58 Comments
John Maxson
10/13/2014 03:42:47 pm
Everyone who attended owes a huge debt of gratitude to those few people who put thousands of hours (over a period of more than a year) into organizing and managing the reunion weekend! Congratulations for having done a super job!
Reply
Peter Gutterman
10/13/2014 03:55:00 pm
Well said ,John, and worth repeating. It was also a wonderful reunion for our little Alta Vista Elementary School and neighborhood kids. Too much fun seeing each other and being together after upwards of 60 years. Here's to absent friends and departed loved ones, parents and teachers, as well,who gave so much of themselves so that we might have the wonderful lives we share.
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
10/14/2014 03:53:25 am
Our greatest reward----and by "our," I mean the many, many classmates who helped put this Reunion together----is all the interaction and communication that has transpired during and after this event among classmates who are now reconnected.
Reply
John Carl Tomlin
10/14/2014 07:44:11 am
Who are all those old people who crashed the party?
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
12/13/2014 02:32:24 am
I'm with Janette on all she said. Let's not let this blog die. Fifty years ago we stepped out of our safe haven and started making contributions to the world in general. We reconnected and found we've done well. Let's not stop. A very Merry Christmas, Joyous Hanukkah, and Happy New Year to all of you - to all of us.
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
12/26/2014 06:22:23 am
Thanks, Sue...we need to plan something for 2015...maybe Rolf's idea of a 70th Birthday Party for all who are close enough to come?
Reply
Sue Hersman
1/8/2015 02:08:38 pm
I was just reading an article that professed to name the top 15 songs that defined the Boomers - us. I don't necessarily agree. Beatles came in at #6 and were preceded by Elvis's "Jailhouse Rock", Buddy Holly's "That'll be the Day", a Chuck Berry, and some other one. Oh, and Ray Charles's "What'd I Say". I might agree with Ray Charles but the others were what my babysitters listened to not me. Beatles were followed by Stones "Satisfaction", Beach Boys, Dylan. No Temps or Tops. Martha and the Vandella's "Dancing in the Street" got in there. Anybody want to weigh in on this? I've always loved music, loved to dance but there are others I would have put in there and definitely left out the first 4 at least.
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw [email protected]
1/8/2015 03:04:47 pm
Hi Sue...I love music too and dancing to the right stuff. In HS, I was more into the bubble gum music... Neil Sedaka, Ricky Nelson, Everly Bros, Beetles, of course, Freddy Cannon, and such. I still want to dance when I hear it...love Abba and many others too...and some of my kids' stuff (born in 1982 and 1985). They grey up with my music too ... beetles, 60's and show tunes ... Camelot and the like...wish I had more time to enjoy it all!
Reply
Janette
1/8/2015 03:10:58 pm
Elvis, Buddy Holly, Temptations and Tops...more 50's. Agree, Sue.
Reply
Bruce Davis
1/9/2015 04:04:39 pm
I am going by what we played at gigs that were musts. Some of these may bleed into post high school days. What'd I Say -Ray Charles, Little Darlin' -The Diamonds, Love is Strange - Mickey and Sylvia, Walk Don't Run - The Ventures, In the Still of the Night - Five Satins, Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly, Stay - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, Honky Tonk, Outa Sight - James Brown, My Girl - the Temptations, Hang On Sloopy - The McCoys. Louie, Louie - The Kingsman. Any Smokey Robinson and The Miracles tune. Hitchhike - Marvin Gaye. The tune that always got the biggest response, although it was probably during the college years was Wild Thing - The Troggs. The Stroll was a popular song to dance to. We didn't play Jailhouse Rock, but I think it was one of the last of a certain rock 'n' roll era. Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino has to be included. I don't care for Chubby Checker. My brother played with him in Ocean City and said he was a jerk. I'll pull out and old set list and come up with a few more.
Reply
Bruce Davis
1/10/2015 05:33:41 am
I should have included Chuck Berry - probably Sweet Little Sixteen and Johnny B, Goode. His recording of Maybelline was ranked the number one event in rock 'n' roll history by Entertainment Magazine, as the first song to chart on the R& B and Pop Charts, simultaneously. I loved Jerry Lewis; Whole Lotta Shakin' and Great Balls of Fire." Little Richard deserves mention - Lucille, Rip It Up and Long Tall Sally. Elvis had a ton of tunes, but I always think Hound Dog epitomized the King. Gene Vincent's Be Bop A Lula and Woman Love. Paul Anka - Oh Diana and Put Your Head on my Shoulder. Fabian - Turn me Loose and Like a Tiger. The Coasters - Charlie Brown.
Peter Gutterman
1/10/2015 12:46:25 pm
Roy Orbison: Pretty Woman, Blue Bayou,and (my favorite) Only the Lonely,etc.........They all sound so simple .Then you try to sing along,.. and wait........how many octaves was that?
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
1/11/2015 06:30:53 am
Best song by Roy Orbison: Evergreen
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
1/11/2015 06:33:27 am
Would love to hear your band play all of those mentioned above right now, Bruce!
Reply
Peter Gutterman
1/11/2015 03:27:56 pm
I'm in.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/14/2015 09:58:56 am
I go to Junior High with the Philly sound, Paul Anka, Everly Brothers and Elvis. Bruce mentioned Little Richard and I just grin. What a character!! In my mind, there's a bridge from them to the Temptations, Beatles, Dave Clark Five, Martha and the Vandellas than lands me in High School. I dated boys from St. John's and that school would get "stars" to perform at their balls. Bobby Rydell was my favorite. My son loves OUR music - he says it actually said something whereas his didn't. I think a sock hop would be fantastic. Let's seriously think about that one.
Reply
Rolf
1/16/2015 12:07:14 pm
Surely I remember and liked most of what was listed above. I'd add Sherri Baby and Dell Shannon's Runaway even though it was BEFORE high school. Boy, nobody mentioned PP&M, Kingston Trio our any of the folk singers. If I Had A Hammer, Blowin' In The Wind, Lemon Tree and who could forget Dylan. Am I the only conservative rebel left?
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/16/2015 01:15:11 pm
Okay, Rolf - you said it, not us! Dylan is still the coolest. The others weren't my speed. I'll never forget when my son came to me with a new CD he'd gotten and asked me if I had "any of this guy's dad's stuff." It was Dylan. We sat in his room all afternoon comparing the two of them. Fun. Peter needs to chime in on the PP&M stuff. Oh, Peter...
Reply
Peter Gutterman
1/17/2015 10:32:00 am
Back in September of '63 my then very first real girl friend ,Gloria Rutstein (she went to Whitman) loaned me her copy of "The Free Wheelin Bob Dylan".My mom poked her head into the den to hear where the the breathy moaning was coming from as I commenced listening to it for maybe the sixth time in a row.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/17/2015 10:44:23 am
That's super!!!
Janette Schindell Shaw
1/18/2015 02:45:15 am
Rolf....Gary and I also bought the Time Life series "The Folk Years" Some really good songs on it that I remember well...but I will still select the bubble-gum, dance-to stuff first! Kingston Trio was more for the 50's generation, but spilled into ours...and some great songs. My first husband, 11 years my senior, was totally into Kingston Trio....I heard it all the time on our Macintosh Stereo and Bose speakers - big in the 70's. Remember? (He also liked The Byrds, "Turn.Turn.Turn;" Aretha Franklin's music, "Hey Jude" and "Mr. Tamborine Man." Second husband, 3 yrs. younger, loved Jackson Brown ("Stay" is his best!) and anything done by Van Morrison (ok, but not a favorite of mine)...and others. Three different musical periods in my life....Gary and I like all the same stuff -- and big on ABBA! Now, if only this part-Norwegian boy had just a little rhythm and could dance! (He is the very best otherwise!!!!!)
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/18/2015 02:53:22 am
That's the best way to put it, Janette - "dance to stuff". I think that's where I draw the line as well. The folk stuff was in the 50s, okay to listen to and sing along with, but who was going to dance to "Puff the Magic Dragon"? Van Morrison sang probably my most favorite song of the day, "Brown-eyed Girl". Having dark brown eyes, it still ranks high on my chart!! But it still comes down to, can you dance to it? Wasn't that one of Dick Clark's criteria for rating a song on American Bandstand?
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
1/18/2015 02:56:38 am
Listening to 60's music on our way home last night, Gary and I both mentioned how great the full-orchestra backgrounds were on those old tunes. You don't hear that today. We often try to guess what instruments were making some sort of sound in the background -- like metal brush on drum or those wooden stick things rubbing together....the band and orchestra classmates out there are surely shaking their heads and rolling their eyes to my comments...but, hey, I love music even if I I only had 2 yrs. of piano lessons and never mastered any musical instrument!....xoxoxoxoxo
Reply
Pete Gutterman
1/18/2015 02:21:42 pm
Nobody could cover Dylan like Jimmi Hendricks even according to Dylan himself. He admiringly complained that that to really hear "Like a Rolling Stone"and" All Along the Watchtower" you had to hear Hendricks perform them.I recently saw a 1970 doc. on Hendricks made just after he died, and the interviews with his friends and paramours saying how h'e'd pester them with "Hey! You gotta listen to this! It's Bob Dylan!" What creative genius,as brilliant in his own way as Mozart or Chopin. And just as doomed. Not everything he did was great, a lot just lost in a drug induced haze. But what came through was so brilliant!
Reply
Rolf
1/20/2015 10:11:55 am
Ladies,
Reply
Janette
1/21/2015 11:01:05 am
Agree, Rolf. Depends on the beat and tempo and who you're with. But if the beat and tempo make you move, you gotta move. Robert Redford in his youth (and mine) or George Clooney today .... I could give up the dance floor.
Reply
Sue
1/20/2015 10:29:04 am
Oh, yeah? This must be coming from a non-dancer. A guy knows that if he's a good dancer other things can (and will) be explored in the appreciation and pursuit of music. Right, ladies?
Reply
JOHN CHANDLER
1/25/2015 09:56:04 am
Besides certain songs by Elvis, Buddy Holly, & the Beach Boys, I love certain songs by The Chantels, the Chiffons, The Shirelles, Petula Clark, Lee Dorsey, The Crystals, The Mama & the Papas, & especially the Supremes, e.g. Words of Love, Ride Your Pony, Downtown, Will U Still Love Me Tomorrow, Then He Kissed Me, I Hear a Symphony, He's So Fine, Maybe, and Stop in the Name Of Love.
Reply
Janette
1/26/2015 12:58:26 pm
Love all those, John!
Reply
Peter Gutterman
1/25/2015 03:18:55 pm
Dancin' in the Street! ,Martha and the Vandellas.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/26/2015 12:49:08 am
Think about it, Peter. A female Vandal, of course. Geez...
Reply
Bruce Davis
1/25/2015 03:39:29 pm
I've got to chip in with all of this Bob Dylan talk. First, I was a rocker not a folkie, so little of the folk music appealed to me. I did like Dylan's songs, preferably sung by Peter, Paul and Mary and Trini Lopez. Our band actually played Lopez's versions of Dylan's tunes. When Dylan went electric, the folkies threw themselves on their swords, while rock an rollers welcomed him with open arms. Actually Bob Zimmerman (Dylan) was greatly influenced by Buddy Holly, whom he saw from the third row at a concert about three days before Holly's death. He said Holly peered into his eyes, and he modeled his singing style after Holly's. Zimmerman actually played a couple of gigs with the group that continued to play Holly's tour. Bobby Vee took over the vocals, and he and his brother hired Zimmerman, who played a beat up old organ from a music shop he worked in. After two gigs, they decided Dylan had nothing to add to the quality of the band and fired him. Bob Dylan also had his Christian period, including his "Slow Train Coming" album. My favorite Dylan tune is on the album - "You've Got to Serve Somebody. It may be the Devil or It May be the Lord, but You've Got to Serve Somebody. Bob Dylan went to a show of Robert Gordon's. Rob went to BCC, and he was the singer for The Confidentials and later The Newports until my junior year in college. Dylan took songs up to Rob's hotel room and wanted Rob to record some, Rob told him he didn't see anything suitable to his style and turned him away. I think Sue mentioned Jackson Brown's version of Stay. It is very good, but I am partial to the version by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, that by the way is the shortest song to ever make the top ten or make number one. I love the fade out,,,,woops, lotidah.
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
1/28/2015 04:18:09 am
Me too, Bruce & Sue. Not into folk stuff then. My older sister (class of '63) was, and drove us all out of the house playing Dylan. It was akin to "hippie" music back then. Like his music today, but prefer it performed by others.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/26/2015 01:05:17 am
Your second sentence says it all, sums it up nicely - "First, I was a rocker, not a folkie..." I was the same. I enjoyed sitting on the beach singing some of the folk songs but the key word is "sitting". Thanks for the background on Dylan, etal, Bruce. I didn't know all that. Very interesting. And as much as I loved Brown's "Stay" I think it was Janette who brought that one up. Morrison's "Brown-eyed Girl" was my all time favorites.
Reply
Bruce Davis
1/26/2015 04:50:24 am
Sue, Pull up Stay by Maurice Willians and the Zodiacs on You Tube. I used to love to play that tune just the way he did. There was nothing outstanding about the drum part, but I thought it was the perfect dance tempo. Whenever we played it, everyone danced and had a good time. Do you remember Tossin; and Turnin' by Bobby Freeman, I think. It was the number one song of 1961. Good dance tune, (The Frugue for girls.)
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
1/29/2015 12:17:57 pm
Yes....Maurice William's version of STAY is the one we all remember and I love it. Just hadn't heard it in a while (and more often, Jackson Brown's longer version)....until you encouraged me to go to You Tube, Bruce. Played it twice.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/26/2015 05:03:06 am
Tossin' and Turnin' was Bobby Lewis. That was such a fun song! As my son says, our songs told a story, even if it was a dumb one! And Wow to Maurice Williams's Stay! After hearing it, I remember it well. Thanks! I think I need to go dig out all my 45s and albums just to see what's there!
Reply
1/27/2015 05:21:55 am
Sue, You are absolutely right - Bobby Lewis. We played Tossin' and Turnin' at every gig and the crowd always loved it. We also played "Tell It Like It Is," an early Aaron Neville tune. I love his unique style and have seen him in person. The first tune we worked up with Robert (Rob to us) Gordon was The Wanderer by Dion and the Belmonts. Love that sound. The only song Dion wrote about his wife was Runaround Sue. As The Newports we were handled by Paramount Artists, who also handled, The British Walkers, The Chartbusters, Link Wray and the Raymen, Little Willie and the Hand Jives, The Kalin Twins - #2 hit with When, Th others were making a living while we were students. They got the fat gigs because they were salaried and we were on a percentage arrangement. We played at the Bayou (Sundays), the Twin Bridges Marriott or The Hotel Washington (Fridays), elsewhere on Tuesday's and sometimes on Wednesdays in Baltimore every week for JOPA, a singles group owned by Michael Ohare. He told me he had enough bands who wanted our gig that he could audition and pay nothing for two years. The Bayou was a favorite venue. We backed up Jimmy Jones (Handy an and Good Timin') for an audience of two thousand in a Baltimore airplane hangar. I was chosen to play in a rock and roll band during basic training in the Army. Eddie Hodges was a guitarist and vocalist with us. As a young boy he partnered with John Glen on Name That Tune. He went on to star as Winthrop in the first Broadway version of Music Man. He is the red headed kid singing High Hopes with Frank Sinatra in the movie A Hole In the Head. He had a couple of hits, I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door and Girls, Girls, Girls. We correspond every now and then on FB. While in school I went to the Howard Theatre a lot - James Brown -5 times; Otis Redding -3 times; Smokey, Gladys, Chuck Jackson, Rufus Thomas (Walkin' the Dog - a favorite) Tommy Hunt, Ruby and the Romantics and Pigmeat Markham - "Here Come Da Judge," Martha and The Vandellas. Many others. I changed my drumming style as a result from a flamboyant swing style to a tighter R & B style. We were lucky to have such diverse music to choose from. Anybody remember in our junior year WJ having a Hootenanny? All sorts of music, even folk,
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/27/2015 05:51:38 am
Bruce, have you considered teaching a course in Modern Music History? Damn! You're a fountain of info! Dion and the Belmonts were a favorite of mine. I saw them perform twice I think, once at a St. John's function. "Runaround Sue" was a really good one, good beat, great to dance to, "I give it a 10"! Otis Redding went too soon. Right up to my 40th birthday, I was grabbing tickets for Gladys Knight and the Pips wherever and whenever - never felt so short in my life as at a concert in Baltimore where the whole Washington Bullets team was in the lobby! Really great stuff. So much of it I used on the football field for halftime shows. People would ask if I was reliving my teen years. The answer was no - next to Dick Clark, I was the world's oldest teenager, simple as that. I had no idea you all played at the Bayou. That was one of favorite places to sneak out to. Archie wasn't big on my adventures into Georgetown and definitely on a Sunday he had a tight rein on us! He was "Da Judge"!
Reply
Bruce Davis
1/27/2015 07:56:45 am
Sue, I just loved those days of rock and roll. In junior high I listened to "Teenage Meeting" on Winx Radio with San Sacco, I believe. Love is Strange, by Mickey and Sylvia, was always playing. Being the shy guy, I always hoped the girl I liked would send in a request. I think I was thirteen or fourteen when my family went to Atlantic City. In the morning we saw Bobby Darin in the Steel Pier's theater. In the afternoon, we saw Rick Nelson in its ballroom. Dressed in all black, he tried to out-Elvis, Elvis with his sneering and gyrating. The sides were open and it was hot. A girl standing in the front fainted, was pulled on stage and taken backstage. All of a sudden other girls realized their tickets backstage were to emulate the first girl. They were fainting left and right. As far as the Bayou, our Sunday night gig was for JOPA; the club was closed to the public. We did get to play The Bayou during the vacation of The Telstars, the Bayou's house band, and that was a gas. I loved Dion, too, but I never saw him in person. He has a lot of very interesting stuff on You Tube, including these tapes of him playing and talking on cruise ships about his influences and his career. I love to watch them. He also has amazing photographs of him with every known artist on Facebook. In our band, Bob King is the real rock and roll historian. Sounds like you were into rock and roll pretty good. Did you ever dance to (Bend Over) Let Me See You Shake a Tailfeather? Ray Charles brought it back in the Blues Brothers Movie, but I liked playing the Purify Brothers' version. Although it always filled the dance floor, Wild Thing by the Troggs was the tune that always got the joint jumpin!
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/27/2015 08:18:57 am
Weren't Mickey and Silvia from DC? Sometime I'll tell you about how I knocked Bobby Darin down going through a door the wrong way in Miami Beach and freezing, totally petrified when I realized who it was. Ran to the elevator, got on, turned around and was face to face with Ethel Waters - do you know who she was? Insane.
Reply
Bruce Davis
1/27/2015 08:49:23 am
I don't know about Mickey and Sylvia, but Peaches and Herb were from DC. Herb was a DC cop. They replaced Peaches (too fat) when their record hit. I road in an airplane with a gal who had been Marvin Gaye's hairdresser. She had been offered the Peaches position, but her husband didn't want her on tour with Herb. Can't imagine why. When you ran into Bobby Darin, did he come up to your belly button? He was really short.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/27/2015 09:21:03 am
Peaches and Herb! Not Mickey and Sylvia.
Reply
Bruce Davis
1/28/2015 12:06:25 am
I played with John Maxson in the WJ Dance Band. WJ was the only school in Montgomery County to offer it as a course.
Reply
John Maxson
1/28/2015 04:09:47 am
A great movie about music during this era is "Cadillac Records," the (mostly accurate) story of Leonard Chess and his Chicago-based recoding studio Chess Records. The little Chess studio is still on South Michigan Avenue, has been landmarked, and is a popular tourist stop.
Reply
John Maxson
1/28/2015 04:17:02 am
Another card carrying rocker in our class at Walter Johnson was Mark Swartz, who was a real treat to see at the reunion. He played trombone in the WJ orchestra and went on to play with several bands during college (University of Maryland?). I believe that his big success came as a member of the horn section with Rock Bottom in College Park. If Mark reads this he can confirm/correct me.
Mark D Swartz
2/4/2015 11:03:52 am
The 50th reunion was the only that I attended and I'm glad that I did so. My history playing trombone outside my home was at John Maxons's house where I joined his Dixieland band made up of members from the Bethesda area. I later joined a local soul group called Herbie and the Soul Set, featuring Richard Solow on guitar, Rick Berberich drums, Bruce Wilson? trumpet, Louie Burley on sax. I happened to be playing with another group at the Bethesda Youth Center before the Soul Set's rehearsal and they heard me playing. The band invited me to join them that night at a local high school gig and I did so; I didn't need any rehearsal since I knew most of the band's soul repertoire. I later played in a local group called "The Good Knights" which later added Jerome Powell as vocalist, Eddie Becker guitar and others that I can't immediately recall. Later played in a rock group with Mike Kidwell as vocalist (Larry Kidwell's brother), Jerry Bolds trumpet and again others that I can't recall. We played a gig at the Tick Tock restaurant in Langley Park that was supposed to last only 1-2 nights but we stayed there for at least a month or more. Later on I joined a group called "Rock Bottom" with Bobby Lakind vocalist, Richard Solow guitar and Gil Goldstein electric organ. Our big gig was at the closing of "My Mother's Place" in D.C. the night of the Moon landing. We backed up Andy Kim (wrote and sung "Sugar, Baby Baby, You are My Candy Girl") Peaches and Herb and another vocalist or two. Bobby Lakind quit the group and moved to California to become a lighting and equipment tech for the Doobie Brothers. A few months later I saw him on Saturday Night Live playing congas with the Doobies; as you know he soon after officially joined the group and played music with many others before he passed away at an early age. Gil Goldstein went on to be a famous instrumentalist, composer and author and has worked with greats such as Gil Evans, Randy Brecker, Al Jarreau, etc etc. -- winning a Grammy award in the process.
John Maxson
1/28/2015 04:04:48 am
My brush with rock and roll fame came in 2004 when I became president of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association in Chicago. On the first day I was introduced to my new secretary, Inga Maskin, a really beautiful, fashionably dressed 75ish-year-old woman with silver hair. When I first met her I thought that she must have been a knockout when she was 20. After a few days one of our members said, “Ask Inga about her first husband,” which I did. He was Alan Freed. Learning of my interest, Inga would occasionally say, “Did I ever tell you about the time . . . ? “ Alan Freed, a Cleveland disc jockey in the ‘50s, is considered to be the father of rock and roll, having coined the phrase “rock and roll.” He is a reason the Hall of Fame is in Cleveland. In addition to being on the radio, he discovered and promoted people like, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, and several dozen more. Even though Mr. Freed had no musical ability, he would give preferential treatment to records he played on the radio if he had “co-written” the song. This made songwriters furious, but they were overall happy to get the exposure. Inga was still collecting royalties from these smash hits! Mr. Freed also produced huge international tours for American music acts and produced movies starring people like Tuesday Weld and singers Brooks Benton, Little Richard, and others. Alan Freed took bids on which song to list as #1, which got him indicted during the Payola Era. Inga takes credit for keeping him out of jail by testifying in court that he was a strong family man, loved his children, and was in poor health. Alan Freed died of alcoholism in 1965 at the age of 44. Inga, who remarried to a medical school professor in Chicago, died in 2006. I was a fan of the Confidentials from the start and always admired Bruce’s drumming! I have played guitar for almost 50 years and am currently in a really, really fun band with guys I have known for most of that time.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/28/2015 04:14:42 am
Yippee!! John, I've been waiting for you to get in on this. Sort of name dropped and hoped you'd take the hint! I think you and Bruce could easily go one for one in this discussion! The things you know!
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
1/29/2015 12:22:13 pm
So, So, So Interesting Bruce & John. Thank you!
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/28/2015 01:53:43 pm
Okay, Bruce - halftime shows. My oldest, who played trumpet and soccer, went to high school in 1987. After sitting through one football season of watching really dumb halftimes shows, I walked into the office of the music director and quite candidly said, "Your halftime shows suck." There was an audible gasp as people in general were afraid of him. I wasn't. And I meant it. So I said, "Let me do your halftime shows." After some interrogating (mild word for it!), he agreed to let me "try". I told him that he was not to walk in front or behind me but beside me, a team effort - a request that was a bit hard for him to agree to with an ego the size of the Chesapeake Bay. BUT it was the start of a partnership that lasted 23 years. I wrote and choreographed the halftime shows until we both retired from the school system in 2011.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/28/2015 01:57:30 pm
Continued…
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
1/29/2015 12:36:01 pm
AMAZING, SUE!!!!!
Reply
Bruce Davis
1/28/2015 04:05:55 pm
Sue, what you did was phenomenal. Those were big productions. Took a lot of guts, organization and know how; all with teenage kids. My hat is off to you. Not many could have pulled that off. On a much smaller scale The Confidentials needed a makeover. We played at the Kiplinger's son's 16th birthday party, and we stunk. One thing I can't stand is a lot of dead space with the band not playing. Another thing I hate is playing songs I call hamburger helper tunes - songs that just take up space in the set. We were guilty of both at the Kiplinger's party. At our next rehearsal I told the band, "We will never play a gig like that again" We chose Bob King to arrange our set lists with nothing but high powered danceable fun songs. Bob made powerhouse set lists for each band member. I told the guys, "Study the set list, so you know when it is your song to kick off." If we did not kick off the next song within three seconds of the end of the prior song, I would fine the player who was responsible. I fined people if they weren't at the site one hour before the start of the gig. I fined for sloppy uniforms and for improper stage decorum. The first gig after the Kiplinger's was at was then called the Arabian Embassy. It was pretty posh. I girl came up to the bandstand who had been at the Kiplinger gig and said she couldn't believe it was the same band. Music to my ears. That was the turning point for The Confidentials. We were pretty tight from that point forward. Not as dramatic as your efforts, but this was a necessary step for us to make it to the next level.
Reply
Sue Meatyard Hersman
1/29/2015 02:51:51 am
I definitely applaud what you did especially in a time when we were trying to as lax as we could get. I had a thing about those "breathers" between songs. Hated it. Paul, the arranger, came up with some fabulous segways that gave sections of the band the chance to catch a breath while others played. Percs never needed that and were happy as could be when he worked in 30 seconds strictly for the drums. I left the discipline to the music director. We often played Mom and Pop, bickering or contradicting in front of the band, me calling him an old fart and what did he know about Rock and Roll, him telling me to go get him a cup of coffee and be quiet. Kids would roar. We were a family - the orchestra, my intellectual child; the band, my mischievous child. But all for each other as Coming to America showed. The orchestra was just devastated that the band had a problem and jumped right in. I think your disciplinary tactics were good and obviously much needed. It had to be done and the results were positive.
Reply
Janette Schindell Shaw
3/9/2015 10:38:44 am
Reply
John Hudson
10/12/2015 09:41:01 am
Hi Janette,
Reply
4/15/2015 04:28:57 am
PLEASE SEE LATEST INFORMATION POSTED TO THIS SITE'S HOME PAGE ON FRANK HARMANTAS...SO NICE TALKING WITH HIM! ALSO A POSTING ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE "Walter Johnson Class of 1964 Reunion"....
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Author______________ Archives |