The Kingston Trio

IN THE PARKING LOT of the high school, the ageing greasers stood by their late model gas guzzlers, trading sips of blackberry brandy washed down with malt liquor. Beyond and below, in the gymnasium of the high school, seats were filling up for a ‘50s-style dance. With each succeeding circuit of the bottle, passionate and nostalgic anecdotes were imparted concerning the relative merits of such vintage rock 'n' roll groups as the Earls, the Mystics, the Dovells. Injected into the heated discussion, the name of the Kingston Trio hovered in the air like a foul substance, the noxious fumes of New Jersey, say, or the California smog. "Oh yeah," one greaser 1979-model finally sneered, "they're the beatniks, right?"