So you wanna be a Rock Star "The Clock Radio"

We moved from southern Texas to Minnesota in January 1972.  For a southern boy, January in Minnesota was just not so much a change in weather but a WTF moment.  Starting a new school in the middle of 1st grade, adopting a new culture, (you talk funny) and travelling from the gulf coast to snows Ville was quite a shock.  I went from "Howdy" to "Hi", from "Coke" to "Pop" and "Ya'll" to "what's Ya'll?"  Minnesota is worlds apart from the southern coast of Texas and if its winter, Its Cold!  The first point of business was to get outfitted with the proper snow gear.  In the early 1970's the fashion was a snowmobile suit and snowmobile boots. (What's a snowmobile?) Since we were from the south mom made sure we were properly outfitted. You remember the kid from "A Christmas story" the one that couldn't move, walk, or well do anything but yell "Help me up!" that was me. Talk about sheer shock, a southern boy in cowboy boots and shorts getting stuffed into some sort of moon landing gear.  Well enough on the weather, I still live here and it's still cold.  Spring could not come quick enough for this Texan but spring sprang then came summer, then the lazy, hazy, days of a hot humid summer, (now that's more like it).  August saw my birthday and after scoring some cash from relatives I had enough money to make a large purchase. 20 bucks large. I can't quite remember where my mom and I went but I remember making a purchase, my first music device.  You might think a guitar, or guitar amp, but no, this was a device that would have more effect on my life than any of those items combined, a device that would soon fill my nightstand with music and time.  Time? Yes I said "Time".  I purchased a clock radio, and this thing was cool! It had an AM FM radio along with a sleep timer, alarm buzzer, and lightly illuminated clock flipper that had a small incandescent light that was warm and inviting.  The two-inch speaker pumped out all the hits of the time, "Don't go breaking my heart", " With a little luck", "Dream on", what an amazing little box.  This was the device that told me Elvis has died, "sorry seems to be the hardest word" and expect a high of -20 today.  This one simple device made sure I woke up every day for school and pumped my ears full of dreams and memories.  Every night I would reach over to my nightstand, set the sleep timer and fall asleep to the glow of the small light and the tick of the clock while listen to "Kung fu fighting" or "Rhinestone cowboy."  Many years later the flipper thing started slowing down, the 2 inch speaker didn't work as it should, and disco was dead. Like most things, technology started knocking on the door which meant it was time to replace its dated display and electronics.  I'm not sure when me and Mr Emerson parted ways but Elton John, Chicago, Aerosmith and many of the other 70's bands were a part of my life thanks to a two inch speaker mounted in a plastic box with a tiny flip display sitting on a wire nightstand illuminating not only the night but my future.