My Summer of '82 Rock and Roll Adventure

Me and Trent Pollack on the bus, somewhere in Turkey, '82

It's hard to believe that thirty years ago next summer, Trent Pollack and I--along with four others, including my brother, Jon--were riding on a bus across Turkey, having a ridiculously great time. We were able to see ancient sites that were visited by the Apostle Paul and places where civilizations once thrived, now deserted and cluttered with decaying stone pillars.

The summer of '82 was also filled with music: the soundtrack to our dusty journey, bumping over the Mediterranean landscape, included the newly released Asia and Toto 4 albums (whenever I hear those songs today, I'm instantly transported back there). How many 22-23 year-old kids get to play rock and roll next to the Black Sea, or lay in the sun on a Greek or an Italian island, between gigs?

The most indelible memory is from the first day of our USO tour, just after we landed in Turkey and settled into our hotel. Staying in a small town, close to the main square, Jon and Trent--ready to party at the drop of a suitcase--made their way to the outdoor market to peruse the local ladies, and grab a snack before dinner. Ignoring the USO lecture we received back at the hotel, warning us to wash raw fruit before eating it, the guys were up for scoring anything remotely edible. While buying a few "harmless" pieces of fruit, Jon and Trent--draped in long, blond tresses, donning gaudy Hawaiian shirts and brightly-colored Spandex pants--created quite a stir with the local young ladies and soon in their digestive systems.

After the guys arrived back to the hotel, they told me where they had been. As the manager of this motley crew, I was trying to recover from the long day of travel and didn't really care where anyone with the band went as long as they made call-time. Jon and Trent then proceeded to tell me about the unwashed fruit they just purchased and consumed. Needless to say, they quickly began to feel the rumblings of their error, deep within their bowels. It took a few days, but the two were soon back in commission,  frequent bathroom visits notwithstanding!

All in all, we had an unforgettable time. We saw Naples, the Isle of Capri, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum,  Pompeii and Sorrento in Italy;  Istanbul and cities mentioned in the Bible such as Ephesus while in Turkey;  Zaragoza and Madrid in Spain; Athens and the Acropolis in Greece--just to name a few. We even had time to play concerts for the American soldiers stationed in these areas!

Wow, it seems like yesterday--I actually wore Spandex pants back then, tied my sparkly-red shirt-tail around my waist and primped my 80s hair-band blonde mane. No wonder the soldiers made fun of me as I walked around the base on my off-time. I would, too, if I saw a clown like me back then. But, oh, what a summer that was!