Summer of 1982/Fall of 2015 and Ballroom Dancing
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This is a personal story but one thing I love about the PM Board is that you have McCartney fans from all over the world who convene to discuss all things Macca and the Beatles. Because we have this common thread, I feel comfortable in sharing this story and hope you like it too. As usual, Paul albeit indirectly always seems to be a part of my life. ______________________________________________________ Earlier this month (October 3rd) I had a very special event in my life. It was my Daughter's (Carolyn) Wedding date. It was going to be an outdoor wedding at her Mother's home and backyard. We were renting everything including the tents, port-a-pottys, furniture etc. I felt relaxed as the big day was approaching as I liked my future son-in-law from what I had seen and I felt they were ready. Carolyn and Brian were 34 and 36 respectively. This was going to be easy I thought. Carolyn is my only child so anything goes when it came time for her Wedding. But with many things in life, things aren't always as easy as you think. While we had simply great weather in New Jersey in September, out of nowhere a potential hurricane was hitting (you guessed it) the week of Carolyn's Wedding. Because of the impending storm, we had some additional drama that none of us needed on top of all the last minute work to be done. Because the weather people couldn't discern the path of the storm, we even looked into an alternative to the outdoor wedding they had planned. Guests were coming from all over including California so it would be difficult to cancel the date last minute. We were lucky and actually found a nice hotel that had a last minute wedding cancellation. On Thursday, I was all set to give the Hotel the money when the local weather forecast said that we would be ok for Saturday. Upon hearing this new forecast, Carolyn and Brian changed their mind and wanted to stay with he original plan. I wasn't too comfortable with that decision to be honest but when it is your Daughter's Wedding, I ended up going along with them. Friday was a terrible wet, windy and cold day and I was still fearful but Thank God, everything ended up great. While Saturday wasn't ideal, it was good enough as it didn't rain. The heaters for the large tent worked well and the reception in the tent was real cool. Dancing with my Daughter and giving a toast/speech after the dinner was a highlight for me. I basically said that 5/6/81 (my Daughter's birth) was by far the greatest day of my life, but today after seeing my Daughter in her Wedding gown was a close second. It was a great affair and the happiest person under the large Tent that night was Carolyn. As a Father, that is all you want. On Sunday (the day after) I was still on a high. After all the drama, we ended up having a great Wedding and I could tell the guests really enjoyed themselves. Being a huge Macca fan, I remembered that I never had a chance to pick up the new Remastered/Remixed Tug of War. I was going to have a pretty long drive home, so I put my GPS to the nearest Best Buy store so I could hear it going home. Fortunately, there was one about 10 minutes away and I picked it up. Once I heard the opening tracks (Tug of War), Take It Away and Somebody Who Cares, I was in heaven and remembered how much I loved that album. After hearing the beautiful Here Today, the opening chords of the next song really brought the memories flowing. Ballroom Dancing was that song and it made me clearly think of another time in my life... the Summer of 1982 right after Tug of War was released. The Summer of 1982 was a personally exciting time. Carolyn was only about 13 months old but she had just started walking all around the house. She was so curious and we had spent a lot of time "house proofing the house". I also tried to follow her all the time to keep her from falling. I learned rather quickly you can't always be all places and she eventually fell on her own. I found out that little girls are pretty tough and she got right up with no problem. At the same time this was happening, I read the Rollingstone Review on Tug of War. I was thrilled it got a 5 star rating and couldn't wait to buy it. At the time, vinyl records were still the best option and I started to playing it almost immediately on my player. At that point and with my Daughter in the same room, it started me thinking about things that never occurred to me. How would Carolyn like this music. She certainly would be objective as she had no idea who Paul or the Beatles were. Initially, I have to admit she didn't have much of a reaction. After all, she is only 13 months. I did get a surprise however. She did kind of liked and respond to Ballroom Dancing (BD for future reference) for some reason. She would naturally shake whenever it played. Noticing that, my wife and I would start to dance with her when BD played. Thus, this became the first song that Carolyn really liked and the first song where she danced. It didn't matter who sang it in her mind, she just loved the song. A Macca fan in the making I thought. How nice! We couldn't wait to tell my Mom, Dad and older Sister (Carolyn's Godmother). As soon as they could, they drove up and sure enough, they were able to see Carolyn dancing. I still remember my parents and sister's smiles and laughter upon seeing a little girl probably only 20" tall dancing all around the room. My parents unfortunately are gone now and didn't see Carolyn's wedding, but hearing Ballroom Dancing made me remember how much joy she gave them. It is also gave me great perspective as to the age old question (and one of George Harrison's songs) What is Life. Well this day it made me realize what is is not. It is not all about money and personal possessions. It is about the miracle of a little baby and what joy she gave to an entire family. Hearing Ballroom Dancing on the way home from the Wedding made me think of dancing with Carolyn the night before and also that little 13 month little girl 33 years earlier. Where did all that time go? But it also makes you think of the good times. All the joy that Carolyn gave to my parents in their senior years and all the joy she has given me and my sister. Time will move on but maybe just maybe I have another milestone event that will match the birth and wedding of my Daughter (Grandchild I thought). Can't rush things however was my immediate reaction. Need to enjoy life one day at a time. And about that time, Wanderlust started playing. After all these years, I still love that album. Thank you Paul for all the years of great music. And when I read any critic putting Ballroom Dancing down, I will just smile. I know what it meant to me.
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B J Conlee:
This is a personal story but one thing I love about the PM Board is that you have McCartney fans from all over the world who convene to discuss all things Macca and the Beatles. Because we have this common thread, I feel comfortable in sharing this story and hope you like it too. As usual, Paul albeit indirectly always seems to be a part of my life. ______________________________________________________ Earlier this month (October 3rd) I had a very special event in my life. It was my Daughter's (Carolyn) Wedding date. It was going to be an outdoor wedding at her Mother's home and backyard. We were renting everything including the tents, port-a-pottys, furniture etc. I felt relaxed as the big day was approaching as I liked my future son-in-law from what I had seen and I felt they were ready. Carolyn and Brian were 34 and 36 respectively. This was going to be easy I thought. Carolyn is my only child so anything goes when it came time for her Wedding. But with many things in life, things aren't always as easy as you think. While we had simply great weather in New Jersey in September, out of nowhere a potential hurricane was hitting (you guessed it) the week of Carolyn's Wedding. Because of the impending storm, we had some additional drama that none of us needed on top of all the last minute work to be done. Because the weather people couldn't discern the path of the storm, we even looked into an alternative to the outdoor wedding they had planned. Guests were coming from all over including California so it would be difficult to cancel the date last minute. We were lucky and actually found a nice hotel that had a last minute wedding cancellation. On Thursday, I was all set to give the Hotel the money when the local weather forecast said that we would be ok for Saturday. Upon hearing this new forecast, Carolyn and Brian changed their mind and wanted to stay with he original plan. I wasn't too comfortable with that decision to be honest but when it is your Daughter's Wedding, I ended up going along with them. Friday was a terrible wet, windy and cold day and I was still fearful but Thank God, everything ended up great. While Saturday wasn't ideal, it was good enough as it didn't rain. The heaters for the large tent worked well and the reception in the tent was real cool. Dancing with my Daughter and giving a toast/speech after the dinner was a highlight for me. I basically said that 5/6/81 (my Daughter's birth) was by far the greatest day of my life, but today after seeing my Daughter in her Wedding gown was a close second. It was a great affair and the happiest person under the large Tent that night was Carolyn. As a Father, that is all you want. On Sunday (the day after) I was still on a high. After all the drama, we ended up having a great Wedding and I could tell the guests really enjoyed themselves. Being a huge Macca fan, I remembered that I never had a chance to pick up the new Remastered/Remixed Tug of War. I was going to have a pretty long drive home, so I put my GPS to the nearest Best Buy store so I could hear it going home. Fortunately, there was one about 10 minutes away and I picked it up. Once I heard the opening tracks (Tug of War), Take It Away and Somebody Who Cares, I was in heaven and remembered how much I loved that album. After hearing the beautiful Here Today, the opening chords of the next song really brought the memories flowing. Ballroom Dancing was that song and it made me clearly think of another time in my life... the Summer of 1982 right after Tug of War was released. The Summer of 1982 was a personally exciting time. Carolyn was only about 13 months old but she had just started walking all around the house. She was so curious and we had spent a lot of time "house proofing the house". I also tried to follow her all the time to keep her from falling. I learned rather quickly you can't always be all places and she eventually fell on her own. I found out that little girls are pretty tough and she got right up with no problem. At the same time this was happening, I read the Rollingstone Review on Tug of War. I was thrilled it got a 5 star rating and couldn't wait to buy it. At the time, vinyl records were still the best option and I started to playing it almost immediately on my player. At that point and with my Daughter in the same room, it started me thinking about things that never occurred to me. How would Carolyn like this music. She certainly would be objective as she had no idea who Paul or the Beatles were. Initially, I have to admit she didn't have much of a reaction. After all, she is only 13 months. I did get a surprise however. She did kind of liked and respond to Ballroom Dancing (BD for future reference) for some reason. She would naturally shake whenever it played. Noticing that, my wife and I would start to dance with her when BD played. Thus, this became the first song that Carolyn really liked and the first song where she danced. It didn't matter who sang it in her mind, she just loved the song. A Macca fan in the making I thought. How nice! We couldn't wait to tell my Mom, Dad and older Sister (Carolyn's Godmother). As soon as they could, they drove up and sure enough, they were able to see Carolyn dancing. I still remember my parents and sister's smiles and laughter upon seeing a little girl probably only 20" tall dancing all around the room. My parents unfortunately are gone now and didn't see Carolyn's wedding, but hearing Ballroom Dancing made me remember how much joy she gave them. It is also gave me great perspective as to the age old question (and one of George Harrison's songs) What is Life. Well this day it made me realize what is is not. It is not all about money and personal possessions. It is about the miracle of a little baby and what joy she gave to an entire family. Hearing Ballroom Dancing on the way home from the Wedding made me think of dancing with Carolyn the night before and also that little 13 month little girl 33 years earlier. Where did all that time go? But it also makes you think of the good times. All the joy that Carolyn gave to my parents in their senior years and all the joy she has given me and my sister. Time will move on but maybe just maybe I have another milestone event that will match the birth and wedding of my Daughter (Grandchild I thought). Can't rush things however was my immediate reaction. Need to enjoy life one day at a time. And about that time, Wanderlust started playing. After all these years, I still love that album. Thank you Paul for all the years of great music. And when I read any critic putting Ballroom Dancing down, I will just smile. I know what it meant to me.
Wonderful story, thanks for sharing !!
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Really enjoyed that, quite touching!
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Thanks Yankeefan and Love2travel. Besides loving Tug of War, it was a special time. Even though my job at the time wasn't very good, it was a special summer for a Father. At 13 months and those months ahead it was so great to see her personality begin to develop. And she started liking the other songs on Tug as well but Ballroom Dancing was her favorite for sure.
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Fantastic story BJ! Reminds me of my boy/girl twins (born in 1987) singing in the bath. My daughter used to sing/shout "My brave, my brave, my brave face!"
They are nearing 29 years old now! Yes, where has the time gone? -
Yes, very sweet.
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Nancy R:
Fantastic story BJ! Reminds me of my boy/girl twins (born in 1987) singing in the bath. My daughter used to sing/shout "My brave, my brave, my brave face!"
They are nearing 29 years old now! Yes, where has the time gone?29 years is a long time to be in a bath. What's her skin like?
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Some of my best work above and nothing from Nancy...
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moptops:
Nancy R:
Fantastic story BJ! Reminds me of my boy/girl twins (born in 1987) singing in the bath. My daughter used to sing/shout "My brave, my brave, my brave face!"
They are nearing 29 years old now! Yes, where has the time gone?29 years is a long time to be in a bath. What's her skin like?
moptops:
Some of my best work above and nothing from Nancy...
I just got up! You are a riot Robert!
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I enjoyed reading that, BJ
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Good stuff BJ! I always tried to get my daughter into the Beatles.... got close.... there was that time when she was very young and we would be in the car driving and I would 'accidentally' cut The Wiggles and the Anthology 3 version of Hey Jude would come on..... at the 'accidental' tip of my finger on the button, of course... every time the intro "From the heart of the black country, when I as a robber...." started she would giggle.... Got some good mileage out of that.... unfortunately, she outgrew it after a couple of years.... she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!
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toris:
Good stuff BJ! I always tried to get my daughter into the Beatles.... got close.... there was that time when she was very young and we would be in the car driving and I would 'accidentally' cut The Wiggles and the Anthology 3 version of Hey Jude would come on..... at the 'accidental' tip of my finger on the button, of course... every time the intro "From the heart of the black country, when I as a robber...." started she would giggle.... Got some good mileage out of that.... unfortunately, she outgrew it after a couple of years.... she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!
good on you
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toris:
Good stuff BJ! I always tried to get my daughter into the Beatles.... got close.... there was that time when she was very young and we would be in the car driving and I would 'accidentally' cut The Wiggles and the Anthology 3 version of Hey Jude would come on..... at the 'accidental' tip of my finger on the button, of course... every time the intro "From the heart of the black country, when I as a robber...." started she would giggle.... Got some good mileage out of that.... unfortunately, she outgrew it after a couple of years.... she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!
"she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!" My two daughters are in their mid to late 20's and they love the Beatles and 60's rock in general and they despise the people mentioned above. They love Broadway musicals for example and do like some rock stuff like "Green Day".
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yankeefan7:
toris:
Good stuff BJ! I always tried to get my daughter into the Beatles.... got close.... there was that time when she was very young and we would be in the car driving and I would 'accidentally' cut The Wiggles and the Anthology 3 version of Hey Jude would come on..... at the 'accidental' tip of my finger on the button, of course... every time the intro "From the heart of the black country, when I as a robber...." started she would giggle.... Got some good mileage out of that.... unfortunately, she outgrew it after a couple of years.... she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!
"she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!" My two daughters are in their mid to late 20's and they love the Beatles and 60's rock in general and they despise the people mentioned above. They love Broadway musicals for example and do like some rock stuff like "Green Day".
Yankeefan, Just saw the musical "Beautiful" in New York on Wednesday. Yes, the day it poured! But the show Thank God was fantastic. While I knew quite a lot about Carol King and loved her Tapestry album, I learned more about her life. Most importantly, the actors really executed. I loved the way you would see the writers (Carol King and her husband lyricist Gerry Goffin) developing the song they wrote and then you would see the performer's version (e.g. Drifters, Chiffons) then do the song on stage. The Canadian lady, Chinina Kennedy who played Carol King, was outstanding. Her voice sounded like Carol King but even stronger and she even had a lot of her mannerisms. If your Daughters haven't seen Beautiful, I would highly recommend it. I really started paying attention to music when I was about 14 with you know who...the Beatles. I found it fascinating that in the early 60's the record companies' would hire songwriters (like Carol King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) and then they would hand the songs they liked to their stable of performers. Motown continued a similar approach a little later. The Beatles were one of the 1st acts to change the direction of the industry in 1964 when the writers and performers were one in the same.
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B J Conlee:
yankeefan7:
toris:
Good stuff BJ! I always tried to get my daughter into the Beatles.... got close.... there was that time when she was very young and we would be in the car driving and I would 'accidentally' cut The Wiggles and the Anthology 3 version of Hey Jude would come on..... at the 'accidental' tip of my finger on the button, of course... every time the intro "From the heart of the black country, when I as a robber...." started she would giggle.... Got some good mileage out of that.... unfortunately, she outgrew it after a couple of years.... she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!
"she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!" My two daughters are in their mid to late 20's and they love the Beatles and 60's rock in general and they despise the people mentioned above. They love Broadway musicals for example and do like some rock stuff like "Green Day".
Yankeefan, Just saw the musical "Beautiful" in New York on Wednesday. Yes, the day it poured! But the show Thank God was fantastic. While I knew quite a lot about Carol King and loved her Tapestry album, I learned more about her life. Most importantly, the actors really executed. I loved the way you would see the writers (Carol King and her husband lyricist Gerry Goffin) developing the song they wrote and then you would see the performer's version (e.g. Drifters, Chiffons) then do the song on stage. The Canadian lady, Chinina Kennedy who played Carol King, was outstanding. Her voice sounded like Carol King but even stronger and she even had a lot of her mannerisms. If your Daughters haven't seen Beautiful, I would highly recommend it. I really started paying attention to music when I was about 14 with you know who...the Beatles. I found it fascinating that in the early 60's the record companies' would hire songwriters (like Carol King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) and then they would hand the songs they liked to their stable of performers. Motown continued a similar approach a little later. The Beatles were one of the 1st acts to change the direction of the industry in 1964 when the writers and performers were one in the same.
"If your Daughters haven't seen Beautiful, I would highly recommend it. " Thanks, I am sure the entire family would enjoy it. We loved "Jersey Boys" many years ago. We were in NYC Labor Day weekend and saw "Hamilton" which was fantastic even if rap is not your thing. I would also highly recommend "An American In Paris", gorgeous dancing and you can't go wrong with music by Gershwin. If you want a show that is just a lot of fun and funny, check out "Something Rotten".
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B J Conlee:
yankeefan7:
toris:
Good stuff BJ! I always tried to get my daughter into the Beatles.... got close.... there was that time when she was very young and we would be in the car driving and I would 'accidentally' cut The Wiggles and the Anthology 3 version of Hey Jude would come on..... at the 'accidental' tip of my finger on the button, of course... every time the intro "From the heart of the black country, when I as a robber...." started she would giggle.... Got some good mileage out of that.... unfortunately, she outgrew it after a couple of years.... she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!
"she's no great Beatles fan in her young adulthood now that will carry my torch (my mission failed, Obi Wan) but she's at least not a fan of Miley, Mr Kardashian or Bieber.... I must've done something right!" My two daughters are in their mid to late 20's and they love the Beatles and 60's rock in general and they despise the people mentioned above. They love Broadway musicals for example and do like some rock stuff like "Green Day".
Yankeefan, Just saw the musical "Beautiful" in New York on Wednesday. Yes, the day it poured! But the show Thank God was fantastic. While I knew quite a lot about Carol King and loved her Tapestry album, I learned more about her life. Most importantly, the actors really executed. I loved the way you would see the writers (Carol King and her husband lyricist Gerry Goffin) developing the song they wrote and then you would see the performer's version (e.g. Drifters, Chiffons) then do the song on stage. The Canadian lady, Chinina Kennedy who played Carol King, was outstanding. Her voice sounded like Carol King but even stronger and she even had a lot of her mannerisms. If your Daughters haven't seen Beautiful, I would highly recommend it. I really started paying attention to music when I was about 14 with you know who...the Beatles. I found it fascinating that in the early 60's the record companies' would hire songwriters (like Carol King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) and then they would hand the songs they liked to their stable of performers. Motown continued a similar approach a little later. The Beatles were one of the 1st acts to change the direction of the industry in 1964 when the writers and performers were one in the same.
"The Beatles were one of the 1st acts to change the direction of the industry in 1964 when the writers and performers were one in the same." Exactly, one of the many things that made them different and great !!
