Saturday 9
Goodbye, Cruel World
Saturday 9: Goodbye, Cruel World (1961)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) This week's song has a circus theme. Have you ever been to a circus? If yes, did you enjoy it?
I’ve been to Ringling Brothers many times. Also to Big Apple Circus and Cirque du Soleil.
I guess you could say I enjoy it.
2) James Darren sings that he's running away to join the circus. When you were a kid, did you ever run away from home?
Not really. As a teen I’d leave the house after an argument with my parents, I’d walk for awhile until I cooled down, and then go home. But actually run away? No.
3) While he understands intellectually that this girl is no good for him, he tells us his heart is stubborn. Do you have a stubborn streak?
Yeah.
4) Though he had three top 20 singles, including this one, James Darren found more consistent success as an actor. Between 1959 and 1963, he played surfer Jeff Matthews, aka "Moondoggie," in three Gidget movies. Have you seen any Gidget movies? What about the TV show, starring Sally Field?
I’ve seen the tv show. Sally Field was so cute!
5) "Moondoggie" got his unique nickname because he enjoyed surfing in the moonlight. Looking back on Summer 2023, did you visit the beach (by moonlight or otherwise)?
We moved house in July. I was so busy packing and then unpacking that I never made it to the beach this summer. And I live on Long Island, where the beach is never more than a short ride away. I’ll have to rectify that next summer.
6) While he was playing Gidget's teen dream, he was a married man. He wed Danish beauty queen Evy Norlund in 1960. They met when she came to Los Angeles to pursue a career and they were both working at Columbia Studios. More than 60 years later, they're still together. Tell us about the longest-married couple you know.
My parents were married for 56 years, until my father’s death in 2015.
7) James Darren also played Officer James Corrigan on ABC's police drama, TJ Hooker. Have you ever considered a career in law enforcement?
When I first graduated from law school I interviewed with the District Attorney’s office. It sounded interesting.
I wound up taking a job in the private sector, not anything to do with criminal law.
8) In 1961, when this song was on the radio, matching his & hers mohair sweaters were on trend. Do you have a favorite sweater?
I do like sweaters, but I don’t think I have one I’d call my favorite.
9) Random question -- They say we're all young at heart. In what ways are you childlike?
9) Random question -- They say we're all young at heart. In what ways are you childlike?
Hmmm…
I like dressing up in costume. I do it for Halloween, for the Jewish holiday of Purim (if I’m going to synagogue), and when we go to the Renaissance Faire.
#1 The winter quarters for Coleman Brother’s Shows, in my high school class a classmate’s parents had high wire act and in their backyard was the tightrope that they practiced on.
ReplyDelete#5 I have some friends who live on Long Island and they used to invite me to a cookout on Fire Island in Fair Harbor.
#7 I’ll brag a little, I am on a committee with the CT Attorney General’s office, the US District Attorney’s office, and the head of the CT State Police. Along with us civilians.
#9 Renaissance Faire, that is something that I would like to do sometime.
I miss Renn Faires. There aren't any in Hawai'i. I used to go to the one in Sterling, NY every summer when I still lived back home.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to go to a Renaissance Fair!
ReplyDeleteI live 30 miles from the beach, but the traffic is always bad, so we hardly go. I hope you make it back next year.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to go to a Renaissance Fair, but seem to never find out about them until they've come and gone.
ReplyDeleteI loved the circuses I've been to, but am not sure if I'd like Cirque du Soleil. I watched it on TV once and it wasn't really my thing. There is a Renaissance Fair not too far from us every year, but I have never gone. My husband has zero interest and I don't want to go on my own.
ReplyDeleteI do like Gidget. Moondoggie is such a funny name.
ReplyDeleteHuh... I didn't know he was on TJ Hooker. I looked it up and he does look like a familiar character. Oh, dear, I just admitted I watched the show. It wasn't very good. Where I used to live there was an annual Scottish Renaissance Faire. That's how they billed it, not sure how it different from others. My kids enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI've attended a Renaissance Faire but I didn't dress up. Those look lie challenging costumes to move around in!
ReplyDeleteSome are. I tend to dress in peasant garb, much more comfortable
Delete