II

“I found myself stranded in a seaside town”

Dave’s Room

5/72-1980’s

Anyone associated with us in those days remembers Dave Procter’s basement bedroom at 16 Flicker Lane, Rowayton, CT. This was the center of so much activity and where so many of us met each other for the first time.

The room had been the original one-car garage for the house with dimensions of about 16 x 25 feet with 7.5 foot ceilings. It originally had a dark linoleum floor (mostly covered with a rug), stucco walls painted light blue and a wood paneled back wall. There was also a screened in porch through an outside center door that added about seven feet to the length. This porch was later named “Parlour E” after an elaborate hand-inked sign Harry had created as a school project.

The porch was a wonderful feature we never fully appreciated. It allowed us to sit outside on warm nights bug-free and still hear the music from Dave’s stereo. We also played there because music outside has a very different quality. It also provided entry/egress to Dave’s room without entering the Procter house.

Dave moved into this room in the spring of 1972. I remember helping caulk the walls where they met the floor and setting up the two single beds. Despite the caulk job, the basement was a damp place and Dave almost always had a dehumidifier running. The place got very little sunlight since there were only two windows (one facing north, one facing south).

Decorations included a chain of old-style detachable pull-tabs from dozens of soda and beer cans, artwork from the Jethro Tull album Aqualung, the aforementioned “Parlour E” sign, Dave’s ceramic Minuteman soldier lamp, wicker chairs for inside and the porch (hard to play guitar in) wooden folding chairs, a little tin antebellum mansion, later, a Smirnoff Vodka sign, a painting by Harry Hussey (Time and The Waterwheel), a sign: “Bless This Mess”, and always, piles of albums, stacks of science fiction paperbacks, amps, mic stands and various pieces of electronic equipment in various states of repair.

From 1972 through about 1981 Dave’s room was our base of operations. We played, recorded, even shot a film. There was almost always something going on there and frankly, I was never sure if Dave liked, or just tolerated all the company.

It was also where we threw more than one party, especially from about 1973 through 1976. The last big party was probably New Year’s Eve, 1975.

Dave’s room was an important place for us musically because this is where, from 1972 through at least 1976, we did most of our creation, writing, rehearsal and playing. During the Airfix years, 1972 to 1974, Ed Flinn and I spent more waking hours here than anywhere else. I still go back sometimes.