tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-356680362024-03-07T12:55:33.279-05:00Jack Wiler's WorldJack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.comBlogger239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-37967749374917622472009-09-22T07:16:00.000-04:002009-09-22T07:17:19.695-04:00The Unseen World<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">In Eighth grade my father decided Mick and I needed a room of our own. So that summer, well, that August, he labored mightily to renovate our attic into a bedroom. My dad wasn’t the handiest guy on the planet but he made a closet out of window shutters and we spackled and painted and soon Mick and I were settled in our new room. It was a nice big room, the biggest in the house, and it would become a sanctum over the years for good behavior and bad.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Mick and I had shared a room before when we were young. That never went well. We spent most of our time fighting and as it happens Mick periodically walked in his sleep. I remember one fine night when he took a whiz in our closet, mistaking it for the bathroom a few feet away. This time things went better. No fights. No petty bickering. Maybe we were growing up.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Now our house was an old house. It was built in 1888 and it had its peculiarities. It made noises at night when it settled and it had the odd shadow that seemed out of place. We didn’t know much about the people who’d lived there before us except for the family that we replaced, the Sacca’s. We knew them because they lived two doors down and Peggy Sacca walked me to school that first day of first grade. We also knew them by the charcoal graffiti in the attic (before we painted). I particularly remember one little note: “Peggy Sacca says her mom smokes cigarettes”. A damning note to say the least.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> At any event a few weeks into our tenure on a stormy Fall night (well, maybe not stormy) Mick and I were talking when from out of nowhere an object in the middle of our dresser slid two feet and dropped off the dresser. You heard me. It just slid to the edge of the dresser and then it fell off. No minor earthquake, no truck rumbling through, no kid brother behind the dresser tipping it. So we naturally assumed it had to be a poltergeist. Or a ghost.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> In any event Mick picked up his blanket and pillow and went downstairs to my old room at the foot of the attic stairs, never to return. I stayed. It was my bedroom, except when I was away at college, till 1974. Me, the ghost, and the graffiti. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com120tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-60788839001283899952009-09-14T14:52:00.002-04:002009-09-14T15:06:20.429-04:00Friendship and it's vagariesThe Gateway years mark the beginning of my slow inexorable slide into being a complete non-entity. In Wenonah, while I may have been picked on occasionally, I still had a certain presence and friends who I'd known for many years. High school however completely confounded me. I was unable to find a persona that worked. It seemed to me that all my friends were able to change, to grow up, to be a cool person. Having worked with high school kids for many years now I know that I was wrong on at least that count. The odds are that every one of my friends and acquaintances felt as goony as I did. The difference was that they felt goony with cool kids and I felt goony all alone.<br />I've always been a big reader and this isolation made me a bigger reader. Books were a place I could go to and imagine myself as someone different. A brave soldier, or a lawyer fighting for the common man, or a wilderness scout in the 1800's. Anything other than a kid in corduroy pants, a plaid long sleeve shirt, and two giant cowlicks. The only thing I was spared was pimples. Thank God for small favors.<br />My cool friends would hang out with me now and again and in class kids I admired would talk with me and listen to me but once that was done I was back to geekdom. Me, Jim Maddox, Grant Karsner, and Bruce Zahn sitting at the cafeteria table just hoping nothing bad would happen to us for the next twenty minutes.<br />Meanwhile kids were walking around wearing desert boots and jeff caps and Beetle jackets and had cool dress shirts with fairy loops. Not this boy. We were still shopping in Pitman for clothes and Pitman was anything but cool so you can imagine a men's store in Pitman would be the antithesis of cool. <br />Eighth Grade! Five long years stretched out in front of me till I could go away to college and ditch these losers. It seemed like my life was to be an eternal torment and that was not a bad prediction at least for the forseeable future.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-320940583539172412009-08-26T13:55:00.002-04:002009-08-26T14:08:16.020-04:00APBA BaseballOne thing I hate about this blog is the early sixties. Stuff is mixed up in my head time wise and I don't have a way to anchor it to a year or a class. Things extend between years, pop up again and vanish. Boy Scouts, for instance, were part of my life at two very different occasions in the sixties. The same is true of APBA sports games.<br />ABPA is a game much like Strat-o-matic. Each is a combination of dice, player cards, and result boards. Each game has demented enthusiasts. In Wenonah my neighborhood was filled with APBA Baseball and later football, basketball, and golf enthusiasts. Terry and Chris were the first to purchase games and soon all of us had one. The games were played either in Terry's basement or my front porch. <br />We were deadly serious about the game. We played full seasons, used real score books and kept detailed statistics. There were leaders in HR's, batting average, and ERA. Just like the big boys. Terry had the Yankees and my team was the Reds, Gary Condell loved the Cardinals and Mick the Pirates. We'd sit for hours in Terry's basement rolling dice and yelling cheers, all the while listening to Mary Flemings collection of show tunes and Frank Sinatra 45's. <br />We were surrounded by Doc Flemings Yankee memorabilia and bar supplies and the air was damp basement air. The kids who weren't playing were playing the slot machine.<br />The competition was fierce although it seems the Yankees always won...just as they did in real life. Later we bought into old time teams. I had the 1940 Cincinnati Reds and Terry had the 27 Yankees. He won game after game after game. Every player on his team was light years better than any other player on any other team. Babe Ruth hit a homer every other at bat. It was hopeless.<br />Once again I was a loser. I had lots of company but the Reds weren't really all that good. I loved them and wanted them to be good but the numbers didn't lie...they were not a championship team vs any other team. Had I known that in the 70's the Big Red Machine would rear its head I would have given any thing to travel into the future and come back with those cards. No more block of k after k after k. I'd be a winner and they'd all be losers. Fat chance. I was stuck in 1965 in a basement getting crushed day after day after day by better players, better strategists, and cooler kids. I was a loser.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-30932885860159722352009-08-23T15:38:00.001-04:002009-08-23T15:40:22.698-04:00An ApologyMany (well two) people have been asking when I would post again. They apparently were sick of the trestle. To all of you bored people I apologize. I'm undergoing treatment for Hepatitis C which requires me to take a chemo therapy drug every week. It sucks the life out of you. I don't care about food or sex and I can't come up with an idea to save my ass. So bear with me. This too shall pass and we can leap back with abandon into the heady days of the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five and Lyndon Baines Johnson and Vietnam. Life stretches out before us.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-38550042002845608112009-08-23T15:27:00.002-04:002009-08-23T15:37:36.371-04:00Pavlov's JackAs you'll no doubt remember I washed out of Boy Scouts (literally) because I wet the bed. That was when I was eleven. I continued to do so till I was fourteen. I think that puts me in eighth grade but even if it doesn't I'm thinking about it so in it goes.<div>My parents took me to many doctors over the years trying to figure out why I peed myself at night. Shrinks, urologists, you name it. They also never really told me why we were talking to these folks. I was dragged from health care center to health care center and I still woke up in a sea of piss every morning.</div><div>Then one day my parents brought home a new device. It consisted of a rubber pad that went under my sheets and an electronic device. The device worked thus: when liquids hit the pad it triggered an electric signal that rang a loud bell. A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOUD BELL!!!!</div><div>No one explained to me how it actually worked except to show me the bell going off and setting things up and sending me to bed.</div><div>That night I slept like a baby, pissed myself and MARY MOTHER OF GOD WHAT IS THAT BELL, WHY IS IT RINGING, WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE LORD IS THIS SHIT.</div><div>I peed again the next night and I think the next two nights but then a miracle happened. Right before I had to piss I woke up and went downstairs and pissed in the toilet. I didn't wet the bed. And I didn't wet the bed ever again.</div><div>I thought at the time this was a miracle. I still do for the most part. But I've since learned about Pavlov's dog and I realize I was a Pavlovian dog. I heard the bell before I peed and woke up and went downstairs.</div><div>This was good because I didn't wet the bed. It was bad because I hate bells. I have to pick up a phone on the first ring if not sooner. Loud noises freak me out. Oh, and I don't like to piss or shit in any place other than a toilet or the wilderness (or pee in a back yard late at night when I'm drunk and happy). This was a real liability when I became ill with AIDS because pissing and shitting yourself are kind of day to day possibilities. </div><div>But that is for a post much, much later. For now I'm in eighth grade and my sheets are dry and the bell is muffled.</div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-48118967216131972612009-07-12T14:39:00.003-04:002009-07-12T14:46:06.116-04:00Crossing the TrestleI should mention that several years ago at a poetry reading in Warren County I ran into an old poetry associate, Charles Johnson. I had just finished my reading and one of the poems mentioned the tracks and the trestle. Charles walked up to me and said "I crossed that trestle". I was surprised and asked what he meant. He told me he'd taken the walk down the tracks and crossed the railroad trestle. Just as my friends and I and generations of kids had done over the years.<div>The difference is that Charles was from Haddon Heights or Jericho and he was black and for a young man from Jericho to cross that trestle in the early sixties was far braver than any other little kid worrying about trains.</div><div>There were real threats if he walked through Wenonah and the threats were the people. They're talking about finally building the light rail from Philly to Glassboro through Wenonah using the old rail bed again. As usual the anti light rail group is worried about black and spanish folks getting off in Wenonah. As though any black kid would want to get off in Wenonah. As if they wouldn't get escorted to the town line and sent home. Some things never change. </div><div>So my congratulations to my brave friend and to all my friends who helped walk that line. Don't forget there is still a line. Watch each others back.</div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-53148227594770128192009-07-10T12:16:00.003-04:002009-07-10T12:28:40.957-04:00The Trestle & The Pill FactoryIn eighth grade we began to expand our geographic horizons. We moved further afield from the woods by Clay Hill, venturing past the Lentz's house all the way to the railroad trestle. This hike required we cross a huge downed tree and it passed an area of the creek where you might actually be able to swim. There was one home with a huge German Shepherd that you would have to sneak by. The trail ended up in an area we called Boy Scout Island. It wasn't an island but occasionally the different scout troops would do overnights there. Just past Boy Scout Island was the trestle. The trestle was huge and loomed far over our heads. The creek itself had it's only "white water" as it rolled over rocks from the construction of the trestle. <br />We'd scale the trestle from the bottom or simply walk up the sides and then venture out on the trestle itself. None of us knew when a train might come so this was initially terrifying. We later learned we could move off to a side area of the trestle and wait till a train passed if we were trapped in the middle when one came through. But in the beginning we were too stupid to figure this out.<br />After spending a beautiful Fall afternoon dodging death we'd walk down the tracks throwing rocks at the telegraph wires to hear the weird sounds they'd make. A high whine. After a bit we'd drop down the grade and pass by the Pill Factory. By the time we were kids the Pill Factory was abandoned but for years it had been one of the few industries in Wenonah. Now it was a scary abandoned white building. As I recall we were too frightened to go inside but I could be wrong.<br />We'd end up by the Mecholsky's and then back home. Another day of artificially induced terror and adventure. Four or six or eight teenagers lost in their own little world.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-73159811167245467682009-07-03T18:03:00.001-04:002009-07-03T18:05:28.687-04:00The Glorious 4th<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Okay, I'm sick as a dog, I feel like shit but come hell or high water I'll be at the corner of S. Lincoln & W. Mantua Ave when the three one minute blasts go off. Keep in mind I'm giving up the Macy's fireworks in the Hudson.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Seriously there is no better 4th of July in all the world like Wenonah's!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">See you there.</span></span></div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-56435127388590286602009-06-25T14:21:00.001-04:002009-06-25T14:22:36.900-04:00Me & Mick and Foreign Tongues<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">1965 was also the year my brother Mick entered Gateway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As you know from reading this blog Mick and I had a serious sibling rivalry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His entry into Gateway would not make things better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">When we were young we appeared to be polar opposites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I was a bookworm who tried but failed at sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mick was good at sports and had his struggles in school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Oh, Mick was also attractive to young teenage girls and could talk with them while I wasn’t attractive and was petrified when in their presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This dichotomy put us in many awkward situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">As you’ll recall my parents weren’t very good at academic coaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This worked out fine with me because I’d muddle through somehow and get good grades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>With Mick it was a trial for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They’d try all kinds of strategies to help him get better grades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They’d sit with him at the dining room table and go over his math.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They’d send him to summer school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And best of all they bought him the ALM records for learning Spanish.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In Gateway in the sixties we learned foreign languages by listening to records and repeating what was said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Classes were assigned a foreign language and mine was French.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mick’s was Spanish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If I could write in French I’d write out<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my favorite phrase from our first year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Remember, these were records so they weren’t always perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This particular record had a flaw so it slowed down when it came to this one phrase and went from normal to very deep and slow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We’d laugh every time we heard it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">But getting back to Mick;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he listened to his records every night for weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I don’t know if it ever helped him but I learned “Hola Isabel, </span><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:city><st1:place><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">como</span></st1:place></st1:City><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> esta?” right away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then I had to listen to it seemingly forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I took French for two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I couldn’t say anything in French at the end of those two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I couldn’t read French at the end of those two years but somehow I got an okay grade.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Mick did the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Except for the good grade part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Although he did better in Spanish than in his other classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">When I look back at this it seems there was some profiling going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>First we were all put in classes with kids with similar grades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then we were assigned different languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Kids with poorer grades got Spanish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Kids with better grades French.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>French was a high class language while Spanish was spoken by Mexicans and immigrant laborers in Buena.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Finally I got a good grade just for muddling through and Mick a poor grade for the same effort and understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Merde!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-28911091907930392642009-06-09T14:23:00.001-04:002009-06-09T14:24:42.309-04:00Pedaling for DollarsA paper route is not just a job. It’s an adventure and not a good one. At least I picked the Bulletin for my route. This meant I worked after school, ate dinner, did homework all like a normal kid except for the work part. My brother Ted was dumb enough to be an Inquirer paperboy. That meant getting up at 5am. No way I was getting up at 5am.<br />The main bad part of a paper route was collecting money. Adults have a lot of trouble saying no when other adults ask them for money they owe them. Especially if it’s fifty cents. But for some reason they had no qualms saying no to us. Not just once, repeatedly, till you got sick of asking them. Finally they’d cancel owing, like, ten dollars and leave a 13 year old holding the bag. You had to go back to “the man” and tell him and he’d read you the riot act. Would he help you talk to the asshole who wouldn’t pay you? No way, Jose. You were on your own. A miniature collection agency with no muscle behind you. <br />Sometimes it was funny when they didn’t pay you. They’d hide from you. You could see they were in the house but they wouldn’t answer the door. That was really pathetic.<br />If you’ve ever seen the movie “Better Off Dead” and you were a paperboy you know that movie was the revenge fantasy for every kid everywhere. “Give me my two dollars”.<br />Ideally people would tip you but this was a Methodist town and they watched their pennies and I was a lazy, indifferent paperboy so the tips were meager...even at Christmas.<br />There was a good side to collecting money too and that was you got to go to peoples houses and often young women answered the door. Maybe it was the woman of the house, say, a hot 22 year old or maybe it was a girl a few years older than you. You would ring the bell and they’d answer and you’d just stare for a long, long, long minute like an idiot. Stunned. Unable to speak. Eventually you’d squeak out that you were collecting but in between was lingerie or tight blouses and jeans or shorts or long hair or red, red lips and that was the best part of being a paperboy.<br />Actually being a paperboy was good preparation for being a poet. You got to see the inner lives of people and you rarely made money. Perfect.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-56967100179378368492009-06-08T14:01:00.000-04:002009-06-08T14:02:27.549-04:00Paper Route ReduxI could be wrong but I believe 1965 is the year I got tricked into a paper route all over again. Not only a paper route but a bigger, harder, more complicated paper route. This kid in town, Bob Cocozza, approached me and asked if I’d like to take over his route. I’d need a bike with a basket because this was a Philadelphia Evening Bulletin route with over 50 customers. He said I could make a lot of money. He was a year or so older than me so I believed him.<br /><br />I went to my Dad and told him all about the route. How much money I’d make, the responsibility it would teach me, etc. Basically all the bullshit parents want to hear and kids know they want to hear so they buy into it. Everyone involves knows it’s a lie but they want to believe. In its simplest form this usually results in Mom walking a dog at 6am every morning in the rain. In my case it had no real hardship for my Dad. Only me, only me.<br /><br />My Dad wouldn’t buy me a bike however. He said if I wanted a bike he’d buy it and I’d have to pay him back. It was the first of thousands of times in my life to come where I made an insane calculation and told him I could do it. So off we went to Woodbury to the bike store. Both Mick and I bought bikes. Mine was a red Schwinn Typhoon. Basically a hunk of iron with a foot brake and one gear. Since Wenonah was largely flat this wasn’t a real problem.<br /><br />We bought a basket as well and I was off to the races. For two weeks I shadowed Bob and learned the route. Every afternoon after school we’d drive to the Earnhardts and pick up our papers. We’d wrap them in rubber bands, put them in our bags, then in our baskets and off we’d ride. Bob’s route covered primarily the south side of Wenonah. He had customers on both the east and west sides of the railroad tracks but there were a lot of them.<br /><br />After our first week Friday rolled around. Friday was collection day. This was the day we got off our bikes and walked up to the doors of the customers to ask for the meager amount the weeks worth of papers cost. Your collection money would pay for your cost of the papers and provide you with a profit. That profit depended on everyone paying. Therein lay the rub. They didn’t all pay. So there you’d be Saturday morning driving around hitting up customers again before you went to see “the man”.<br /><br />This was a guy in his thirties or so who serviced the routes. Nowadays he’d be the sadsack driving around with the papers in his mini van with his wife at 5am but back then he got to be a sadist with an army of minions. Besides badgering you constantly for money he weaseled you into being a circulation agent. Contests would be formed for you to grow your route. You’d ride around with an extra twenty papers to distribute to new potential customers. After they’d gotten a free paper for a week how could they tell a thirteen year old boy they didn’t want the paper? How indeed? Let’s keep in mind there were only x number of houses in Wenonah so all these people had been hit up by generations of bike riding paperboys. They were cold hearted monsters and they weren’t buying our spiels.<br /><br />Or at least not mine. My friend Don Adams and later my brother Ted used superior customer service to expand their base and improve their bottom line. I did not. I used lazy paperboy skills coupled with zero follow through to shrink my route and my bottom line. I was no better at this shit now than I had been when I was younger. Just bigger.<br /><br />There were benefits to being a paperboy however. More about that in my next post.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-64284229683100899512009-05-22T13:47:00.002-04:002009-05-22T13:48:45.860-04:00Building a Library Builds CharacterTeachers and parents spend a lot of time trying to “improve” children. In the sixties in grammar school one of their tactics was the Arrow Book Club or Scholastic Book Club. Each month we’d get a newsletter with different books and we would take them home and show our mothers and then buy one or two. Then we’d do book reports on them. “Encyclopedia Brown”, “Homer Price”, and many others.<br />In Junior and Senior High School we were introduced to the Bookmobile. This was a trailer filled with bookshelves and books. We would be given time each day for several days to visit the bookmobile and select books and purchase them. The selection was more sophisticated than in grammar school and the reading levels ran the gamut.<br />For me and my friends this was a chance to buy books on war. History books, war story books, anything with Nazi’s and bombs would do. Our other obsession was science fiction. This was one place I was allowed to purchase whatever I wanted. I just asked my mom for money at the beginning of the week and we were off to the races.<br />Since we were becoming young adults we were now being permitted to choose our own books for book reports. Bruce Catton’s Civil War books, Shirer’s Hitler, and a million other books on WWII. We read Heinlein and LeGuin and Bradbury and in general tried to find the coolest book to report on in class so we’d look cool.<br />Of course this was a serious error since only eggheads think reading is cool. But there we were, at the front of the class reading our reports on illustrated men and the battle of Midway and D-Day and robots.<br />We were reading…that was good. But we were still separating ourselves from everyone else. We were on a slippery slope to meaninglessness and didn’t even know it. By the time we woke up to see what we had done it was too late. Being smart wasn’t a skill set you needed in 1965. Nobody sent us the memo though so we went on raising our hands and buying our books and trying to out know it all each other. This is a habit that persists in me to this day. Perhaps it’s no accident that in my office my nickname is Encyclopedia Jack.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-67229338581853357082009-05-09T10:13:00.001-04:002009-05-22T13:48:27.357-04:00Avalon Hill and the World at War<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;">In 8<sup>th</sup> grade I fell totally and completely into the role of geek and egghead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I hung around with the weirdo’s in my class, I read books even more than before if that’s possible, and I began playing extraordinarily complicated board games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Principal among these were the games put out by Avalon Hill.</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">These games were simulations of historical battles (with one exception) such as D-Day, the battle for North Africa (Afrika Korps), Guadalcanal, and the Battle of the Bulge among many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You used small cardboard squares that represented some military unit such as a brigade or a division and moved them on a hexagonal grid superimposed on the map of the battle in question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Each game had slightly different rules to address geographic and supply issues but once you learned one the others were easy to master.<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Battles were fought and won with the roll of a die using a chart to determine the outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">A single game might take a week or more to play and this, along with the complexity of the games and their attempt to simulate reality made them geek heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We would play for hours and hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Pale, pasty, greasy haired eggheads sitting around a card table discussing the arcane realities of battles that were twenty years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Could the New Jersey beat the Bismarck?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Should you play 1914 using the original line of march or choose your own innovative strategy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And then there was Blitzkrieg which wasn’t an historical battle but an attempt to simulate a wide ranging war across a modern Europe using today’s weaponry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">That meant atom bombs were on the table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Of course the game ended way to quickly if you used the nuclear option.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">This was not a recipe for socialization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We learned no people skills other than how to trick people into doing something they shouldn’t by lying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>No girls played these games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>No athletes played these games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>No greasers played these games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Just kids with good grades and few friends who had nothing better to do than sit around for hours playing at war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Frittering away our adolescence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Squandering our youth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Behaving like any other kid with a Play Station or an Xbox blasting away at aliens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Had we an Xbox we would never have picked up those cardboard squares but geeks use whatever is at hand to hide from the world and for us it was games of war played out with cardboard squares moving across a colored board.<o:p></o:p></span></p><!--EndFragment-->Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-75906410333302680612009-05-03T19:12:00.001-04:002009-05-22T13:49:19.196-04:00Poetry in the Schools, 60's Style<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">And so we return to school in the fall of 1965.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The 9<sup>th</sup> graders of last year have vanished, they’re off to Woodbury HS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now all of us are bound together for the next four years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">The school is now complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The auto shop, the wood shop, the gym, the auditorium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>All done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We’re settled in with our teachers for five long years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">I think, though I can be wrong because I am old, that this is the year teachers began teaching us with methods designed for the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You may ask, what are you talking about Jack?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What I’m talking about is the horrible, misguided attempt by older men and women to relate to teenagers by incorporating various elements of the teenagers life into the education process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">In our case it was bringing Simon and Garfunkel into poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And as I write this I realize I’m off by one year (because my enfeebled old guy brain remembered the album came out a year later) but I’ll continue anyway because I just finished National Poetry Month and participated in dozens of examples of teaching for the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Not all misguided but all spotted a mile away by their charges.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">In our English class the teacher and God alone can remember who that was brought out the Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel and played “I am a Rock”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then she played “The Sounds of Silence”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then she asked us what we thought the songs were about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I should note at this point I was an egghead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Which meant I had to have an answer or I was a failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So were most of my classmates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We instantly shot our hands in the air and offered our various thoughts on the meanings of these songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Keep in mind that before this moment I’d never thought a song meant anything other than some vague, undefined feeling, like being sad or happy or lonely or brave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now I intellectualize shit like this all the time but back then I had no idea this might be important to anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Suddenly like a bolt of lightning we all understood “poetry”!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was full of secret meanings and codes and all we had to do was figure them out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The “Rock” was something other than a rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The sounds of “Silence” weren’t just silence but something else that only we the smart kids could understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Oh, and the artists who made the songs and poems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">We also got to swing away at Edgar Allen Poe and his “alliteration” (the bells, bells, bells, the tinkling tintinnabulation of the bells) and a couple other minor league knuckleheads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I suppose if we were older they’d have tossed in Dylan and Baez but for now we got Art and Paul.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Years later I found out that every kid in every NJ HS in 1966 had the same lesson plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It felt like the Ed Sullivan Show had come to all our schools with one for the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then they went back to the jugglers and Perry Como and Topo Gigio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>No wonder we hated poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Our teachers had no idea how to teach it so they resorted to some cookie cutter technique that seemed hip (they were all young) that they learned at the teachers convention in Atlantic City that fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Poetry was as alien to them as it was to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They drove to work listening to the Dave Clark Five or the Beatles or if they were older Elvis and Sinatra and then had to find some way to talk about something that looked like it had just landed from Outer Space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><!--EndFragment-->Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-38292028589918821882009-03-31T16:21:00.003-04:002009-04-05T10:47:14.302-04:00Wenonah in the Summer<div>We'd leave the shore at the end of June, beginning of July, and return to Wenonah. Two weeks in the relatively balmy climate of a shore town. We'd pull into a near tropical climate 45 minutes later. South Jersey in the summer is hot and humid. Very hot and very humid. The trees by now were a deep, deep green. The garden we'd begun in May was filled with weeds and vegetables bursting out all over. The grass was high and thick. The house close and hot.</div><br /><div>There was no air conditioning in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Wiler</span> house until a few years later. We cooled off with a big ass attic fan that sucked air from below and blew it out a window, essentially creating some sort of breeze. We lay in bed in our sweat and listened to the crickets. </div><br /><div>We'd wake up early and run to our bikes and head right to the pool. We spent the day swimming and getting a great tan and working up the nerve to flirt with girls. Of course we never did. Some of our friends were on the swim team. The Wenonah Swim Club had a great swim team for a little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">podunk</span> town in South Jersey. I hated swimming on a team. Way too much work. In fact, although I liked swimming in general, the swim club itself could be a trial. I wasn't a particularly fast freestyle swimmer so in our games of tag I was always it.</div><br /><div>But then, you've probably heard that before.</div><br /><div>We'd end up back at the house for dinner. Then we'd head out to play the Gun Game or Kick the Can or just sit on the porch and watch the world walk by. It was as if we were in heaven. The night was filled with the sounds of cans rattling down the sidewalk, lightning bugs, the chirp of crickets and the sound of sneakers slapping cement. No, it wasn't as if we were in heaven. We were in heaven.</div><br /><div> </div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-32926809609181789012009-03-29T11:10:00.007-04:002009-03-29T11:49:48.875-04:001965: Year of the World's Best MusicI talked a little about the music of that summer of 1965. But the whole year was filled with ungodly tunes. Hit after hit after hit. When I was living in New Brunswick in the '80's there was a band that only played music from 65 & 66. They played at my second wedding. But Jack, you say, it couldn't have been that good. You must be just fondly remembering it; every year is pretty much the same when it comes to music. Well, here's my proof: The hits of 1965:<div><div style="text-align: justify;"><!--StartFragment--><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US;font-family:Arial;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><!--EndFragment--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;color:black;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Th</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">e</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Ad Libs</span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The Boy From New York City - 02-65 - Blue Cat </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jewel Akens</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The Birds And The Bees - 03-65 - Era </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Herb Alpert</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - A Taste Of Honey - 11-65 - A&M </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Eddy Arnold</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Make The World Go Away - 12-65 - RCA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Len Barry</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - 1-2-3 - 11-65 - Decca </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fontella Bass</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Rescue Me - 11-65 - Checker </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Shirley Bassey</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Goldfinger - 03-65 - UA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beach Boys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - California Girls - 08-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beach Boys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Do You Wanna Dance - 04-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beach Boys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Help Me, Rhonda - 05-65- Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beatles</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Eight Days A Week - 03-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beatles</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Help! - 09-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beatles</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Ticket To Ride - 05-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beatles</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - We Can Work It Out - 12-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beatles</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Yesterday - 10-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beau Brummels</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Just A Little - 06-65 - Autumn </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Beau Brummels</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Laugh, Laugh - 02-65 </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">James Brown</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Got You (I Feel Good) - 11-65 </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">James Brown</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag - 08-65 - King </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Byrds </span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Mr. Tambourine Man - 06-65 - Columbia </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Byrds</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Turn! Turn! Turn! - 11-65 - Columbia </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Freddy Cannon</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Action - 09-65 - Warner </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mel Carter</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me - 08-65 - Imperial </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Alvin Cash & The Crawlers</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Twine Time - 02-65 - Mar-V-Lus </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Castaways</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Liar, Liar - 10-65 - Soma </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chad & Jeremy</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Willow Weep For Me - 01-65 - World Artists </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cher</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - All I Really Want To Do - 08-65 - Imperial </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Petula Clark</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Downtown - 01-65 - Warner </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Petula Clark</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Know A Place - 04-65 - Warner </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sam Cooke</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Shake - 02-65 - RCA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vic Dana</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Red Roses For A Blue Lady - 04-65 - Dolton </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Dave Clark Five</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Any Way You Want It - 01-65 - Epic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Dave Clark Five</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Catch Us If You Can - 09-65 - Epic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Dave Clark Five</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Come Home - 03-65 - Epic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Dave Clark Five</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Like It Like That - 07-65 - Epic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Dave Clark Five</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Over And Over - 12-65 - Epic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jackie DeShannon </span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">- What The World Needs Now Is Love - 07-65 - Imperial </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dick & Deedee</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Thou Shalt Not Steal - Warner </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ronnie Dove</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - One Kiss For Old Time's Sake - 05-65 - Diamond </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Patty Duke</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Don't Just Stand There - 08-65 - UA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bob Dylan</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Like A Rolling Stone - 08-65 - Columbia </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bob Dylan</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Positively 4th Street - 10-65 - Columbia </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Shirley Ellis</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The Clapping Song - 04-65 - Congress </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Shirley Ellis</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The Name</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Game - 01-65 - Congress </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Game Of Love - 04-65 - Fontana </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Fortunes</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - You've Got Your Troubles - 09-65 - Press </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Four Seasons</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye) - 02-65 - Philips </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Four Seasons</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Let's Hang On! - 11-65 - Philips </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Four Tops</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Can't Help Myself - 06-65 - Motown </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Four Tops</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - It's The Same Old Song - 08-65 - Motown </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Freddie & The Dreamers</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I'm Telling You Now - 04-65 - Tower </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Marvin Gaye</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Ain't That Peculiar - 11-65 - Tamla </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Marvin Gaye</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You - 01-65 - Tamla </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Marvin Gaye</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I'll Be Doggone - 05-65 - Tamla </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Gentrys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Keep On Dancing - 10-65 - MGM </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gerry & The Pacemakers</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Ferry Across The Mersey - 03-65 - Laurie </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bobby Goldsboro</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Little Things - 03-65 - UA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dobie Gray</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The "In" Crowd - 02-65 - Charger </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Roy Head</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Treat Her Right - 10-65 - Back Beat </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Herman's Hermits</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Can't You Hear My Heartbeat - 03-65 - MGM </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Herman's Hermits</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I'm Henry VIII I Am - 07-65 - MGM </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Herman's Hermits</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Just A Little Bit Better - 10-65 - MGM </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Herman's Hermits</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter - 04-65 - MGM </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Herman's Hermits</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Silhouettes - 05-65 - MGM </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Herman's Hermits</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Wonderful World - 06-65 - MGM </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Impressions</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Amen - 01-65 - ABC Paramount </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Impressions</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - People Get Ready - 03-65 - ABC Paramount </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Horst Jankowski</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - A Walk In The Black Forest - 06-65 -Mercury </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jay & The Americans</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Cara Mia - 07-65 - UA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jay & The Americans</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Let's Lock The Door (And Throw Away The Key) - 02-65 - UA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jay & The Americans</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Some Enchanted Evening - 10-65 - UA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jack Jones</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The Race Is On - 04-65 - Kapp (written and recorded first by country singer George Jones at the same time on United Artists) </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Tom Jones</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - It's Not Unusual - 05-65 - Parrot </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Tom Jones</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - What's New Pussycat? - 07-65 - Parrot </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bert Kaempfert</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Red Roses For A Blue Lady - 03-65 - Decca </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Kingsmen -</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The Jolly Green Giant - 02-65 - Wand </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Kinks</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - All Day And All Of The Night - 02-65 - Reprise </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Kinks</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Tired Of Waiting For You - 04-65 - Reprise </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Brenda Lee</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Too Many Rivers - 07-65 - Decca </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dickey Lee</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Laurie (Strange Things Happen) - 07-65 - TCF Hall </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Barbara Lewis</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Baby, I'm Yours - 08-65 - Atlantic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Barbara Lewis</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Make Me Your Baby - 11-65 - Atlantic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gary Lewis & The Playboys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Count Me In - 05-65 - Liberty </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gary Lewis & The Playboys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Everybody Loves A Clown - 10-65 - Liberty </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gary Lewis & The Playboys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Save Your Heart For Me - 07-65 - Liberty </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gary Lewis & The Playboy</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">s - This Diamond Ring - 02-65 - Liberty </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Little Anthony & The Imperials</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Hurt So Bad - DCP </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Lovin' Spoonful</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Do You Believe In Magic - 10-65 - Kama Sutra </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Martha & The Vandellas</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Nowhere To Run - 04-65 - Gordy </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dean Martin</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Will - 12-65 - Reprise </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Barbara Mason</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Yes, I'm Ready - 07-65 - Artic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The McCoys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Fever - 12-65 - Bang </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The McCoys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Hang On Sloopy - 09-65 - Bang </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Barry McGuire</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Eve Of Destruction - 09-65 - Dunhill </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Roger Miller</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Engine Engine #9 - 06-65 - Smash </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Roger Miller</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - England Swings - 12-65 - Smash </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Roger Miller</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - King Of The Road - 02-65 - Smash </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Miracles</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The Tracks Of My Tears - 08-65 - Tamla </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Moody Blues</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Go Now! - 04-65 - London </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Newbeats</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms) - 11-65 - Hickory </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Patti Page</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte - 06-65 - Columbia </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Peter & Gordon</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Go To Pieces - 02-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gene Pitney</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Last Chance To Turn Around - 06-65 - Musicor </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Elvis Presley</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Crying In The Chapel - 05-65 - RCA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Elvis Presley</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I'm Yours - 10-65 - RCA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Elvis Presley</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - (Such An) Easy Question - 07-65 - RCA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Ramsey Lewis Trio</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Hang On Sloopy - 12-65 - Cadet </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Ramsey Lewis Trio</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The "In" Crowd - 09-65 - Argo </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Righteous Brothers</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> -</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ebb Tide - 12-65 - Philles </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Righteous Brothers</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Just Once In My Life - 05-65 - Philles </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Righteous Brothers</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Unchained Melody - 08-65 - Philles </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Righteous Brothers</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - 01-65 - Philles </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Johnny Rivers -</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Seventh Son - 06-65 - Imperial </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Rolling Stones</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Get Off Of My Cloud - 10-65 - London </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Rolling Stones</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - 06-65 - London </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Rolling Stones</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The Last Time - 04-65 - London </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Billy Joe Royal</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Down In The Boondocks - 08-65 - Columbia </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Billy Joe Royal</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Knew You When - 11-65 - Columbia </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs </span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">- Wooly Bully - 05-65 - MGM </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Seekers</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I'll Never Find Another You - 04-65 - Capitol </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Shangri-Las</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Can Never Go Home Anymore - 12-65 - Red Bird </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Del Shannon</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow The Sun) - 01-65 - </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Amy Silkie</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - 11-65 - Fontana </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Simon & Garfunkel </span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">- The Sounds Of Silence - 12-65 - Columbia </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Sir Douglas Quintet</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - She's About A Mover - 06-65 - Tribe </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sonny</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Laugh At Me - 09-65 - Atco </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sonny & Cher </span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">- Baby Don't Go - 10-65 - Reprise </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sonny & Cher</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - But You're Mine - 11-65 - Atco </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sonny & Cher</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Got You Babe - 08-65 - Atco </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sounds Orchestral</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Cast Your Fate To The Wind - 05-65 - Parkway </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Strangeloves</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Want Candy - 08-65 - Bang </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Supremes</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Back In My Arms Again - 05-65 - Motown </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Supremes</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - I Hear A Symphony - 11-65 - Motown </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Supremes</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Nothing But Heartaches - 09-65 - Motown </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Supremes</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Stop! In The Name Of Love - 03-65 - Motown </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Temptations</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - My Girl - 02-65 - Gordy </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Joe Tex</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Hold What You've Got - 01-65 - Dial </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Toys</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - A Lovers Concerto - 10-65 - Dynovoice </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Turtles</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - It Ain't Me Babe - 09-65 - White Whale </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Vogues</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - You're The One - 10-65 - Co & Ce </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jr. Walker & The All Stars </span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">- Shotgun - 03-65 - Soul </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We Five</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - You Were On My Mind - 09-65 - A&M </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ian Whitcomb</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - You Turn Me On - 07-65 - Tower </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Wonder Who?</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Don't Think Twice - 12-65 - Philips </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glenn Yarbrough</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Baby The Rain Must Fall - 05-65 - RCA </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Yardbirds</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - For Your Love - 06-65 - Epic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Yardbirds</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Heart Full Of Soul - 09-65 - Epic </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Zombies</span></span></span></b></span><span style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - Tell Her No - 02-65 - Parrot</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;">Look at all these names! The Beatles, The Stones, James Brown, Bob Dylan, The Supremes, The Temps, Barry motherfucking McGuire, The Zombies, The Turtles, Sir Douglas Quintet, Dean Martin, Roger Miller, Sonny & Cher!!!! All mixed up together. Patty Duke next to Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs! The Yardbirds & Patty Page! Herman's Hermits have more hits than the Beatles, more than Elvis. The crummy and the great all tossed together! And all of us chuckleheads walking around humming those tunes, strolling down the beach with all that music in our heads, all that wild world.</span></div><!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--> <!--StartFragment--><!--StartFragment--></div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-25737319350916091022009-03-08T15:39:00.003-04:002009-03-08T15:53:45.126-04:00Boy Scouts of AmericaWell, I'm going to break my cardinal rule. I'm going back a bit in time so I can talk about something I forgot. I talked a bit about this in an earlier post but realized that I had much more to say. I forgot that in the fall of 1964 I joined the Boy Scouts. I'd been a Cub Scout and a Webelo (how's that for a weird name) and it was my goal to become a Boy Scout. So I joined Troop 50. I was happy as a clam. We met every Thursday (I think) in the Methodist Church. There'd be a reading of the minutes, some discussion of various upcoming events, talk about camping trips, a bit of Scout lore and then we'd play various physical games. Chief among them was British Bulldog. I have no memory of what this game consisted of; only that it involved mashing into each other very hard. There must have been rules but who knows.<div>Our Scout Leader was (and I could be wrong here) Ralph Leeds father and the senior leaders were guys like Kingsley Lentz. What a great name. Kingsley. It was all about the outdoors. I couldn't wait to go on my first camping trip. I was excited and happy.</div><div>I forgot one minor thing. I wet the bed. So we decamped to Elk Neck, Maryland and on the first night I wet my sleeping bag. You can imagine this might have been a tad embarrassing. It was. In fact it was humiliating and then I got to do it again the next night.</div><div>I'd wet the bed for my whole life up until then. My parents took me to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia looking for help, we tried various homemade cures and strategies but nothing worked. Like clockwork each evening I pissed in my pants. This was only pleasurable for about two minutes. Then it was cold and wet.</div><div>My bed had plastic sheets. I couldn't sleep over at other friend's houses. I told no one about my problem. It was my little secret.</div><div>Then my little secret was hanging on a rope in the middle of our camp site. My soaked sleeping bag. </div><div>I quit the Boy Scouts after that. I did rejoin several years later but we'll get to that. Later in the year or perhaps it was Fall of 8th grade my parents found my cure. It was a rubber mat that they put under the sheets. When liquids hit the mat it set off a loud, loud alarm. I would wake up. Pretty soon I would wake up before the alarm went off. I was Pavlov's dog. It worked. Within a week or two I stopped wetting the bed. But I've never forgotten the alarm. I can't stand a bell that rings for more than a moment or two. I pick up calls before everyone at every job I've ever had. I've never forgotten my sleeping bag. Isn't it odd how secrets come back to haunt you?</div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-18354840472540550372009-03-02T17:49:00.002-05:002009-03-02T18:11:53.991-05:00Ocean City 1965I'm bored with 7th grade. Okay, I barely remember 7th grade, it being a long time ago and me being old and forgetful. So let's cut to the summer of 1965. A great year no matter how you cut it. <div>My family went on vacation this year to Ocean City where we took up residence in two buildings along with several other families from Wenonah and my dad's brother and his family. It was kid heaven. Our apartments were right on the beach and we were there for two weeks. A few times we even got out of school before the year was over to go.</div><div>The apartments were all the way at the end of OC. I think between 56th & 57th streets but I'm sure I'm wrong and someone will tell me in a day or so. They were simple buildings built in the late fifties. Living room, sort of dining room, bedrooms, bath, shower outside. We spent maybe 8 hours a day inside unless it rained. Besides my family we stayed with our parents friends. The Lakes, the Shepards, the Pistilli's, the Nugent's and others who came and went but these were the standby's. This meant we had tons of friends. Charlie Lake, Debbie Lake, Jack and Joe Shepard, Bruce Nugent, Dave Pistilli. It also meant we had our own little world on the beach.</div><div>On the Saturday we were to leave it would invariably be foggy or rainy and we'd be whining about not being able to have fun and my Dad said, always, don't worry it will burn off. And it always did. We drove to OC the back way through Glassboro and Buena, past the Mexican movies in Buena, past the old lost taverns along the way until we arrived at the 34th street bridge and in just twenty odd blocks were at our shore place.</div><div>We'd unpack like demons, throw on our trunks, grab our towels and race to the beach and the water and OH MY FUCKING GOD THE WATER IS FREEZING!. And it was. This is the 2nd week of June and the water temperature on the Jersey shore is typically 52-56 degrees. This is bone chilling cold. Your little balls would get sucked up deep inside you, your ankles would ache a terrible terrible ache but you had to go in, you had to go in.</div><div>Our parents would arrive moments later and spread the chairs and blankets around like some rude compound. Maybe an umbrella, maybe not. We'd run in and out of the water, hike to the point south of 59th street, explore the gullies and the rocks and our fathers would scope out babes while our mothers...actually I don't know what they were doing. Probably scoping out young men but this is 1965 so maybe not.</div><div>We were there for two weeks. We played box ball, which is some weird combo of handball and baseball, in which Mr. Lake would usually crush my foot and break my little toe. We'd play handball. We'd play frisbee. We'd body surf. We'd go to the boardwalk! The boardwalk! The boardwalk! The Pavilion! Salt water taffy! Mack and Manco's pizza! The cool hobby store that sold Airfix little men! The Taylor Ham Pork roll store with Pennsylvania Dutch Root Beer! And of course, of course, Gillian's Wonderland!</div><div>The ferris wheel, the merry go round, the rides, the cotton candy, the sheer pleasure in pissing away all the money you had from shoveling snow or raking leaves or from your lazy uncles and aunts at Christmas! It was the greatest place in the world in 1965 for a mess of chowderheads from South Jersey. We body surfed, we played, we ogled Penny Pistilli and my Aunt Simone's bikini. We cursed in a stupid 7th grade way. We wore clam diggers and stupid hats right out of Beach Blanket Bingo. </div><div>We were in heaven. </div><div><br /></div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-83602069656634047342009-01-31T14:05:00.004-05:002009-02-21T15:58:11.498-05:00Fashion and the SixtiesMy actual favorite part of HS and Junior HS was clothes and hair. Not my clothes and not my hair but everyone else's. Girls in particular were hotter than hot. Beehive hairdo's, white boots, over use of mascara and eye shadow. Guys got to wear skinny pants and skinny ties and sharp shoes. My erotic ideals were all formed in the mid-sixties. In fact when the punk era reigned supreme I was happy as a pig in shit. All the women looked like really fierce versions of my high school crushes. It was like heaven because this time I could do something about it.<div>Of course in 1965 I could do nothing about it. It was the first year my mother let me choose my own clothing. We drove to Pitman and went to Jack Lang's the premier men's and boy's clothing outlet in our little corner of the world. This made our little corner of the world very small. We could have driven to Philadelphia and I could have gone to Brook's Brothers or Wanamakers but we didn't. We went to Pitman. I picked out my spring school clothes. An chartreuse Izod LaCoste polo shirt and a pair of vaguely lime green, glen plaid pants. Also a zip up spring jacket.</div><div>We drove from there to Ernie's Shoe Post in Mantua. At Ernie's I picked out a pair of desert boots. Plus a pair of PF Flyers.</div><div>I was ready to go. I was going to be one snappy dresser. What a dope I was. I would make these mistakes with clothing dozens of times over the years but this stands out as one of my worst. I walked through the school like a green lollipop. At least my desert boots were cool. But I turned no heads. Instead I retreated further into the world of books and history and all the attendant bullshit of my tiny world.</div><div>Next up...Ocean City.</div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-79813310184757264392009-01-28T14:35:00.000-05:002009-01-28T14:36:05.311-05:00The Book Report from HellLet’s go back again to 1965 and Gateway Regional HS. For the first time in our lives we move from class to class. There are announcements on the loudspeaker. We pledge allegiance to the flag along with a disembodied voice. We have new classes, English instead of Reading, Earth Science instead of Science, Mathematics not Arithmetic, and on and on.<br />My English teacher was Mrs. Oglesby. For our first book report we are asked to do a presentation along with several other students. The presentation would summarize the book and illustrate the reasons you liked it. Nightmare. Horrible, horrible nightmare. Out loud performance was not my thing in 7th grade. You can probably understand since I was a midgety, skinny runt with a cowlick. My voice was as high as a birds. I felt like some monstrous geek and I was.<br />But there was no way out. As I recall I was hooked up with Jim Maddox and Steven Kaye and the book we selected was “Last of the Mohicans”. This was just about the only part of the assignment I liked. I was a James Fenimore Cooper freak. I read all his books. Books that were universally reviled by any competent writer or critic. But they had war and Indians and sacrifice and forests and blood and an acceptable amount of romance.<br />The girls all picked “Rebecca”. <br />This killed us right from the git go. :Rebecca” is a fairly easily summarized story while “Last of the Mohicans” has a jumbled up plot that isn’t clear for a hundred pages. Plus the girls were better at this. Their presentations were funny and inventive and informative. Thank God I can’t remember ours. I do remember it was a miserable failure. We tanked. I remember slinking away from the front of the class thankful only that we’d finished.<br />This deep sense of embarrassment and humiliation was to walk just behind me till senior year. You can only imagine what a joy it was to go to school each day.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-44610958970802625552009-01-27T22:34:00.002-05:002009-01-27T22:41:17.807-05:00So Much Time So little workHi all,<div>Sorry I've been a lazy fuck.</div><div>So, before I give you my post about Wenonah in 1965 let me remind you of three things dear to my heart.</div><div>First, Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States of America. Given that there was only one black girl in my class at Gateway Regional HS and given that I drove through a black neighborhood with outhouses to get to high school this is a wonderful moment in American history.</div><div>Second, two events dear to my heart and poetry were set aside this year. The Geraldine R Dodge Poetry Festival and the Frost Place Festival of Poetry. I could say lots of shit about this but mostly it sucks that money kills an art that makes no money and enriches peoples lives. </div><div>Manana... or maybe Friday... Book reports, Rebecca, and the Last of the Mohicans.</div><div>God Bless, Good Night, and my regrets on the passing of my dear friend Rick Sonnenberg, known to many of us as Rick Lopez. Death comes and steals away and the best are caught in his arms.</div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-76684119853754959562009-01-05T14:03:00.001-05:002009-01-05T14:04:38.316-05:00New Year's EveWhen I was young my brothers and I were banished to my grandmother’s house on New Year’s Eve. There we drank half an illicit beer and ate ham sandwiches and watched Guy Lombardo ring in the new. That is if we didn’t fall asleep because of the beer.<br /><br />Or else my grandmother and Aunt Gersh would come to the house and we’d do the same thing in Wenonah as we would in Bala Cynwyd. My parents were engaged in adult fun. We had no idea what adult fun was. So far as we could tell from our few exposures to a grown up party it consisted of laughing loud, drinking, and smoking and staying up late. This did not seem fun. Plus they played the Mills Brothers and Perry Como.<br /><br />They did not go out to fancy night clubs, they went to friends houses and checked in by phone. No real need to do that as we had been trained well and staying up till midnight was extraordinarily difficult. So it was that my brothers and my little sister and I rang in the New Year of 1965. It may have been that year that my parents had the party at their home. I can remember vaguely one such party so let’s call it that one. <br /><br />I was sitting at the end of my bed with my cat, Surprise. The warm tones of Frank Sinatra filled the night. There was a woman’s high laugh. The light from our back porch shown out onto the lawn and the clear night sky was lit up with a thousand stars. Happy New Year and noise and fireworks and honking and then the music again and sleep.<br />I woke the next morning to a house full of half-empty glasses that smelled of whiskey and ginger ale, overflowing ashtrays, and a house as quiet as a morgue.Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-36720896989779233602008-12-24T11:46:00.000-05:002008-12-24T11:47:31.031-05:00Holly, Jolly, Christmas in 1964I talked earlier about our Christmases but think it’s worth revisiting since Mick and Ted and I are all older and we have a young sister, Mary Lou. In December of 1964 I was officially a teenager, thirteen. Mick was eleven and a half and Ted seven and a half. Mick and I were hip to Santa being our parents but Ted and Mary Lou still believed. Ted had serious doubts but Ted worked hard at holding onto the good things in his childhood and didn’t want to let Santa go.<br /><br />Our Christmas ritual was to put up the lights outside on Thanksgiving weekend. This effort took about half a day and Mick and I “helped” our Dad. Our help was limited since we were inept but we were able to untangle the lights and hand my Dad various tools. We had a wrap around porch surrounded by bushes so the bushes and doors were ringed with lights.<br /><br />After my birthday and my father’s birthday (14th & 15th) Dad would buy the tree. The tree was always, always, gigantic. We had twelve foot ceilings so we’d get a twelve foot tree. The tree sat outside in a bucket filled with water in an alcove off the front porch. It would not be put up till Christmas Eve morn.<br /><br />We might also go to Gaudio’s to see the light displays and pick out ornaments. Gaudio’s was a garden center in Woodbury, long vanished, that had a huge selection of Christmas decorations to supplement their gardening business. If we went to visit our Grandmother Glading in Pennsylvania we’d drive back admiring the various light displays. Not as elaborate as todays but to us, astounding. I’m telling you this because really and truly none of us cared that much about anything except Christmas morning and that never came fast enough.<br /><br />Finally it would be Christmas Eve! My mother would spend the day baking cookies and making stuffing for the turkey. My father and Mick and I would lug in the tree and set it in the stand my parent’s had owned since I was a baby. Christmas tree stands pretty much sucked back then so we’d use wire to keep the tree from falling. My Dad would stand on a chair and nail one end into the wall then wrap it around the tree and repeat the process till the tree was stable and straight. Or kind of straight. Then it would sit all day, unadorned, till after dinner so its branches could fall.<br /><br />Mick and I would go to our rooms in the afternoon and attempt to wrap the presents we’d purchased for our parent’s and our brothers and sister. I mangled package after package. Then dinner, hopefully pizza or cheesesteaks, and then we’d trim the tree. My Dad had a system and Mick and I learned it well. Large balls at the bottom, medium balls in the middle, and small ones at the top. We’d alternate between tinsel and garlands depending on my mother’s moods. Then we’d hang our stockings in the 2nd living room on the bookshelf and sit down together in the living room. My mother would sit with Ted and Mary Lou on either side and read, first the Christmas Story, about the birth of Christ and second, Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was wonderful. Cheesy but wonderful.<br /><br />Finally we’d place our gifts beneath the tree, set out Santa’s cookies and milk and then it was off to bed. Mick and I had recently been relegated to the attic for a bedroom and we went up and tried to sleep. The night passed. Slowly. Santa’s reindeer landed, somehow found a way to get him in our house, and left to spread more Christmas cheer. We tried to sleep. We played chess. We tried to sleep.<br /><br />Then it’s 6am and Christmas morning and we all run to our parents room to wake them up. It’s the house rules that you can’t go downstairs Christmas morning until Dad checked to make sure Santa wasn’t there. Once we’d get the all clear we hurtled down the stairs to see the heaps and heaps of presents. Mom and Dad would pass them out from piles they’d set up the night before (or rather Santa had set up the night before) and we’d tear them to pieces. <br /><br />After we’d finished with the presents we’d empty our stockings. Our stocking stuffers were a kind of weird mix of the 1930’s and the present. We’d get little toys or funny things but also, always, a tangerine. A tangerine? I never understood this until I realized late in life that this would have been a rare treat for a child in an America still stuck in the Great Depression. For us though it was just a piece of fruit. Admittedly we didn’t often have tangerines in the Wiler house. Most of our experience with actual fruit, not canned fruit, was limited to apples, sometimes grapes, bananas, and in the summer peaches and blueberries. Oranges and Tangerines would only show up once in awhile…too expensive I think.<br /><br />After opening the presents Mom and Dad sat on the couch and watched us play with our new gifts. They always seemed very happy. Mick and I would then go to our friends houses to see what they’d gotten and Dad would be left to pick up the mess with Mom. When we returned we’d walk up the block to visit our Grandmother Wiler and get gifts from her. Finally we’d sit down to turkey dinner. Sometimes relatives would drop by with relative gifts. My fathers Uncle John and Aunt Eleanor or our Grandmother Glading and our Aunt Gersh all might stop by to share the day.<br /><br />It was and is my favorite holiday. I don’t look at it with cynicism or dread. Tonight Johanna and I will be joined by her mother and sister and nephews and our dear friends. We’ll eat and drink and sing and laugh. It’s Christmas! In the words of Tiny Tim, “God Bless Us, Everyone!”Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-21905715294297276242008-12-13T15:11:00.002-05:002008-12-13T15:44:08.468-05:00They're Dancing in the StreetsIt's an easy seque from my stupid dance lessons to my first dance. Spring, 1965. The cafeteria is converted into a wonderland and the girls and boys of Gateway go to their first dance. Hop. Keep in mind that in truth I had no idea how to really dance to the music that was popular among young people. In fact, I hardly listened to music that was popular. Oh sure, I knew about the Beatles and every once in awhile I'd hear music on the radio or watch Shindig or Hullabaloo but my musical world was largely shaped by my parent's listening habits. Which means I was raised on the Mills Brothers, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett...ad infinitum. And the worst of all the worst: "Sing Along With Mitch". No, there were actually worse acts but my mind has graciously deleted them.<div>So now I was going to Gateway to dance to the music of my generation. At least as it stood at that time. I was going to gyrate wildly to the Twist and the Mash Potato and the Swim and swig soda and fall in love and kiss a beautiful girl under the moon. Then ride home with my folks and sleep happy with a smile on my face.</div><div>Wrong.</div><div>I was going to get dressed in a stupid Madras jacket with a clip on tie and tight cords and walk for the first time into the most uncomfortable experience of my life. Sure, I talked to girls in school. You kind of had to. And yes I wore clothes and I'd taken dance lessons and I knew about music. But I had no idea how all these things went together and I was about to find out how little I really knew.</div><div>I should tell you that, at least in Westville, there were CYO dances that kids had been going to for awhile. Some kids from Wenonah might even go earlier in the year. This means that they had a leg up on us chuckleheads. This means that they were more comfortable, knew how to dance, had cool clothes, a cool haircut and could walk up to any girl they knew and ask for a dance. I, on the other hand, was expert at standing next to the wall.</div><div>So this is the way things were. A row of a dozen or more skinny boys with their backs pressed against the newly painted cinder block. Groups of girls with cups of punch huddled together, giggling, looking here and there. And in the middle girls and boys all with cool clothes and hair dancing and having a great time. This great divide was to be my world for the next 4 years or so. Cursed and alone we geeks clustered together like fools. Out on the floor girls and boys laughed and hugged and kissed and had great fun. </div><div>The saddest part is how all of this is about confidence and courage. In fact all of us felt the same way. It's just that some of us said fuck it and walked away from the wall.</div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35668036.post-59144804812643144112008-12-11T18:16:00.002-05:002008-12-11T18:26:01.748-05:00Dance LessonsI may be off a bit here. In my dotage I'm not sure if these events took place in 7th or 8th grade. I asked several classmates and they were as clueless as I am. So I figure since it's my blog I'll make it 7th grade. In Wenonah when I was a teenager the parents all felt we required some education in the social graces. Specifically ballroom dancing. None of us shared their opinion but this seemed to be a non-negotiable issue. By banding together the parents insured that none of us could say, "but Jack Wiler doesn't have to go". Even worse they used social pressure and hounded us as we visited each others homes. <div>So it was that in early winter we were herded to the Presbyterian Church along with the grade below us to learn how to dance. We had two instructors, a man and a woman, and they loved their work. We did not. We began with simple steps; the Box Step, the Fox Trot, and moved onto more elaborate things like waltzes and sambas. It was torture. Torture for so many, many reasons. First we had to dress up in good clothes, second we had to dance with girls or vice versa boys, third, we were not given a choice of who we would dance with. Our partners were assigned according to an arcane formula.</div><div>And so we whirled across the floor of the multi-purpose room of the Presbyterian Church, twenty or thirty young men and women with pimples and greasy hair or odd clothing or weird heads. All of us forced to comport ourselves as ladies and gentlemen.</div><div>We did this for about eight weeks. The final week we had a formal dance (suits and ties, dresses) and a dance contest. And we all wanted to win. Go figure. This thing we hated we now wanted to excel at and we took pride in our ability to glide effortlessly across the floor.</div><div>I'm sad to report that this class has really had only one benefit in my life...when I go to a wedding I can do a mean foxtrot. Otherwise in the real world of young men and women dancing it was a waste of time. Next...going to my first dance at Gatorland.</div>Jack Wilerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05764581934446251481noreply@blogger.com2