guys.
So I walk in two dudes in silk shirts, gold medallion changes, hairy chests... whatever..it was the late 70s...total disco guys. Posters and pictures of guys with all types of hair and flared collars and pants, were all over the walls,any how...I'm waiting for my chair time, and notice there is this jazzy type of soothing music on. I had no idea what it was but, if this is what adults listened to, I can dig it... A lot of piano and intricate bass, with some occasional unique sounding vocals.The more I listened to it, the more I enjoyed it.The song was coming to an end, and the next song started, and this is what I heard...
Woah! - What was this? The bass and strumming guitars followed with those unique vocals. Magical...This stuff was awesome. Horns, complex arrangements, strange breaks and tempo changes... a guitar that was not distorted doing the solo..blew me away. the song had the same outro as the intro, this time with some saxophones mixed in. I will never forget that day and when the stylist went over to the turntable and grabbed the cardboard album covered which was placed on top of the turntable, I saw the cover, and only caught the red AJA in the upper right hand corner. He turn it over and played the other side. This song was a little more jazzy than pop, I remember him singing about a black cow and getting out of here, a bit weird but aurally pleasant. Next song a little lighter, about running to some chick named Aja.
Finally.. chair time, the song seemed to last forever... I was used to the radio plays about 3 or 4 minutes songs. The stylist asked me what he could do for me..I said shampoo and style...which was I think about 8 bucks.... different from 2 dollar hair cuts my dad takes me to. How would you like that styled? ummmm .. I had no idea what to say....looking around at the posters, I pointed to one that looked like a John Travolta and Maurice Gibb love child, and said "ahh.. something like that."
"You got it". The barber cape goes on, the chair gets pumped up, and woah, I get tilted back, face up in a sink that has a U in it where your neck fits. I feel the water which seemed to have no temperature hit my hair. Then the smell which all shampoos will be measured by, cherry almond.... Vidal Sassoon I believe... I was used to using what we had at home... Agree or Brecks shampoo...so this was an amazing experience for me. Hair is washed, conditioned, and the scissors start, as does, this....
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