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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Beatles and Bad Moon Rising






When I was in the 6th grade my best friend's name was Melanie. She was crazy. Bold. A bit on the wild side. Teased blond hair and a definite way with the boys. But she had at least one claim to fame (that I can blog about..ahem...) that set her apart.
Melanie could like dance like nobody's business.


Sometimes my grandfather would take us down in the country to a Friday night High School dance. Musty gym floor. Dimmed lights. The gym doors wide open and an older crowd. We were barely 13. "Older" was sixteen and forbidden, at least while Papa was around. They had a decent band we loved called "Rascal And The ??? (I forgot that part) but anyway, they always played Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" and a lot of Beatles music. We were too young to "date" at the time but he knew we loved to dance. I had a crush on the drummer (Papa didn't know that part) and even though I knew he'd keep a close watch on both of us -Melanie hated that part - I could usually talk him into taking us to the dance.


In those days girls danced with girls on the dance floor just to have fun and nobody thought anything of it. One summer Friday night the school held a competition. We were crazy enough to enter. Before I knew it, there I was spinning around in my bare feet in the middle of the gym floor with a crowd of people cheering for"the little girls" forgetting that I'd totally just lost my coolness with drummer boy. We didn't care. We just loved to dance. Anywhere. Anytime. It never occurred to us that we would win but that's exactly what happened. Keep in mind, this was not Dancing With The Stars!
But we didn't have enough sense yet to be self-conscious about anything.
I got lost in the music and forgot all about what's-his-name.

I kind of miss that feeling.

Some of my best memories are of the two of us barefoot in her living room dancing to the Beatles with the stereo blasting.

I can still feel the carpet between my toes and peeking out the window to see if her parents were pulling in the driveway. Melanie's older brother - our "babysitter" - liked to sneak his dates in the window while said parents were away. We were his "lookout" and never told in exchange for him leaving us alone with her father's prized albums and uninterrupted time on the phone with our friends.


We always popped a huge bowl of popcorn (sprinkled with garlic and melted butter), consumed a few bottles of Coke and talked about boys boys and more boys.
Those were the days.



I think I'll pop some kernels now and take my shoes off.

Do you mind?


This is my favorite Beatles song from back in the day.
Wanna dance?


Digg!

 Copyright © Mimi Lenox. All Rights Reserved.

28 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I always loved Creedence Clearwater (CCR). I heard their music more growing up than I did the Beatles. I do like some Beatles songs, though, Hey Jude, Paperback Writer, Come Together.

Sandee said...

What a wonderful childhood memory. I did some similar things when I was growing up too. Thanks for the big smile you gave me this morning. Have a wonderful day. Big hug and lotsa lovies. :)

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Great memories...thanks for sharing them....

Akelamalu said...

Of course I was a Beatles fan, living not a million miles away from LIverpool. Also in 1964 when I met MWM the Beatles were BIG. MWM even had a 'beatle cut' hairdo and wore chelsea boots like John Lennon - is it any wonder I fell in love with him? I have always loved dancing, MWM not so much but you don't have to dance much when you're smooching do you? ;)

Thanks for the memories Mimi. xx

katherine. said...

my love of the beatles started in kindergarten....I married a man who was far more into the band than I....and we gave birth to a beatle-fanatic...who took me to see "LOVE" in Vegas for my birthday...maybe I need a Beatles post...

Mimi Lenox said...

Charles - CCR had a country rockin' kind of groove and the bad boy look.

Sandee - Glad to give a smile...

Mimi Lenox said...

Bond - Yes they are.

Akelamalu - Chelsea boots? And you're still in love. There ya go.

Mimi Lenox said...

Katherine - Sounds like a great post. I spent some time yesterday looking at YouTube Beatles videos. There are some wonderful clips out there and a few rarely seen before. I have Hello Goodbye on the Dating Site today as well....I'd forgotten how much I really loved them when I was younger.

Last night I really did dance barefoot in the living room! It was sooo much fun. (Don't tell anybody)

Bud Weiser, WTIT said...

Great post. Loved the story and the Beatles. The last time John Lennon performed on stage he did so because he lost a bet with Elton John. He sang "I Saw Her Standing There" which he didn't write or sing with the peoples. He started be saying it was a song from an old estranged fiance of his...

God I STILL miss him...

Patti said...

I just love this post, Your Majesty!
Ah, the teen-age memories you bring back.


I am listening to dear (Sir) Paul at the moment..."ooooooooooh! when I saw her standing there!"

thanks ~

Patti said...

P.S. that record player sure looks familiar.

So many memories

Carver said...

Hi Mimi,

I enjoyed this well written post a great deal. Brought up some of my own memories. We used to do the "jerk" to the beatles on a stereo that looked a lot like the one you pictured here. Cheers, Carver

Linda said...

This post reminds me of when I was in Junior High and early High School and would go over to my cousin Diana's house and we'd throw the latest Elton John on the stereo and attempt to dance the afternoon away. Unfortunately I am a white girl through and through and can't dance to save my life but at least it was fun even though I was always self-conscious - always!

Kind of reminds me of the lyrics to an Elton John song, "Your sister can't dance but she can rock & roll ..."

Linda said...

Ooops, had to correct myself as the more I thought about it, the more I thought those lyrics were wrong and they are - my bad! It's actually ...

"Oh your sister can't twist but she can rock and roll
Out bucks the broncos in the rodeo-do
She's only sixteen but it's plain to see
She can pull the wool over little old me
Your sister can't twist but she can rock and roll
Your sister can't twist but she got more soul than me"

It's a very catchy tune but no matter what the lyrics are - I still can't dance!

Anonymous said...

Sounds great...pass the bowl. :)

Unknown said...

MMMMM I can smell the popcorn. It's always nice to remember "back when"!

Jean-Luc Picard said...

I love CCR's 'Bad Moon Rising'...you've got me humming it.

Mimi Lenox said...

Bud - I know you do.

Patti - Are you dancing around too?

Carver - I remember the "jerk" too!

Mimi Lenox said...

Duchess Linda - I refuse to believe you cannot dance. With all those rockin' teenagers in your house?

You are great with lyrics! I seriously wouldn't have known the difference.

Mimi Lenox said...

Tish - Would you like Coke with that?

Tocco - I think I need to make another bowl and invite the entire blogosphere to Blogggingham.
See ya there!

Mimi Lenox said...

Jean-luc - That song always takes me back to teenage years.

Sandee said...

Have a great weekend Mimi. Big hug and lotsa lovies. :)

Travis Cody said...

During visits with my grandma when I was about 11 and my sister was about 5, my grandma would put on the big band era records, turn up the hi-fi stereo, and teach us how to jitterbug.

And then my mom would show us how to mashed potato and do the jerk.

And we loved it!

Good times.

Anonymous said...

Your Highness: Excellent post that really sparked a lot of memories for me. Just about the best memories I have of being in school go back to around 1964-1967, when I was in what would now be middle school. I'll be writing a blog post about it over the weekend, because, like I said, you really triggered some memories. The bottom line is that there was a lot of music, a lot of dancing and a lot of dreaming.

Thanks, Queen Mimi!! :D

Mimi Lenox said...

Sandee - Have a great time on the boat!

Travis - I should be teaching Baby Boy to dance too.

Lee - Great! Look forward to reading your post!

teflonjedi said...

Great story...loved reading this!

Barbara said...

This was so special, Mimi.
I think we all have these special people and moments who are forever with us.
I had a Melanie also, that was kind of kooky in a fun way.

Yes, those were the days my friend !

Julie said...

That was so fun to read! But something tells me that Melanie's older brother could care less about talking on the phone when he smuggled a date through the window!

HAH!

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