30 Now Goldens

Various Artists

Side One

The Association – Cherish
Tommy James and The Shondells – Hanky Panky
Bob Lind – Elusive Butterfly
Same and Dave – Hold On I’m Comin’
The Cascades – Rhythm of the Night
The Ad Libs – The Boy From New York City
Keith – 98.6
The Standells – Dirty Water

Side Two

Bobby Herb – Sunny
Syndicate of Sound – Little Girl
The Beau Brummels – Laugh Laugh
The Count Five – Psychotic Reaction
The Dixie Cups – Chapel of Love
Bobby Fuller Four – I Fought the Law
Del Shannon – Runaway

Side Three

The Lovin’ Spoonful – Summer In the City
Ritchie Valens – Donna
The Tradewinds – New York Is a Lonely Town
Shirley Ellis – Name Game
The Critters – Mr. Dieingly Sad
The Shangri-Las – Leader of the Pack
BJ Thomas – Billy and Sue
Neil Diamond – Cherry Cherry

Side Four

The Happenings – See You In September
The Vogues – You’re the One
Barbara Mason – Yes I’m Ready
The Knickerbockers – Lies
Ketty Lester – Love Letters
The Wildweeds – No good to Cry
The McCoys – Hang On Sloopy

I recently finished reading Stephen King’s 11/22/63, a thoroughly enjoyable page-turner.  Without spoiling anything, the basic plot involves a man travelling back to 1958 (somehow without a flux capacitor!) and intending to prevent the assassination of JFK 5 years later.

All this talk of space-time continuums got me quite interested in listening to more music of the era.  I figured an artist that was an influence on The Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Springsteen, and Elton John (among countless others) was probably a good place to start.

Sadly, Buddy Holly (lead guitarist/vocalist/songwriter of The Crickets) would only release 3 studio albums during his lifetime.  He died in a plane crash, along with Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper and their pilot Roger Peterson, on February 3rd, 1959; the date was later famously dubbed “The Day The Music Died” in Don McLean’s American Pie.

Holly’s debut album with The Crickets is good ol’ rock n’ roll.  Nothing fancy about it.  2 guitars, bass, drums.  Most song lengths near or below the 2 minute mark.

That’ll Be the Day is a standout, but it’s not the individual songs or even the album as a whole that makes The “Chirping” Crickets an essential listen.  What matters is that although his career was very brief, Holly was a key part, some might say a pioneer, of early rock n’ roll. 

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t include a link to Weezer’s timeless video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kemivUKb4f4

Enjoy!

Part 6 – Dancing Back and Forth to the Future, the 1950s

Lance was looking forward to his 21^st birthday party tomorrow. He was dating 2 different girls and could not decide which one to invite to the party. He was looking forward to buy liquor because he is now of legal age, not being glamoured by his mom to look older.

Also Lance knew he was going to get a special “supernatural” gift from Granny on his 21^st birthday. He was so anxious to find out that he could barely sleep for the past week.

Lance, Regent and Kief decided to use Granny’s Glamour potion to take a quick “peak” into the future to see what would happen if he invited one of the girls.

They knew where Leana kept the potion so Lance decided to “borrow” just enough to allow him to see into tomorrow’s future. But little did he know, Regent and Kief also decided to “borrow” a little bit of the potion to go a bit further into the future to see their 21^st birthdays too.

The 3 young men were so excited about the journey into the future. They borrowed Uncle Nat’s car and hopped in before taking the potion. Gia caught them with the potion. She said, “Don’t use the potion Lance. It is wrong to use the potion to see into the future.”

Lance laughed at her and said, “I’m almost grown now. So go back the house you little Brat and don’t tell anyone!”

Lance drank his potion and told his homeboys he will be back in a few minutes after he sees how his party turns out. But right as Lance drank his potion, Regent and Kief also drank their potion.

The combined potion was too strong. Instead of going 1 day in the future, they went back in time to the past.

They were still in the same neighborhood but everything looked strange. The cars looked like old fishtails. The girls were wearing poodle skirts. And for some reason, there were no African American people on their block.

They hid the car behind the Fraction School parking lot and walked around the school. They heard a school dance going on inside and decided to take a look.

A group of kids rushed to them and said, “No Coloreds Allowed! Unless you are with the band.”

Lance, Regent and Kief did in fact have a singing group and sometimes sang old songs taught to them by Uncle Nat. Nat taught them the words to Little Bitty Pretty One by Frankie Lymon. Then later on they sang the version by the Jackson 5.

The school crowd went wild when Lance, Regent and Keif performed Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry. The girls were screaming. The kids started doing all sorts of popular dances like the Jive, Chicken and Madison.

Then they saw a familiar face in the crowd. A young lady looked like their old Granny Smith, but a much younger, prettier version.

She started dancing towards them and they got scared. They recognized Granny’s Voodoo dance that can be used to Glamour. Young Granny Smith shouted to the boys, “So you like to visit the future? Let’s see how much you like this!”

With that, young Granny threw back in time. They were in their car looking at the neighborhood around them. The street looked so familiar, just like their old block in the Mockingbird Estates. But instead of a Liquor store on the corner, it was a Dress Shop. The mannequin in the dress shop seemed to changing clothes pretty quickly. The dresses started out very long and looked Victorian. Then the dress got shorter and had fringe like a flapper dress. The dress on the mannequin kept changing, and at one point it was a short mini dress with go go boots. Then as the time progressed, the mannequin dress started looking weird. At one point the dress was made of meat. And at another point the dress was made of metal.

Suddenly time stopped. The boys got out of the car and walked around. The houses were gone and replaced by super tall buildings. They walked a few feet from where the liquor store would be in their old block and entered the very tall building.

Lance was teleported inside. To his big surprise, he saw Granny Smith, now old again, their mom, dad, sisters and the rest of the family.

Happy Birthday Lance! What? They threw him a surprise birthday party in the future? How sweet. Turns out that Mare was at the party, so now Lance knew which girl to invite.

But what happened to Regent and Kief?

As it turned out Gia did snitch to Granny Smith that the boys snuck into the Glamour Potion. Right at that time Regent and Kief were teleported back to 1950, but this time in a different location. They looked around and everything looked strange. They saw a lot of pineapples and sugar canes. A lot of the women were doing a hula dance and wearing leis.

One of the dancers approached them and said that Granny gave them a special gift. They are visiting a state that will soon be the 50^th state of America. Granny wanted them to know that when they join the military one day, that they will come back to visit the Island. They will meet 2 beautiful dancing girls that they will marry back in the states.

She said, "The dancing girls cannot wait to Meet you in St. Louis.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Valens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_holly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bopper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marcels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Haley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Lymon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Pressley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lena_Horne
http://www.lena-horne.com/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0395043/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Berry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha-cha-cha_%28dance%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hula_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers
For more Dance Gossip & Goodies, check out my book, "Learn to Belly Dance Textbook" available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble :
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/learn-to-belly-dance-textbook-certification-program-shalimar-ali/1105014103?ean=9781465346582&itm=1&usri=9781465346582
http://www.youtube.com/user/Shalimarali
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shalimar-Ali/1459163265
www.twitter.com/shalimaral
http://learnbellydancewithshalimarali.com/

Now is your time to Join the Conversation! Comments, questions, concerns, controversy, rebuttals, tributes, blog suggestions, guest bloggers, etc., are all welcome!

Don’t miss Part 2 (Dances of the 1910s) coming soon.

What was your favorite song, singer, dance or dancer from the 1950s?

Don McLean – “American Pie” from American Pie, 1971

How could this song not appear on this list? It is a great example of pop (though he calls himself folk) music done well (and those who off-handedly throw pop music to the side as though there is no redeeming quality in any of it should take a closer look at music in general). Just because it is pop doesn’t mean it sucks. Sure, it usually does, but there are instances when it doesn’t.

Okay, getting off the soapbox now, I come back to this anthem to the death of the American dream over and over as one of my favorites. It’s morbid, really, the lyrics paint pictures of the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, President Kennedy, and Meredith Hunter. They’ve been analyzed and re-analyzed and there is even a website dedicated to figuring every minor detail out.

Despite this, it’s an upbeat song. Hell, Madonna even remade it and, naturally, her remake was made into a club mix. It’s not as good as Don McLean’s version, which he has said was cathartic because it helped him get over the death of one of his musical heroes: Buddy Holly.

It means a lot, this song, to a lot of people. It is about a nation being forced to grow up, to face the evils of both the natural world and mankind. And make no mistake, readers, when a natural disaster or fluke of technology kills innocent people, we can call that action evil and sleep at night. Did we, as a nation, grow up well?

I don’t know. The verdict is still out on that one . . . .

“American Pie” also makes a lot of people sad while simultaneously making them want to dance. And it isn’t just the beat. Though it ends on a somber note, though, overall, the tone is sad, the fact Don McLean had the wherewithal to create this work of art is enough to tell us all hope is not lost. Hope can be found in the strangest of places, even in a song about the hopelessness of hope.

Thursday evening, my husband and I attended a Gordon Lightfoot concert at The New Brunswick State Theater in New Jersey. The show was pristine. I’ve seen millions of concerts in my lifetime and this was the first time the sound was just so perfect: not too loud, no feedback, no broken guitar strings, no echo — just perfect!

He did my favorite “Carefree Highway” early on and I got teary eyed hearing the poignant, “Early Morning Rain” (which was also recorded by Elvis Presley). I waited all night to hear another song that was recorded by Presley and written by Lightfoot called “That’s What You Get For Loving Me” but he failed to deliver. Other hits included: “If You Could Read My Mind Love” and “Sundown.”

Gordon Lightfoot was a major force in my early music lover days. My grandmother was a short order cook in a tavern and “Sundown” was on the jukebox and played often.

Thanks, Gordon, for being a part of my life’s musical soundtrack!

The following night was an oldies show at the PNC Bank Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. This was an outdoor concert. I’ve been going to shows at this center since the 1980s, when it was known as Garden State Arts Center, a name I prefer to still call the venue when talking amongst friends. (Most of us hate when they change names of places we’ve been going to so many years.)

The line-up for the evening was: Randy and the Rainbows, The Knockouts, The Classics, The Happenings, The Demensions, Buddy Holly’s original Crickets, and finally Frankie Lymon’s Legendary Teenagers.

What a great night for an outdoor concert. New Jersey is having Arizona weather these days — hot in the day and chilly at night. My husband and I were snuggled under a blanket, all the way in the back on the lawn … beer and pretzel in tow!

But when The Crickets hit the stage, we ran to the front. Two empty seats were available, just 10 feet from the stage! We grabbed them and sang along with some of the favorites: “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll Be the Day,” and “Every Day.” At one point I ran to the front of the stage to get a closer glimpse of the remaining Crickets, the guys that were lucky enough not to be on that plane that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper.

It was thrilling.

During the show, a gentleman seated behind me tapped me on my shoulder and asked how a young person like me knows about this kind of music. I just started cracking up. I guess I still don’t show my age of 48.

But my husband topped me! When he got his beer, he got proofed (carded)! Proofed at age 53!

I think we both wear our age with fun! Going to see live music is part of our health regimen!

And on this day in 1861 at the beginning of the American Civil War Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights, in 1888 with the passage of the Lei Áurea (“Golden Law”), Brazil abolishes slavery, in 1940 during World War II Germany‘s conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech to the House of Commons, in 1950 the first round of the Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone, in 1960 hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students congregate for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Thirty-one students are arrested, and the Free Speech Movement is born and in 2000 in Enschede, the Netherlands, a fireworks factory explodes, killing 22 people, wounding 950, and resulting in approximately €450 million in damage.

Some birthdays you may want to remember (or remember to forget) on this day are Arthur Sullivan, English composer (1842-1900), Georges Braque, French painter (1882-1963), Dame Daphne du Maurier, English author (1907-1989), Bea Arthur, American actress (1922-2009), Jim Jones, American businessman and cult leader of the Peoples Temple (1931-1978), Harvey Keitel, American actor (1939), Ritchie Valens, American singer (1941-1959), Stevie Wonder, American singer and musician (1950), Johnny Logan, Irish singer and songwriter (1954), Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian spiritual figure (1956), Dennis Rodman, American basketball player and actor (1961), Stephen Colbert, American comedian and actor (1964), Robert Pattinson, English actor, musician and model and Alexander Rybak, Norwegian singer (both born in 1986).

Need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day? Why not look into joining the celebrations of Abbotsbury Garland Day (Dorset, England) or perhaps Rotuma Day (Fiji)?

For more information about historic events on this day, please go here.

Kidz Rock! Inc. would like to wish a very happy birthday to Ritchie Valens, “La Bamba” singer died in historic plane crash, (1941-1959)

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Source: Famous Birthdays

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No soy marinero…

I really dig La Bamba.

La Bamba proves pop hits can transcend language barriers. Aquí is the rough translation.

To dance The Bamba, you need a little grace.                     

For me, for you, up, up…. For you I will (x3).                       

I’m not a sailor, I am The Captain….

Simple, yet profound. I like nearly all La Bamba manifestations.

The movie with Lou Diamante Phillips? Sí.

The song by Ritchie Valens? Absolutamente.

The burritos as big as your cabeza? Por supuesto.

Pssst. Your body is going to hate you mañana….

POR SUPUESTO

(pohr sooh-PWAY-stoh)

Of course

But more than the cinema, música and caloric gluttony associated with La Bamba, I dig the message – el mensaje (mayn-SAH-hay) – in the lyrics. One line in particular resonates with me:

“Yo no soy marinero, soy Capitán….”

Classic line. It means “I’m not a sailor, I’m the Captain….”

Easy translation here as Marinero (mah-ree-NAY-roh) and Capitán (kah-pee-TAHN) are both Spanish Twins. Señor Valens is making a statement here: “I’m not just another hombre on the ship, man. I’m the Captain. I’m The Man!”

This is a choice. A choice between being “one of the guys” or being The Guy. A choice between Management and Leadership. A choice between managing things and leading people. A choice between “punching the clock” and changing the world.

These are all choices.

Failure to make a choice is still a choice. It’s just a choice to be a Marinero. Failure to make a choice means you don’t want to be a Capitán. The world needs ditch diggers. Ships need marineros. And that’s OK.

On the jobsite, this choice is critical. There are so many people doing so many things, you cannot even dream of managing every activity. In your pursuit of absolute efficiency, don’t forget business – and life – is all about relationships. It’s about people. While you can be efficient with things, you cannot be efficient with people.

The individuals working on your job must understand the overall goal of the project and where they fit into it. They must understand the whole, but focus on their specific piece within the whole.

This requires Leadership.

To lead on today’s jobsite, you need language skills that effectively reach your audience – the workers on your site. Whether that means you pick up some Spanish skills, Polish skills, or whatever language recent college grads speak – the point is the same. Leadership requires a connection to those you wish to lead.

You can manage a specific activity. You can throw a saddle on the painting crew and ride them all día long until the punchlist is done, but let’s not confuse that with leadership.

Saddle up, vaquero de la pintura!

Surely language is not the only component separating Management from Leadership. Far from it. But language skills are the foundation of effective communication. Your words matter. The words you choose matter.

And without effective comunicación, you don’t stand a chance at managing or leading.

La Bamba illustrates how a collection of a few well-chosen words can overcome language barriers and resonate.

It’s your choice: Marinero o Capitán?

Bradley Hartmann is founder and el presidente at Red Angle (www.redanglespanish.com), a Spanish language training firm focused on the construction industry. 

To that end, I have here a list of a good ten factors to consider when you’re naming your rockabilly band. I hope all you kitties and cats out there find it helpful. By no means is this definitive, it’s just some patterns I’ve noticed over the years. If you want to call your band the Hoobastank Experience, well who am I to judge?

10. The Ampersand is Your Friend

What’s an ampersand, you ask? It’s “&” <This guy! When it comes to solid rockabilly there are only three things that matter. Charisma, charisma and charisma. I cannot stress the importance of a solid front man or woman. And one of the things that cements a great frontman in your head is a signature backing band.

Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps: All this class in one great package.

examples: Blind Rage & Violence, Billy Riley & His Little Green Men, Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps, Roy Orbison & The Teen Kings, Vince Taylor & His Playboys, Red & The Red Hots, Billy Bacon & The Forbidden Pigs, Gene Summers & His Rebels, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: Hootie and the Blowfish.

9. A Great Nickname is Better than a Great Stage Name.

We all know that Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Baker and John Wayne was born Marion Morrison (at least I know it, and if you didn’t I just told you so we all know it now), but a catchy name is nothing in the rockabilly world when you can have a fantastic nickname instead. How will people know you’re really rockin or totally boss if they can’t see it in your name?

Would we know upfront that Crazy Joe Tritschler was Crazy if it wasn't in his name?

examples: ‘Slim Jim’ Phantom, Mike ‘Mad Dog’ Minnick, Billy “The Kid” Emerson, Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnson, ‘Crazy’ Joe Tritschler, ‘Hot’ Link, ‘Ace’ Brown, Freddy ‘Boom-Boom’ Cannon, ‘Snake’ Richards

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: Lady Gaga

8. Royalty is ok when it’s Rock Royalty

Sure, America has a long history of democratic pride. Did we not chuck that tea in the harbor? Did we not note one if by land, two if by sea? Did we not tell King George to get stuffed? You bet we did, but who wants to listen to the comrade or great citizen of rock and roll? When it comes to rock, there’s only one title that will do. We want the King.

It was mighty big of them to let the drummer be an honorary String King.

Examples: King Perry & His Pied Pipers, The String Kings, Rumble King, Rhythm Kings, Rockin’ Kings

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: King Crimson

7. Abnormality is awesome, Average is Squaresville 

We do enjoy those that fall at, shall we say, the extreme ends of the bell curve. It doesn’t matter if you’re tall or short, thin or fat, young or old. If there’s something about you that’s weird- don’t hide it. Flaunt it!

He may not look little, but that's what quote marks and irony were invented for.

Examples: L’il Luis, L’il Mo, Big Sandy, Little Dick Chaffin, Little Jimmy Dempsey, Big Charles Green, Little Julian Herrera, Little Joy Rainwater, Pretty Boy, Big Fat Steve, Harmonica Fats

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: L’il Bow Wow

6. Alliteration: Avenue to Awesome

Alliteration is a sound academic principle, and if there’s one thing that we know about rock n’ roll is that it always aspires to academic perfection (you see how alliterative that was? Wasn’t that cool?). It doesn’t matter if it’s spelled right or wrong (or right or rong). All that matters is that sweet sound. And that’s onomatopaiea, another great sound academic principle.

Jinx Jones, the guitar player so nice we see him thrice.

Examples: Rockin’ Rick and the Rhythm Wranglers, Royal Rhythmaires, Jinx Jones, Rhythm Rockets

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: The Beastie Boys

5. The alphabet goes A B C D E F H

When it comes to solid rocking, the apostrophe is your friend and the letter g is apostate. We don’t have time for enunciation. We got some boogie to commence and grammar’s got no place in it. So the next time your friend recommends to you the Rightly Rocking Trio of Apartment House Number 5, you just may want to consider giving it a miss.

The Smoking Js just wouldn't be the same.

examples: Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Honkin’ Tonkin’ Boozers, Mad Dog and the Smokin’ Js, Ramblin’ Red Bailey, Good Rockin’ Bob

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: Guns N’ Roses

4. Maturity is overrated- Always boys, never men.

Do you ever have as much passion for things as you do at 17? If you do, you probably have a certain amount of emotional stuntedness and you just might be a rockabilly.

The Flyrite Boys, less boys, more flyrite.

examples: The Barrel House Boys, BJ and the Boys, Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys, The Blue Boys, Bonnie and the Little Blue Boys, Sue and her Elm Valley Boys, Logan Valley Boys

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: The Backstreet Boys

3. Even Manhattan is the Country when you’re a Good ol’ Boy at Heart

You may have to go to the big city to catch the biggest concerts, but the country invented that joy filled ecstasy that is rockabilly. Think about all those great jam sessions from the Andy Griffith show. Remember the Darlings? Even the folks of Mayberry found them to be a bunch of hicks, but they were always up to some mighty fine a pickin and a singin that made them sound as good as the Dillards. Also, don’t write me to tell me the Dillards provided the soundtrack for the Darlings. That was a joke, son.

Andy is taken aback by their power of rockage.

examples: Country Boy Eddie, Country Dudes, Country Four, Country Gentlemen, Country G-J’s, Country Lads, Country Rockers, Johnny Reb

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: Country Joe & the Fish

2. You don’t have to be all white to be all right. 

Unlike almost everything else except apparently landscaping, mainstream society seems to take the large latino content of rockabilly in stride and even with a great deal of approval. In modern music you especially see this embodied in the Las Vegas label Wild Records, but even in the day teens that didn’t know anything about spanish loved getting down to La Bamba.

They may have took the Valenzuela out of Valens, but no one could take the bamba from La Bamba.

examples: L’il Luis Y Los Wild Teens, Ritchie Valens, Chuy the Bobcat, Santos, The Vargas Brothers, Carlos and the Bandidos, Augie Rios

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: Los Lobos

1. Hell can be heaven for those that like to rock

How many times have you said that you don’t want to go to Heaven because Hell will be where the fun is happening? None? Then you probably gave up on reading this ten minutes ago because you’re not a rockabilly fan. But if you know that great music was given to Robert Johnson at the crossroads and then moved on from there, then you’re probably willing to give the devil his due.

Hillbilly Hellcats: Flames aren't just for cars anymore.

examples: Hillbilly Hellcats, the Helldivers, Hellbound Hepcats, The BackYard Devils, The Beat Devils, The Blue Devils

Don’t be fooled accept no substitute not a rockabilly alternative: Black Sabbath

So there it is. It’s not exhaustive. I have some other thoughts that didn’t make the top ten, but these were my big thoughts. And utilizing this great system, I have created the ultimate rockabilly band name. Are you ready for this? Here goes.

Rockin’ Royal Roberto & The Brimstone Boys Reb Revue

Weigh in if you think you have better. In the meantime, why not take a look at The Rockabilly Hall of Fame? At over 5000 artists listed, you’ll be rockin’ like a hep cat or cool kitty in no time.

Related articles

• Bye, Bye Miss American Pie (drpepperdiva.wordpress.com)
• Yet Another Sunday (russelllindsey.wordpress.com)
• Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died a few minutes after 1 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1959. (greaseralley.com)

Now the bandwagon begins rolling, with rumors of Michael touring with his brothers on a “reunion” tour. That leads us to all sorts of possibilities – Jerry rejoining The Dead, Kurt getting back together with Nirvana, Jim re-hooking up with The Doors, John and George doing another Beatles run? How about Bob singing Buffalo Soldier on-stage one more time?

The obvious venue for these reincarnations, of course, is Las Vegas – where anything (and everything) can and usually does happen – and consider the potential ticket sales. Imagine the bizarre all-star show of these characters – Elvis is a gimme to bring back, Marvin Gaye too. Hey – they can even have “The Day The Music Was Reincarnated” and bring back Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens for an all-star show!

The possibilities with is are truly endless, and it will open a door for more people to appreciate these incredible artists-of-days-past in as close to a “live” show as possible. I’ll absolutely be there, enthusiastically cheering on the holograms’ reconstructed scattered light. Dick Clark - hope you got to see this before you passed. Either way- you’re now up there with all these greats, and no doubt we’ll get to see you on stage again too.

And oh yeah – happy 4/20 for all you…numbers fans out there.

Today’s Escape = The one that started it all…Tupac “live” at Coachella (earmuffs for the kids) 

Today is Friday the 13th! Friday the 13th has always been a special day for me because I happened to be born on one. However, many other people find these days to be the unluckiest days of the year. To celebrate this day, I decided to listen to American Pie by Don Mclean.

Released October 24, 1971, American Pie reached #1 on the Billboard 200 with its self-titled track “American Pie”. The song was written as a tribute to the plane crash February 3, 1959 twelve years before. This plane crash caused the death of three American rock and roll pioneers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. The plane crash has been called the first and greatest tragedy rock and roll has ever suffered.

How do you feel about Friday the 13th? Comment below!

Would the Real Ritchie Valens please stand up?!

Okay, that was the name of one of my favorite movies as a pre-teenager.  Yes, before that, it was a popular song by Ritchie Valens, who, to me, will always look like Lou Diamond Phillips. I’m not really going to talk about Ritchie Valens or La Bamba in this post, though…

Today is Leap Day.  Is that supposed to make today something special?  I don’t know.  It is fun to revolve crafts and lessons around this day at school.  It is also nice for the folks who were born on February 29 to celebrate on their actual birthday.

Buddy Holly and his Eyewear

Today, in 1980, Buddy Holly’s signature eyeglasses were pulled out of a vaguely marked, sealed manila envelope.  You can read about that here.

I think that is pretty special.  I do think that we place significance on rarity.

Isn’t something more valuable if it is a rare find? Don’t we perk up and listen to the speaker who doesn’t often contribute?  Don’t my blog stats increase significantly when I’ve taken a few days (or weeks) off and then I post something?  The answer to all of these questions is, “yes”.

Leap Day occurs once every four years.  Therefore, it is not mundane or ordinary.  Buddy Holly was a popular entertainer and his look was complete with his signature eyeglasses.  His glasses were found hidden away on Leap Day.  Maybe today is your day to be extraordinary.  Maybe you sign up for that race or you call that friend you miss.

A manila envelope may seem ordinary, but what is inside may be extraordinary!  You may feel ordinary, simple, like you are no big deal, but wise up!  Open up your envelope (or heart, or mind, or whatever) and discover what you (and someone else) might find!

Open it. See what's inside!

this is the first post of my brand new blog.  Links to newly updated stories/musings/andwhimsies will be posted here or you can check out the full arrangement above in the menu.

To start it off we have two pieces, one in the musings. category and one in the writtens. category.  I hope that you enjoy and please, I love feedback.

It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career

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the Throes

 Oh Boy! by Buddy Holly

 Come On Let’s Go by Ritchie Valens

Chantilly Lace by the Big Bopper