:::sigh:::

Ok...so I think you all know by now I was a total dork most of my life.

Actually...I still am, but when you are an adult you turn the term "dork" into: eclectic, eccentric, "has experienced life" or "well...she grew up when that was popular" excuse!

My taste in music has..."developed" over time and it isn't as bad as it was...but I have to admit that I like most music that most people "my age and generation" don't really like.

When I was a teenager...TV was my companion. I loved variety shows: Sonny and Cher, Donnie and Marie, Flip Wilson, The Smothers Brothers, and of course the queen: Carol Burnette.

But there was one that not too many people remember: The Shields and Yarnell Show

Anyone remember that one?

Anyone?

Anyone at all?

Didn't think so.

If you don't remember them...let me tell you about THE best talent that ever graced the television screen!

Shields and Yarnell were Mimes.

Yes...you read correctly...Mimes.

And they had their own show...so you KNOW they weren't just your ordinary mimes...they were "special" mimes!

Robert...(and I can call him Robert because I met him in person doncha know) actually studied with Marcel Marceau! The most famous mime of all time!!!

Lorene was a dancer and they met...fell in love...mimed together and had a show!

One of the routines that made them famous was this robot routine...it was pure genius!

Here is a taste just so you can get an idea of what they did:




Brilliant right?

Well...I thought so.

So much that I practiced the robot in my room all the time, and actually became quite good at it.

I had dreams of running away and joining Bob and Lorene on the road.

Here I am in my white face....damn I went through a lot of grease paint and eyeliner back then.

:::sigh:::

Unfortunately, their show was cancelled and I kind of got over my "mime" phase.

My dream of stardom...crashed on the rocks of low ratings.

The crowning glory of my teen-dom was meeting Shields and Yarnell in person! My Dad used to do a lot of PR work for the casino's in Atlantic City and got comp tickets to their show...and I got to meet them...shake their hands...TALK TO THEM...and...

yes...

I got their autograph!

I am soooooo totally cool I can't even stand it!

This post is dedicated to my brother and author of Monkeytooth...because he shared my love of Shields and Yarnell and was always secretly jealous that I had their autograph and he didn't!

The Beanbag Chronicles

Welcome to the Beanbag Chronicles:

These were the songs that eased a pimply faced, greasy feathered haired, desert shoe wearing, freckled and bespectacled, hormone raging pre-teenager sitting in my bean bag chair, with my big clunky head phones on, basking in the glow of my lava lamp and multiple candles dripping on old Chianti bottles that my parents threw away.

As with most 7th and 8th graders just when you start to become sexually aware of "things", Mother Nature plays a nasty trick on you and decides to turn you into the most revolting creature on earth!

I turned to music and clung to the tunes that I thought must have been written by people who could have read my mind and knew exactly what kind of torment I was going through.

This week the song I’ve chosen is: Operator, by Jim Croce. He was like the original "sensitive guy" wasn't he?

The guitar in Jim Croce’s songs was what made me go out and take lessons when I was in 6th grade.

Oh….to play like that!

But it wasn’t Jim playing…it was a guy named Maury Muehleisen.

Muehleisen was a classically trained pianist who took up the guitar at age 17. His own career as a singer/songwriter didn’t go far, but he later paired up with Jim Croce and became his lead guitarist.

Unfortunately, both Jim Croce and Maury Muehleisen were killed in the same plane crash on September 20th, 1973.

That was a very sad day.

I remember sitting in my friend Sue’s house playing his album over and over again…I think we nearly wore it out.

Here is an interesting tid-bit from Song Facts: In 2000, the Martin guitar company produced 73 guitars in honor of Jim Croce. In each of these guitars, an uncirculated 1973 dime was inserted in the third fret fingerboard in honor of this song and the final line, "You can keep the dime."

The Beanbag Chronicles

Driving home from work the other evening, I selected a playlist on my iPod that I must have created a while ago and have no recollection of creating it!

The songs were all female artists...most of them are kind of what you would consider sappy songs.

Slow...kind of mellow...

...then one song came back and I was immediately transported back to when I was in 7th grade. A pimply faced, greasy feathered haired, desert shoe wearing, freckled and bespectacled, hormone raging pre-teenager sitting in my bean bag chair, with my big clunky head phones on, basking in the glow of my lava lamp and multiple candles dripping on old Chianti bottles that my parents threw away.

Stacked on my record player were 3 or 4 albums of pre-teenage "I'll never fall in love" songs that will depress even the cheeriest.

Remember those days?

Your body is starting to mature, you're becoming sexually aware of "things" and at the same time Mother Nature plays a nasty trick on you and decides to turn you into the most revolting creature on earth!

And so...I was brilliantly inspired for my next series of heart wrenching, ear bleeding, nauseating songs.

But...at the time...when I thought I would never find my "special someone", they were what comforted me.

I've mentioned it before, but I was a total teenie bopper. My sister, who is 4 years older than me, was far cooler and into artists like Led Zepplin, Greg Allman, The Rolling Stone, the Beatles and more of the rock genre.

I was teased relentlessly for my taste in music as a kid, but hey...it made me happy at the time and my tastes have "matured and developed" since then!

This first song, and the inspiration for the series, was done Helen Reddy.

Don't worry it is NOT: "I Am Woman"!

This was one of her lesser known misses, but it was perfect for the adolescent little me who was hoping someday to fall in love.

When I was telling M about this song...she remembered it too and she was more from the cool rock genre kind of kids (more the Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath girl actually) , so I didn't feel all that bad about it.

The first line of the song sets the mood for sure, but it's the "oooohhhhaaaaaaahhhaaahhhh" that really gets me!





:::sigh:::

Those were the days!

Oh...and I have many, many, MANY more!

Tune in next week kids for another heart wrenching episode of "The Beanbag Chronicles"!