YMCA

 

     Oh yes we did! We saw the Village People at Epcot! April was quite the month for me, the Doobie Brothers and the Village People within a few days of each other! Talk about blasting back to my past!

 

 

     For those of you who are too young to remember the Village People (I really think everyone knows their music), they are a disco group that formed in 1977. They were  known for their on-stage wardrobe that copied American cultural stereotypes, as well as their sexy dance music.

 

     Speaking as someone who was in my early 20's, living in the Midwest, I was very aware of the group and had no idea that they were originally created to target disco's gay audience by featuring popular gay fantasy personas. The name "Village People" comes from New York City's Greenwich Village, which had a large gay population in the 70's. I was clueless at the time, I just knew that the music was fun, good and easy to dance to!

 

 

     During Epcot's Flower and Garden show, they offer free "flower power" concerts on the weekends. We actually picked our week to visit because we thought this concert would be so good and we weren't disappointed. The group retains two original members, Felipe Rose (the Native American) and Alex Briley (the soldier). Ray Simpson (brother of Ashford and Simpson's Valerie Simpson) is almost an original, first joining the group in 1980. He is the lead singer and portrays the Cop and the Navy Officer for In the Navy. Glenn Hughes, the original biker, died of lung cancer at age 50 in 2001 and Mark Mussler, the original construction worker for the first year, died of AIDS at age 33 in 1987.

 

 

     The guys range in age from 47 to 66. We weren't exactly sure what to expect considering we remembered the costumes and the dances of the 70's. To quote my daughter, "these guys can really move for old men"! They certainly could. For those of you that remember their moves...and all the things they did with those microphone stands...they can still do them! They also sounded exactly the way I remembered. My only complaint is that the show was too short as Disney has them do 3 shows a night. What I appreciated seeing as we were leaving was that they stayed out in the audience giving autographs, shaking hands and talking to the super fans. It also should be said that they had one of the largest audiences my daughter has seen at one of these concerts and it was a very interesting and colorful audience!

 

 

      In case you have forgotten what made this group famous, click and listen to: Macho Man, In The Navy or a current version of YMCA. A Good time was had by all!

 

 

There are times when I am doing something that

I just can't quite believe I am doing it...

this was one of those times!

 

Old black water, keep on rollin', Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me

 

     Last week was a busy week for us. In the midst of the busy, on Wednesday night I got to do something that was on my "bucket list"! I finally, after decades, got to see the Doobie Brothers right here in my own town. To make it even better, two good friends made the drive from our old hometown to go to the concert and then we had a sleepover at my house. My husband grew up with Doobies music too, so he went to the concert but he went to bed long before we did. We were up until almost 3:00 a.m. catching up on our kids, friends and life in general. Between the concert and the girls...I felt 17 again...until later the next day when I ended up going to bed at 9:00 p.m. If only our bodies could stay as young as our heads and hearts!

 

 

     Many of you that read my blog are about my age, so I know you are very familiar with the Doobie hits. The Doobies formed in 1970, so for me...all of my high school and college memories are set to the backdrop of their hit songs. Listen to the Music, Jesus is Just Alright, China Grove, Long Train Runnin', Black Water, Take Me In Your Arms and Takin' It To the Streets all bring back memories of high school dances and smoky college bars with small dance floors. When they struck the first chord of the first song, I was smiling from ear to ear and it didn't stop for the entire night.

 

     Original members Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston (the voices of the Doobies) are still with the group, along with John McFee who has also been with the group since the 70's. It is so refreshing to see a group that can play their instruments, can truly sing and were literally "jamming" on stage. Keyboard, sax, violin...they do it all and every song was amazing. This was a rock concert at its best...they played their old hits and a few new songs from their last album. The crowd was on their feet and a good time was had by all. If you ever get the chance to see them...take it!

 

     For you "young ones" that read my blog and want to know more about this band, click the song links above or visit their website. We baby boomers really do know how to rock and roll!

 

Hopefully, this week I will have a

bit more time to visit your blogs!

 

 

You Should Be Dancing!

Only in the 70's could you wear a halter top

for your engagement picture!

     I've been feeling a bit nostalgic lately. I have a high school class reunion coming up in June and for the past several months, members of my high school class that have "found" each other on Facebook have talked of little else. Every time I see a name added to the list of who is coming...I'm either flooded with memories OR I'm reaching for my senior yearbook to try to figure out who the person is!

     My high school class had 300 some people in it, and at this point we have around 100 actual class members (plus spouses) coming to the weekend event. There are names that aren't on the list that I wish were, people that I can't wait to see and people who really surprise me that they are coming. For someone like me, who left for college at 17 and basically didn't ever go back "home", it has been a real trip down memory lane as well as a brain teaser to put my head back that many years. The funny thing is that I really thought I knew everyone in my class and I know now that there were many people that I never knew at all (several of those will be at the reunion)! I know there are people who hate class reunions, but I can't wait. It is hard for me to understand why everyone (who can afford the travel expenses) doesn't want to hang out for a couple of days and find out what happened to the people that they started their lives with.

     I have found that time is the great equalizer. You can't live as long as we all have and not have faced wonderful highs and devastating lows in your life. We have had the joys of college, marriage, careers, children and grandchildren but along with that has come divorce, troubled kids and certainly at this time the loss of our parents. That seems to be happening weekly for our class. Back in high school, some of us were "popular" and some were invisible. Some of us came from wonderful homes and some were not so lucky. Rarely did the two groups cross paths. It simply doesn't matter anymore. As we look at the list of 30 classmates that we have lost over the years, I think most of us are simply glad to have survived!

     We may not still look exactly like the pictures. I have to add that I am still proud to have been a "charter member" of The Wavettes pom pom squad...which still exists today at MHS. Some of my class has gone gray, some have gained weight and some have faced illness that has changed how they look. I'd like to say that I don't care how I look at the reunion, but I'd be lying. I wish I'd lost a few pounds, I wish that I could wear a turtleneck and cover my neck which seems to be changing (not in a good way) daily...but, those things aren't going to happen. One of my friends posted a picture during his chemo session captioned  "getting well for the reunion" and I am so glad he is coming and so thankful that all I was worried about was a few pounds. I've read others who now have fought cancer, hearing issues, heart problems, trouble walking...and I count my blessings that at least for today, my biggest complaint is that my neck looks "old"!

     We were the generation before AIDS and the generation who thought smoking pot and drinking watered down beer was wild enough (I didn't even smoke pot). We didn't have the money for fancy trips, shots of hard liquor or expensive drugs.We worked in restaurants and gas stations during high school and were simply glad to be paid anything. Our weddings didn't have wedding planners, catered dinners and bachelor parties in the islands, followed by exotic honeymoons. We wore bell bottoms, wedge heels and tights...big earrings and high boots. I still love the fashion!

I actually had brown suede hot pants...

...and wedges with designs in them!

This was my school clothes look, lots of plaid kilt skirts

but usually with a matching blouse and sweater for me.

     Somewhere in this house is a dress exactly like the one above. My black "disco dress" from the 70's and I loved it. We even took disco lessons (it wasn't a good thing). I can't end this post without mentioning the other things that have made me nostalgic in the past few days. Most of us of my generation probably have a copy of the Saturday Night Fever sountrack in a box somewhere. There is no doubt that the music from the film is more than just a bunch of songs...it takes us back to a very special time. It was a time before most of us knew pain, loss or really anything bad in our lives. It was a time when anything was possible and we all had big dreams. In the past few days we have lost 2 of the voices of that time.

     Donna Summer was truly the voice of the disco era. We may all be a little hardened to the lyrics in today's music, but when she came out with Love to Love You Baby, it was shocking to us. She was gorgeous, talented and so different from anything we had heard before. You may want to listen and remember (or learn)!

Love to Love You Baby



     We also lost Robin Gibb, one of the Bee Gees, yesterday. I have always been a Bee Gees fan and for many years bought everything they released. Now, after starting with four brothers (including Andy) there is only one Gibb brother surviving. How sad.

You Should Be Dancing

     For those of you who remember these times, I hope this post made you smile. For those too young to remember...maybe you learned a little history lesson! For all of you, I would suggest that if you have lost contact with your high school class members...consider trying to reconnect. I hear people say, "I didn't like those people in high school, why would I want to see or talk to them now". I didn't have that experience, I really didn't dislike anyone in high school...however, there were people I didn't know well. I do know that now that it is a few decades later, the bond of growing up at the same time, in the same place with people who remember your parents and remember you before life changed us all...is something very special. It is a support system that you don't realize you have...and don't we all need that?