For today’s Friday Photo Flashback, I want to share one of my favorite pictures of my dad. I asked my dad about his age in this picture and he told me he was 15.
I love this photo so much. ALll my life, my dad has never been without a guitar. He was always playing it growing up. I know that he played it growing up and eventually played it in wedding bands.
Check out those cheesy tuxes!
I have fond memories of him listening to current hits trying to figure out the chords or solos. One that sticks out, I have mentioned a few times. Watching him figure out the intro to The Breakup Song by the Greg Khin Band was mesmerizing. I loved every second of it.
There were times when my dad would need a drummer to fill in at a gig. It was often my Godfather and Uncle Tom who would be there. Those two together were always a blast, so I can only imagine those gigs. I actually found a photo of my Uncle Tom with my dad at a wedding.
After his band broke up, he joined another band and began to play bass guitar. I guess he would occasionally play lead guitar, but not often. The instrumentation was different in that band and it had a great sound.
When I graduated in 1988, my dad gathered together some of the old band members. Without rehearsal, they played music for my graduation party. It was a jam session for them all. When my uncle wasn’t playing drums, he would sing. My cousins would fill in on drums and guitar.
You can see how much fun they were having in that first picture.
When DJ’s sort of took the wedding band’s job, my dad started spinning records at the VFW. My Uncle, who was also a veteran, would come up and hang out. Those nights always consisted of loud laughter.
I shared theae pictures today because today is my dad’s 78th birthday. I truly hit the jackpot to get him as my father. He has been a great supporter of me throughout the many years of my life. He has influenced me musically in more ways than I can count. Not to mention the introduction to classic movies and TV shows. He is a hero to me.
I am so lucky to still have him in my life. I love when we get to be together, and love that when we can’t, there is video chat.
Thanks, Dad, for simply being you. Thank you for all you’ve done for me. I wish you the happiest birthday, yet. I love you, Pop.
It is time for another edition of Turntable Talk, hosted by Dave from A Sound Day. There seems to be no shortage of music topics for him to present. This month the topic is a bit different. Here are his instructions:
It’s time to Hit the Road, Jack … you’re invited to take part in a sort of magical road trip… but with a few restrictions. You can go to any music location you’d like to see, and if it is long gone, we can assume it was still there for you to see (or that you could go back in time to see it). Studio, concert venue, house, record store, you name it! Wanna see Graceland (or see it again if you’ve been) – boom! You’re there.
As I began to think on my musical place, I became depressed. This is because there are so many places that I have never been to. Yes, I have been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yes I have been to Graceland. Sadly, despite the 90 minute drive from where I live, I have never visited the Motown Museum!
Next I began to think about concert venues. I looked up “Greatest Concert Venues” and it is quite a list. Surprisingly, Pine Knob Music Theater (in Clarkston, MI) is one I have been to numerous times! It’s a great place to see a show. I couldn’t believe that it was counted as one of the “greatest” among some of the others.
In the cartoons, it meant you had made it if you played The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It was always a big deal if an artist is playing Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall or Madison Square Garden in New York. As many times as I have been to Nashville, I have never seen a show at the Ryman Auditorium. Outside of the US, it is big to play the Syndey Opera House in Australia or Royal Albert Hall in London.
There are so many great places on the list, but one stood out. It is a venue that I truly hope to see a show at some day. Many artists have recorded albums or videos there. They include, the Grateful Dead, Joe Bonamassa, U2, Barenaked Ladies, Stevie Nicks, The Dave Matthews Band, and even John Tesh! That place is the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison Colorado.
I am in awe of this truly amazing place. The venue is approximately ten miles southwest of Denver. The venue is best recognized by its two massive monoliths. They are named “Ship Rock” and “Creation Rock”. There is also the smaller “Stage Rock”. All of them together flank its 9,525 capacity seating area and naturally form the amphitheater.
Imagine seeing your favorite band on stage, while enjoying the breathtaking scenery! It is on my bucket list!
The experience that a concert viewer would have is incomprehensible to me. Go back to the first photo and scroll down. Think about the various changes in light, the beauty of the setting sun, the lights up on the rocks, and finally night fall. Wow!
I would think that this has to be an extraordinary experience for the artists, too. While their view is a bit different than the audience, it still is pretty amazing.
I believe that I am the last contribution before Dave wraps up this topic. I can’t help but wonder what the other bloggers have chosen. Did they chose a venue? A recording studio? A musical museum? By the time you read this, you will already know – and so will I. Right now, however, I am excited to find out what they chose.
Thanks again to Dave for asking me to participate in this feature. I would also like to thank him for his understanding. I chose to run my Share Your Nostalgia Feature right around the same time as Turntable Talk. He did some shuffling and made it work for all of the writers involved. Should I do another topic, I will check with Dave and make sure the schedules are good for everyone.
I’ve been having fun on the blog in the last week or so. However, we’ve experienced our share of rough stuff at home. Hopefully, we’re working our way towards the end of it.
Germs!
It started with Ella about three weeks ago. She went to urgent care with a fever. They said it was an ear infection and sinus infection and to follow up with her primary doc. They confirmed what urgent care said and we did a round of antibiotics. She missed a week of school and went back. She hung on to a deep cough, but she had no fever. The cough continued and we took her back to the doctor who told us it was due to drainage. When she spiked another high fever, we were back at the doc who gave us another antibiotic.
Saturday, she wasn’t really herself. My brother was in town and she was kind of clingy. On Sunday, my brother was supposed to come back over, however, plans changed. Ella woke up with a fever of 105.1. So it was off to the ER.
She was miserable. They swabbed her to check for Covid, Strep, and any other virus. They gave her Motrin and the fever started to break. They took her for x-rays to check for pneumonia, too. We were there from 8:30am until about 2pm. No pneumonia, urinalysis was fine, chest was clear, but she does have a form of Coronavirus that is not Covid. She came home and immediately fell asleep on the couch.
She slept for almost five hours. Sam stayed up with Andrew while I was at the ER. When we got home she laid down to nap, too. My brother didn’t know how long we’d be and figured it was best to let Ella rest. He ended up going home early. So it was just me and Andrew.
We went outside and raked leaves. He was pretty proud of the big pile we made, and he wanted a picture.
Andrew, Sam and me have all had a cough. Sam seems to have gotten what Ella has. Andrew and I are just coughing. I hope this goes away!
Kit Kat Club?
Sam ordered a cat tree for the kitten. She is extremely playful and loves to claw at things. The hope is that she will sharpen her claws on it, and use it to rest. I don’t think that is going to be an issue….
Keith – AI
I was scrolling Facebook this week and something popped up. It was some AI thing that Facebook has. It said to have it “imagine” something and it would create it. You can say, “Imagine pigs flying” and bingo – there is a picture. So I said, “Imagine me as a radio DJ.” Real creative, right?
The first thing it did was took a picture of me from the front, and both sides. It had me upload a picture or two of me to aid it in the creation. Next thing I know….
Not bad, I suppose. Something is obviously wrong with my right hand as it only has three fingers! I’m not sure about the headphone cords … something isn’t right there. On another note, if I was really this thin, I’d be extremely happy!!!
Naturally, I had to try another. That one was too easy. So I said, “Imagine me as Columbo.” I meant, of course, Peter Falk’s iconic character. I never clarified that at all and wanted to see what it came up with. I’m not going to lie, it is kind of impressive.
They got the raincoat and messy hair, although most of it is covered by a hat. I may have to make this my profile picture on Facebook. It’s too good!
Ewe Never Know What You Might Ram Into …
Our town has a Facebook page. It is used to talk about events, traffic issues, and so on. The past week has been a real hoot. It seems that someone’s ram got loose and ran away.
The page began to fill with ram sightings all over town.
This thing was everywhere and they couldn’t seem to catch it.
It became quite humorous as people were creating memes and other photoshopped pictures with it. Those were funny, but I though the real photos were funnier.
I mean, here is this ram just out enjoying the sights and sounds of our town!
I won’t lie, I was actually a bit disappointed when they posted that he was finally caught and returned home.
He was so popular, I may write him in as my candidate for President!
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.
I turned 24 in 1994. In the 7 years I had been on the radio, I was starting to get used to the fact that radio stations made changes often. It happened again when Honey Radio went off the air that year. I would go on to land a gig at W4 Country in Detroit soon after.
1994 was also the year my paternal grandfather passed away. I was very close to him and that grief hung around for some time.
Musically, I was DJing a lot more parties and discovering more music. Thanks to a full time job where I drove a lot, I discovered some alternative music that I really enjoyed. Many of those tunes will show up in the lists/years ahead.
Let’s check out 1994 …
As someone who feels like I can never put my feelings into words, I appreciate a song that can. Beautiful In My Eyes was a huge Bride and Groom song when I was DJing. When it wasn’t the bridal dance, it was a slow song that always packed the dance floor.
When I DJ’d my cousin’s second wedding, it was on the “Do Not Play” list. Why? It was the wedding song she used in her first marriage. As strange as it may sound, that happened a lot.
Joshua Kadison describes the song as being about “a love that just lasts forever, and you’ll always be beautiful in my eyes.” I’ve always thought it was an example of a great love song. I will also admit that I had no idea what he looked like until I found this video.
Beautiful in My Eyes
We had Doug Stone do a show for us when I worked at the Moose. He was a nice guy and fun to chat with. By the time he did our show, he’d pretty much had all of his hits.
One song that I found extremely relatable was Addicted to a Dollar. There are lyrics in here that any hard working person can relate to!
“F.I.C.A. and the state – they make my paycheck look like a big mistake. Tax man takes his before I see a cent And what they don’t get, I’ve already spent.”
“Got me more payments than I’ve got checks. Ten more to go on this car, it’s a wreck.”
Those hit home on many levels, especially for a radio guy! Even long after my radio career, those lyrics can still hit home.
Addicted to a Dollar
Next up, the only US hit for Des’ree, who had quite a few hits in the UK. I like this song because it’s kind of a pep talk. It’s about not being ashamed to express your feelings and about living life to its fullest.
The whole song is loaded with wisdom. The chorus is something that a person could easily tell themselves everyday when they look in the mirror.
“You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together All I know, all I know, love will save the day“
Some days you just gotta push through, and being bad, bold, wise, hard, tough, strong, cool, and calm can certainly help!
You Gotta Be
The Troggs followed up their hit “Wild Thing” with the ballad Love Is All Around. They took the song to #7 in 1967.
The group Wet, Wet, Wet covered it for the movie Four Weddings And A Funeral. It wasn’t the only song they could have recorded. The band chose “Love is All Around” over Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” even though some of their members hadn’t heard it before.
Singer Marti Pellow related that the decision to pick “Love Is All Around” was an easy choice “because we knew we could make it our own”. They made the right choice, as their version was a UK #1 for 15 weeks and became the best selling single in the UK in 1994.
The song is so much different than the Troggs’ version. I think that is why I like it so much! It isn’t that the Troggs’ version sounds dated or anything, I just think the Wet, Wet Wet version sounds more polished. It’s fantastic.
Love Is All Around
I wish I had a dollar for every time I have played this next one at a wedding or party! It was one of my most requested songs – Cotton Eyed Joe. What’s funny is that while high school kids were asking for it, they have no idea just how old the song is!
Songfacts says “This song originated in America in the 1800s, and is commonly associated with the American South. It became a popular song in country bars, as it was perfect for line dancing. It’s a traditional folk song, and many country artists recorded it.
Rednex is a group of Swedish producers who recorded “Cotton Eye Joe” as a techno dance song. After putting the song together, they came up with the country bumpkin motif and named the group Rednex, a play on the word “redneck,” a term for an uncultured southerner in America.
They found five Swedish performers to portray the band, dressing them in tattered clothes and giving them a stereotypical hillbilly look, with unkempt hair and dirty faces. In a cagy marketing move, they refused interviews and released a bio to the press explaining that the group was rescued from an uncivilized village called Brunkeflo in the backwoods of Idaho and brought to Sweden, where they could express their musical gifts. Their names were Bobby Sue, Billy Ray, Mary Joe, BB Stiff and Ken Tacky – all inbred.“
What a way to start a band, huh?
Cotton Eyed Joe
I don’t think I could ever be a good songwriter. There are some lines that I think are just brilliant. One of those lines is the opening line of Green Day’s Basket Case.
“Do you have the time to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once?”
That’s a great line! This song is about anxiety attacks and a feeling that you are going crazy. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong suffered from various panic disorders while he was growing up – he would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a panic attack and walk around his neighborhood to settle down. “Basket Case” was a cathartic and personal song for him. “The only way I knew how to deal with it was to write a song about it,” he explained.
Songfacts says “Blasting right into the verse at the beginning of this song is something that set it apart. Simplicity was a hallmark of the Dookie album, and while omitting an intro made little marketing sense (DJs couldn’t talk up the song), it got right into the meat of the track. Tre Cool of Green Day cites the first Beatles album, Please Please Me, as an influence on Dookie, since many of those early Beatles songs also got right to the point.”
Basket Case was one of those alternative songs I heard on the radio and it made me want to hear more from Green Day.
Basket Case
I’ve got the chance to hang out and interview Aaron Tippin a couple times. He’s a huge supporter of our veterans, and does a lot of charity work
During his stage show he puts together a bicycle while singing a song. Then he brings out someone from a children’s hospital or foster home and donates the bike and more to those children. Class act!
Off air, I found out he was a big fan of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. We chatted for a long time about their music. At his county fair show, he donned a fedora and nailed a Sinatra song. It was amazing.
My dad loves his music and he asked if I would get an autograph for him. Aaron and I were talking and I mentioned my dad’s request. My dad loves Aaron’s patriotism and support of veterans. I mentioned this to him. Aaron wanted to know more about him. Where did he serve? How long? What branch of service?
He grabbed one of his photos and signed it for my dad. It hangs proudly in my dad’s music room. “Sam. I KNOW you got it honest! Thank you. Aaron Tippin.”
I Got It Honest
The video for the next song is what got me. More on that in a second.
Weezer’s Buddy Holly was almost called “Ginger Rogers.” Well, it could have been. According to songfacts “The early demo of this song had a slower tempo and some different lyrics. The chorus originally referenced famous dancing duo Fred & Ginger: “Oo-wee-oo you look just like Ginger Rogers, Oh, oh, I move just like Fred Astaire,” before it was changed to “Oh wee-ooh, I look just like Buddy Holly, Oh, oh, and you’re Mary Tyler Moore.”
The video was just awesome. Spike Jonze directed it. Vintage Happy Days footage was intercut with shots of Weezer performing on the original Arnold’s Drive-In set. Al Molinaro, who played the diner’s owner on the series, made a cameo appearance in the video.
Think about this: Happy Days aired in the 1970s but was set in the 1950s, when Buddy Holly made his mark. So here we have a ’90s video referencing a ’70s TV series set in the ’50s.
The video was one of the most popular clips of 1995, it scored four MTV Video Music Awards, including Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Music Video, and two Billboard Music Video Awards, among them Alternative/Modern Rock Clip of the Year.
The single was released to radio on September 7, 1994, which would have been Buddy Holly’s 58th birthday.
Buddy Holly
In 1994, Huey Lewis and the News released Four Chords and Several Years Ago. It was an album of 50’s and 60’s cover songs. What made this really cool was that they recorded it just like they would have in those days.
You didn’t have the guitar track laid down beforehand. The drummer wasn’t in a separate booth. All the musicians and vocalists were in the same room recording at the same time. This gave the songs a very authentic sound.
The band’s final entry into the Hot 100, was a cover of the JJ Jackson hit But It’s Alright. This is not to be confused with an earlier cover they did of the Impression’s It’s Alright. They did that one all acapella.
Four Chords is one of my favorite albums.
But It’s Alright
It is fitting that the next song is the last one on my list for 1994. It’s fitting because since it came out, I almost always used this song as the last song of the night when I DJ’d.
Madonna’s Take A Bow has a beautiful instrumentation and arrangement. While beautiful, it is sad. This song is about a failed romance Madonna had with “a movie star,” possibly Warren Beatty, whom she starred opposite in the movie Dick Tracy.
Babyface sang backup and also produced this track to give Madonna the R&B feel she wanted for the Bedtime Stories album. At Madonna’s suggestion, this song was recorded with a full orchestra. It was the first time Babyface had worked with live strings.
I always felt like it was a perfect song to wrap up with. The lyrics say, “The show is over, say goodbye.” I also liked that it was a 5 minute song, which gave me a little time to start packing up at gigs. At some gigs, if I had a friend there, or my significant other, I could sneak in a brief dance with them.
Take a Bow
And just like that, we’re through 1994. Like other years, there were plenty of good ones to choose from. Which one of your favorites did I miss?
Next week, we’ll hear the dance craze people love to hate, a band that was superior to another, a soulful sweet collaboration, a rather strange song, and the reuniting of one of the biggest groups in history. I hope you’ll stop by to check it out ….
The amazing Neal Hefti was born today in 1922. Neal may not be a name that you recognize, but I bet that you recognize at least one of the songs that he has composed.
He was a jazz trumpet player, arranger, and composer. He began arranging songs in his teens and went on to arrange songs for Woody Herman and his band, including the famous Woodchopper’s Ball. After leaving Herman’s band he did freelance work for Buddy Rich, Billy Butterfield and Harry James.
In 1950, he began to arrange charts for Count Basie. He was a key factor in the “Basie sound.” Basie liked his stuff so much, Basie had him arrange some charts for Basie and Frank Sinatra. When Frank and Basie recorded together, they recorded standard songs that Frank had recorded before, however, Hefti’s arrangements were done so that the band complimented Sinatra’s singing.
Hefti led his own band in the 50’s and did so until moving back to California in 1960. When he returned, he began to do work for the film industry. He enjoyed a lot of success writing movie and television music. His film music included songs for The Odd Couple, Sex and the Single Girl, and Barefoot in the Park.
The music for the Odd Couple movie led to him writing music for the television series. He wrote the theme song and background music for the Odd Couple and a little super hero show that took the nation by storm in 1966 – Batman.
He received three Grammy nominations for his television work and received one award for his Batman television score. The Batman Theme was “a simple cyclic twelve-bar blues-based theme” that became a Top 10 single for The Marketts (and also for himself).
My brother and I watched Batman in syndication and we love the campiness of it to this day. The them is iconic (and easy to sing along with). Happy 102nd Birthday, Mr. Hefti!
It was on this day in 2007 that Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie premiered. I was working at B-95 at the time and it was a natural tie-in. We had a special advanced screening and we gave away tickets to see it.
My oldest son was 5 when it came out and I remember him loving the movie. We watched it on DVD a lot. There were some great voice talents in the movie, too. Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Rip Torn, Chris Rock, Renee Zellweger, and many others leant their voices to the film. The film also raised awareness on the importance of bees on the environment.
The soundtrack of the film consists mainly of score pieces by Rupert Gregson-Williams, but does include two pop songs. The first is Sugar, Sugar by the Archies, which was a number one song in 1969. The second was a song that was also released in 1969 – Here Comes The Sun.
It wasn’t the Beatles’ version that appeared on the soundtrack, but a cover by Sheryl Crow. The song is almost a carbon copy of the Beatles’ version. Sheryl does a great job on the song and it is a perfect song for the scene in the movie that accompanies it. No disrespect to George Harrison, because I love his vocal, but Sheryl’s voice almost works better for me.
For non-radio people, an Aircheck is an edited compilation of clips from a DJ’s radio show. I recently stumbled on two of them that I made when I did mornings on B-95 in Flint, MI. I figured out how to create a video with audio on YouTube and put them up there.
Now that I have an idea of what I am doing, perhaps I can add clips from other shows, too. For now, I have these two 6 minute glances at our morning show. I decided to share here because a few followers have said that they’d love to hear what I sounded like on the radio. That being said, here are the links. I hope they make you laugh and make you smile.
I wish I had more photos. Instead, I used the same photos for the second audio clip…
After seven days of great toys, I suppose it is my turn to wrap things up in my Toy of Your Life topic. Before I begin, I want to extend my gratitude to those seven writers who said, “Yeah, Keith. I’ll write up something for your silly feature.” Nancy, Colin, Christian, Randy, Max, Dave, and Stewart – I thank you for each contributing and making this trial run successful. I really enjoyed reading your pieces and so did my readers.
When I was approached to host this topic based feature, I was really unsure if it would work. First, I didn’t think anyone would be interested enough to write for it. I knew it had to be a topic that would be relatable to the writers as well as the readers. I think that this was accomplished. What I loved about this was that despite the diverseness of the choices, I could relate to all of them.
Right from the start, I had a turntable that was much like the one Nancy wrote about. I played my Beatles albums and my 45’s on my red one.
Colin’s Subbuteo table soccer game was completely unknown to me. However, it jogged my memory as to the electric football game I used to have.
When Christian picked Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars, I connected immediately. I had hundreds of them. As I mentioned in a comment, we spent hours outside building cities and roads for ours.
Max chose a couple. First, the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. I was reminded my a school buddy that they not only had the cycle, but some other Evel vehicles.
He also picked Pong. We had it, too! It was the Atari 2600 that took things to a whole new level for us.
Who doesn’t love Legos (when they are not being stepped on)? Dave’s choice was another universal love for me and the readers of this blog. I have fond memories of putting things together myself, and watching my kids build things.
Randy spoke of his Roy Rogers action figures and Stewart’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figures needed their very own van. I had my own action figures … more on that in a moment.
I thought long and hard about what toy to choose. At first, I thought about how everyone in my neighborhood had a Big Wheel. However, in 1978, when I saw the ad for The Green Machine, I had to have it. It was a blast and a lot of the kids were envious of mine. But, I couldn’t pick this one, because it wasn’t THE toy of my life.
The other toy I begged for was called the Sound Gizmo. I loved this thing. It made all kinds of sounds and you could change the speed and pitch to make them sound different. I used this when my buddy and I would be playing outside. We’d be spies, or treasure hunters, or something. If we needed a “tool” to cut through a padlock, I’d use this thing with a laser sound and an explosion. It enhanced the imagination.
I truly believe this was one of those toys that my folks regretted getting for me as soon as I opened it!
No, when I had to chose THE toy (toys, in this case) of my life, it would have to be Star Wars action figures. My brother and I bugged my grandparents for them as soon as we knew they were available. There were plenty of commercials on TV for the figures and the various vehicles and sets.
My brother and I each had a complete set of figures, thanks to my grandparents. Grandma made sure we knew how hard she looked for those things, too. She told us how difficult it was to find Yoda or the Jawa figures. She went to great lengths not to disappoint (and spoil) us!
I don’t even know how she did it, but she got them all! I mean there were like 100 of those things! That means 200 figures at whatever they cost back in the 70’s. It was insane.
Star Wars toys were on our list from 1977 through the early 80’s! You couldn’t go wrong with Star Wars stuff. Some years it was vehicles, other years we got 12 inch Star Wars dolls.
My brother and I used to play with those figures constantly. I think he had this small three shelf thing that he turned into a three floor apartment house for his figures. We used all kinds of things with our figures. The one thing I remember most is taking those old McDonald’s Styrofoam containers and making cars or spaceships out of them.
We’d cut holes in the top of them and bingo, it was a spaceship. Need a bed for them to sleep in? Cut off the top! We used those things for everything.
There were times our front lawn was full of Star Wars ships, animals, and parts of a space station. Not to mention 200+ figures. We spent summer days playing out front. It was such a blast.
Whenever we’d spend the night at my grandparent’s house, we’d lug over boxes and bags with figures and vehicles. They went with us everywhere! They were truly the Toy of our Lives.
As we got older, characters became other people. Ben Kenobi was an old drunk guy, one of the Tuscan Raiders was always annoying people, and a Princess Leia figure became “Aunt Carol.” We don’t even have an Aunt Carol, so don’t ask me how that came about.
I could kick myself for what ended up happening to most of those figures. We cut horns off some of them. Others we put over a candle to see if they would melt. Some would get tied to a firecracker to see if we could blow them up. The lucky ones got tied to bottle rockets and took a ride down our street.
Today, when I walk into a store with vintage toys, I see how much some of those figures are selling for and I shake my head. I suppose I wish I had taken better care of them so I could pass them down to my kids. Other times I wish I still had them in the package they came in, because those are worth more money. But then I think about it. What kind of memories would I have today if they never came out of the package?!
Hours and hours my brother and I played with those figures. We had so much fun with them. It was an amazing time where we could create our own scenarios and fire up the imagination. There was an empty script and we got to write it. Darth Vader didn’t have to be a bad guy if we didn’t want him to be. Chewbacca could have bad gas if we wanted him to. Jabba the Hut could join Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. Han Solo could be a door to door Amway salesman!
Those days were so special. Those figures led to thousands of stories, hundreds of laughs, and a memory strong enough to cause me to seek out other folks to share their favorite toy memories with you and me.
I hope you enjoyed the posts from the last week. Thank you again to those bloggers who participated. If you haven’t visited their blogs, please do. Maybe I can find another topic and we can do this again? Suggestions? Let me know.
The Share Your Nostalgia experiment is nearing a close. It’s been fun for me to see what my fellow bloggers have chosen as the Toy of Their Life. They were asked to write about the ONE toy that meant the most to them as a child. What was the toy that had to go wherever they went and that they took to show and tell? What toy is the one they look back on as their favorite.
Today, I have yet another musical blogger friend to introduce you to. Stewart love music, and especially the top hits. I am talking about those songs that sat on the top of the charts. To be more specific, on top of the UK charts. His site is a delight to read. The UK Number Ones Blog can be found here: https://number1sblog.com/ I always love to compare how a song does here and in the UK. Check it out when you can.
Stewart is ready to go, so grab a slice of pizza and read on …
Heroes in a half shell… Turtle Power!
First of all, thanks Keith for giving me a slot on your Toy Nostalgia series! My piece of toy nostalgia isn’t so much something I remember having, but something I remember wishing I had. I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – or Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles as they were known in the UK, as the word ‘ninja’ was considered too violent for our delicate ears back in the late 1980s – and it was for a while my favourite TV cartoon.
I had the plastic figurines, Michelangelo (the orange one) being my favourite, as well as bad guy Shredder and his warthog henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady. I’d have loved the evil brain-in-a-jar Krang too, though I don’t think they ever made him into a toy. Most of all, though, I always wanted my own Turtle Van (AKA The Party Wagon). Yet, for reasons that are now lost to the mists of time, I never came to own one.
Maybe I didn’t have enough pocket money, maybe other toys took priority when it came to asking for birthday and Christmas presents, or maybe (and this is most likely) my parents weren’t up for shelling out on yet more plastic junk. My mum and dad were big believers in educational toys – LEGO, Meccano, arts sets and the like – and The TMNTs clearly weren’t educational enough. And looking at pictures of the Turtle Van toy now, I don’t blame them. It looks a lot cheaper and nastier than I remember…
Anyway, this wasn’t the only desirable object I was denied as a kid. I remember desperately wanting a Soda Stream, and a Mr. Frosty, and never getting either. But this isn’t the place for airing childhood grievances… At least I had friends who owned the Turtle Van, and could play with it when I went to their houses.
I just watched the opening credits of the classic cartoon for the first time in years, and was transported back to Saturday mornings in my childhood living room. I could remember most of the words (They’re the world’s most fearsome fighting team…) and the loveably hand-drawn animation. I drew the line at the live-action movies though. Something very creepy about seeing the Turtles come to life in Latex…
Finally, seeing as I run a blog all about number one singles, it would be remiss of me not to mention the fact that the Turtles were so popular that they even enjoyed a chart-topping record in the UK: 1990’s ‘Turtle Power’, by Partners in Kryme. Enjoy!
It seems like it has been awhile since I recommended a book to you. This is not because I stopped reading, it is because I was working on features like Share Your Nostalgia or just didn’t have an open spot to post it. So today is as good as any day to post this, despite the fact that I read the book about three weeks ago.
I really enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, so this one peaked my interest right away. I loved the title. It didn’t disappoint. Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
A brand new series. An iconic new detective duo. And a puzzling new murder to solve…
Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar habits and routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him when he comes home. His days of adventure are over: adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s business now.
Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. As a private security officer, she doesn’t stay still long enough for habits or routines. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Which was meant to be an easy job…
Then a dead body, a bag of money, and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending an SOS to the only person she trusts. A breakneck race around the world begins, but can Amy and Steve stay one step ahead of a lethal enemy?
As the murders begin to pile up, and they begin to look connected, the investigation begins. As things begin to point toward Amy’s involvement in the murders, she begins to look for clues. This leads to her not only trying to piece things together, but trying to stay one step ahead of the killer who’s trying to pin things on her.
To steal an analogy from Shrek, the story is like an onion. The onion represents the mystery and as each layer is peeled back, we see more and more of what’s going on and how it all ties in together.
I really enjoyed this book. It was one that kept me guessing right up to the end. There were plenty of surprises in it and never felt like it dragged for me. I can really see this book leading to a series with Steve and Amy, but it stands alone as a great story, too.
Each character has their quirks and I think that’s what makes them so believable. They are people who I could see hanging out with. Honestly, I hope there is another book in this series, because I want to hear about the next adventure.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 