"Greetings From Havana Cuba!
Dear Bud Staceys, first of all accept my greetings and wishes for good health and fortune staff, make it extend also to your family in this new 2012. For me personally has been very comforting and rejuvenating perhaps, find that blogg about KAAY. And stories I have known the AM station, which at the beginning of the 70 as magic carpet, just arrived at midnight to the north coast of Havana, Cuba. transporting for me and many of my generation to meet with Beaker Street´s dweller in those years the mystical Clyde, not Sherlock Holmes,we expected that hour, and I remember The house of the rising sun. Many fond memories come to mind right now, even tears, how much nostalgia, for all time spent listening to Beaker Street. Who writes to you today is a man of 53 years old, who lives in Cuba since he was born. I'm not political, but I must tell you my opinion and my truth. For along time I heard Beaker Street and other stations from Florida,with little old Soviet radio that my mother gave me when I turned 15 years old.
Never, never my friends and I had to hide our radios to hear these AM stations .of course, we were young students, who were also scholarship from Monday to Friday ,all listened to the radio, WQAM,WGBS at night Beaker Street from KAAY Arkansas,At weekend, went home with our parents, we gathered for parties with our friends and girlfriends, and always accompanied by music from the radio, we did not have tape recorders or record players. Now remember, that in those years came the first TVs valve from the Soviet Union and Bulgaria, many of these were located in schools, to be used for daytime classes. The same schools that we were scholarship,at open fields were located in close proximity to Havana. Also remember that all underground music we listened to Clyde Clifford, we saw in that Bulgarians televisions branded Starfurt. How? then in those years, the television signals of Florida, also came to Cuba,we saw at Friday night those great programs Midnight Specialand Rock Concert,did you remember Bud? They were wonderful years, the best. Throughout those year, that was the music heard on the radio for everyone here in Habana Cuba, I do not remember, have been arrested for that, I tell you more during our vacation, we met on the board walk or at the Sta Maria beach to listen the music coming from Florida WGBS,Q54, WQAM and KAAY at midnight,from Little Rock,I repeat never,never we´d got arrested for it. We were students, not vague.This is my truth.
Bud has been very rewarding, to send this email and tell you that I offer my help and my hand for anything you need, remember I live in Cuba and I am a humble man but honest, I ask nothing return only respect. Excuse any inaccuracy in these letters, remember that my mother language is Spanish. Check out this photo of my old Soviet radio,manufactured in 1972, still works, Also sent you photos of Yellow Submarine Night Club,next to the John Lenon´s park in Habana,where always plays live music,Rock and Underground bands.When you want to come and see for yourself. Best regards."
Folks, this is but one wall in the Yellow Submarine Club...more from our fellow KAAY and Beaker Street enthusiast in another post...please stand by!
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
Well with all due respect my friend, many of our generation got in jail for listening to that music, we don't have to hide the radios (the one you show on your photo) but the antennas we have to turn them down at day light and put them up at night, because if the police or any neighbor see it they call the police and all will be in trouble.
ReplyDeleteBy Lora on More Cuban Comments on 1/20/12
In fact I didn't remember anyone been jailed for listen to radio stations from USA but if the police or any communist official got you doing that you end up been marked as a gusano (dissident).I'm a living example of that I was thrown out of university of havana in 1980,they found out that I was an underground music fan and was listening Beaker Street every night in my house and finally I had to head north to america.
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