Happy New Week to you readers!
Just when I'm really down with an seriously ill family member, a friend and one of Detroit's best vocalists, Kris Peterson, forwarded this to me. Kris recorded "Momma's Little Baby" in the '60's, and also recorded with Frank Zappa. Its been quoted that Kris has "more soul than a Hummer full of Black chicks!" It may not have originated from her, but she was kind enough to forward it to me, and at just the right time when I needed a lift. I've done some minor editing and rearranging, and want to thank Kris very much for letting me share it with you. Some of my friends in the Uk, the Netherlands, and elsewhere in the world, may not remember some of these "American" memories, but there's enough here, to make us all feel like kids again. Thank you so much Kris!
With all our progress, don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace, and share it with the children of today?
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN...
1) All the girls had ugly gym uniforms?
2) It took five minutes for the TV warm up?
3) Nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school?
4) Nobody owned a purebred dog?
5) When a quarter was a decent allowance?
6) You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny?
7) Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?
8) All your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done every day?
9) ...and wore high heels?
10) You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?
11) Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box? 12) It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents?
13) They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. . ...and they did? 14) When a 55 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?
15) No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?
16) Lying on your back in the grass with your friends and saying things like, "That cloud looks like a ..." and playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?
17) Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?
18) When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home? Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
REMEMBER...
Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Laurel and Hardy, Howdy Doody and the Peanut Gallery...The Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Bell, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk...Summers filled with bike rides, baseball games, Hula Hoops, bowling and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar...Candy cigarettes, Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside, Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles...Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes...Blackjack, Clove and Teaberry chewing gum...Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers... Newsreels before the movie, P.F. Fliers, Telephone numbers with a word prefix....(Raymond 4-601)...Partylines...Peashooters, 45 RPM records, Green Stamps, Hi-Fi's...Metal ice cubes trays with levers, Mimeograph paper...Beanie and Cecil, Roller-skate keys, Cork pop guns, Drive ins, Studebakers, Washtub wringers, The Fuller Brush Man...Reel-To-Reel tape recorders, Tinkertoys, Erector Sets, The Fort Apache Play Set, Lincoln Logs... 15 cent McDonald hamburgers, 5 cent packs of baseball cards - with that awful pink slab of bubble gum...Penny candy...35 cent a gallon gasoline, Jiffy Pop popcorn...
A TIME WHEN......
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-moe"? Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "Do Over!"? "Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest? Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening? It wasn't odd to have two or three "Best Friends"? The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was "cooties"? Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot? A foot of snow was a dream come true? Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minutecommercials for action figures? "Oly-oly-oxen-free" made perfect sense? Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles? The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team? War was a card game? Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle? Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin? Water balloons were the ultimate weapon?
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that"? And remember that the perfect age is somewhere between old enough to know better and too young to care!
Till next week friends...Keep your hands on the wheel, and your foot to the floor, when your'e "Drivin' Sideways in Detroit
*Special Thanks to: Kristen Peterson (MI), The Hurricane shelter (MI-OH), Team Detroit (MI), La Grizzy (Intrnl), Sonja Paris (Intrnl), Larry Patterson and Treasure Island gold (Fla), Ralph Terrana (cal) and Soulful Detroit Music Forum (Intrnl), and "Lucky" the Wonder Dog (he's everywhere!)
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Happy Mother's Day to all my friends out there.
My Mother's name is Juanita, and she passed a couple years ago. For my entire life, she and I were best friends till the end. Mom was a character. For no reason, having been a dancer in younger years, she would break into a soft shoe shuffle in a store aisleway. I understood that because her love and history with music, is what got me into the Musicians Union as a semi-professional, at only 13 years of age. When Mom was little, she would sing along with my aunt Jewell who had been a singer and guitar player. As I grew up, Mom and I would crank up the car radio with all the hits of the day. Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, you name it, Mom and I sang along with it. And even when she was 80 years old, blind and with Osteoporosis, she would still get up in the middle of the floor and dance to "Wipe Out" by the Safari's or "Louie, Louie" when they would come on the radio. Now THAT'S impressive for an 80 year old!
Whereas she had been through a lot in her time, she always tried to make the best out of each day. I've followed that line of thinking after she passed. Many of the sayings I live by, were words of wisdom that she taught me. They may not have originally come from her, but they may as well have, because I will always hear her voice when I repeat them. Some favorites of hers were "God doesn't place more on us than we can handle" and "God don't make no junk!". She always said "The Lord knows what He's doing, and our's is not to question Him". She was funny at times, and always filled with wisdom.
We got closer after she and my Father were divorced. And even closer after she remarried, and still closer yet, when my stepfather passed. Through it all, we remained best friends. Back-in-the-day, I could even smoke 'herb' around her, she didn't care. And even in her 60's and '70's, she'd say she had a 'contact-buzz'! Even though she didn't drink, her favorite one was a Scareltt Ohara. Southern Comfort and cranberry juice. That fit her perfect. Kin from Arkansas, a little sweet, and tart and snappy sometimes...and with a kick. Mom was my 1st band manager. We were too young to play in bars and nightclubs, but we were so good, we were being booked into them, and needed chaperones to even be in there. One time above most others, comes to mind.
We all had fake union cards back then. I'm not sure how we got them, but we did, and since they were erasable, we'd put our names in, and appear to be members, and of that age. One night we were performing, a Union representative came into the club. He wanted to see us in the kitchen on break. He said he needed to see all of our cards. Ok, no problem. But, he was writing all the info down in a little notebook from each card. Oh-oh! He was gonna check 'em! Mom winked at the guys in the band, and sat with him when we returned on stage. Mother proceeded to buy him drinks, and within a hour or so, he was smashed. From stage we could see he was pretty trashed. Mom said something to the bartender, and the next thing we saw, was a cab driver escorting him along with Mom and the bartender out the door to the taxi. Wow, we thought! He must be really bombed. After the set was over, we told Mom now he probably won't remember anything about us. She said "I know he won't" as she held up his little notebook with all of our 'fake' info in it! "I got his book!" she said proudly. Mom kept buying him rounds till she could get the book from him when he wasnt looking. Way to go Mom!
Nobody scared Mom, even though she was about 4'11" when she passed away. She could and would, get up into anybody's face if she had to and say, "Listen BUSTER! You not too big for me to knock the s--t outta you!" And she meant it, and could do it too. She'd also say, "People in Hell want ice water, and they ain't gettin' it either!" or "You can just s--t and fall back in it!" Another couple of of her favorite sayings about complaining were "The squeeking wheel gets the grease" and "Waitin's what broke the wagon down". It seems she always had a saying or two ready . As it turned out, most of them were philisophical, and I came to live by the good ones.
With cancer and all of Mom's illnesses, she never complained beyond the everyday complaints old folks have.She just accepted it. She'd also say "Ours is not to reason why" and "The Lord knows what he's doin'". "Don't worry, God has a plan. We're not supposed to question Him". Since she's been gone, I've tried if not to start over, to go forward. I knew I had to try and make the best out of my own life afterwards. And I've tried. But, I miss her voice, one I'd hear everday. I would call her every single day from whereever I was around the country or out of it, without fail. And I never stopped telling her I loved her, and she'd tell me the same thing. After caring for her 100% of the time, and cooking and cleaning and cutting her nails and using the remote contol for her, I had a stroke when she passed away. Either from the strain of caring for her, or the fact that she would be gone, till I cross over and see her again. I guess it was time for her to go, and me to go on. So I have. But not a day goes by without thinking about her.
With cancer and all of Mom's illnesses, she never complained beyond the everyday complaints old folks have.She just accepted it. She'd also say "Ours is not to reason why" and "The Lord knows what he's doin'". "Don't worry, God has a plan. We're not supposed to question Him". Since she's been gone, I've tried if not to start over, to go forward. I knew I had to try and make the best out of my own life afterwards. And I've tried. But, I miss her voice, one I'd hear everday. I would call her every single day from whereever I was around the country or out of it, without fail. And I never stopped telling her I loved her, and she'd tell me the same thing. After caring for her 100% of the time, and cooking and cleaning and cutting her nails and using the remote contol for her, I had a stroke when she passed away. Either from the strain of caring for her, or the fact that she would be gone, till I cross over and see her again. I guess it was time for her to go, and me to go on. So I have. But not a day goes by without thinking about her.
I still miss her yelling at me when I needed it, and praising me when I didn't. She sacrificed all for me growing up, and did without, so I could have. She brought me up, so I never let her down. I thought I had, but she reassured me often, that she couldn't have asked for a better son. Still I wish I could have been one,and did more for her. She assured me that not many other son's would've given up that much to care for their 'ole mama'. I told her that many have, and would continue, and I was just like many. She would add to that with yet another saying..."No, my child...you are not like many...you're not like ANY!" But, that was her way. Always with the phrases. And in those last days, she said she's never be far away, just beyond the vail where we can't see through. She's there, I know it.
After all we'd been through, and after caring for her 24/7 for a couple of her last years straight, I still can't bring myself to go past her house. I guess I think I'd still see her sitting in the window looking out to the street. I know thats not rational, but I think maybe I'd feel that she's still here, and I know she is not. I miss her terribly, and think of her often throughout the course of the day. I always will till I see her again. My friends, this Mother's day in America, and elsewhere around the world, honor your Mothers wherever they may be. A card, a call a letter or a visit, but do it. Some of us can't, because they are gone and just a wonderful memory. Today, this is my way of remembering my Mom, and trying to not think of all the painful health and personal issues she had throughout her life. I want to stress the good ones, and the funny ones.
I'll always remember her walking up to me with her 4'11 frame and looking up into my 6' tall eyes and saying..."Don't forget yo' mama!" I won't Mom. I couldn't possibly forget you. And at those times like now, when I feel sad and lost without her guiding words, she still has left something to help me get through the pain and heartache that can only be felt by losing one's Mother. "Don't worry my child....this too, shall pass". Thanks Mom, I won't.
I love you Mom. Happy Mother's day.
Take care all...Keep your foot on the floor and your hands on the wheel, when your'e....."Drivin' Sideways in Detroit!"
*Special Thanks to: Juanita, my Mom, Team Detroit, The Hurricane Shelter, La Grizzy, Sonja Paris, Larry Patterson and Treasure Island Gold, Ralph Terrana and the Soulful Detroit Music Forums, and "Lucky" the Wonder-Dog
Sunday, May 6, 2007
"Pedals to the Metal!"
Howdy Friends! Hope you all had a great May Day and Cinco de Mayo.
I spend a good deal of time drivin'...(hence the "Drivin' Sideways..." name), and I've come to the conclusion that most all drivers are crazy. Well, maybe not most of them, but certainly a good portion. Doing business weekly down in Ohio for Johnny and The Hurricanes has been an experience. Yeah, kinda like the Daytona 500. On my leisurely 55-60 mile an hour drive down there, I take the surface roads because I hate freeways and higways. I think you miss seeing the real America down in and on those concrete chutes whizzing by at like 80-90. My wife Laura tends to not agree with me. She goes the straightest, fastest way to a destination. It might be backed up 10 miles, but my girl patiently (kinda), waits as long as it's a straight shot to where shes going.
Detroit had its speed demons, but Ohio drivers are on a mission! If its says 65mph, they just take that as a general suggestion, and go 90. Im always getting burned down, and blown on by, because some lil old lady or factory worker suckes me into their jet-stream as they pass. Take the other night for example. Against my better judgement, we took the freeway. My partner Sonja (born and raised in Germany), and Laura were riding together, and I was alone in my car. I told them when we reach 1-75, Ill get in front, and they can follow me up into Detroit. So, we hit I-75, I nail it and blow by them like the devils' on my heels. In a moment, they are a faint little green blur in my rearview mirror. I settle into the speed limit of 70 mph, and crank up the stereo, keeping my eye on them a 1/2 mile or so back. Pretty soon, I dont see them.
The last I saw, they were sandwiched between two semi trucks, the freight-trains of the highways. Ok, no worry. I'll just slow down, and let them catch up. I slow to around 65 with cars, trailers, motorcycles and semis flying by me like I was standing still. After 5 minutes or so, I still dont see them catching up. I know. I'll call them on the cell phone! "Hey. Where are you ladies at? " I yell into the phone over the stereo. "We're next to a truck!" My lovely wife says. "We don't see you.' "Well then" I ask..."What exit are you near?" I figure this one should be easy, till I remember she doesn't see so good, even with her glasses on, or her contacts in. "I don't know" she yells, "We don't see you!" This I know. She just said that. "Ok hon...I'll just get in the center lane, slow down and wait till you catch up". "OK!" she says. Problem solved I figure. I stay in the center lane and slow down even more.
After 6 or 7 more minutes, they still arent catchin' up, and I'm thinkin' "oh-oh..this can't be good" I dial them again. "I still dont see you girls. You can't be THAT far back behind me" Now, Im just plain confused and decide to do the 'guy' thing. "Hey Honey?" I ask into the receiver. "Im gonna pull over, and when you see my flashers, tell me, and when you pass, Ill nail it, and catch up, ok?" Seemed like a perfectly good idea to me. I could catch anybody in my youth, with the variety of hot cars I used to drive, so, piece of cake. I pull over, and turn on my flashers, watching my mirror. 5 more minutes, and nothing. In a moment, a very large flash of green van (like the one they were driving) with Ohio plates, flys by me in a blur like it had rockets attached. VVVVRRRROOOOM! WHOOOSH!
Another 5 minutes pass as I sit with lights flashing on the side of the road. No sign of them. Where could they be? Then, my cell phone rings.
"Honey? NOW where are you!? Dont you see my flashers?" I sound worried now, I know. "No we don't see your flashers!" she tells me. Now, I can imagine she's frowning at me. "You girls cant be ahead of me! I would have seen you!" I respond, sounding probably like a worried father. "We see the Ford sign! It says Woodhaven!' "You Cant be in Woodhaven, because that's way ahead of me" I explain, now confused even more. "Well" she says matter-of-factly. "We're at mile marker 33, and we dont see you, or your flashers!" Oh great! I throw the car in gear and burn out with gravel flyin' in all directions.
Ahead of me about 1/4 mile is a marker. 'Mile Marker 22' the sign says. 22? I yell into the phone. "I dont know how you girls did it, but youre like 13 miles or so AHEAD of me! And I didnt even see you drive past!" Oh-oh...it WAS that blur of green about 15 minutes back, that flew by so fast, it almost took the paint job off of my car... It WAS them. So, the story goes, that they made it home about 20 minutes ahead of me, even when I was 15 minutes ahead of THEM!
It is the speed thing friends. I'm telling you! Blink, and the world will be gone. Yawn, and that semi truck will be on your tail faster than a hawk catchin' a mouse. Why we have to go so fast everywhere, Ill never know.
People putting on makeup, talking on the phone, eating, working crosswords and texting messages, all while entering a freeway merge lane, goin hell-bent-for-election! I saw one person doing their income tax, and a young woman changing her jeans. At the time, both were in the speed lanes.
My friends, the day has finally come, when this lead-foot from the Motor City, got blown away by a van driven by a tunnel-visioned, Auto-bahn trained, German female-kamikazi driver, and my Ms."Im-taking-the-freeway-cause-its-fast" wife Laura...I guess from now on, I should just get out and walk....or get a horse. Maybe I'll have to start calling this "Clippity-Clop-Clippity-Clop' Sideways in Detroit!"
Oh well....Have a great week! Till next time...Keep your hands on the wheel, and your foot to the floor, when you’re…“Drivin’ Sideways in Detroit!” Cccccccccccc’ya!!!!!
"Hurricane" Duane Thomas
e-mail to: duanethomas@johnnyandthehurricanes.com hurricane.duane@atilarecords.com
comments:
www.drivinsidewaysindetroit.blogspot.com
http://blog.myspace.com/duanethomas1
websites:
www.myspace.com/duanethomas1 http://www.johnnyandthehurricanes.com/
*Special Thanks: The “Hurricane Shelter”offices (MI-OH), Team Detroit (MI), LA Grizzy (Intnl), Sonja Paris (Intnl), Treasure Island Gold's Larry Patterson (Fla), Ralph Terrana (CA), the friends at Soulful Detroit Music Forums (Intnl), Cedar Plank Cafe (OH) and “Lucky” the Wonder Dog (Everywhere)
I spend a good deal of time drivin'...(hence the "Drivin' Sideways..." name), and I've come to the conclusion that most all drivers are crazy. Well, maybe not most of them, but certainly a good portion. Doing business weekly down in Ohio for Johnny and The Hurricanes has been an experience. Yeah, kinda like the Daytona 500. On my leisurely 55-60 mile an hour drive down there, I take the surface roads because I hate freeways and higways. I think you miss seeing the real America down in and on those concrete chutes whizzing by at like 80-90. My wife Laura tends to not agree with me. She goes the straightest, fastest way to a destination. It might be backed up 10 miles, but my girl patiently (kinda), waits as long as it's a straight shot to where shes going.
Detroit had its speed demons, but Ohio drivers are on a mission! If its says 65mph, they just take that as a general suggestion, and go 90. Im always getting burned down, and blown on by, because some lil old lady or factory worker suckes me into their jet-stream as they pass. Take the other night for example. Against my better judgement, we took the freeway. My partner Sonja (born and raised in Germany), and Laura were riding together, and I was alone in my car. I told them when we reach 1-75, Ill get in front, and they can follow me up into Detroit. So, we hit I-75, I nail it and blow by them like the devils' on my heels. In a moment, they are a faint little green blur in my rearview mirror. I settle into the speed limit of 70 mph, and crank up the stereo, keeping my eye on them a 1/2 mile or so back. Pretty soon, I dont see them.
The last I saw, they were sandwiched between two semi trucks, the freight-trains of the highways. Ok, no worry. I'll just slow down, and let them catch up. I slow to around 65 with cars, trailers, motorcycles and semis flying by me like I was standing still. After 5 minutes or so, I still dont see them catching up. I know. I'll call them on the cell phone! "Hey. Where are you ladies at? " I yell into the phone over the stereo. "We're next to a truck!" My lovely wife says. "We don't see you.' "Well then" I ask..."What exit are you near?" I figure this one should be easy, till I remember she doesn't see so good, even with her glasses on, or her contacts in. "I don't know" she yells, "We don't see you!" This I know. She just said that. "Ok hon...I'll just get in the center lane, slow down and wait till you catch up". "OK!" she says. Problem solved I figure. I stay in the center lane and slow down even more.
After 6 or 7 more minutes, they still arent catchin' up, and I'm thinkin' "oh-oh..this can't be good" I dial them again. "I still dont see you girls. You can't be THAT far back behind me" Now, Im just plain confused and decide to do the 'guy' thing. "Hey Honey?" I ask into the receiver. "Im gonna pull over, and when you see my flashers, tell me, and when you pass, Ill nail it, and catch up, ok?" Seemed like a perfectly good idea to me. I could catch anybody in my youth, with the variety of hot cars I used to drive, so, piece of cake. I pull over, and turn on my flashers, watching my mirror. 5 more minutes, and nothing. In a moment, a very large flash of green van (like the one they were driving) with Ohio plates, flys by me in a blur like it had rockets attached. VVVVRRRROOOOM! WHOOOSH!
Another 5 minutes pass as I sit with lights flashing on the side of the road. No sign of them. Where could they be? Then, my cell phone rings.
"Honey? NOW where are you!? Dont you see my flashers?" I sound worried now, I know. "No we don't see your flashers!" she tells me. Now, I can imagine she's frowning at me. "You girls cant be ahead of me! I would have seen you!" I respond, sounding probably like a worried father. "We see the Ford sign! It says Woodhaven!' "You Cant be in Woodhaven, because that's way ahead of me" I explain, now confused even more. "Well" she says matter-of-factly. "We're at mile marker 33, and we dont see you, or your flashers!" Oh great! I throw the car in gear and burn out with gravel flyin' in all directions.
Ahead of me about 1/4 mile is a marker. 'Mile Marker 22' the sign says. 22? I yell into the phone. "I dont know how you girls did it, but youre like 13 miles or so AHEAD of me! And I didnt even see you drive past!" Oh-oh...it WAS that blur of green about 15 minutes back, that flew by so fast, it almost took the paint job off of my car... It WAS them. So, the story goes, that they made it home about 20 minutes ahead of me, even when I was 15 minutes ahead of THEM!
It is the speed thing friends. I'm telling you! Blink, and the world will be gone. Yawn, and that semi truck will be on your tail faster than a hawk catchin' a mouse. Why we have to go so fast everywhere, Ill never know.
People putting on makeup, talking on the phone, eating, working crosswords and texting messages, all while entering a freeway merge lane, goin hell-bent-for-election! I saw one person doing their income tax, and a young woman changing her jeans. At the time, both were in the speed lanes.
My friends, the day has finally come, when this lead-foot from the Motor City, got blown away by a van driven by a tunnel-visioned, Auto-bahn trained, German female-kamikazi driver, and my Ms."Im-taking-the-freeway-cause-its-fast" wife Laura...I guess from now on, I should just get out and walk....or get a horse. Maybe I'll have to start calling this "Clippity-Clop-Clippity-Clop' Sideways in Detroit!"
Oh well....Have a great week! Till next time...Keep your hands on the wheel, and your foot to the floor, when you’re…“Drivin’ Sideways in Detroit!” Cccccccccccc’ya!!!!!
"Hurricane" Duane Thomas
e-mail to: duanethomas@johnnyandthehurricanes.com hurricane.duane@atilarecords.com
comments:
www.drivinsidewaysindetroit.blogspot.com
http://blog.myspace.com/duanethomas1
websites:
www.myspace.com/duanethomas1 http://www.johnnyandthehurricanes.com/
*Special Thanks: The “Hurricane Shelter”offices (MI-OH), Team Detroit (MI), LA Grizzy (Intnl), Sonja Paris (Intnl), Treasure Island Gold's Larry Patterson (Fla), Ralph Terrana (CA), the friends at Soulful Detroit Music Forums (Intnl), Cedar Plank Cafe (OH) and “Lucky” the Wonder Dog (Everywhere)
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