They were hip and cool

#3 from the left takes the prize.

What a decade that was. I had hoped America would never repeat it, but here we are again, and this time we're doubling down and making it even worse.

Every time I look at my senior picture in my old high school yearbook, I wish I had stuck with the flattop one more year. These guys all became accountants.

One of the most bizarre moments for me is when on the internet I started to see on the internet that people thought the evil murdering monster Anton Chigurh's hideous 70s hair cut was considered sexy and admirable in No Country for Old Men.

You know, Don Rodrigo, this era definitely does have a 70's feel about it. And I say that in the most pejorative way possible.

No one should have to live through the 70's twice.

And Jane Fonda wore every one of these hairstyles. I don't know if that will make you feel better or worse.

The problem with today is that it isn't even as "good" as the 70's. At least we had Nixon.

You know, Don Rodrigo, this era definitely does have a 70's feel about it

Let's just hope they don't bring back those men's clothes EEEEAAAAGGGHHHHHH ! ! ! !

The problem with today is that it isn't even as "good" as the 70's. At least we had Nixon

Agreed. If you're going to have a "flawed" President, at least let him be 1) a grownup, and 2) effective.

The Seventies--that bad dream of a decade, when everyone looked like their mom picked out their clothes.

Damn, they look like a bunch of heterophobes.

The Seventies--that bad dream of a decade, when everyone looked like their mom picked out their clothes.

Not everyone - and don't forget that was before AIDS, and girls all felt like they were supposed to get laid all the time. Some dreams are worse than others....

Third row, third from the left, I swear I went to high school with that guy... but that was the eighties by then, maybe that was his jr high picture.
Beard and short wavy hair.

BOOOOOMMMERS

I know these dudes!

(L-R; T-B)

Toby Witchett: semi-literate white trash kid who lived down the block from our house. Once borrowed my notebook in ninth-grade English class for the sole purpose of writing "YOU ARE A PECKOR HEAD" in it. Worked for the same car dealership in Texarkana for thirty-five years. Now retired, fat, and bald.

Elvin "the Brow" Bisshop: scary junior-high loner; huffed Krylon out of a paper Things Remembred shopping bag in the parking lot every morning before school. Proudly and un-ironically drove his grandmother's car -- a Salem-reeking, harvest gold 1972 Caddy Eldorado -- to school. Big fan of REO Speedwagon. I assumed he was a burnout, but, surprisingly, he went on to be a successful accountant. His hair is gray and much shorter now.

Todd van Kamp: the King of the Drama Department -- with all that entails. Liked punk; wore Vans and Panama Jack exculsively. Died 1984.

Barry Norstrom: Aspiring guitarist and oil-change guy at his dad's lube shop. Quiet, studious, non-drinker/non-druggie. Ga-ga for Amy Grant. 48-year-old bachelor with two illegitimate children. Now Assistant Pastor (Youth Ministries) at the Summer Road Assembly of God.

Robert Nordstrom (no relation): Tenth-grade Casanova. Nicknamed "Bob the Knob" after being called to stand and read in junior-year British Lit class (Jane Eyre) while sporting a painfully-visible boner. Involved in a physical relationship with Mrs. Vanessa Delano, his zaftig, Linda-Lavinesque ninth-grade art teacher, for all four years of high school. Shot at the E-Z Mart out on Highway 71 by Mr. Delano in late 1983, but did not die. Currently the nighttime/fill-in jock for KOTX-FM Country Gold in Hooks, Texas.

Francis "Fan" Tudyk: unabashed jocksniff and Sabrematics guru. Knew everything about every sport, pro, college, or high school, despite total lack of athletic ability. Obsessed with Ferguson Jenkins. Baylor grad (B.S. Mathematics, '84) and enthusiastic Sig Eps; singlehandedly justified Waco's nickname ("Sodom on the Brazos"). Now, unsurprisingly, the regular 6:00 p.m. sportscaster for KJIM-TV in Fort Worth.

Ethan Joe Pechard. Coonass immigrant from "Nack-A-Dish, Looziana". Perfect hair; worst breath in school. Mormon. Lead vocalist in locally-succesful garage band Ape Drape in eleventh grade. Died one year after graduation from "alcohol poisoning"; bullet-perforated body found beneath floorboards of Dizzy's, an unlicensed but well-known poolhall in Wamba, Tex. the local "Darktown".

Danny del Vecchio: Surprisingly sensitive busboy; worked at Hot TomMolly's Irish/Mexican Bistro out on FM 559 from age 15 to age 22. Soft-spoken yet tough as nails; he once broke a customer's arm for yelling at a waitress. Left Texarkana without fanfare in 1988 after several of his poems were published in The Paris Review. Moved to New York. Framed photo c. 1987 from New York magazine of him drinking cocktails with George Plympton at "21" still hangs on the wall over the buffet line at TomMolly's. Current whereabouts unknown.

Ruben Reilly: Evil half-Mick, half-Jew son of local stationer. Used his dad's money and City Council membership to full advantage when pursuing chicks. Texas High's #1 pot dealer and DEVO fan. Captain of Debate Team '82-'83, UIL 14-5A Varsity Cross-X Forensics Champion 1983. Arrested while selling weed to an underage Rolling Stones groupie at a concert in the Cotton Bowl in 1987. Reformed after prison and converted/reverted to Christianity; returned to the family stationery business in 1992. Downtown store closed after construction of Office Depot out on the Interstate; now lives alone in his parents' empty home and works at the paper mill as a forklift driver.

Joshua Crumb: Nicknamed "J.C." for obvious reasons. Harmless stoner with an encyclopedic knowledge of Yes lyrics. His brass shop-class-made bongs were standard equipment for all THS dopers. Inherited his dad's Firestone dealership; now a major donor to the Texas Republican Party and one of the wealthiest men in the Ark-La-Tex region, yet still looks like a G__d___ned hippie. Loyal fan of original-rules Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Gary Gygax version only). Straight, but never married.

John Babcock: Nicknamed "John the Baptist" for obvious reasons (not the least of which was that he really was Joshua Crumb's first cousin). A brooding, hot-tempered fellow, he kept his distance from most people. Beheaded in 1985 while riding his motorcycle on Hayrod Road (two ten-year-olds had strung a nearly-invisible steel cable across the right-of-way "just for fun".)

Nigel Burk: exchange student from Sheffield, UK. Groovy hair + near-incomprehensible Yorks dialect = teen pussy machine. Good-natured and cheerful; devotee of Celtic and Rod Stewart. Expelled and sent home after giving syphilis to his host family's mother. Now a paraplegic and living in a residence hospital in Bristol after being severely injured whilst acting as an extra during the filming of the BBC's 1984 TV movie Threads.

Lonnie Dale Pirkle: Cartoonist, charcoal sketch king; the best artist in school. Ironically, did not take art class (he took the music elective instead). Nice, but undistinguished personality; dated my girlfriend's second cousin Lisa MacKay. Spent his time building 386-based PCs instead of partying. Now married to Lisa and a father of four. Catholic (ex-holy roller). Works as a systems analyst at EDS in Plano. Harmless.

Billy Post: Varsity QB, Arkansas High Razorbacks, '82-'83. Hated "arkie", known to me only because he was dating Eva Kristoffersen (hottest chick at Texas High), a girl who by some incredible coincidence sat directly in front of me in one class or another from eighth grade through graduation. Proud owner of a red 1978 Pontiac Firebird with T-Tops. Loved Winstons, Billy Squier, mini dirt track racing. Passed over by the college scouts, he majored in Agriculture at Austin College in Sherman, Tex. (B.S. Ag, '88) and pursued an unsuccessful career as a singer of Christian praise/worship songs. Now the Minister of Music, the Church in the Shed, Royce City, Tex.

Travis Lee Hooker: The school's #1 source of recreational RX meds (his dad was a gynecologist). Made a fortune selling speed to junior high kids; got away with it scot-free. Comic book nerd (Legion of Super-Heroes collector) and Star Wars nut. After college (NYU: B.A., Radio and Television, '87) he became an A&R guy for Atlantic Records, but his career ended in failure after an unsuccessful attempt to revive the career of New Wae/NuRo singer Limahl/Kajagoogoo in 1989. Now a concert promoter for Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, La.

Antonio "Guapito" Ximenez: Exchange student from Ferrol, Galicia, Spain. Owned a Russian sniper rifle "taken by my father from the filthy hands of a dead Communist". Current whereabouts unknown.

Fun! B Lewis

B Lewis

Bravo.

Forty years from now, we'll be looking back on tattoos this way.

Even more likely, we'll be looking back at shaven heads. W, as they say, TF?

For awhile in the '70s I had job of, uh, grooming Air Force pilot wannabes. I'm still amazed at how many had trouble deciding whether loss of their curly locks was worth it.

Beards and tats, I predict, and hopefully piercings. And the same head-scratching confusion about why on earth anyone thought that looked good.

Please, jam an awl through me so I have more holes to hang jewelry from! And while you're at it, stab me thousands of times with a needle impregnated with ink so my skin looks like I'm a horrific burn victim when I'm 70

ok G: which ones were you?

My fabulous cut is not on that board.

#2 from left on top row.

Fortunately I had the bow tie to pull it off with. Funny remembering we were required to wear ties to school.

Fortunately I had the bow tie to pull it off with. Funny remembering we were required to wear ties to school.

Is that Pee Wee Herman bottom row second from the right??????

I can see I need to update this item based on B Lewis' identifications.

I am a boomer and I don't remember anybody looking that weird, but I was in Bothell, WA. So who knows.

2nd row, second from the left: that's Bill Whittle, right?

Damn, Mike, that's scary.

Bravo!

I had Angel's Flight leisure suit.

Didn't realize until after I wore it to a dance that the pants were cut to make it look like you were shoplifting a fire extinguisher...

I used to joke that everyone should have to live through their own 1978. The joke is on me.

Bravo!

I had Angel's Flight leisure suit.

Didn't realize until after I wore it to a dance that the pants were cut to make it look like you were shoplifting a fire extinguisher...

I used to joke that everyone should have to live through their own 1978. The joke is on me.

John Babcock, nicknamed "John the Baptist" was beheaded, as was John the Baptist.

dee-dee-dee-dee, dee-dee-dee-dee

Sadly, there really was a guy in my class who was beheaded in the manner described. He was a nice guy, with normal, 1982, Greg Kihn-type high-school-kid hair.

fake as fuck. none of these names are real.

fake as fuck. none of these names are real.
Posted by wtf at February 4, 2014 9:03 PM