There's one business that's not experiencing a slowdown of any kind. It's the "business" of Baby Boomers wanting to boogie oogie oogie. The "70's Nightclub Reunion Dance," which I've mentioned before, went from an annual event to semi-annual this year and the event sells out in MINUTES. I wish I could be there that weekend, but unfortunately we have to be in Honolulu two weeks later and as much as I'd like to see what Asian Blend looks/sounds like 30 years later, it's not enough to warrant two trips in a month. Bobby Caldwell and Smokey Robinson, yes, Asian Blend...ummm, well maybe when our personal economy starts flourishing again.
I'm wondering if a similar dance event could be successful on Kauai. If I had the know-how and the connections, I'd seriously consider organizing one. There could be no better time than right now. Michael Jackson's stunning death has probably awakened everyone's dormant inner Tony or Stephanie as we've all been listening to MJ's songs all week, most of which "have a good beat that you can dance to." Okay, possibly only Baby Boomers get that last sentence.
Personally, I wish I could jump on a time machine and go back to the period between 1968 and 1982 in Honolulu. Going to a dance was probably my favorite thing to do. Junior YBA dances, YWCA club dances, "pay parties", Magic Mushroom, Foxy Lady II, Hawaiian Hut, Hula Hut, Infinity, Point After, Spats, Valentino's... oh my goodness, I haven't thought of those places in a long time!
One aspect of "boogie-ing" I didn't enjoy was the torture of having to wait to be asked to dance. OH...MY...GOD there's no greater torture. Women's Lib may have been born in the 70's, but it certainly did not extend to the Hawaii dancefloors in those days! This is why I'd love to travel back in time; this time I wouldn't hesitate to ask some guy to dance or dance with friends, etc.
I was lucky enough in 1976 to travel to Europe and I talked the other 20somethings in our tour group to go dancing in London, Madrid, and Innsbruck. We made the happy discovery that in Europe it was perfectly acceptable to dance in a group, or with another female, etc.
Another thing I loved about my young adulthood in Honolulu was not just having all those dance venues, but also having countless other quality live entertainment available: Booga Booga, Cecilio and Kapono, Kalapana, Country Comfort, Music Magic, Azure McCall, Carol Kai, Iva Kinimaka, Nephi Hanneman, Jimmy Borges, Sydette, Liz Damon, Peter Moon, Beamer Brothers, Society of Seven, Frank Delima, Mel Cabang, Dick Jensen, Don Ho...Sak and Stu (*LOOOOOOOL*) Whatever happened to Sak and Stu, I wonder?!
We also seemed to have more opportunities to see nationally as well as internationally renown talent and at much lower ticket prices (even accounting for inflation). I only went to a fraction of the concerts, and yet within a span of ten years or so, I saw Herman's Hermits, the Animals (twice!), Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Beach Boys, the Carpenters, Tower of Power, Doobie Brothers, Blind Faith (Eric Clapton), Sonny and Cher, Young Rascals, Wayne Newton, Liza Minnelli, El Chicano, and Jose Feliciano. I'm sure I saw more that I don't recall.
I suppose I'm feeling extra nostalgic for those days because on Kauai, there's so little night life. Oh yes, and also because today's our 30th wedding anniversary and I'm remembering the days of our youth. It seems like just a few years ago, honestly. I thank Leonard for letting me stay young in my mind by putting up with my silly, youthful antics...not to mention takes me dancing in Honolulu if I bug him enough. As he says, I'll always be a "young chick" to him since I'm five years younger than he is. Lucky me!
As a postscript, I'd like to note that Michael Jackson died on the day of Michael Edayan's funeral and as if the latter weren't hard enough to accept, the second Michael loss is almost as difficult. Imagine, two gifted Michaels I wish I could have known longer and heard from longer, gone too soon. I was no raging Michael Jackson fan-addict (I immediately went to buy a couple of his DVD's online, because all we have are MJ cassette tapes!), but I did recognize his greatness and being a music and dance lover, how could I not understand how he was one in a billion? He may have grown into a strange adult, but I always gave him the benefit of the doubt and accepted his eccentricities. Geniuses are often plagued by less desirable "by-products" of their genius, and I'd sooner enjoy their brilliant contributions and only judge them if I'm asked to be on a jury.
Showing posts with label Smokey Robinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smokey Robinson. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, July 19, 2008
My Smokey Robinson Story
From what my readers have been telling me--hehe, "my readers" sounds pretty impressive, but for all you know it might be three very loyal friends-- many people start blogs and fail to maintain them. As Cousin Al said, "Make sure you take care of it and 'feed it' often."
Weeeelll I'm pretty busy this week, so I'll feed you a "re-broadcast" instead. I wrote this about 12 years ago, but it's pertinent because it's still a major story in my hermitesque life and also, we recently saw Smokey again after 12 years. So here's the story:
If you ever get a chance to see Smokey Robinson perform in person, don't miss it...you'll love him. And if you happen to sit up front in the first row, be forewarned...you'll FALL IN LOVE with him...anyway, that's what happened to me when I first saw him perform live in Las Vegas! Must be those green eyes??
Whatever it was, it turned me from a Smokey fan into a Smokey fanatic! I started buying every Smokey tape and CD I could find. I read Smokey's autobiography then other Motown biographies and books...they all fascinated me. In the 60's when Motown was at it's peak I was too busy being a Beatlemaniac to care much about Motown music, so this was all "new" to me...and fun!
I had two new purposes in life now:to see Smokey perform again and to MEET him. I decided to write to him to let him know how he touched my life and just as I finished the letter, I had this great idea. I bought one of those disposable cameras and sent it with the letter, a couple of goodies from Hawaii and a stamped self-addressed envelope. I asked him to please have someone snap a couple of pictures of him and mail me back the camera in the envelope (you have to make it convenient if you want a response!)
Well I didn't hear anything for almost two months so I figured that was that. Then one day while I was taking an afternoon nap the phone rang. It was Ivory Stone--Smokey's back-up singer for over 20 years now. I recognized her name immediately and wondered if I was dreaming. She told me they thought the camera was a great idea and she'd been snapping pics of him while on tour... but she'd lost the camera at O'Hare Airport! She promised to buy another one and send me the pics ASAP. After we hung up I was SO excited and wanted to tell someone about it. My dad, who was visiting me, had been outside in the yard and when he came into the house I blurted out the whole story. He told me "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" I said "Well, didn't you hear the phone ring?" He said no....ARRRGH! *LOL*
I waited very impatiently and finally THE PACKAGE arrived, full of goodies (tshirts, concert program, autographed 8X10, etc.) and THE PHOTOS!! Ivory explained that this had turned out to be a photo fiasco because after she had lost the first camera, the pictures she took with the second camera turned out badly and so she finally used a "real" camera and took a third roll. She sent me over a dozen pics of Smokey. Most of them showed him in different stage outfits, obviously she took a pic every night before he went onstage. It occurred to me that if she went through three rolls of film before she finally got a good set, then he had to pose about 30 times... OH MY GOD...he is a true prince to have put up with THAT!!! I had wanted him to remember me, but not as the fan that made him pose 30 times!! *LMAO*
I wrote back to Ivory to thank her for all her efforts and asked her to let me know when they'd be in Las Vegas again. A few months later she sent me a note saying they'd be there in March so my husband and I were able to plan another vacation to Vegas then. We ended up seeing Smokey's show 3 TIMES (I'm blessed with such a sweet, patient husband who puts up with my crazy whims *g*) and got to meet Smokey and Ivory backstage. My dream come true! He was exactly as I expected: gorgeous and unbelievably gracious--even when someone tried to "rescue" him from me because I was taking up too much of his time, he didn't rush off. He was very patient with me while I did my "Kathie Lee" bit, showing him a picture that my daughter drew, making him autograph it, etc. I will truly remember my Smokey Encounter for the rest of my life...but considering what I put him through, I think I'll give him a few years before I ever try meeting him again!!
Whatever it was, it turned me from a Smokey fan into a Smokey fanatic! I started buying every Smokey tape and CD I could find. I read Smokey's autobiography then other Motown biographies and books...they all fascinated me. In the 60's when Motown was at it's peak I was too busy being a Beatlemaniac to care much about Motown music, so this was all "new" to me...and fun!
I had two new purposes in life now:to see Smokey perform again and to MEET him. I decided to write to him to let him know how he touched my life and just as I finished the letter, I had this great idea. I bought one of those disposable cameras and sent it with the letter, a couple of goodies from Hawaii and a stamped self-addressed envelope. I asked him to please have someone snap a couple of pictures of him and mail me back the camera in the envelope (you have to make it convenient if you want a response!)
Well I didn't hear anything for almost two months so I figured that was that. Then one day while I was taking an afternoon nap the phone rang. It was Ivory Stone--Smokey's back-up singer for over 20 years now. I recognized her name immediately and wondered if I was dreaming. She told me they thought the camera was a great idea and she'd been snapping pics of him while on tour... but she'd lost the camera at O'Hare Airport! She promised to buy another one and send me the pics ASAP. After we hung up I was SO excited and wanted to tell someone about it. My dad, who was visiting me, had been outside in the yard and when he came into the house I blurted out the whole story. He told me "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" I said "Well, didn't you hear the phone ring?" He said no....ARRRGH! *LOL*
I waited very impatiently and finally THE PACKAGE arrived, full of goodies (tshirts, concert program, autographed 8X10, etc.) and THE PHOTOS!! Ivory explained that this had turned out to be a photo fiasco because after she had lost the first camera, the pictures she took with the second camera turned out badly and so she finally used a "real" camera and took a third roll. She sent me over a dozen pics of Smokey. Most of them showed him in different stage outfits, obviously she took a pic every night before he went onstage. It occurred to me that if she went through three rolls of film before she finally got a good set, then he had to pose about 30 times... OH MY GOD...he is a true prince to have put up with THAT!!! I had wanted him to remember me, but not as the fan that made him pose 30 times!! *LMAO*
I wrote back to Ivory to thank her for all her efforts and asked her to let me know when they'd be in Las Vegas again. A few months later she sent me a note saying they'd be there in March so my husband and I were able to plan another vacation to Vegas then. We ended up seeing Smokey's show 3 TIMES (I'm blessed with such a sweet, patient husband who puts up with my crazy whims *g*) and got to meet Smokey and Ivory backstage. My dream come true! He was exactly as I expected: gorgeous and unbelievably gracious--even when someone tried to "rescue" him from me because I was taking up too much of his time, he didn't rush off. He was very patient with me while I did my "Kathie Lee" bit, showing him a picture that my daughter drew, making him autograph it, etc. I will truly remember my Smokey Encounter for the rest of my life...but considering what I put him through, I think I'll give him a few years before I ever try meeting him again!!
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Well, I gave him 12 years and truth be told, when I found out he'd be performing at the Waikiki Shell, although I fully intended to attend the concert, I didn't feel it necessary to try to meet him again. Until...Jordan asked to meet him. As giving her as many unique experiences as we're able to is important to us, I felt obligated to make this happen for her. Luckily Ivory Stone had not moved and I was able to write her and again bribe her with dark chocolate mac nuts. Nah, she would've done it for nothing, she's such a nice person. She put me in touch with Smokey's manager and we were even offered free tickets (but I had already purchased them).
Smokey was even more amazing twelve years later. I urge you to see him perform if you get a chance. He is not a NARAS Living Legend for his past glories, he can still out-sing and out-entertain most young musicians popular today. What's more, he's a gracious prince of a man, not to mention gorgeous.
Unfortunately, we were at the end of the line to meet him at the Shell and his manager wanted to rush him off so although we got the photo clicked for Jordan's photo album, I didn't get a chance to remind him of how we met the first time. I'll never know if he had to pose 30 times for any other fan!
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