The past few weeks have certainly been an interesting if not
sad time for America. It started with
the death of Annette Funicello who was a true piece of the culture and time
that I grew up in.
It was an innocent time of growing up in an America
reflected in TV by shows like Mickey Mouse Club, Lawrence Welk, Perry Como and
all those family sit-coms like Leave it to Beaver, Dobie Gillis and so many
more. Fun was going to a school hop or a
party at the beach in the summer. Movies
were simple stories for teens - love and loss, love found…and all time… music
you could dance to.
Annette’s death did seem to haunt us as we sung Beach Boy
songs and remembered Frankie Avalon, Fabian and the rest of American
Bandstand’s crew. I can still remember
that my brother and friends started, with my dad’s help, a carrier current
radio station. We built it from
scratch…I was the Sunday semi-classical hours host...they spun the rock and
roll records and went to the hop Saturday nights playing records as what we
would call disc jockeys today.
I think quite frankly it was a much more honorable and
simple time when music was changing and “Rock and Roll” was at a peak. Young hopefuls could get their music played
on local stations and radio stations could enjoy finding new stars.
In Syracuse for concerts we went to the old Three Rivers Inn
for an inexpensive Saturday show to see some well-known young singer or group
in person… hitching a ride with someone’s dad or mom. Yes we didn’t have our own car! Some of my best moments were walking home
from school talking with friends along the way.
Yes we talked about our day in person - not on the cell phone or via the
Internet.
I think many people my age were stunned and felt that that
time in America had come to an unfortunate and very sad end. Annette was dead...and worse yet… of a coma
from Multiple Scleroses...a coma she had been in for years.
Obituaries popped up everywhere from the Beach Boys Website,
Disney sites, News Sites, Radio, TV everything…why….I think because we wanted secretly
to get that part of America and our much simpler and innocent life back!
These savored and simple remembrances came to a screeching
halt when two young men bombed the Boston Marathon…
Enjoy this clip of American Bandstand!
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