Let’s do something you haven’t seen before

I loved Salem 66 so much but we were never meant to be together. The band debuted, were successful and passed away before I was old enough to get into any of their gigs. I was a fiend for buying local music when I was growing up in Boston and dug their first few discs. I loved the music and, upon seeing photos of the band, sort of fell in love with guitarist/singer Elisabeth Kaplan. (Some teenagers have posters of movie stars or pop sensations, I had black and white pics of women from indie bands in town. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.)

There were no such things as all-ages shows in Boston circa 1988. I was seeing most of my shows by helping friends load their equipment into a club at 6 or 7 and hanging around all night afterwards. No one bothered me since I’d been there all night and hanging out with the band. However, my friends never played with Salem 66 and my dreams of catching Kaplan in person went mostly for naught. I did manage to run into her one day when she was working behind the counter at Newbury Comics and I had my Salem 66 t-shirt on. I dropped a stack of discs on the counter and she said, “Nice t-shirt.” My seventeen year old head exploded when I realized who it was and to this very day I have no idea what I was able to stammer out as a reply. I locked up tighter than Mitt Romney on Castro Street during the pride parade. She said the band was taking some time off but would play some shows in the fall and asked if I was on their mailing list. I mentioned I had been for some time and I looked forward to their next gig. I finished the purchase, stumbled outside and had to take a few strong breaths before I could stumble down Newbury Street, cursing the fact I was (at the time) born about 4 years too late.

Salem 66 - Lucky Penny