All classes were in a portable building. Oak Park Elementary School was a bit on the overcrowded side. Titusville's population had boomed from 6000 to 29000, largely due to the space program at Cape Canaveral. My dad worked on the Apollo program as did several other fathers, and Brevard County had to build new schools to accommodate what was then a growing population. Oak Park Elementary School was a recent construction; Madison Junior High School was built right next to it and it too was a little on the packed side. In Madison's first year they had to take in the sixth graders; the year before that Titusville High School was so packed that they had a morning session for one group of students and an afternoon session for another.
Anyway, for some reason I got to thinking about this one song from that time period. Mrs. Tague taught PE (Physical Education, that is) in the afternoons and on most afternoons there was a record player going round and round and this one song that I remembered was played a lot. My thinking was that it went "Mary Mary, quite contrary" and it had a real catchy hook to it carried by the bass line. The girls enjoyed dancing to that one. I would look up from my desk in Mrs. Allen's class and see that, and wonder why Mrs. Tague's afternoon class was out there having fun while I was in this portable having to do other stuff.
Well, for some reason, I got to thinking about that song a few months back. A Google search failed to turn up who did that song. I would think about it every now and then.....for some reason that hook must have really grabbed on to me.
While driving back from Todd's house this morning (I went up there yesterday and stayed the night) I got to thinking about that song again. Who could that have been by? I got to thinking it must have been done by the Monkees. They were really big on TV back then, it seemed as if all my classmates watched that, while me, my favorite TV show was "The Invaders".
Anyway, once I got back home, I decided to do a YouTube search on that. First I brought up Michael Nesmith's "Cruisin'"......that one had a catchy hook to it too. A search of Wickedpedia (can't resist calling it that sometimes!) brought up that Mr. Nesmith wrote some songs for the Monkees in an effort to be taken seriously as artists. And then I tried a YouTube search on that "Mary" song.
For the first time since 1968, I listened to it! Another childhood memory! This time around, I learned how the memory distorts things after a few decades. I thought that bass line was really heavy, but it wasn't. Also, the song didn't say "Mary Mary, quite contrary". It instead said "Mary Mary, where you goin' to?". As I was listening to it for the first time in 40+ years, I'm thinking, is one of those verses going to say "quite contrary"?
Nope. That never came up.
I also seemed to remember that the music would stop during that song, and then start up again. It didn't do that either. OK, if I had been the record producer back then I might have had the band do it that way, but that's not how it happened. I always thought it would be neat to be a record producer and I think being a record producer would be a better job than being an engineer, but those weren't the cards that I drew.
But getting back to that song, I've found myself re-listening to it some more. It apparently wasn't the best known song by the Monkees; two more got way ahead of that one in terms of public recognition. Still, I think it's a good song, very 60ish, and I still like that hook!
The link below has this song. If you wish to listen to it, click on hit, but if you want to come back to this blog you'll have to hit the "back" button unless you have a creative way of opening up a new tab or a window.
Mary, Mary
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I wanted to post last weekend about Harold Camping's rapture prediction. No, I didn't think for one minute that there would be a rapture, though I couldn't resist jokingly posting a comment on one forum that "Harold Camping seems to have disappeared".
This isn't the first time that Dr. Camping has made a rapture prediction. Back in 1994, he said it would happen that year, and when it didn't he became aware of a "math error" that he had made. When it didn't happen last weekend, I read conflicting posts on what he had to say about it not happening, but my understanding is that Judgement Day is now on for the 21st of October.
Anyway, what I would have said is that Harold Camping, for as many years as he's studied the Bible, should know better about making these kinds of predictions. Christ himself told us that He didn't know, and neither did the angels of heaven. So what can Harold Camping know that Christ can't?
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Yep, I drove up to see Todd, Annette and Amber yesterday. It was a good visit as always, and Annette continues to display her talented culinary skills. As long as I've known Annette I've known her to be a great cook, in addition to being intelligent.
This morning we were chatting on the back patio. She told me that I've changed, and for the better. That was an interesting comment, and I think she's right that I changed. For the better? I would hope so.
I didn't ask her just how recent this change was, but it must have been over the past year and a half. I have noticed that I don't get as stressed out about traffic and left lane hogs like I used to. At least, I haven't recently opined to anyone that left lane hogs should be beaten as I've been known to do in the past.
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I'm going to call it a post right now. I really thought I was going to write more but I feel the urge to take care of a few other things. I'm going to have to fire up the BBQ grill before too long; beef ribs were prepped a few hours ago and I'm going to give these guys two hours of cooking time.
Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.
Oh, I loved the Monkees and still listen to some of their songs now and again. I think Davy Jones was my first crush (him or David Cassidy). I suppose I was about the age that my kids are now, which is why I can forgive their Justin Beiber fixation.
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