Fellow babyboomers . . . one of the things I am so grateful for growing up in the 60's and 70's is that we had awesome music. For me, it started with The Beatles. We experienced the British Invasion, were fascinated with hard rock, danced until wee hours to disco music and I was blown away with the fabulous music of the 80's, the overwhelming joy with the premier of MTV and the immensity of watching future stars bloom on Saturday Night Live.
My apologies to the younger generations, but the music that has followed SUCKS!
As a child, my parents routinely took us on Sunday road trips that had us discovering new areas every week. It enhanced my love of Florida. Today there is no such thing as a pleasant Sunday drive. Normal people turn into demon-like creatures when they get behind the wheel of a car.
We grew up respecting our elders. Today everyone forgot what respecting anyone means.
Although the world we live in is vastly different than today, we have YouTube to relive music, entertainment like old television shows and old movies.
OK, I'll stop. I will soon get back to celebrating those things we miss about what we grew up with.
The 1950's were an exciting
and turbulent time in America. Things were changing and some of
these changes would not be felt until the 1960's and beyond.
Elvis Presley was a
superstar, this made him the heart throb of every girl and the bane
of every parent. His sexually explicit performances and rebel
persona was selling records. Then came the draft. In 1956 Elvis
turned 21 making him eligible for the draft. On his 22nd
birthday he was classified 1-A and would be drafted early in 1958.
However, his movie contract with Paramount allowed him to defer his
actual enlistment until late March 1958.
Elvis was offered the
chance to serve in the Special Services. If he accepted he would
have special housing, and his life would change very little. Col.
Tom Parker, Elvis's manager had a better plan. He knew if Elvis
performed for the Special Services he would not be paid, and all of
his performances would be filmed and recorded, then sold all over the
world. Col. Parker convinced Elvis that if he enlisted as a regular
soldier he could gain the trust of the parents and end up a bigger
star. And that is exactly what happened in 1958.
Orville and Wilbur Wright
had proven that powered flight was possible in 1903. It was not
until 1926 that the federal government created rules for flight under
the Department of Commerce. In 1938 the Civil Aeronautics Authority
was given the task of air safety, airports, and air traffic control.
In 1940 president Roosevelt split the CAA into two parts. A new
agency the Civil Aeronautics Board was tasked with accident
investigation, and regulating the financial rules for airlines. This
all changed in 1958.
After a series of mid-air
collisions the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 created a single
authority for all aspects of air travel. The Federal Aviation Agency
was created in 1958.
America was stupid. Well
at least according to the government. In 1958 the National Defense
Education Act was passed. Its goal was to increase education in
technological fields to counter the growing threat posed by the
Soviet Unions launching of Sputnik. By issuing student loans and
other aid to schools at all levels the government hoped to increase
the brain power of America.
Of course that leads us to
the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which created the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA was to have a civilian vs
military leaning. NASA was intended to create a peaceful application
of science and space exploration. Space, in 1958.
The Soviet Union ended its
occupation of Romania in 1958. Having occupied Romania since 1944,
the Romanians had gone through extensive “reeducation” and its
political fate was tied to the Soviet Bloc.
In July 1958, Lebanon was threatened
by a civil war between Maronite Christians and Muslims. Much of the
crisis had to do with the Christians wanting to remain pro-western,
and the Muslims wanting to join the United Arab Republic that had
been formed by Egypt and Syria. U.S. Marines and Lebanese Army forces
maintained control of the port and airport of Beirut. When the
president of Lebanon completed his term the crisis ended.
"Live From New York, It's Saturday Night" . . . we first heard those iconic words on October 11, 1975 spoken by Chevy Chase . . . 40 years ago today.
Technically, we can thank Johnny Carson for the birth of so many stars who have come out of the television show. At the time, The Best of Carson was aired on Saturday nights. In 1974, Johnny Carson asked that the weekend shows be pulled and saved. Why did he care? He wanted them aired on weeknights so he could take more time off. From there, Saturday Night Live was born.
Some of our generation's beloved stars came from SNL. They range from Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Eddie Murphy, John Candy, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Rock, David Spade . . . need I go on?
In my opinion, the most memorable characters and sketches were Father Guido Sarducci, Mr. Bill, Two Wild and Crazy Guys, Emily LaTella, Roseanne Roseanna Danna, The Coneheads, Billy Crystal with his "you look maaaavelous" spoof of Fernando Lamas, The Church Lady, Cheeseburger Cheeseburger Pepsi (No Coke), Andy Kaufman's lip-synch of the Mighty Mouse Theme . . . Here I Come To Save The Day!, The French Chef, Pat and Wayne's World.
Some trivia:
George Carlin was the first host, Candice Bergen was the first female host three episodes later. As of September 2011, Alec Baldwin hosted the most shows, taking the record from Steve Martin. As of May 2012, Dave Grohl was the most frequent musical guest. The debut show featured two musical guests, Billy Preston and Janice Ian.
Back in the day, we had Saturday Night Live Parties. At the time, I was hanging around with a crowd of employees from The Tampa Tribune. Every week, the number of guests at the party grew and grew. Those parties were considered "an event" since the newspaper employed hundreds of young professionals who were very cool people. For the longest time, the party was the thing to do on Saturday night. Great memories! I had forgotten about those parties!
I hope this article brought back some great memories for you too :)
It was the summer of 1961 when Elvis and his crew rolled into Central Florida to film his ninth movie, "Follow That Dream." The film was shot in Ocala, at the old Ocala Bank and Trust building, along with other Central Florida locations including Crystal River, Yankeetown, Inverness . . . and Elvis made his way to the theme park Silver Springs.
My dad was a truck driver who delivered gas to various locations all over Florida. Silver Springs was one of his routine stops. He made his delivery and headed over to find the manager to sign the delivery papers. The manager was talking to a handsome young man. The manager waved my dad over to join them and asked my dad if he knew who the young man was. My dad replied "he looks very familiar, but I don't know who he is." So the manager introduced him to my dad ". . . this is Elvis Presley." Elvis put his hand out to shake my dad's hand and my dad told him "my wife has to be one of your biggest fans and will never let me wash this hand again!" Elvis invited my dad to visit the movie set with my mom at the bank in Ocala the next morning so she could possibly meet him before filming began or between takes.
Dad couldn't wait to tell my mom the news. At first she didn't believe him, but as reality hit her, she squealed with excitement at the opportunity to meet Elvis in person. They headed for Ocala in the middle of the night to make sure to get there before filming started, arriving before the sun came up and found that filming had already started. They waited all day long into the early evening in hopes to just get a glimpse of him. Unfortunately, the place was jam packed with others with the same thought and they didn't even get to catch that glimpse of him when he came out once to wave to the crowd waiting for him. Although she was disappointed, she was so happy to have touched his beautiful pink Cadillac.
After filming had completed and Elvis was long gone to his next adventure, my dad found out that they left the set of the house on the beach intact. Of course my mom wanted to check it out and possibly walk in the footprints left in the sand by Elvis. Surprisingly, word had not gotten out and we just about had the whole place to ourselves.
We spent what seemed like all day long exploring the house, sitting on the porch that Elvis sat on. What an awesome day it was! We couldn't wait for the movie to be released so we could see that beach house and it's surroundings that we had explored on the big screen. My thoughts go back to that time when I see the movie on television and the fond memories of that day come flooding back and puts a smile on my face.
Although I was a young girl at the time, I remember the summer when Elvis came to film a movie in Florida as if it was yesterday!
Actually, Elvis left a mark on that area of Florida even in present times.
The Captain and I were sitting around this morning talking about slower and simpler times when we were younger. It was a different world that in retrospect, was so different it feels foreign or like a dream, as if it never happened. But it did and it was a wonderful time to grow up. Thinking of those days takes me back, feeling like a little girl again. My fondest memories come from family getting together on Thursday nights for spaghetti and meatballs. My aunt, uncle and cousins would come over without fail. We didn't even think about doing anything else. It is what was. So was the menu . . . it never changed. Thursdays were special. The family was never closer. My nana (who lived with us) would start cooking in the morning and fill the house with the aroma of garlic bread and sheet pans of sicilian pizza cooking. The greatest treat was helping her in the kitchen. She and I started a tradition where we would make an extra sheet pan of garlic bread so we could "test" it throughout the day as we prepared for the Thursday night festivities. I wish I could go back at least one more time to cook with my nana for Thursday night dinner. It has been decades since she died at a young age, but I still miss her like crazy and feel she was with me yesterday. We always had fish on Friday . . . it was a tradition we never deviated from. To the best of my recollection, it was always grouper, although prepared in different ways. Living on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico left the fish markets with an abundance of affordable grouper . . . can't say that for today! Trips to the fish market and the italian deli/meat market was always a treat. It was an atmosphere that I always loved . . . and I always went home with treats from the deli. My favorite was olive salad! All the old timers would linger and visit with their friends . . . it made me feel so grown up to be among them. Why was I in such a hurry to grow up? Sunday was a repeat of Thursday . . . it just started after noon time and we had all day to spend with our cousins. Awesome times! Sometimes I wonder if I would have had so many friends that I rode bikes around the neighborhood with if we had today's technology. I always loved having streamers on the handle bars . . . I thought they were so cool. The sensation of the wind blowing in my face and the streamers riding the wind was such a simple pleasure as crazy as that sounds. Little things made me happy. I loved the little bell that made the coolest sound . . . it was my way of saying hello to friends as I passed by their house. There was a simple joy that had more than one benefit. I loved roaming the woods across the ditch in the neighborhood that led to a drive in theater that was wide open and you could walk right in. First of all, the grounds of the drive in were like a treasure hunt. We would take pouches so we could fill them with the coins found on the ground. It is amazing how people would drop their coins coming back from the concession stand and not bother trying to find them in the dark. You would think that they would learn to put their money away before leaving the concession stand! My piggy bank was always full :) The woods we had to walk through to get to the drive in had wild blackberry bushes always loaded with the sweetest and juiciest blackberries I have ever tasted. After loading up with those delicious blackberries, we would take them to my next door neighbor Dot, who was a southern belle and the best country cook ever. I still make many of the muffins, pound cakes, biscuits and cookies she taught me how to make. Anyway, she made us all a blackberry cobbler to take home to our families. She and her husband were a childless couple who adopted the neighborhood kids as their own and spend a lot of time with us. We kids loved her and her little bird Perry, who was named after her hero Perry Como. She and my nana were great friends and I loved when we went to visit with her, just the three of us. They made me feel like I was all grown up like I was one of them. OMG I miss those special ladies!! My nana taught me how to play all kinds of card games and we spent lots of time playing cards. My brother joined us when he was old enough to learn how to play. Those were special times doing the simplest thing like playing cards! Times were so different and simple . . . no one was in a hurry. As a child I spent so much time with adults who were not in a hurry to do anything or go anywhere. They were happy just being home enjoying each other's company. The kids went from house to house visiting our friends, listening to music and playing board games . . . someone's mom was always home, before the days of most women working away from home, dedicating their time to their children and their friends. It was such a special time and we didn't even know it. Just writing this post brought tears to my eyes . . . they are bittersweet tears of beautiful memories. Do you have great memories of these simpler times?
It was one of my favorite sitcoms from back in the 70's and 80's. Although it was on the air for only four seasons, didn't it seem like it was on forever, like an old friend? Mork and Mindy was one of those memorable and unique sitcoms that ran along the edge of bizarre. The world was introduced to the mad comedic genius of Robin Williams, who drove the writers crazy with his improvisational whims that he just threw in as it was being filmed. They ultimately had to leave gaps in the scripts, giving Robin the artistic freedom to put in his unique touch. Fans of the show responded favorably, making it one of the most successful sitcoms in it's first season. The sitcom started as a spoof of the 60's sitcom, My Favorite Martian, in the form of a dream Richie Cunningham of Happy Days had. Robin Williams' character Mork was so popular with the viewers that the powers that be had to spin it off into a sitcom all to itself. Mork arrives on earth in an egg-shaped space-craft with the intent of the Orkans to study human behavior. However, the real intent was to get Mork off the planet of Ork, where humor was not allowed. Imagine that . . . Mork must have drove them mad! The sitcom centered around Mork trying to understand American culture while Mindy (Pam Dawber) attempts to assist him with adjusting to life on Earth. A feature of each episode came at the end of the show in the form of a summary, when Mork reports back to Orson, his superior from Ork, on what he has learned about Earth. This feature gave Robin the chance to throw in his outrageously comical commentary on social norms of the times. While the first season was wildly popular, the ratings began to slip in the second season when attempts were made to change what didn't need fixing. Between the changes and constant changes to the time slot, the series never regained the popularity of the first season. The biggest mistake of the second season was the attempt to link Mork and Mindy romantically. By the fourth season, despite the decline of the sitcom, the network wanted to give it another chance, hoping to capture the magic once again since Robin Williams remained hilarious as Mork. The changes that came with the fourth season were personally an insult to my intelligence. The addition of Jonathan Winters, along with Robin Williams, could have been a genius move if not for the unbelievably lame storyline. Mork and Mindy got married. Mork laid an egg that grew larger and larger, hatching a full grown adult, Jonathan Winters, as their son. The explanation was that Orkans aged in reverse from humans. Although I always loved Jonathan Winters, I was not amused with him talking like a baby. As a huge fan of the show, I wanted it to succeed and continue on since I loved the characters, but it died a dismal death of awful ratings that ended at #60. Seems like I was not the only one whose intelligence was insulted. Too bad they couldn't have come up with a better storyline. Mork and Mindy was cancelled after four seasons and 95 episodes. I still hear the greeting Mork often used, na-nu na-nu . . . the saying is a piece of pop culture history in itself. Robin Williams went on to super stardom . . .
Annette was one of the role models of my generation, representing the innocent times of the 1950's and ushered us into the changing times of the 1960's as the queen of the beach party movies, accompanied by Frankie Avalon who was the king.
I'm so very sad for the children of the following generations who have barely had wholesome role models to look up to. The one thing I am grateful for growing up in the times I did was the fact that we could actually be children . . . most of us were innocent to awful realities of life that are now prominently depicted on television.
She began her professional career at the age of twelve, rising to prominence as one of the most popular "Mouseketeers" on the original Mickey Mouse Club.
On April 8, 2013, Annette Funicello died at the age of 70, from complications due to multiple sclerosis.
Since her death, I have wanted to write this post, but at the time I did not have the words to convey my sadness at her passing. What really made me sad is that at the end of 2013, when you hear of those famous people who passed on during that year, Annette was barely mentioned. Perhaps my generation is being forgotten as new generations arise and so will our role models, as it appears Annette has.
Commenting on her death, Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said,
"Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mouseketeer, and a true Disney Legend. She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney's brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent. Annette was well known for being as beautiful inside as she was on the outside, and she faced her physical challenges with dignity, bravery and grace. All of us at Disney join with family, friends, and fans around the world in celebrating her extraordinary life."
"Annette took dancing and music lessons as a child in order to overcome shyness. In 1955, the 12-year-old was discovered by Walt Disney when she performed as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake at a dance recital at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank, California. Disney cast her as one of the original "Mouseketeers". She was the last to be selected, and one of the few cast-members to be personally selected by Walt Disney himself. She proved to be very popular and by the end of the first season of The Mickey Mouse Club, she was receiving 6,000 letters a month, according to her Disney Legends biography." Source: Wikipedia
Take a walk down memory lane with these awesome videos and celebrate Annette's life along with me.
"That Girl" is an American sitcom, one of the first to focus on a single woman who was not a domestic or living with her parents, ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971 (a total of 136 episodes) starring Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress who moves from her hometown to try to make it big in New York City. Ann Marie has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine. The sitcom was just the beginning of the "single woman" shows, followed by The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and so many others that have come along since then. I don't remember a lot of details about the show and after checking out the cast and characters, realize that many actors and actresses got their early start on the show. It was in the day when my main focus on everything television related was fashion, music or soap operas. My mom was a seamstress and she made the clothes that I would sketch out based on the fashions I studied on television and fashion magazines. Marlo Thomas was one of those fashion icons for me. "That Girl" was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show (with which Thomas's father, Danny Thomas, was closely associated) earlier in the 1960s. Marlo Thomas grew tired of the series and wanted to move on after five years, although "That Girl" did moderately well in the ratings.
Cast and characters
Ann Marie (Marlo Thomas), a beautiful and would-be actress who moves to New York City in order to seek stardom.
Donald Hollinger (Ted Bessell), writer for NewsView magazine, becomes Ann Marie's boyfriend after meeting her during the filming of a TV commercial.
Lew Marie (Harold Gould; pilot only; Lew Parker), Ann's father and the owner of the La Parisienne restaurant in Brewster, New York.
Helen Marie (Penny Santon pilot only; Rosemary De Camp), Ann Marie's mother
Dr. Leon Bessemer (Dabney Coleman), a neighbor of Ann Marie's and gynecologist who is frequently on call to help women give birth
Judy Bessemer (Bonnie Scott), Leon's wife and Ann Marie's neighbor.
Jerry Bauman (Bernie Kopell), a fellow employee at NewsView magazine.
Ruth Bauman (Carol Ann Daniels), Jerry's wife since the episode "Rain, Snow and Rice."
Margie "Pete" Peterson (Ruth Buzzi), a friend of Ann Marie's.
Harvey Peck (Ronnie Schell), one of Ann Marie's agents at the Gilliam and Norris Theatrical Agency
George Lester (George Carlin), another one of Ann's agents
