How Deep is your Love by the Bee Gee’s became number one in America in 1977. No one would have guessed that it was the song Robin Gibb would request be played at his funeral just this past week. He was 62 and died of cancer. How can we forget how the Bee Gees touched music?

These three brothers, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb were originally from England, and then moved in the late 1950s to Australia where they began to play music. In 1962, the brothers got their first recording contract. They were received well in Australia but never had a hit, so they returned to England where they hit the charts with Spicks and Specks. Their first English recording, New York Mining Disaster 1941, came out in 1967 and it was a hit. As the 60s came to an end they had hits such as Holiday, To Love Somebody, Words, I Started a Joke, Run To Me, and I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You.

This brotherly trio used harmonies to make the music stick forever in our minds as they sang ballads that touch not just the heart but also the soul.  The Bee Gees were big and in 1969, Robin decided to go out on his own. Of course we know that was not successful but fear not, the brothers had another incarnation and returned with a number one hit How can You Mend a Broken Heart and Run to Me, which came a few years later.

It was quiet for these brothers for a few and in the distance they knew something new was on the horizon and they were about to have great success as the same band but with a drastic new sound known as Disco. In 1976 Jive Talkin’ becomes number. Then a major break happened for the brothers when a movie called Saturday Night Fever came out and the soundtrack produced such hits for the Bee Gees as Night Fever, How Deep Is Your Love, You Should Be Dancing, Stayin’ Alive and More Than a Woman. It was such an amazing soundtrack that it won the Grammy for Album of the Year and sold more than 15 million copies in the United States.

The 70s was a smash for the Bee Gees. Then the 80s arrived and things slowed down quite drastically so Robin and Barry decided to bark upon a solo career. Sadly, their attempt as solo artists was not successful.  That is when Barry Gibb began to work for other artists and he was successful as a producer. They tried again with a few albums, and though the albums received some minor attention, they never reached the success they once had. They did continue to record and perform and remained active until the death of Maurice in 2003.

When I think of the Bee Gees I think of two types of music. They were master balladeers, and disco kings.  No matter how you stack the cards, these brothers touched different generations with different styles of music. If you asked me what my favorite Bee Gee song was I would have to go with Words and I Started a Joke. I enjoyed their ballads.

What was your favorite song by the Bee Gees?

I have a droid phone. I have not graduated to an iphone yet, and I like my droid for the most part. I have two offices and I can pretty much keep all my client files in my phone which is linked to my tablet so I can carry all my work in my purse. It works well for me and much lighter than a laptop. My cell phone is my office phone. I am on call pretty much 24/7 as I do a lot of work with suicide prevention so I need to be contacted. Before cell phones I had a pager. They worked well. I would get the page and get to the nearest phone, which was normally a pay phone and make the call. I always kept enough change on me to be sure I could make up to a half dozen calls a day if need be.

Pay phone were on every corner and sometimes four and five pay phones on each corner. There was an abundance of pay phone on every street block, in every store, in every school. That way 9 and 10 year-olds did not need an iphone. Today, seeing a pay phone is a rarity. You don’t see them much and when I see a payphone, I have memories and digging for my quarters to make a call. So where did pay phone come from and where did they go?

Pay telephone stations began in 1878 and were maintained by attendants who collected the money due after people made their calls. Then in The first unmanned “pay phone” was created by William Gray in 1889 and it was such a hit that within twenty years, pay phone were everywhere.

Thomas Watson who helped Alexander Graham Bell invent the telephone created the first telephone booth.  Watson designed a booth built of wood with a domed top with a ventilator, windows and screen.  In the 50s, the glass phone booths started to appear. That is also when the fad of phone booth stuffing began. Those wild and crazy college students of the late 50s would stuff as many as 25 people in a small booth. Who would have thunk?

Now by the beginning of the 60s, over a million pay phones existed and more was to come. It is hard to imagine that for some people, but for me, phone booths were an essential part of our lives. Pay phones made life a little simpler back then. You could call home, take care of business, and when you think of it, the pay phone was cheaper than cell phones.

With cell phones everywhere, there is no real need to pay phones as much and you do not see them as often or as many of them. I still will never understand why a 9 year old needs a iphone. If parents are concerned, there are cell phones age appropriate that allows the child to call the parents or emergency services only. The average age for a child to get a cell phone according to studies ranges from 11-13 years-old. What I would love to remind these young kids of is how well we survived without them, as well as how important they are to us today.

Do you recall using pay phones? I sure do!

Humor and old country music just don’t seem to go hand in hand but how could we be part of the 50s and 60s country scene without the great wit of Minnie Pearl? If you did not grow up in the 50s-60s you may have no idea who “Cousin Minnie Pearl” was  but I sure can tell you she made country fun.

I could tell when Minnie Pearl was on without even looking at her because whenever she appeared she would always say Howdy. I don’t mean just howdy, I mean “How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E” and once she yelled “How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E, the audience would yell it right back at her. You knew she was there with that friendly greeting. Her other distinctive trait was she always wore a straw hat with the price tag of 1.98 still on it.

Her humor mainly focused on her family members such as Uncle Nabob and brother. She made it seem okay to be less than smart with life in the back hills of Tennessee. This is funny in itself because Minnie Pearl, who was born Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon was a college graduate in theater and arts and was a rather intelligent woman. She was quite smart indeed so when she met a mountain woman  which some would refer to as a country bumpkin, she created her character of Minnie Pearl and the rest was history.

Minnie Pearl could first be heard on the radio in 1939. She made the first of thousands of appearances at on the Grand Ole Opry in 1940 and she appeared at the Grand Ole Opry from 1940 till her death of a stroke in 1996. She was 83 when she died. She was so popular she could fill concert hall throughout the world. Who would have thought a woman playing a hillbilly could bring her so much fame?  Sarah knew what she was doing. In fact, she wrote joke books, cook books and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and not for being a musician, but for being, well, Minnie Pearl.

She became fixture on Hee Haw and she was probably my favorite part of that show. It did not matter what part of the house I was in I could hear the How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E. I would run out of my room and watch it for a good chuckle. She was a female comedian in a world that was dominated by males.

The just don’t have characters like Minnie Pearl anymore. It is a real shame. Down home comedy no longer is part of our culture so for me, it was fun remembering Cousin Minnie Pearl. For those who have not heard of her, here is a little video and as Cousin Minnie would say, “I sure hope you fellers and gals enjoy it.” Minnie Pearl Video

Bob Horn permission of daughter Barbara Horn

The last time I did a story on Dick Clark, author of the book American Bandstand the Untold Story, Stan Blitz got a hold of me to tell me a bit about Bandstand. He told me about the real originator of Bandstand Bob Horn. This time I did a story on Dick Clark, the daughter of the originator of Bandstand got a hold of me and it got me thinking…

Bandstand was a really big deal! I was a kid when Bandstand came out. I watched it as much as I could and grew up with it. Little did I know that as an adult, I would have the privilege to learn so much about American Bandstand. Some of it was information that I thought I was better off not knowing, while other information I found fascinating.  For me, I never knew there were so many stories behind Bandstand.

What I did know is that American Bandstand played such an important role in the lives of so many of us, and there are a great deal of untold stories about the originator Bob Horn. I was pleased that I was able to talk to his daughter Barbara Horn this week and get to know her father from the daughters point of view.

Barbara sums it up about as simple and loving as it can be. “My dad was a really cool guy,” she said of her father Bob Horn.  “I adored my father,” she said, “He was a genius,” and that he was because it seemed like there was not anything Bob could not do. She may have said this in a simple manner, but Bob Horn was not a simple man. He was smart, creative and full of life. Even after his Bandstand days, he was full of life.

He created the radio show Bob Horn’s Bandstand and eventually it was aired on TV. You would say the rest was history, except Horn sort of got pushed out and Dick Clark was put in. “My dad was wild and fun and Dick was a safe handsome guy,” Barbra Horn said. She continued to talk about her dads adventures after the show. “He was not a victim,” Horn said, “He moved on rather quickly.” There was some troubles to follow, but she said her dad was genuinely a happy man.

“He laughed a lot,” she said. “He was really a happy man.” After being asked to leave Bandstand he had a radio show for a while then found his career in professional advertizing. “His real passion was horses,” Horn stated, “I loved horses and we had horses. Dad loved to watch us.” In fact Barbra said he died on a Sunday and he was to sign papers on a Monday to get a ranch for them all. Bob did not ride horses, but he sure loved them.

I asked Barbra what she really wanted people to know about her father. There are many stories about him and she said, “He was just a nice guy and funny.” She shared a few tales of her father hanging out with his pal like Dizzy Gillespie and other. Barbra laughed a lot during our phone conversation and said, “I’m a lot like my father.” You can tell she was a happy person and had nothing but fond memories of her father. “Yeah one day I might write a book,” she laughed, “but where to start.”

I think her book would start like, once upon a time my dad was the original host of American Bandstand, but then he happily moved on. I asked her what was one thing that she wanted the public to know about her dad and she said, “My dad was a happy man, he really did move on after Bandstand, he was happy.”

So for many, while they mourn the passing of Dick Clark, there are a few of us who know that Bob Horn was the originator of bandstand and that no matter what, Bandstand had our nation rocking and rolling to music and so rest in Peace Mr. Clark, and thank you Bob Horn for making it all possible. Special thanks to Bob Horns daughter Barbra who reached out to contact me. If she is anything like her dad, I am sure her dad was a very fun and humorous man. I hope she writes her book, she said, “It will be funny.”

Well I should say opening my facebook to a slew of letters asking me if I was planning on doing an article for Retroflections on the passing of Dick Clark got me thinking.  Of course I have done a story on Dick Clark and Bandstand a ways back and I knew once Clark passed there would be another one.

The problem is, how do you write about America’s oldest teenager that died of 82 of a heart attack? That is really quite easy; you take it to the streets and begin to ask people. For me I took it to Facebook and a coffee shop and asked what people thought of the passing of Dick Clark who was the host, not the creator, of American Bandstand from 1952-1989 and literally introduced to world hundreds of singers and acts.

Dawn Harward said, Dick Clark was the king of New Years Eve around my house growing up. I remember my mom turning on TV to watch the countdown after a day of cooking traditional foods. It was the one night of the year my parents let us stay up past 8pm. We all had to have had a bath and our pjs on to enjoy the festivities. Mom and dad would dance with each other and then with us! It was so cool to see them loosen up! We also got to eat chips n dip and soda pop which was a rare treat! The night closed out with the countdown with Dick and like a favorite uncle, I was always sad to see him go.

Mary Albert said, “I remember being a very shy teenager who wanted to “look cool” in front of my peers. I would watch and learn the dance steps and feel so much more confident in front of the “popular” kids.”

Singer and entertainer Clifford Ford stated that he grew up in Philadelphia on 42nd and Market right where Bandstand was. He had excitement in his voice as if he was right up the street from Bandstand. He said he was about 16 he would go to the show whenever he could. He stated his memories of the show wonderful, and his memories of Dick Clark were “very fond.”

Jean at the local coffee shop said, “I was as addicted to Bandstand in the 50s as everyone else my age. It was great.” Bernadette added, “American Bandstand in the very beginning was on right after school Monday through Friday. I rushed home from school to watch! Memories will never fade!” Kim chimed in saying, “One man died, but it is the death of a generation.” As I was leaving the coffee shop, someone came up to me and said, “My childhood and music was Dick Clark. How could any adult our age say that Dick lark never touched their lives?” She was right.

I then sent an email to Stan Blitz, author of American Bandstand the Untold Story and asked him what he thought, Blitz stated “Without Bob Horn there wouldn’t have been Dick Clark or American Bandstand.” Which will lead me to saying stay tuned for Monday’s article about Bandstand.

Everyone is right, if you grew up in the 50s-80s, then you knew who Clark was. I cannot imagine growing up without Clark in our front room playing on Saturday mornings. My sister and I got all the housework done as fast as we could so we could sit and watch his show. She loved the fashions and the dances; I loved the music and eager to see what was happening on the charts.

No matter what reason you had, everyone had a reason back then to turn on the TV and watch Bandstand on Saturday mornings. So today, we bid a fond farewell to Dick Clark. No matter what he did or did not do, there is one thing for certain and that is Clark touched many lives. How did he touch yours?

I remember growing up in Tucson the police were always there in times of need. We lived on a 40-acre ranch and there always seemed to be some sort of activity going on that required police assistance. Whether it was trespassing, snakes or bobcats that spooked us, or some damage done by a storm, the police frequented the ranch often to make sure things were okay.

Back then the police were always there whether it was a fender bender or a large accident, they were there not only for those in need, but for those who could be in potential need. I recall one police officer each time he came to the ranch, he always took the time to tell me a little crime fighting tip, or a safety tip.  Once he helped me load my bike to get licensed at the fire department. He did not have to; it is just what police did back then. Life was different, they could do these little things.

I remember how the same officers would come out to the ranch and it was okay to offer the police homemade cookies or a nice glass of Kool-Aid. They would suck it up and move to their next adventure. For me, that was over 40 years ago.  Back then, there was time and money for the police to assist and to help with the little things like lost dogs, scared children and fender benders.

Fast forward to today, there no longer is the funding and crime is high, too high for police to be the friendly neighborhood helpers that they used to be. I must say however, the kind of accident this was, to not have the police show up made me concerned for several reasons. First, the streets had chemicals on them and rarely does anyone use the ashtray in their car, they simply toss out their butts, which can cause a great hazard. I also feared for a second accident with the traffic stopping as it did.  Finally, someone complained of a backache and we were able to get the police to show up and deal with the mess because someone said they were hurt.

For those who are young, I want to share with you that it is true that firefighters used to get cats out of trees and police really did stop at a car accident and lend a helping hand. I think what I have learned from this experience is we need to count on each other for our support. We may need a neighbor to help us get the cat out of the tree, or we may need to depend on a strangers to come together at the scene of an accident and help. Perhaps it is not a bad thing at all.

Do not get me wrong, I am not criticizing our police department; I am going down memory lane when once upon a time we depended on police for more than just crimes and tickets. The neighborhood police can no longer and this did get me thinking; maybe my Tucson community of people can do what the police used to do in the good old days. Act neighborly; help someone deal with accidents and other mishaps. Perhaps that is the lesson we need to learn. To depend on the community of kind citizens. I think I should keep a jug of Kool-Aid and homemade cookies to offer to the good Samaritans of Tucson just like we used to do when I was a child offering goodies to our neighborhood police.

What do you recall as a young child growing up and the police?

I should have known Easter was around the corner because the stores are littered with chocolate bunnies and eggs, jellybeans and marshmallow chickens called peeps. It could not possibly be spring without Peeps. I am not a marshmallow fan; in fact, as a kid when I got peeps in my Easter basket I would trade it with my sister for chocolate. I was glad to see that my Peep fell to the ground, I would not have eaten it anyhow, still, people love to eat these sugary gooey treat up at the rate of 700 million during Easter season.  So today I thought it would be fitting to go down memory lane and learn a little about these sticky chicks.

You can look up the history of the Russian born man named Sam Born anywhere on the internet as he is everywhere on the internet. Sadly, I did not know much as I avoid the marshmallow madness this time of year.  Peep inventor Born is like the Easter Bunny to so many. After all, he invented peeps in 1953 and became famous for these tasty treats.

When the first peeps came out, it took about 27 hours to create this marshmallow chicken. He squeezed out marshmallow from a pasta tube to make the chick shape. He even painted on the eyes by hand. Now that says a lot of a piece of marshmallow.  Of course Sam realized it was way too much time to spend on a piece of candy so the next year a machine was invented to make Peeps via assembly line and today 2 billion Peeps are made yearly.

What I have found interesting while doing this article is that Peeps seems to be indestructible.  They have a shelf life of two years. In fact, two scientists from Emory University have gone out of their way to prove Peeps are indestructible. The scientists did a remarkable study to help humankind understand the Peep. After all, our spring depends on the Peeps.  What they found was amazing. Indeed, they discovered that Peeps did not dissolve in water. In fact, they found that even sulfuric acid could not destroy this sugary-coated chicken.

Since Peeps cannot be destroyed I suppose all one can do is eat it. It’s okay to eat the Peep because this treat that is mostly sugar and air with only 32 calories per Peep. What is so amazing about these indestructible sweets is it does not matter how you eat your Peep. Some people microwave it, some people like them frozen, some people put them in crepes, pizza, cakes, cookies, and even Peep sushi. Whatever floats your Peep!

What I do know is that the Peep is here to stay and is the best selling spring candy. There are Peep fan clubs, Peep contests, Peep recipe books, Peep trivia games, Peep eat offs and Peep jousting. You name it, people Peep it. So happy spring and may you Peep in peace.

Everywhere you look is a coffee shop springing up around town. In front of these shops, you will see an array of vehicles and bikes and people having meetings, doing homework or just socializing. It is a common site. I tend to think coffee shops are a relatively new over the past fifty years; my thinking could not have been more off!

In researching this, I have discovered that coffee shops have been around for a very long time. I have read a variety of articles that have different dates about the first coffee shops, but as far as I can gather, it was about 1475 when the first public coffee shop was recorded located in a Turkish city. Then in 1529, Europe began to have coffee shops and by the early 1650s, Britain had coffee shops and these shops were spreading worldwide. British coffee shops were called Penny Universities, that was because of course the price of a cup of coffee was a penny, and mainly what was known as upper-class business men hung out there.

Coffee and tea were the main drink offered until 1946 when the espresso machine was invented. Then espresso drinks began to pop up. These coffee shops soon became a place in the United States to talk politics, read poems, and sing folk music. Malt shops were for young love, dancing, a malt before the Football game and a hangout for teens. Coffee shops seemed to be for the creative intellects.

In the mid 50s to early 60s you would find beatniks in the coffee shops. This seemed to be a real movement. They were young people who banged on bongo drums and read poetry. They had something to say and people listened.  In the mid 60s folk music began to spring up in the coffee shops. People such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez could be found in these shops strumming their guitar and singing. Open mike nights would soon be a regular event at the coffee shops and singers began to sing their songs with messages and passion.

That was once upon a time ago. Today, coffee shops are more like chain stores and they tend to move people in and move them out. They have so many drinks that I dare to even call it coffee. Some privately owned coffee shops still offer the gentle sounds of a local singer/songwriter. However, the coffee shops of today will never be able to compare the coffee shops of the 50s and 60s.

I am sure we will never see the coffee shop go out of style and it will evolve more and more. In some states, Starbucks will soon be serving alcohol, which will then not make it a coffee shop but a bar. However, as long as there are shops that sell coffee and offer a place to sit talk and in some places listen to live music, then it pleases me to know that coffee shops are alive and well and ever growing.

Disco produced some interesting fashions. When I think of disco fashion, I think of big hair, platform shoes and polyester, lots of polyester. I also recall the vinyl boots and skirts, which not only made me laugh, it was just somehow wrong. I was not a disco person, in fact, I had one of those t-shirts that said disco sucks but I have to admit, I had a few pairs of platform shoes.

I was not a huge dancer and only participated in a couple of Disco dances. I thought I needed to experience it just in case I was a Disco queen and I just didn’t know it. Disco was just way too over the top for this rock and roller. I did not mind going to the clubs occasionally and looking at fashion and behaviors. I should have known then I would end up in the field of psychology and human behavior.

The Disco era produced a spectacular array of colors. The colors of the disco era were bright, loud and clashy. I am talking about bright lime green and orange put together in a single outfit. The color line up in fashion included shocking pink, fuchsia, teal, and bright cherry red. There was nothing drab about the colors of Disco.

Another big fashion was spandex tops with hot pants and in many cases the hot pants were leather or vinyl. I got a kick out of the angel sleeve dresses or blouses. I called them bell-bottom blouses because the sleeves were like bell-bottoms. I have to admit my mother got me a purple paisley angel sleeve blouse for a gift. It was a shirt I only wore in front of her.

Of course, we can thank John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever for the 3-piece outfits that men wore. They were made of polyester, which I believe should be against the law. Still, men wore these outfits while heading to the beauty salons to get perms in their hair so they could have big hair to go with their polyester.

I look back at all the fashions, and to me, I have to say the Disco era was one of the brightest blingiest (no it is not a word) periods of time I can remember. I cannot say it was my favorite period of time fashion wise. I still wore bell-bottom blue jeans and leather sandals with whatever t-shirt statement I was trying to make. I did feel as though I had to wear sunglasses during that time to protect my eyes from the bright colors but I did find an occasional reason to wear my platform shoes.

Today, I enjoy listening to Disco when I am cleaning the house or doing some ranch chores. It gets my groove thing on while I work. Perhaps my favorite is ‘I Love the Nightlife’ By Alicia Bridges and I got a kick out of Rick Dee’s parody ‘Disco Duck’ and really who didn’t like ‘I will Survive?’ So what was your favorite fashion of the Disco era?

I rushed to Youtube and looked through all the Davy Jones video’s. I was looking for something specific, Davy Jones when he guest stared on the Brady Bunch. My sister thought he was ‘extra cute’ on that episode and she was right. I quickly found it, and put it on Facebook for her. She had written back that it made her cry.

She is not the only baby boomer crying. Davy Jones was the epitome of a teen idol. In the 70s teen Idols such as Bobby Sherman, Mark Lindsay, and David Cassidy shook the world of every teen girl, well not every teen girl. I was not a very big on teen idols, but I loved to watch the girls go nuts I found it fascinating. However, nothing or no one could make a girl go crazier than Davy Jones. You could walk into most girls’ rooms to find posters and photos hanging on the wall. I know my sisters walls might have well been wallpapered with photos and posters of Jones.

She was one of his biggest fans. I never met anyone like my sister who loved this English actor/singer. He was born in 1945 and became an overnight teen idol in 1965 when he joined the Monkees. No other teen idol could come near the likes of Davy Jones. He was cute, funny, charming, and he had an accent that melted young teen hearts.

Jones and his band mates Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith, were responsible for hits such as Last Train to Clarksville, Daydream Believer, Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You, I’m a Believer, I Wanna Be Free, Pleasant Valley Sunday and Steppin’ Stone. Jones had over a dozen albums  from his own solo career as well. He and the Monkees did many reunions tours and I watched a video of him singing just from October of 2011. He remained very active as an entertainer.

When I was a young girl in 7th grade, my mother took my sister and I to Phoenix to see The Monkees. My sister Kath and her friend was crazy with excitement. The coliseum was crowded and crazy with thousands upon thousands of screaming teen girls. I recalled when the Monkees came out girls were screaming and passing out. It was a moment in my life I would never forget because as a young girl, I had never seen anything like this. It was Monkee mayhem.

Today, baby boomers are grieving the loss of Davy Jones. One friend said to me, ‘I didn’t even like the Monkees but I feel this one.’ It is true, though I was not a huge Monkee fan, I grew up with them, I watched them on TV and I lived with a sister that played there records non-stop and I sung their songs under my breath for over 4 decades. Indeed today, the world feels a little empty with one of Americans favorite teen idols dead at the age of 66 from a heart attack. His heart attack will bring heartbreak to millions of girls that loved him then and love him now.

You can visit Davy Jones webpage to see what the family has said, and to go down memory lane. Today, Retroflections bids a sad farewell to Davy Jones. What was your favorite song?