Helloooo Bay-beh!!!

My main man Wanush recently posted his thoughts on February 3, 1959 - “the day the music died.” I’m not going to reiterate what he wrote here (although I agree with it wholeheartedly), but his commentary did remind me of something from my childhood.

When I was in 5th grade, I lived in Houston and attended Hancock Elementary School. That year, the school had its first ever talent show. I don’t recall ever attending a talent show prior to this one. One of the acts was a guy (his name was Scott, he lived about a block from me) lip synching to Chantilly Lace by the Big Bopper. He was all dressed up in a zoot suit, swinging a watch chain around while he mouthed the words. He was a big hit – the teachers who made up the judges panel ranked him in either third or fourth place. The act that came in either first or second was a couple of guys playing acoustic guitars and singing Rock Around the Clock – they were joined by two girls in poodle skirts who sang along and danced. The girls started the act by putting money into a construction paper jukebox, which prompted the duck tailed guys (who had previously been frozen in place) to start singing and playing. I guess the judges and audience were really into the 1950’s nostalgia that was so popular at the time. Happy Days and Sha Na Na were on the television, and Grease was in the theaters - it was a good time to be young and enthralled with an idealized vision of an earlier decade.

Looking back, it just seems so odd – lip synching to a one hit wonder like the Big Bopper. Maybe kids in school talent shows nowadays are lip synching to crappy tunes from the 80’s. As I type this there might be a young man on a grade school auditorium stage, decked out in a powdered wig and miming along to Rock Me Amadeus. Or perhaps he’s dressed in medieval garb and doing the Safety Dance. Actually, the cycle of nostalgia seems to be much shorter nowadays, so he’d more likely be doing a lousy tune from the 90’s – perhaps a kid has shaved his head and is doing a self pitying lip synch to a Smashing Pumpkins song. I suppose anything is possible.

During my junior year a girl who went to a different high school invited me to her school’s talent show. It was pretty weak, overall (although we did get to see future blues star Corey Harris play an instrumental REM song). One of the acts was someone doing a dance routine to that crappy Foreigner tune Urgent. As soon as the tune started, my friend Kerry (who I ran into at the talent show) and I yelled “SWEEEET!” at the top of our lungs. Even better, the sound guy had screwed up and started the tune for the wrong person – the performer waiting to begin her act looked pretty confused!

(Yes, I know that last anecdote had nothing to do with 50’s nostalgia or the stupid Big Bopper. But it did involve a talent show, plus I just think it was awesome that we yelled “SWEEEET!” to a Foreigner tune.)

RIP - Pat Morita