I'm just a guy who likes the classics. I love Old Time Radio Shows. I love Classic TV. I love Classic Movies. I love songs from the "Great American Songbook". I dig songs from the first decade of Rock and Roll. Don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to newer things. My musical taste ranges from Classical to Classic Rock and Country to Rap. I love a good book and am always looking for something to read. I tend to lean toward historical fiction, biographies, mysteries, and more.
I have always believed that our past (and the things we've experienced in it) make us who we are today. That being said, after reading through some old My Space blogs (yeah, that's about how long it's been since I blogged regularly), I decided that I should once again write. Welcome to my blog. I hope you find it interesting, thought provoking, and entertaining in some way.
CONTACT ME AT - nostalgicitalian@yahoo.com
This week I was looking for something non-blog related and came across a photo I forgot about.
This is a five or six year old me. I had been taking organ lessons with the sweetest teacher. I remember there was a store in the mall that sold pianos and organs, I took my lessons there.
By the looks of this picture, I would guess this was taken at our old house. The couch in the back makes me wonder if this is at my grandma’s house, but I don’t think so. My brother might be able to clarify that. Grandma had an organ, too, so it is slightly possible that this is at her house.
At any rate, I remember how difficult it was for my short legs to hit the pedals on the ground. My teacher, Mrs. Bostick, was so nice. She would often say, “Keep eating right, and those legs will grow long enough to do it!”
If you look on the left of the top keyboard, you will see some yellow, green and white switches. Those switches could make what you played sound like a clarinet, horn, tibia, trumpet, etc… They could also add vibrato and other effects.
Our organ had one of those “beat buttons.” You could have it play a drum line for you based on the type of song you were playing. It had reggae, swing, tango, rock, etc… As you can see in the above picture, many of the organs had a control for how fast or slow the “drums” went.
The photo of me makes me remember a lot. First, the lovely Mrs. Bostick. I miss her letters since she passed away. Second, the fact that I once had thick hair. And last, that the one song I loved to play on the organ was used in a Bugs Bunny Cartoon.
“Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms” was a song in one of my lesson books. It was fairly easy to play and the chords were easy, too. I played it a lot because it was one I played well.
As far as the Bugs cartoon, well, the joke (and song) were used a lot:
Back in November, I did a feature I called “Share Your Nostalgia.” I asked some of my blogger friends to write up a piece that focused on their favorite toy from childhood. The response was positive and it was suggested to do another round. So this time around, I asked for them to tell us about their Favorite Childhood Book.
Their book could be something that was read to them by their parents or grandparents. It could also be a book that was read to them in school at story time. I also suggested that their book might be one that they read to their own children. I wanted each of them to have as much freedom as necessary.
My next guest blogger for this topic is yet another musical buddy. If you want to know anything about records that reached the top of the charts in the UK, Stewart is your guy! I always enjoy looking at how a song does in the UK versus the US. Many songs that go #1 there, barely make Top Ten here and vice versa. At any rate, his site is a great one to check out: The UK Number Ones Blog
Maybe Stewart’s favorite book was big in both the UK and the US? We’ll find out right now!
The Famous Five
Version 1.0.0
Thanks again to Keith for allowing me to take part in this series! I’m a huge reader, and writer, and have been since a young age. And so, choosing one title from my childhood was a tough ask… Therefore I’m cheating and choosing a whole series. A series that most British kids of a certain age probably know quite well.
The Famous Five is a series of adventure novels published between 1942 and 1963. They were written by Enid Blyton (more on her later) and feature, you guessed it, five main characters, who get up to all manner of excitement during their long summer holidays from boarding school. Three siblings: Julien, the oldest and the leader. Dick, the cheeky one. Anne, the younger, more babyish one. And Georgina AKA ‘George’, their tomboy cousin (more on her later, too). Plus, we mustn’t forget the fifth member, Timmy the Dog.
The books all have cutesy titles like ‘Five Run Away Together’, and ‘Five Have a Wonderful Time’. Even for the time they were written, the stories are old-fashioned, and nostalgic for an England where it’s always sunny, and where children can roam the countryside on their bikes, with hampers full of cucumber sandwiches and ginger beer, stopping smugglers and spies along the way. For the time and place that I read them, Scotland, in the mid-nineties, they might as well have been set on another planet. But then that’s the appeal of a good children’s book, or any book really, isn’t it? One that transports you somewhere fantastical.
Nowadays, The Famous Five are more famous as a parody of a very old-fashioned style of children’s writing. Post Harry Potter, kids’ books are much more mature, known as Young Adult, or have titles like ‘The Day My Bum Went Psycho!’ And I’m not sure I could read The Famous Five now and not be disappointed by how simplistic they are. Not to mention how some of the attitudes and language presented might not be acceptable nowadays…
The author, Enid Blyton, may have been wildly prolific (she also wrote the Noddy series, Malory Towers, the Secret Seven, among many other titles) but she drew contemporary criticism for the repetitive nature of her writing. Then, from the ‘60s onwards, she started receiving criticism for the often racist and misogynist language she used. Perhaps Blyton’s attitudes are unsurprising, given that she was born in 1897. Still, I’m not going to excuse them. I will argue though, that despite devouring the books at a very impressionable age, I didn’t grow up to adopt any of her views, or use any of her outdated language. I somehow knew it was a relic from a different time and place. Kids are not stupid. Exposure to ‘bad’ language, and ideas, at a young age can be a good thing, something that those who advocate for old books to be revised and censored to fit in with modern sensibilities tend to forget.
Anyway, I don’t want to turn this into a rant. This is a nostalgia series, and I have a lot of nostalgia for The Famous Five. I remember reading them in tents on camping holidays. I remember recreating their adventures with friends (I was always Dick). I remember having confusing crushes on both Anne and Julien. I remember being intrigued by the idea of George(ina) wanting to be a boy.
In fact, any modern criticism of Enid Blyton must also take into account the fact that she invented a female character who, in the 1940s, wanted to wear boys’ clothes, cut her hair short, and be addressed as ‘master’ rather than ‘miss’. All of which feels very ahead of its time!
The books are still, I believe, in print. I work in a school, and our library has a set of Famous Fives (though I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a child reading them…) Hopefully, though, somewhere, a modern day Gen-Alpha is enjoying these twee and predictable stories four kids and a dog, saving the day one adventure at a time.
We did our taxes this weekend. Well, we didn’t, but our tax guy did. It’s always nice to know that you’re getting a refund. What was even nicer was to know that we are getting back money from the state taxes, too. It’s never really a lot of money, but it is better than having to pay!
Children’s Museum
On Sunday, I took the kids to the Children’s Museum in Flint. The last time I was there was with my two older boys when they were about 2 and 6. They’ve really changed it up and I was impressed.
There is an area that is all done up like you are under water. This reading room had an otter that Ella loved.
They improved the dental area a bit. Andrew had to show me the “tooth that had a cavity, but is now worth a lot of money.”
There is an area that has to be new, because I don’t remember it. It’s a pizzeria. Ella tried her hand at making pizzas.
The store that they had there is still around, but it has been redone. It is much better now. Andrew had to run the cash register for folks.
It was a fun afternoon. They each got a stuffed orca. Ella actually surprised me by calling it an orca! I have no idea where she learned that! We’ll be going back again.
Still to Come
Ella is excited because this Saturday is the Daddy Daughter Dance. She’s got a new dress and new shoes. I’ve gotta see if I can fit in my pants after taking all those steroids! If not, it’s gonna be a trip up to the store so I can look nice for my girl. I cannot wait for our special night.
She is also excited because her birthday is less than a week away!! She will be turning 5 on Monday. I have the day off and we will be celebrating her all day.
Back in November, I did a feature I called “Share Your Nostalgia.” I asked some of my blogger friends to write up a piece that focused on their favorite toy from childhood. The response was positive and it was suggested to do another round. So this time around, I asked for them to tell us about their Favorite Childhood Book.
Their book could be something that was read to them by their parents or grandparents. It could also be a book that was read to them in school at story time. I also suggested that their book might be one that they read to their own children. I wanted each of them to have as much freedom as necessary.
Today’s featured guest blogger is one of the first bloggers I connected with after starting this blog 7 years ago. I don’t recall who found who first, but I believe we connected talking about old toys. He’s like an old friend. Max runs the Power Pop Blog and features some great music on there daily.
I’ve been to Tennessee a few times and have experienced some wild times down there. Coincidentally, Max has picked a “wild” one for you and me today.
Where The Wild Things Are
I loved this book as a kid. When I see it I feel like I’m 7 again. The book came out in 1963. I did know some kids that the book really scared, but I thought it was great. As a kid, it was entertaining and enlightening. The other reason I liked it? The leading character’s first name. When I grew up, “Max” was not a common name. If Max was in trouble…the entire school knew what Max they were talking about since I was the only one. It was nice sharing my name with a little boy who could tame monsters.
An animated film was made in 1975 and a feature-length movie in 2009. My son Bailey and I saw it and we enjoyed it together but he knew the book because he enjoyed it as well.
Where The Wild Things Are was written by Maurice Sendak about a boy named Max who “makes mischief” in his house and is sent to bed without supper all while wearing a wolf suit. His room is then transformed into a magic forest and Max sets off in his very own boat to the Land of the Wild Things.
Once there he tames the monsters by staring into their yellow eyes without blinking. Knowing they have met their master, they acclaim Max King of all Wild Things and celebrate their wildness together. When Max decides to return to where someone loves him best of all, the wild things try all their wiles to persuade him to stay, but he sails back into the warmth of his own room and finds supper waiting.
When the book came out some were not happy. Many psychologists thought that the book would be very traumatizing for young children. Sendak has said that the book was banned by libraries for a couple of years and then it started to be accepted and took off.
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year
In 2008, I turned 38. I was now a father of two boys, one with special needs. I was working in country radio at the time. Still grieving my mom’s passing, my emotions were heightened. Happiness was extra happy, sadness was extra sad, if that makes sense. So let’s get into 2008 and feel all the emotions…..
The first tune was released in January of 2008 and it struck me like a brick to the head. It was a song that really made me stop to realize how I had to take in all the little moments that were going on with my boys, even when I was too upset to do so.
I’ve written about this song before on here. It meant a lot then, and even more now. You’re Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins blew me away the first time I heard it. It is all about how the things that aggravate you now, are the same things that you will miss in the years to come.
The song written by Ashley Gorley and Lee Thomas Miller. When they first worked on the song, they were so busy writing it and getting it recorded that they didn’t get into the emotion of it. It was only when Adkins recorded it that the duo realized its depth. If you have children, young or old, it hits home.
You’re Gonna Miss This
Natasha Bedingfield’s Pocketful of Sunshine is a song that kind of jumped out of the radio at me. It was one of seven songs that were recorded for her Unwritten album that were included to be “radio friendly” to American audiences. It was a good choice, as it was a Top 5 record for her.
Outside of the rhythm of the song, and the cadence of the vocal, the only other reason I can think of for liking the song is the chorus. The idea of having a bit of sunshine in your pocket, that struck me. On crappy days, you always carry sunshine with you to help you get through. I guess I needed to think about life that way. I had a lot of good going on in my life, and I needed to start focusing on that.
Pocketful of Sunshine
Brad Paisley is not only a fantastic guitar player, he is an amazing songwriter! He can write some of the most beautiful love songs and at the same time a “raise your beer at the bar and get drunk” song. The ones I really like are those where he finds those male vs female angles. That’s the next song, I’m Still A Guy.
The lyrics of this one are just great. Male perspective vs female perspective come verse after verse. “When you see a deer, you see Bambi, and I see antlers up on the wall” is just one example of the fantastic writing of Paisley.
From songfacts.com:
Brad Paisley explained to Great American Country: “I just wanted to capture this struggle a little bit between men and women in a playful way, which is ‘Why don’t you get a little cosmopolitan here and feminize up for me just a bit?’ [laughs] We’re fighting that every step of the way, some of us guys, and ironically in talking to the radio guys, they say the majority of the calls for it come from women, and I think the same thing happened with ‘I’m Gonna Miss Her.’ These women want their men to hear it, and by golly, that is the best way to get a man to hear something is to play it for their significant other. They’re gonna be forced to listen to it. It’s got that nudge-your-partner-with-your-elbow factor to it.”
I’m Still a Guy
“Kid Rock on a country station?!”
Those were the words of more than one country program director when All Summer Long came out. It was one of those songs that hit the Top 40 Chart for both Modern Rock and Country! Because Kid is from Michigan, it made sense for us to play it, but the rest of the country?
Kid Rock explained to MTV News why the song was so big:
“I knew the track was solid – it’s got two of the best songs of all time mashed up together [‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Werewolves of London’], it’s got great melodies, so really, my work was done. I knew people would hear it and know I wrote it. They’d know it was real, and there’d be that connection. And that’s what’s missing in music today. I think people don’t believe half the s–t they hear some rapper or some pop girl singing about… but with me, they do. And that’s why people have reacted the way they have to the song.”
All Summer Long
The next song is on my list for a weird reason. I can nail the drum line!
Pink told the story of this song: “‘So What’ was a joke. I heard this beat from Max Martin. It’s such a fun beat, so fun. And I was actually kidding when I said, ‘I guess I just lost my husband, I don’t know where he went.’ Ha ha, that’s really funny. Let’s keep it and it just kind of went from there. And it just got more and more wrong. The more lines we wrote, the wronger it was. And we kept it because I don’t really care. I don’t think about the consequences when I write songs and now I am regretting every second of it. No, I’m not.”
At one of our family Christmas parties, one of the brothers-in-law had brought over their Playstation or X-Box with Rock Band on it. He had the guitars, the drum kit and whatever else they needed for the game. So What was a cut on there. I had never even heard the song at the time. I couldn’t do squat on those guitars, but the drums … we’ll I did ok!
Whenever I hear the song, I always remember jamming on the drums to it.
So What
I remember thinking, “Now that’s a great band name!” when I hear of the All-American Rejects. Gives You Hell didn’t mean much to me back in 2008, however, during my divorce it applied to a lot of people.
The group’s front man, Tyson Ritter, told MTV News:
“It’s kind of this tongue-in-cheek way of looking at someone you hate, whether it’s your mom, for some reason, or it’s your teacher at school, or it’s your boss at work. It’s just someone who makes you struggle, and it’s giving them the finger.”
Now, “hate” is a strong word. I certainly don’t hate some of the folks I think of when I hear this song, but I certainly would give them the finger….
Gives You Hell
“Oh, great, Keith has another Nickelback song on his list!”
I have always tried to live by the mantra, “Live every day as if it were your last, someday, you’ll be right.” That’s what this next song kind of meant to me. If Today Was Your Last Day, what would you do with it? It is a song that makes me wonder every time I hear it.
According to songfacts, the song had been around for awhile without ever being completed. Bass guitarist Mike Kroeger noted on the record label’s website, “Chad (Kroeger) brought it out of the vault and the creative juices started to flow.”
If Today Was Your Last Day
Not Meant to Be by Theory of a Deadman was another song that meant little or nothing to me when it was released. But when I was in therapy prior to my divorce, it started to hit me. Let’s face it, not all relationships are meant to be.
The group’s Tyler Connolly wrote the song with Kara DioGuardi at the American Idol judge’s house. He commented in a press release: “Amazing. I went over to her place, drank some wine and we wrote ‘Not Meant To Be’ in 5 minutes. Our writing styles fit together so perfectly it was almost like it was ‘meant to be.'”
“I remember giving Kara the song title and she said, ‘I like that! I don’t I’ve heard of a song with that title.’ So then I just wrote the chords right there on the spot. From there, she started humming the vocal melody and wrote the lyrics off of that. I took it home and finished the rest. The next day I show up with the finished song and she says, ‘That’s a hit.’ Once I sent Roadrunner Records the demo, they loved it.”
It only went to #55 on the charts, so I’m not sure I’d call it a “hit,” but I liked it.
Not Meant To Be
I believe when I blogged about the Trace Adkins song above, I also included this next one from Darius Rucker. Basically, it is the same song, or at least the same theme.
When Darius put out his Learn to Live album, a lot of folks (myself included) wondered how “Hootie” was going to make it singing country. Well, he showed us! He fit the format like a glove! His country stuff was better than some of the established artists at the time (in my opinion). He took It Won’t Be Like This For Long all the way to #1.
He said, “This is about my two daughters. I’ve got a 13 year old and 7 year old. I wrote it with Ashley Gorley and Chris DuBois, who also have daughters. This song may be my favorite song on the record. I love playing it acoustically. We play it when we visit radio stations, and there wasn’t a day where at least two people didn’t cry. We’d just look and count. It’s absolutely bittersweet. When we were writing it, we were talking about how fast our families were growing up. That first week after the baby is born is awful: you’re up all the time. Then when it’s not like that, you miss those times.”
Last night, my daughter asked me to tuck her in. She asked me to sing our song to her, which I haven’t done in a while. It had me almost in tears. The time goes so fast….
It Won’t Be Like This For Long
After Hey There Delilah, I made sure to listen to more of these Plain White T’s fellas. They packed my interest with their sound. 1,2,3,4 is one of my favorites from the decade.
Plain White T’s Lead singer Tom Higgenson wrote it for his girlfriend at the time, Angie Chavez. In the song, he tells her over and over that he loves her, which she makes as easy as counting. This is something I could easily sing to my wife.
The video is well done, too. It shows Higgenson busking in Chicago on a December day in 2008. As he plays, crowds gather and some people recognize him – nobody in the clip is an actor. Throughout the video, we see couples and groups of families and friends with graphics explaining who they are and how they got together. In the end, Higgenson meets up with Angie, and we learn that they met in Chicago.
What a wonderful little love song!
1, 2, 3, 4
Wow, that’s ten songs already. Ok, which hit from 2008 did I miss that is on your list? Tell me in the comments.
Next week, we move into 2009. My list includes a former sister-in-law’s wedding song, a surprisingly powerful song from a Disney kid, a song that tells how every expecting parent feels, a song from a group I knew would be a success the first time I heard them, and one that just makes you feel good and want to dance.
Thanks for listening and reading. See you next week.
Back in November, I did a feature I called “Share Your Nostalgia.” I asked some of my blogger friends to write up a piece that focused on their favorite toy from childhood. The response was positive and it was suggested to do another round. So this time around, I asked for them to tell us about their Favorite Childhood Book.
Their book could be something that was read to them by their parents or grandparents. It could also be a book that was read to them in school at story time. I also suggested that their book might be one that they read to their own children. I wanted each of them to have as much freedom as necessary.
My next guest blogger is my friend Randy from Mostly Music Covers. I loved his site from the moment I discovered it. He appreciates a good (and bad) cover song like I do. So, which book was Randy’s favorite? Looks like a classic!
My Favorite Book – Dr Suess’s A B C
When Keith asked us to “Think about your favorite book from childhood”. This one was easy for me because this is the first book that I owned myself. Any other book in the family would be a hand me down from my three older siblings or maybe some cousins. I seem to recall not sharing this one with my younger siblings, however I think they probably did use it.
I was given this when I was six years old and would soon be going into Grade One. We called it Public School that went from kindergarten up to Grade 8. I don’t remember using the word elementary in those days though it may have been on the sign outside. And no such thing as Middle School or Junior High.
The expectations for learning at a young age were different in 1965 than they are today. So while this may seem a little late for such a book, we were still learning to connect the words with the letters of the alphabet in the first classes in Grade One. Now I read this book to my four-year-old daughter in the early 90s, as she had learned the whole alphabet in short order. And then started to read, almost two years before I did.
Many of you who are Dyslexic will understand, but I gave the appearance that I was a bit ‘slow’ compared to most of my classmates. Hmm, come to think of it, maybe I was a bit slow through all my days of formal education. Now that explains a lot!
Not sure what kids get taught and at what age now. At age two my grandson was counting to 10, possibly with two 11’s or 18’s on his way to 20 before his third birthday last September. He already seems good and ready for a book like this.
Well before and into the 60s what we were using to learn to read is the Dick and Jane series of books. Those books contained lines like “Oh, Mother, Oh, Father. Jane can play. Sally Can play.” With the accompanying illustrations, in colour no less. Riveting stuff that some of you will no doubt remember.
Dr. Seuss books were a big deal as I recall. And How the Grinch Stole Christmas! came out the following year. So having a Dr. Seuss alphabet book was pretty cool I thought. Inside the book would be pictures of some of the Seuss characters. For the letter ‘A’ the question was “what begins with little ‘a’ and what begins with big ‘A’”. The following page was a picture of long Alligator with Aunt Annie riding on it’s back. “Aunt Annie’s Alligator A…a…A”.
At the time this seemed like a fun way to learn to match the letters and put them into a sentence. I really coveted this book. While I only used Dr Seuss’s A B C for a short while (ok maybe up to grade 9;), I don’t think I could say another one was more important to me for a long while. Not that I actually used the book, but I just don’t remember another one being that important.
The next book of significance would be when I got The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift from my oldest brother as a teen. I still the have those paperbacks. And, I have Dr Seuss’s A B C in storage (somewhere) so I will have to dig it out before the grandson’s next visit. Though he’ll probably be on to The Hobbit already. Just kidding.
It was on this day in 1977 that Fleetwood Mac released what many consider to be their best album, Rumours. I don’t know this to be a fact, but I would guess it would appear in the Top 10 of any “Best Album” lists.
Today should be TuneS Tuesday, because you get a bonus cut. The album is loaded with hits, but I love the connection between these two.
Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks dated from 1972-1976. The relationship ended just before the Rumours album was recorded. The emotions from this led to two huge hits.
Go Your Own Way was the first single from the album. Songfacts says:
Lindsey Buckingham wrote this as a message to Stevie Nicks. It describes their breakup, with the most obvious line being, “Packing up, shacking up is all you want to do,” and concluding that he is better off without her – she can go her own way as far as he’s concerned. Stevie insisted she never shacked up with anyone when they were going out, and wanted Lindsey to take out the line, but he refused.
Stevie Nicks told Q magazine June 2009:
“It was certainly a message within a song. And not a very nice one at that.”
She got equal time on the album with “Dreams,” her message to Lindsey Buckingham. She is a bit more delicate in her approach, but just as biting, telling him what will happen when she goes her own way:
Listen carefully to the sound Of your loneliness Like a heartbeat drives you mad In the stillness of remembering what you had
Nicks told Mojo magazine (January 2013):
“‘Dreams’ and ‘Go Your Own Way’ are what I call the ‘twin songs.’ They’re the same song written by two people about the same relationship.”
She recalled to The Daily Mail October 16, 2009:
“I remember the night I wrote ‘Dreams.’ I walked in and handed a cassette of the song to Lindsey. It was a rough take, just me singing solo and playing piano. Even though he was mad with me at the time, Lindsey played it and then looked up at me and smiled. What was going on between us was sad. We were couples who couldn’t make it through. But, as musicians, we still respected each other – and we got some brilliant songs out of it.”
Go Your Own Way went to #10, while Dreams is Fleetwood Mac’s only #1 hit in the US. I agree with songfacts when they state that it is surprising considering how familiar many of their songs are in this country. The Hot 100 didn’t always reflect the impact of their songs, many of which showed remarkable endurance.
On this day in 1950 ~ Ed, Gene, Joe and Vic, AKA The Ames Brothers, reached the #1 spot on the pop music charts for the first time, as Rag Mop became the most favorite song in the U.S. The brothers enjoyed many successes with their recording efforts.
The song is actually a 12 bar blues song written by Johnny Lee Wills and Deacon Anderson. It is considered by most to be a novelty number, and I suppose that is probably right. Rag Mop was “adapted” from a late 1940’s song called “Get the Mop!”
For the Ames Brothers, the song was a double-sided hit. Sentimental Me hit the charts in January of 1950, and Rag Mop scored number one status 75 years ago today.
Our high school band was trying to think of a fund raiser. We decided on doing a lip synch contest (long before all the ones you see on late night TV today). I don’t recall how many acts we had, but I do remember the auditorium was sold out! The band kids did little skits between acts so the judges could score.
My buddy, Steve, and I did a lip synch to Rag Mop. The premise was that we’d have a chalk board with the lyrics on it (listen and you will see what I mean). I would be a “teacher” pointing the letters out to my “student,” Steve. When the chorus came, we’d dance around the stage with mops and a mop bucket. It was total stupidity!
Before the “incident.” I remember we asked our custodian if we could borrow some mops for our sketch…you can see them behind the chalk board.
What made it memorable for us, and every one watching, was not planned at all. Apparently we picked the defective chalkboard! We flipped the chalk board over for the second verse, and when it came time to repeat the first verse, we went to flip the chalkboard over and one of the legs snapped and the chalkboard started to fall. While both of us cracked up, I was able to get the leg back up, and got the chalkboard to stand. From the time it snapped until we got it back up was about 20 seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. We were laughing so hard we were crying! Needless to say, we didn’t win.
This was the version that went to number one, Steve and I used a more up-tempo version.
Back in November, I did a feature I called “Share Your Nostalgia.” I asked some of my blogger friends to write up a piece that focused on their favorite toy from childhood. The response was positive and it was suggested to do another round. So this time around, I asked for them to tell us about their Favorite Childhood Book.
Their book could be something that was read to them by their parents or grandparents. It could also be a book that was read to them in school at story time. I also suggested that their book might be one that they read to their own children. I wanted each of them to have as much freedom as necessary.
We’ll kick things off with my pal, Christian from Christian’s Music Musings. Christian features music from every era on his site. My favorite feature is his “Sunday Six,” where he features six random songs. It’s always a good mix.
Christian was raised in Germany. Perhaps he’ll get us started with a German author? Let’s find out!
My Childhood Admiration of Karl May’s Winnetou and Old Shatterhand
A few weeks ago, Keith (Nostalgic Italian) put out another call to fellow bloggers to contribute to his new recurring feature Share Your Nostalgia. This time, he asked participants to write about their favorite book from childhood.
The topic reminded me that sadly I haven’t read a book in ages. My lame excuse is I do a lot of reading as part of my job, so I don’t want to spend my spare time doing the same thing. I hate to admit it, I think my real problem is short attention span. I no longer have the patience to read an entire book. That said, ironically, my blogging involves quite a bit of background reading, though I’m relying on Wikipedia and other Internet sources, not books.
A short attention span or lack of patience, however, never prevented me from reading books when I was a child. Perhaps, there were fewer distractions back then while I was growing up in Germany. Usually, I read in the evening in bed prior to sleeping. Among my favorite books were the Western novels by Karl May, featuring the characters of Winnetou, the Apache, and his friend and blood brother Old Shatterhand.
At age 8 or 9, I didn’t question May’s distorted portrayal of the American West and representation of Native Americans. It wasn’t until 1908 the German author took his only trip to America, visiting New York, Albany, Buffalo, Lawrence and Boston. At that time, he had already published many of his famous novels featuring Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. Despite all of this, May is one of the best-selling German writers of all time, with about 200,000,000 copies sold worldwide, according to Wikipedia.
Winnetou and Old Shatterhand, as depicted by actors Pierre Brice and Lex Barker in a popular German movie series
While I still recall titles of some May novels I read as a child, such as Winnetou I, Winnetou II, Winnetou III and Der Schatz im Silbersee (“The Treasure of the Silver Lake”), the details are gone. In a nutshell, Old Shatterhand was a young German who had come to America and initially was working as a surveyor for a railroad company expanding across the American West. He first meets Winnetou under hostile circumstances, but the two men not only become friends but also blood brothers. Together, they fight for justice and against villains who often seek to exploit tensions between settlers of the American West and Native Americans. Eventually and tragically, Winnetou is killed.
At the time I was reading Karl May novels, his stories and characters were pretty popular in Germany. I loved watching movie adaptations that featured Winnetou, Old Shatterhand and other recurring characters in the novels. There were also Karl May theatrical open air festivals in various German towns like Bad Segeberg and Elspe, which continue to this day. I’ve never been to any of the performances. In 1985, German scholar Hartmut Lutz came up with a term to describe the fascination in German popular culture with the Indigenous peoples of North America: Deutsche Indianertümelei (“German Indian Enthusiasm”).
In the aforementioned movies, Winnetou was portrayed by French actor Pierre Brice, while Old Shatterhand was played by American actor Lex Barker. Not surprisingly, they were among my favorite actors as a child. These movies were produced during the 1960s in Germany and largely filmed in the former Yugoslavia, which not only offered cost-effective locations but spectacular landscapes that had some resemblance of the American West.
The characters of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand were also part of daily playing with my best friend. I was Winnetou and he was Old Shatterhand. Every day, we came up with our own stories and amazingly never got bored. At some point, we even had toy versions of their rifles, Winnetou’s Silberbüchse (“The Silver Gun”) and Old Shatterhand’s Bärentöter (“Bear Killer”) and Henrystutzen (“Henry carbine”), and ran around in costumes.
I’m leaving you with a short clip of the intro to the film Der Schatz im Silbersee. Unfortunately, it’s in German, but I guess you can still get an idea why an 8-year-old would be excited about it!😊 The clip also features the main musical theme written by German composer Martin Böttcher, which I loved at the time. Admittedly, writing the above, as well as watching and listening the clip gives me nostalgic feelings about my childhood. I guess this means mission accomplished!
Nathan Lane turns 69 today. Nathan has starred in movies like The Birdcage, Mouse Hunt and The Producers. To me, he will always be Timon from The Lion King, where he introduced us to the phrase “Hakuna Matata.”
In this popular song from the 1994 Disney classic The Lion King, Timon the meerkat (Nathan) and Pumbaa the warthog (Ernie Sabella) share their worry-free philosophy with Simba (Matthew Broderick), a lion cub who is grieving over the death of his father.
The Swahili phrase “Hakuna Matata,” they explain, means “no worries” and helped Pumbaa deal with his own rough childhood, when all the other animals shunned him over his frequent flatulence. Simba also adopts the motto as he transitions from a cub to a full-grown lion.
The song was written by Elton John (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), who also wrote Can You Feel The Love Tonight and Circle of Life for the film. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to another Lion King number: “Can You Feel The Love Tonight.”
Shortly after the film was released, Disney trademarked the phrase so other companies couldn’t exploit the brand by plastering the motto on their products. In 2018, close to 200,000 people signed a petition for Disney to give up the trademark on the grounds of cultural appropriation. “The term ‘Hakuna Matata’ is not a Disney creation, hence not an infringement on intellectual or creative property, but an assault on the Swahili people and Africa as a whole,” the petition reads. But, as trademark experts point out, Disney doesn’t really own the phrase, it just owns the use of the phrase when connected to the film or the company.
“No worries”…..feel free to use the term and sing along! Happy birthday, Nathan Lane!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 