Hearing “Stairway” for first time

Upon hearing Ann and Nancy Wilson, Jason Bonham, and a cast of hundreds whose names I don’t know present Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven as a gift to us all at the Kennedy Center, I wanted to offer a few words about the first time I ever heard the song. My hope is that young kids

45s and the Summer of 1979

1979 was an interesting year in my life. And, as 11 year-olds are wont to do, I tried to make sense of what was going on by listening to music written and recorded by adults. I didn’t own any music of my own yet, other than making a few purchases of 45 rpm singles. These