Thursday, December 01, 2005

I continue to embarrass myself.

I'm 39 years old and pretty much over what other people think, which is the only reason I can write this post. As if it weren't bad enough that I'm a full blown Fanilow (remember my Vegas adventure of several months ago?), I think even I may have sunk to a new low. The other night on KCET, our version of PBS, I caught a special called The Carpenter's Remembered. I was in heaven! Seriously - pure bliss! I LOVE the Carpenter's. When I was a little girl (some would argue that I still AM a little girl) we would cruise in my mom's light blue Ford Thunderbird (see Back in the Day), and pop in the 8-Track tape of the Carpenter's Greatest Hits. My sister and I would make up our own words to "Close To You" so it didn't look like we were totally enjoying it, but we were. We loved it. To this day when we go sing karaoke, the first thing we do is check out which Carpenter's songs they have and we can seriously belt out Top of the World. Of course we think we're awesome, and we're pretty sure a recording contract is just around the corner.

So if the Fanilow tag isn't enough, the Carpenter's obsession isn't either. Immediately following that special was another stellar moment in the history of public television. Yes.....none other than John Denver: The Wildlife Concert. Does life get any better?! NOOO! Trust me - it doesn't! So I had to watch the whole thing, singing every song, reminiscing about my John Denver filled childhood days, making my teenager sit with me and listen. Gotta give her credit - she put up with it. Then I immediately got on Amazon and ordered the Carpenter's and John Denver's big collection CD's.

It's funny to me how KCET raises money with tributes to singers who died too young.
Oh well. I can't wait to get my CD's in the mail, mostly to torture my kids in the car!

15 comments:

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I'm a KCET'er too!. And though those two partcular people, (well, three, really..) aren't special favorites of mine, I too, appreciate KCET playing many of the older musical acts...mine go even further back than yours..but like you, I don't care what anybody else thinks about that!!! (lol) Unhip?? You bet, and proud of it! Enjoy your CD's!!!

Anonymous said...

i'm kind of embarrassed to admit that i like the carpenters too. i have their greatest hits cd, but don't tell anyone. lol

Jenni said...

I have to admit, the Carpenters do have some catchy tunes. You totally have to bring the CD's to PV...ESPECAILLY Manilow...MANILOW ROCKS!

Anonymous said...

Michele sent me.

I have to admit that I loved the Carpenters too and need to buy a CD of my own; I just start to groove every time they come on the radio.

Fanilow, huh? I assume that means Manilow fan. So, my question is, do you know the songs "7 more years" and "When October Goes"? Although they never were the top 40, I think they are two of my favorite songs. See, I'm 40, so I grew up same as you, listening to Manilow... it's sad, really, but he was the favorite of mine back in the day.

Steph said...

Blond girl - YES! I love that song When October Goes. By far one of my favorites! But I'm not familiar with the other one. Of course, now I'll have to get on a mission to find the one Manilow song I don't know!

Shelli - Muskrat Love was Captain and Tenille. How sad that I knew the answer immediately. I loved them, too! That just brought back some more great memories for me!

John said...

Thanks to you I was singing "I'm on the...top of the world, lookin' down on creation..." all day today!! And I'm sure tomorrow it'll be "Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam, do the jitterbug down in muskrat land..." :)

Thanks! This is fun stuff.

Lisa said...

We had the same childhood. :-) I'm 39 as well (for one more week!) And my mom had 8-tracks of the Carpenters, Barry Manilow, and John Denver. My favorite Christmas collections were the Carpenters and John Denver, and I got them on CD because they remind me so much of childhood Christmas! I also know the Song "When October Goes". Its beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, I'm sittin here laughing at your post and all the comments as well. I'm right along with you all on this....and I'm not ashamed to say I love Barry!! So now that darn Muskrat Love song will be in my head all night, thank you very much!! LOL

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. We Chiarian's need to stick together! =) Now I know why I was always smarter than everyone else....my brain is just too big, as is your's too, my friend! ;) lolol

I'll be back by again....fun reading!!

carmilevy said...

I've always admired people who enjoy anything without worrying about what others will think. The alternative is the pop culture equivalent of communism, where an unelected collective forces everyone else to snap to attention and behave in an expected way.

To think that a pinko society wouldn't have Barry Manilow to kick around. The horror.

Loved this post, as I have so many on your blog. Keep 'em coming.

Steph said...

Thanks, Carmi!
If 8 tracks were still in production, I would surely be popping in my old copy of Don McLean's "American Pie" right now!
I miss that one!
And your comment about kicking around Barry - I heard him on an interview once and what he said about his name tending to be a punchline in American culture wa hysterical, "No one was more surprised than me to find out I wasn't cool." Love that!

Dak-Ind said...

you are not alone. i watched a ringo starr special on pbs and afterward was heard to remark... ringo is just so cool.

sad.

michele sent me. kind of.

Anonymous said...

I like "Hungry for Success." So sad about Karen Carpenter!

Dawn said...

oh I adore John Denver!!!! Even the songs nobody else knows
like "Grandma's Featherbed"

here via Michele's

We've Only Just Begun!!!

kontan said...

i'm sure the kids will love it! lol. thanks for stopping by one of my spots on the web!

David Edward said...

I sang along to a lot of John denver in the 70's Michele sent me