Rodriguez

Rodriguez, aged 17, Detroit, circa 1970. Back in the mid' 70s, or more precisely during 1974 and 1975, as a senior high school student living in an Australian coastal town located approximately 50 miles south of the Sydney metropolis, I remember going to weekend parties armed with a bottle of port and good cheer, and rocking out to the music of Led Zeppelin IV and Deep Purple's Machine Head . Late in the evening we would collapse around the record player, pass around a reefer or two, and listen to the coolest albums of the day, including Ma by Rare Earth, and Cold Fact by Rodriguez. In a drunken and stoned haze we'd chat and make out, before escaping around the stroke of midnight to the comfort of home. Those images have stayed with me, as has the music of Rodriguez. Cold Fact was a classic then, played regularly on the national, youth focused radio station 2JJ, and readily available for purchase in record stores. It, and the follow up Coming from Reality , remain re