Before I can write a book, I have to create a playlist. It’s part of my process.
When I was a youngster in Sarasota, Florida (former Spring Training home for the Chicago White Sox), before I developed my current musical taste, I obsessively listened to WKXY, the local top 40 AM station that played the same ten hits every hour.
Latch Key Kids, one of two planned prequels to my only semi-successful novel (Small Town Punk), takes place in the mid-1970’s. It features proto-punk Buzz Pepper and his prematurely world-weary sister Sissy Pepper. These two characters are based on me and my sister. Most of what happens in the book happened, in one form or another, in real life.
Why write a novel then? Why not write a memoir? Because, as we’ve all learned in 2020, real life makes zero narrative sense.
Most of the secondary characters in Latch Key Kids are composites of real life people. Most of the events in Latch Key Kids happened in real life. But they’re all rearranged and compressed into a coherent narrative.
Here’s my playlist for Latch Key Kids.
- “All the Young Dudes” Mott the Hoople https://youtu.be/9IqiRY60ZDE
- “Kung Fu Fighting” Carl Douglas https://youtu.be/9TgoF-ccdGM
- “The Hustle” Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony https://youtu.be/SFzMs2SN–s
- “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” Elton John https://youtu.be/UiuCk6_yEPw
- “Love Rollercoaster” The Ohio Players https://youtu.be/aBkVV9xxCHE
- “My Thang” James Brown https://youtu.be/dr07lHnc4oI
- “Without You” Harry Nilsson https://youtu.be/zdhcIEGj9S8
- “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Baby” Barry White https://youtu.be/3lDuKEophWg
- “Go All the Way” The Raspberries https://youtu.be/jfgnc6Ey0q0
- “Play That Funky Music” Wild Cherry https://youtu.be/SFiv9M577a4
- “Get Dancin'” Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes https://youtu.be/FdkhViXqnSk
- “Family Affair” Sly & the Family Stone https://youtu.be/CNQpYz1ztx8
- “Don’t Leave Me This Way” Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes https://youtu.be/5CzQBi32MjI
- “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” Edison Lighthouse https://youtu.be/OqcDG_xLWPY
- “Rock the Boat” The Hues Corporation https://youtu.be/iKr9wZpjBqE
- “Love Train” The O’Jays https://youtu.be/QyT9jTW7MHc
- “The Soul City Walk” Archie Bell & The Drells https://youtu.be/eL73w3ue5Ms
- “When Will I See You Again” The Three Degrees https://youtu.be/HUSYj5zq144
- “Lido Shuffle” Boz Scaggs https://youtu.be/nZrRS261Edw
- “Lady Marmalade” Labelle https://youtu.be/t4LWIP7SAjY
- “Jolene” Dolly Parton https://youtu.be/OTuQ9cKGSdM
- “Pick Up the Pieces” Average White Band https://youtu.be/0t4OfCYoVj0
- “Slow Ride” Foghat https://youtu.be/8e8Ox1Ud2g0
- “Sweet Black Angel” The Rolling Stones https://youtu.be/p2TmoHpzk9Q
- “Seasons in the Sun” Terry Jacks https://youtu.be/bWdQbxNEFEs