Otto, I've always like that pic of Robert because of the light in his eyes.

Aw, I love this one. It tugs at my heart. I can't explain why but, for me, something about that shot is so very evocative of a certain time and place.

Otto, I see that you're doing your part to satisfy the dog collar fetishists. Nice to see you back, btw.

I agree. In addition to his masculine and sexy aura, I also think that being very comfortable and confidant in his body and with his sexuality probably had something to do with his ability to pull it off. I remember when my friends and I were young we sometimes used to assess different rockers and wonder about the possibility that they were gay or bi but the Zep guys were never mentioned (people like Bowie, who to us had a weird androgynous vibe, yes - but, no, absolutely never the Zep guys). Within the past year though, someone actually asked me if, back in the day, I ever thought that Robert was gay or bi - to me, the question was so ludicrous and preposterous, I just shook my head as I was reading it, wondering how such a question could be asked, before I responded with an definitive, "NEVER!"

Aw, that's so sweet! I completely agree, ILJP. After all, back in the days when we were pursuing the Zep guys, they were twice our age. That fact didn't stop any of us, did it?

ILJP, I notice that you've craftily inserted a (beautiful ) photo from when I was 14.

Amen. I still love to hear old BS. When I have to drive my youngest daughter somewhere, she likes to listen to the "classic rock" stations. She laughs because, whenever BS comes on, I crank up the volume and sing along with whatever BS song is being played - and I still remember (almost) all of the lyrics.

http://i.realone.com/assets/rn/img/9/4/5/9...9553-slarge.jpg To this day and all these years later, there is something about the sight of Robert in a backstage hall that makes my heart beat faster.

Ah, the backbends. Feel like 14 again, ILJP? I know the feeling.

My friend and I were talking about Robert last night and we decided that the Golden God's stares remain the same:

Aw, thanks so much for that, ILJP. I agree with you that I never dreamed that, as great as LZ was, we would be here today talking about the band. When I was young and experiencing it all, I certainly didn't have the foresight or vision to see that the band would be talked about and worshiped in the manner that they are so many decades later. I also haven't spent the last 30 something years thinking about them in the way that I do now - I put it all behind me and went on to live an entire life and it was only recently that all those experiences just came flooding back to me. I have really enjoyed making new friends and meeting people here who either have, like you, shared the same experiences as me or who didn't have those experiences but are interested in knowing more about that era and Zep's glory days. Here's to more great musical experiences - whatever they may be.

You're welcome, PlanetPage - and thanks for sharing your 70's story. I have so much that I want to respond with but I don't want to derail the photo thread. I think that we'd have to ask the mods to move our posts into the Newbies section. Otherwise, I can copy and paste your post and respond to it over there. Between work and the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections, I've been a bit busy lately so I haven't had as much time to read all of the new posts and threads (although somehow I always manage to find myself here in the pics section ). I will look for your thread in the other section.

Life has been very good to me - both during that era and in the years since. It was an incredible time - although when my friends and I were in the middle of living it, we couldn't know that we were "witnessing rock history" or engaging in anything that, decades later, would be something so huge. I don't want to leave the impression that, at least in the case of my friends and me, it was all Zep all the time - it wasn't. In between Zep tours, we were in school and just living our lives - there were other bands and other concerts. Of course, Zep were our absolute favorite. We were buying albums - Zep and others, reading rock magazines, listening to WNEW, and always, always, always, waiting for word of the band's next U.S. tour. Once a U.S. tour was announced, we scrambled to find out where and when the Zep guys would arrive in our city, where they would stay, where they might hang out after the concert, and how we'd get tickets, etc. For the most part, unlike the Deadheads, my friends and I didn't follow the band from city to city - we waited until they came to us. Sometimes it was a seemingly endless wait between tours - a year and a half between when we saw the band in Sept. '72 and when we saw them again in May '73. Then there was another long, excruciating wait until Zep came back here in early '75. But, yes, it was an amazing, wonderful time and I am so grateful and blessed to have experienced it.

That image of the three of them has always made me melt and tugged at my heart - especially the way that Jimmy is leaning slightly over and against Bonzo. :wub:

:lol: Oh, yesssss. It's hard, but we really need to get back to work.

Ah, that one's not so silly.

Very nice!

Oh you already know the answer to that, ILJP: anything he asked.

That's what drove us wild back in the day....now a new generation emerges to keep that "fetish" alive. I sure do know what it does to you ILJP - because I know that we both remember what it was like for us when Jimmy left stage or entered a hotel lobby in that condition - and the effect that it had on us!

:wub: Through the photos and through our memories.