Mrs. Teabody Tunes In
Good Morning, Gentle Readers!
Mrs. Teabody trusts your sojourn in dream land has been a pleasant one. It was a marvelous night for comforters and flannel pajamas and a nice hot cuppa chamomile with mint as one sought slumber. As Mr. Wikipedia suggests: "Chamomile or camomile (pronounced /ˈkæmɵmiːl/ kam-ə-meel or /ˈkæmɵmaɪl/ kam-ə-myl)[1] is a common name for several daisy-like plants of the family Asteraceae. These plants are best known for their ability to be made into an infusion which is commonly used to help with sleep and is often served with either honey or lemon." Mrs. Teabody laces her chamomile with mint and it is a treat.
Today Mrs. Teabody is going to make a simple request to you, Gentle Readers. Like you, Mr. and Mrs. Teabody adore music, and Mrs. Teabody wishes to enlist your help over the next several days in compiling "Twenty Songs That Shaped 'Our' Lives."
Mrs. Teabody implores you to think back to your earliest associations with music. This is a happy exercise for Mrs. Teabody and invokes Sunday mornings in particular and belting out hymns in the village church only to be followed by a post luncheon recap on AM radio of the "Countdown" or "Top Ten" "Hits" of the week. It was a potent mixture of "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly." From time to time at the grammar school, all the children were escorted into a long assembly room where everyone sang patriotic songs such as "America" and even "The Star Spangled Banner" and up tempo songs such as "Swanee River" or "Reuben and Rachel."
Additionally Mrs. Teabody grew up in a home which possessed a phonograph, and she and her sisters often entertained themselves by singing along with Patti Page: "See the pyramids along the Nile" or Nat King Cole: "They try to tell us we're too young." Mrs. Teabody's father was a handsome man who fancied himself a bit of a crooner and sometimes entertained with a ballad such as "What'll I Do?" while Mrs. Teabody's mother was a fiery red head with a penchant for songs such as "I Won't Go Huntin' with You, Jake, but I'll Go Chasin' Women" and "Your Cheatin' Heart." Mon Dieu, Gentle Readers!
Add to this already diverse set of influences the fact that Mrs. Teabody had two older brothers coming of age during the Pat Boone/ Elvis Presley era just a tiny little while before FM radio and "American Bandstand" started bringing about a national sensibility about popular "pop" music. Mrs. Teabody adored it all: Bobby Vinton AND Ray Charles, the Beachboys AND Brenda Lee, Herb Alpert AND Alvin and the Chipmunks. How does one pick a single song? However, Mrs. Teabody has chosen her single most influential song of her early teen years and she shall reveal it tomorrow.
Your role in this, Gentle Reader, is to muse about your earliest musical influences and your single most influential song of your early teen tears. And your favorite tea. Mrs. Teabody assures you her tea of choice was Lipton and it was over ice and it was dead sweet.
Mrs. Teabody trusts your sojourn in dream land has been a pleasant one. It was a marvelous night for comforters and flannel pajamas and a nice hot cuppa chamomile with mint as one sought slumber. As Mr. Wikipedia suggests: "Chamomile or camomile (pronounced /ˈkæmɵmiːl/ kam-ə-meel or /ˈkæmɵmaɪl/ kam-ə-myl)[1] is a common name for several daisy-like plants of the family Asteraceae. These plants are best known for their ability to be made into an infusion which is commonly used to help with sleep and is often served with either honey or lemon." Mrs. Teabody laces her chamomile with mint and it is a treat.
Today Mrs. Teabody is going to make a simple request to you, Gentle Readers. Like you, Mr. and Mrs. Teabody adore music, and Mrs. Teabody wishes to enlist your help over the next several days in compiling "Twenty Songs That Shaped 'Our' Lives."
Mrs. Teabody implores you to think back to your earliest associations with music. This is a happy exercise for Mrs. Teabody and invokes Sunday mornings in particular and belting out hymns in the village church only to be followed by a post luncheon recap on AM radio of the "Countdown" or "Top Ten" "Hits" of the week. It was a potent mixture of "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly." From time to time at the grammar school, all the children were escorted into a long assembly room where everyone sang patriotic songs such as "America" and even "The Star Spangled Banner" and up tempo songs such as "Swanee River" or "Reuben and Rachel."
Additionally Mrs. Teabody grew up in a home which possessed a phonograph, and she and her sisters often entertained themselves by singing along with Patti Page: "See the pyramids along the Nile" or Nat King Cole: "They try to tell us we're too young." Mrs. Teabody's father was a handsome man who fancied himself a bit of a crooner and sometimes entertained with a ballad such as "What'll I Do?" while Mrs. Teabody's mother was a fiery red head with a penchant for songs such as "I Won't Go Huntin' with You, Jake, but I'll Go Chasin' Women" and "Your Cheatin' Heart." Mon Dieu, Gentle Readers!
Add to this already diverse set of influences the fact that Mrs. Teabody had two older brothers coming of age during the Pat Boone/ Elvis Presley era just a tiny little while before FM radio and "American Bandstand" started bringing about a national sensibility about popular "pop" music. Mrs. Teabody adored it all: Bobby Vinton AND Ray Charles, the Beachboys AND Brenda Lee, Herb Alpert AND Alvin and the Chipmunks. How does one pick a single song? However, Mrs. Teabody has chosen her single most influential song of her early teen years and she shall reveal it tomorrow.
Ominous charcoal gray clouds obscure the sunrise but Mrs. Teabody believes their dominion will be short lived, and the sun will soon turn the day golden. Mrs. Teabody suggests, Gentle Reader, that you carry a beautiful and much-loved song in your head today.
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