I have this great memory from 1974. My girlfriend (who would become my first wife), my great friend Bill and I had gotten tickets to go to the Warner Theater in downtown Washington, D.C., to see Boz Scaggs.

There was an opening act that hadn't been advertised, and we were told it would be their first appearance ever in the United States. I remember turning to Bill and saying -- I was the eternal optimist in those days -- wouldn't it be great if they turned out to be awesome and we saw their first performance ever.

They were awful.

So awful.

They did have one hit record, which has become sort of a cult favorite to some, as witness the 2.5 million views this video received on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeRa3RtBiIU

Bill Madden and I met in an acting class at Northern Virginia Community College in 1973. Both of us were trying rebuild somewhat spotted college careers, and we were actually in a play together that spring.

We became great friends, and for years in the '70s and into the '80s, Bill was the best friend I had. We wrote songs together, we drank together and we chased women -- mostly in vain -- together. We nearly got an apartment together in 1974 in a very marginal neighborhood; I still don't quite remember why that fell through.

Bill had the best natural sense of humor of anyone I've ever known, and since I had a mean streak in those days it helped to be able to laugh at some of the things I said. He was the one who said to me that he could never have a two-guys-and-a-girl threesome because he would be afraid the girl might say, "I'm tired now. Why don't you two entertain each other for a while." He was also the first person I heard use the line, "I wasn't born again. I got it right the first time."

[caption id="attachment_806" align="alignright" width="299" caption="My friend Bill"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/14445_100484833309326_100000434293318_14149_229053_n.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-806" title="14445_100484833309326_100000434293318_14149_229053_n" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/14445_100484833309326_100000434293318_14149_229053_n.jpg" alt="" width="299" height="244" /></a>[/caption]

Bill is a radio guy. He loved being on the radio ever since his early college days at the University of Richmond, and he has been everything from a country disc jockey to a talk radio sidekick during his career. He has worked at stations from Maryland to West Texas, sort of like Harry Chapin's "morning DJ on WOLD." He's working in North Florida now, and one of the things that has made me the happiest about moving to Georgia is the thought that with Bill just 250 miles or so away, we'll be able to see each other from time to time.

He looks pretty good. That's his Facebook picture, and my friend looks pretty good for someone just three years younger than me.

We used to play tennis together, and while neither of us was going to make anyone forget Jimmy Connors or John McEnroe, he was good enough to beat me every time we played.

When both of us were married, there was a short time that we lived only two or three houses apart.

He was the one who helped me get through the devastation of my marriage breaking up, and he was the one who drove my car home from a night of serious drinking while I apparently (I have no memory of it) projectile vomited on the ceiling above the passenger seat.

It was the only time in my life I ever was blackout drunk. I remember sitting on a curb outside a bar in Georgetown at about 1:30 a.m. while he went to get the car, and the very next thing I remember is waking up in Bill and Susie's guest bedroom about 9 hours later.

Sometimes your best friends are the ones who share your worst moments.