Sunday, June 08, 2008

GO LAKERS!


Once again, it's Lakers vs Celtics in the National Basketball Association championship, which reminds this long-time Lakers fan of an album I've had since 1980, released through Denny's Restaurants. I had asked my mom as we drove by our local Denny's if we could stop in and get me a copy. Thanks, Mom!

The album is highlights of the 1979-80 season, when the Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers for the world title. It's hosted by the late great Chick Hearn, who was really, if ya ask me, a spoken-word artist who just happened to work as a basketball announcer. Hadn't heard this album in ages, and a few things struck me as I was recording it to mp3:
- swingin' library music
- there's some wobbly audio of game broadcasts, as if the tapes were stretched too thin
- the 76ers were a classic big-Afro '70s team, with players like Julius "Dr. J" Erving, and the backboard-shattering Darryl Dawkins, who came up with all kinds of George Clinton-like names for his dunks, e.g.: "Chocolate Thunder." The Lakers, featuring here the rookie phenom Earvin "Magic" Johnson, would be the dominant team of the '80s. This was like New Wave and rap pushing aside disco and hippie-rock to signal the start of a new era.

Lakers Magic side 1
Lakers Magic side 2

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

haha. Boston is up 2-0 in the playoffs even though they almost blew game 2. These Lakers are garbage compared to the Magic-Kareem lakers. I was a big time fan of the showtime Lakers, but I can't stand the Kobe-rapers-style Fakers. The Pau Gasol "trade" was the biggest BS West-Fakers alliance move ever. Go Celtics! Go KG! Go Pierce!

Fans of Kobe should remember that they're cheering for a rapist (allegedly) when they cheer for him to "take to the hole"

Anonymous said...

after last night it looks like it's going to be a fun series to watch after all...

Anonymous said...

what a game (game 4) that was though it didn't turn out the way you would have liked...

Mr Fab said...

JEZUZ. I think I now agree with Mr. anon.