I hated 'Boats' when it came out. I was working at an amusement park in Salisbury Beach, Mass. working on a ride called the Himalaya. We wore white pants, white bucks, red and white striped shrits and a snazzy red blazer...but most of all we played the music that made the ride fun! Girls loved it when we played the Bay City Rollers, Sweet, EWF, and Barry White. Those songs made me look good to the wide-eyed, thrill seeking, halter-topped girls of New England. 'Boats', however, wasn't fun. I hated Eric for putting out such a downer LP. 'Boats' just wasn't a good 'ride' record. Imagine a spinning, speeding ride full of screaming teenagers on a hot summer night, the lights whirling, the scent of the sea and cotton candy mixing erotically in the air, and suddenly out of the blaring speakers comes 'Row Row Row Your Boat'! Seque-way to 2002. Now I'm loving the record. I couldn't appreciate it back then, but these days I'm lovin' every second of it. Back in '77 I was looking for a musical equivalent of beer from Eric. Instead, he gave us a wine. One that gets better with age. Dave