WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Teenaged Boomers’ Last Dance: Chances Are
byVanderleunonMarch 13, 2019
1957 was a stellar year for Johnny Mathis with no less than six major hit recordings, three of them reaching the Top 10, and the immortal classic “Chances Are” peaking at #1 on Cash Box on October 12, 1957 for two weeks while reaching #4 on Billboard. It is the song he is best remembered for.
Mathis was a giant in the pop music genre. Pop music, later to be classified as “easy listening” or “adult contemporary,” was as much a major force in music as rock n’ roll, R&B, country, folk, jazz, or any other form. If a song was good, it was a hit and went to the Top 40, as simple as that. No discrimination over what kind of song it was. That was the musical land scape over which artists like Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Connie Francis, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Vinton, and others loomed as large as Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Ben E. King, The Shirelles, The Beatles, or Lesley Gore.
All of the footage in this video was shot in 1959 by Centron Productions … from a rare COLOR film short entitled “Innocent Party.” It was directed and produced by none other than Herk Harvey, who you may remember as being the director of the immortal 1962 classic, Carnival Of Souls. He also starred as lead ghoul in the film. However, before and after that movie, Harvey produced and directed a number of dramatic educational shorts for high school teens and young adults dealing in a wide range of topics, mostly shot in his adopted home town of Lawrence, Kansas.
High school?
jayziss….I was just learning how to shoot a gun in 59 and high school wasn’t even in the lexicon yet.
Born 1955. The first year of the shoe boxes.
bob sykesMarch 14, 2019, 5:05 AM
My family had just moved to Dorchester in 1957, and I was a freshman in the soon to be defunct Roxbury Memorial High School. The only radio anyone had was AM, and the 45’s were even HiFi yet, never mind stereo.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
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I remember a few dates like that in high school 😉
As well you should.
High school?
jayziss….I was just learning how to shoot a gun in 59 and high school wasn’t even in the lexicon yet.
Born 1955. The first year of the shoe boxes.
My family had just moved to Dorchester in 1957, and I was a freshman in the soon to be defunct Roxbury Memorial High School. The only radio anyone had was AM, and the 45’s were even HiFi yet, never mind stereo.
Johnny Mathis…be still my beating heart..