Season 256 - At Seventeen

I was 17 when I discovered the amazing album, "Nilsson Sings Newman." It's a gorgeous album that really made an impact on me.

How do y'all like my new studio?

 
Not quite 24 hours gone, and there are already 15 videos on the playlist. But even better, so many great memories being shared.

A fairly common theme is the importance of radio. My daughter is 17, and she does listen to the radio, but only when she is passing through the kitchen or in the car. Most of the time it is Spotify playlists that bring new music to her, and I heard an interview with a new artist last week who said that most of his fanbase has come from that direction - that came well before any radio play. And I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the times she has gone to a shop to buy a CD.

Anyway, on with the show...
 
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You wear it well...

..in which I discover the secret of Sir Rod's croaky voice :)

 
When I started High School I made it a practice to walk to school everyday. In three years I took the bus exactly twice. It was a short introspective walk until Earth Day 1970 when almost everyone walked to school that day. That day I met up with one of my classmates Kate, walking to school. We started walking to school together every day for the rest of our HS careers. In the afternoon, when our extra-curricular activities allowed I would walk Kate home, sometimes with some other friend. We would spend time in her bedroom listening to and singing music. Joni Mitchell was our mutual favorite.

 
This should be an interesting theme week for me. My Junior Year, and my "being 17," takes me back to 2010. Between the popular music of that year, and the fact that I was REALLY beginning to dig into, and get rooted in, the kinds of music that would become my inspiration to continue playing guitar (and later ukulele). So some real meaningful music from that point in my life. :)

Hoping to actually get some time to record some of it. Otherwise, will definitely be happy to enjoy all y'all and your "17 music." X3
 
I was 17 when I discovered the amazing album, "Nilsson Sings Newman." It's a gorgeous album that really made an impact on me.

How do y'all like my new studio?



With you there, Randy ... I LOVE Nilsson! (I also love your new studio ... which looks ever so vaguely familiar!)
 
For Season 256 of the Ukulele we're asked to play music we were listening to when we were seventeen. Though they were at the end of their run when I turned seventeen in late 1978, I was still way into Led Zeppelin.

Here's one I'm pretty proud of: my own arrangement of "The Rain Song" for solo tenor ukulele with singing. I've been working on this one for months!

 
Although I was only sixteen when this came out that intro still gets me every time I hear it, and no, I can't play it.
 
SOTU 256: At Seventeen - Never Knew What Thay Day Would Mean

Seventeen covered some pretty special high school time for Evelyn and I, and it was fun putting it into a song. The lyrics come a little fast for my old mouth so I'll try to post the lyrics and chords following the video both here and in the YouTube description.

I hope you enjoy, "Never Knew What That Day Would Mean"



+++++ Lyrics and Chords Follow: +++++
title: NEVER KNEW WHAT THAT DAY WOULD MEAN
subtitle: by Dennis Danner, 01.08.2016

Intro:
| [D]//// | [A]//// | [G]//// | [D]//// | [D]//// |

It was [D] winter, a frozen [D] pond, [G] cute little girl with her [G] mittens on.
Her jeans were [D] tight, her sweater, [D] too! [D] Lawdy now if I [D] only knew.
What that [A] day . . would [G] come to mean . . to [D] me . . . [D] . .

Cute little [D] kid, let her [D] be, 'cause [G] I was there to [G] play hockey.
The skates were [D] on, the sticks a - [D] fly, [D] said hello then a [D] quick good - bye.
I never [A] knew . . . [G] what that day would [D] mean . . . [D] . .

Next year at [D] school, my Junior [D] year, [G] she looked good in the [G] marching band.
A mini - [D]skirt, a major - [D]ette, her [D] sweater looked even [D] tighter yet.
I never [A] knew . . . [G] what that day would [D] mean . . . [D] . .

Was seven - [D] teen she one [D] less, [G] where this was going ain't [G] hard to guess!
In Study [D] Hall, my Senior [D] year, [D] she was what I liked to [D]study best.
I never [A] knew . . . [G] what that day would [D] mean . . . [D] . .

July [D] Fourth, . our first [D] date, [G] fireworks at the [G] Drive - in late
Still seven - [D] teen a few more [D] days, [D] worried that we would be [D] parting ways
I never [A] knew . . . [G] what that day would [D] mean, . . . [D] .

Well, that was [D] then, this is [D] now. More than [G] fifty years later, [G] Holy Cow!
Winter's [D] here, don't have a [D] pond, but [D] she still looks cute with her [D] mittens on.
And now I [A] know, . . just [G] what that day did [D] mean . . . [D] . . .

With [A] four grandkids you know ex[G]actly what I [D]mean . . . [D] / / /
 
Not an entry.

Information on Threedom can be found here.
Remember this was the time of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Robert and Lowell's Threedom was pretty darn good too!

Soon after dad realised he did not have much time left he and Ivan went into the recording studio to document some of the music (both religious and secular) that they had been performing around the church scene for many many years. I got to do a few songs in the studio with them too. Dad would sometimes rope me in to do something churchy if Ivan wasn't available. I would usually reluctantly agree.

This is Ivan and dad doing the theme music from Threedom which was performed by a full group of musicians and Simon of Cyrene's song which Ivan sang in the musical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAsFK8wOpUk
 
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Entry #3. Age 17 was the year I became a full-fledged Beatlemaniac, even though they had just recently broken up. I still consider the Beatles to be the greatest band ever.

Insofar as the video, I was very jealous of seeing Rex in the Millennium Falcon's "Driver's Seat," so I thought I'd take a space trip in my little saucer to see if I could find him.

 
Me playing this becomes more amusing as the story that goes with it is told, so...
[TCK]when I turned 17, I was a junior in HS and working a 39 hour a week job to try and compensate my best friends mom for letting me live with them. It was a fun time- we had a little scooter crew going and he had all this great stereo equipment, so the world was filled with the smell of two-stroke exhaust from our Vespa's and the sounds of the West Indies because that is what we loved. October 13th- 1989...kinda still love the same stuff really.
Days when I did not have to work (sigh...at Baskin Robbins in my visor and pink polo) we would end up either flopped on his couch watching cartoons or working on "Frankenvespa", a small body chopper we built from a scooter we found in a ditch. October 17th was one of those days, but instead of cartoons, we were watching MTV, hoping they would play a video we had heard about that was full of scooters. It was "Good Thing" by the Fine Young Cannibals-and if you remember it, well, you likely understand how a miss-placed American Scooter Skin would be amazed by it...
yeah- not likely any of that makes sense.
In any event- the video that was playing at 5:02 will forever be a part of my collective memory of that day, because at 5:04 the area was hit with a HUGE earthquake. 6.9 shaker that caused huge amounts of damage throughout where we lived and while it was very sad and there was loss of life- imagine for a second being a kid that had no where to be or go, a full tank of a gas and a Vespa. We were first to see so much of the fallout and aftermath, and the first to have a generator going down town so people could hear the radio... Imagine being a bit of a throw away kid (not celebrated for anything but causing trouble), and being there to help. It was a wild night.
In any event- I have a song indelibly attached to that memory, and it plays in my head every year on October 17th like a jackhammer. I only listened to it once I think...but there it is, every year.
Regretfully, it is "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul. [/TCK]
My video cut off at the end...hopefully you are clapping for my trooper wife who managed this in her PJ's without my prompt.
 
Going back and listening and reading, and radio is a recurring theme. I was a lucky kid. I had KFJC, a punk rock pioneer when I was a kid, and KZSU Stanford as a kid. I remember being invited to play on the Stanford Station at 14...because I had records they wanted, but the best was KSFH. Saint Francis Catholic School...down the street from my house. Those kids would invite me on the air just to see what I would do, and they did love the punk rock. Good times. I have done radio ever since and while I would never shamelessly plug my show that I have done for 12 years...Ukuleledaddy (who joined me three years ago) and I have a radio show we do every week. It airs in most of California on various bands, but is easiest found here http://dlaurice.podomatic.com/
In any event- an additional bit of rambling because radio has always been a huge part of my life. Mostly pirate radio...but radio none the less.
We take requests :)
 
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Ahhh, 17. If only I could remember back that far. Well, that's a lie. I remember the music better than the songs I heard last year.
It was a fantastic time growing up listening to what we called a trannie. You can't say that these days, of course, but a transistor radio was how everybody listened to their music. Trying to pick up Sydney radio stations on Sunday nights because Melbourne radio was all religious stuff. No good for teenagers. Others have documented the rise of the Beatles. I remember going to a scout camp in, probably, 1963 or 4 when all the kids suddenly stopped putting Brylcream in their hair, and started to comb it forward over their foreheads. What a hoot it was.
I was 17 in 1966-7, and the Beatles released Paperback Writer that year. On the flip side was this song...

 
I had to phone someone so I picked on you-oo-oo...

I know everyone here is talking about radio (and rightly so), but for me, my musical memories of 1972 will always be dominated by this image. Picture the scene, a Thursday night, 7:30pm or so, a small suburban living room containing 3 teenagers and an 11 yo (all boys) squashed onto a sofa, with the only armchair occupied by a mildly-sozzled patriarch, grumpily allowing his offspring to watch the TV show of their wishes (if you're thinking Royle Family or Archie Bunker here (Essex-style, of course), you won't be far off). It's July 6, 1972, and I'm two months into my 18th trip around the sun. The TV show? Top of the Pops. Your host? Tony Blackburn.
Now, over the years, I've warmed to Tony Blackburn. His sheer longevity on British radio has earned him legendary status, and it was only after he left/was booted from Radio 1 (the BBC's 'pop' channel) that he was able to get the opportunity to showcase his love of Motown/Stax/Atlantic. At the time, though, he was the Radio 1 'suit' with the annoying grin and cheesy patter, that made you want to throw things at him. It didn't help that he looked like Donny Osmond's big brother either. We've had our tea, and Mum is in the kitchen washing up.
To give you an idea of just.how.dull. the music charts were in July 1972, Donny & Marie, "with 'Puppy Love'!!", were into their 2nd week at #1 (they would stay there for 6 whole weeks!!!). TOTP only ever featured acts going up the charts and always finished with the number 1. So, even though this is 'our' show, we know it's not going to end well: all in all, we're fed, fed-up & fractious, squashed, and Pop's about to nod off and start snoring.
The market for 45s was of course dominated by teenage girls (who, as we boys knew, knew nothing about music!), so we've already been 'treated' to the New Seekers, Sweet & The Partridge Family ("new entry at #30!!"), when a blue-varnished acoustic guitar swims into view, and the camera pans up to this other-worldy figure.

Cue eruption from the airchair: "He's wearing makeup!!!" "They all wear makeup on TV, Dad" "Kit, Kit! Come quick, look! He's wearing makeup!!!" The world had tilted slightly on its axis.

"I had to phone someone so I picked on you-oo-oo":
12Wz1E

The way Bowie pointed that finger, smilingly draped an arm around Mick Ronson, and looked beyond the camera to engage the audience sitting at home, stickily hemmed in by disapproving members of their immediate family, seemed of a piece with the new Ziggy Stardust persona we’d been reading about. It felt like an arrival long delayed.
David Hepworth 15-Jan-2016 Guardian.com: How performing Starman on Top of the Pops sent Bowie into the stratosphere

Astonishingly, the single had been released way back in April (28th, actually, two days before my birthday, though DB was not of course to know that), but it didn't make its appearance in the Top 50 until June (18th, at #49), which probably accounts for the misattributed date at the start of this video. By July 6th, it had made #29 (one place higher than The Partridge Family!!). #10 was as high as it charted, 3 weeks later (and 4 weeks out of that it had left the charts altogether), but it didn't matter: 'Starman' had made a star out of David Bowie.
.
David Bowie - our Brixton boy: January 8, 1947 - January 10, 2016 RIP
 
Starman

Now I know I'm not really doing myself any favours by posting that previous video, but I'm not really performing. Just reminiscing...

 
All up to date again I think. Some magical performances, and so many memories. A special thanks to Pa for pointing us at the clip from Threedom, featuring his father & brother. That is one beautiful piece of music - go and give it a listen if you haven't already.
 
Another source of music for me was the local library, which had a pretty good music section where you could borrow vinyl LPs - two at a time, for a maximum two weeks. By 77/78 I had probably been a regular there for two or three years, and had become a bit bored with the same sleeves in the racks. Then along came punk...
You could submit requests for them to add to their purchasing list. I asked for The Clash & Elvis Costello. I remember the librarian telling me a week or so later that they felt The Clash was "not appropriate". But I think they did buy Elvis's My Aim Is True.

 
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