ONJ

 

 

 

I was shocked and saddened - but not really surprised - to hear about the passing of Olivia Newton-John.  I was a fan pretty much from the beginning, singing along with her songs & enjoying her in movies (although the less said about "Two of a Kind", the better).  It's not unusual for me to fall down a nostalgia hole when someone I like passes, but this time I decided to indulge.  Here are a few of my favorite personal ONJ-centric stories:

• I particularly loved to sing "Have You Never Been Mellow".  The song was comfortable for my range & the lyrics were sweet.  When my oldest nephew was a baby I would sometimes babysit, and he really liked it when I sang it to him.
• It's a particularly stuck memory, the first time I heard "Sam".  I was at a friend's birthday party.  We were going to a pizza place, and I was one of the ones who got to sit in the back of the El Camino.  I could still hear the car radio.  I heard this song, recognized Olivia's voice right off, but didn't know the song.  It took some radio diligence afterwards to get the title.
• "I'll Bet You a Kangaroo" proved to me that the lady not only had talent & beauty, but a fun sense of humor.  That song always makes me smile...especially when she giggles & "Ye-Ha's" near the end.
• Who didn't love "Grease"?  I went to see it with some friends and fell in love.  I went out & bought the 45 for "Hopelessly Devoted To You" almost immediately, and sang to it a lot.  I DID eventually get the whole album.  (Side note: my daughters & I will be watching it in tribute tomorrow.)
  
• At one time I worked in the Sight & Sound department at Bradlees.  Every week I would have an argument with the record distributor.  He insisted that Olivia's albums be filed under "J".  I kept telling him that her last name is "NEWTON-John"...with the hyphen.  He said that no one would think to look under "N" for her.  He'd leave, and I'd immediately put her back under "N".  For the record, absolutely no one asked where she was listed.
• Here's an "I'm Not Proud" moment.  When my husband & I got married, it was thrown together rather quickly.  3 days, to be precise.  I knew we couldn't do a lot of traditions that are at most weddings, but I definitely wanted a First Dance.  Unfortunately, I didn't bring any of my music to the house where our "reception" was, and the woman who owned the house had drastically different music taste from mine.  I DID see that she had an ONJ album, so I queued up "I Honestly Love You" for us to dance to.  Now, I'd listened to the song probably hundreds of times at that point...but never REALLY listened (it wasn't one of my favorite "sing-alongs").  Wanting to capture this precious moment in my memory forever, I tried to fasten on everything, and I listened to the words.  Carefully.  Have you ever listened to it...I mean REALLY listen to it?  If not, do so.  Listen to the last verse.  Yeah, as I said...I'm not proud.  It obviously didn't hurt, tho; we're celebrating our 37th anniversary next month.
  
• While dating, and early in our marriage, my husband & I would often talk about music.  He told me that his favorite John Denver song was "Fly Away", a duet he did with Olivia, but he could never find a copy.  There was a record store not far from our first apartment, so I did some digging...and surprised him with "John Denver's Greatest Hits, Vol. II", with the song on it.  It made him SO happy.
• My husband and I also have a soft spot in our hearts for the movie "Xanadu".  We absolutely love it (He actually likes it better than "Grease").  Yes, I sang the title track...and yes, I could hit the note at the end.  (Don't know if I still can, tho.  Covid kind of messed with my upper range...but that's neither here nor there.)  My daughters & I just watched "Xanadu" together last week.
  

Thank you, Olivia...for the music, for the "Magic", for the memories.

Kids' Shows - My Children's Childhoods

 

When our girls were little, I liked to watch TV with them.  Even as a grownup I still loved children's shows, and the girls gave me an excuse to see the newer ones.  I have to admit that a lot of the children's shows we watched were a lot better than when I was a child.  Those shows from my childhood were all great, but children's educational programming has really grown since then.

One night we were talking about the shows that they enjoyed as small children, and I got to thinking of some of my favorites of their shows.  While they loved a lot of the more popular shows of the time - including Blues Clues, the Wiggles, and the ever-present Sesame Street - there were a few that weren't as well known, but still extremely entertaining...even for me:

 

Oobi

To me, this is THE best show for very young children.  It's soft, sweet, not too silly (if you can get past the fact that the characters are literally just hands), with a clean humor that even parents can appreciate.  Each show had 2 episodes: first there was a story, with a couple of bits with the characters talking to actual children, followed by a simple game for the viewers to play as well.  Oobi, Uma, Kako and Grampu were so loved in our home that they still love them now.

Backyardigans

This show allows children to realize that they can visit anyplace in the world, right in their own back yards, with just a little imagination.  Tyrone, Pablo, Tasha, Austin & Uniqua bring children into their adventures, but the best part is the music.  Each episode is an understated lesson in different genres of music, from Disco to Surf Rock to Irish Folk to Raï (which I had never even HEARD of 'til I heard it here).

 

Jack's Big Music Show

Again, this one teaches the importance of music in a child's life, but it's more overt.  Jack, his best friend Mary, and his dog Mal, play together in Jack's musical clubhouse, have a little band, play games, and meet all kinds of interesting characters...and let's not forget the Schwartsman Quartet!

 

The Upside-Down Show

This Australian gem is nothing but pure, unadulterated silliness.  Shane and David, and their friend Puppet - and the "schmuzzies" - encourage audience participation with their wondrous Remote that they "pass" to the child & encourage them to hit the buttons they suggest...often having them hit the "wrong" button, to hilarious results.

 

Wonder Pets!

Linny the Guinea Pig, Tuck the Turtle, and Ming-Ming the duckling were class pets, quietly living their lives in their cages.  However, once class was out and..."The phone...the phone is ringing..." gets sung, they become the Wonder Pets, rescuing various animals from unfortunate situations.  While they teach about animals and their habitats, they also teach about teamwork.

 

Max & Ruby/Charlie & Lola

I'm putting these two together because they're somewhat similar.  Both concern an older sibling with a younger sibling and their sibling situations.  Max & Ruby are rabbits where the sister is older; Charlie & Lola are British humans where the brother is older.  Sometimes the older sibling has to show great patience with their annoying younger one, and sometimes the older one will get a little patronizing (especially Ruby), but in the end, the love is there.

 

Bear In the Big Blue House

Bear is large and exceedingly gentle, and takes care of his friends in his Big Blue House: Ojo, a little bear; Tutter the mouse; Pip & Pop the otters, and Treelo the lemur.  Every episode had Shadow perform a shadow-puppet skit, and every episode ended with Bear sharing the ending song with Luna the moon.  The girls loved it when, near the beginning of every episode, Bear would "sniff" for them.

Some Honorable Mentions:  Lazytown; Tweenies; Brum; Koala Brothers; Pingu; Dragontales.

Kids' Shows - My Childhood

 

 As one who was born in the '60s and lived most of her childhood in the '70s, television was huge to me.  Children's television was just coming into popularity, and I was the perfect age for it.  I remember so many of the shows with great fondness.  Now, I'm not talking about your Saturday Morning cartoons; that's something completely different.  These were shows that were made not only to entertain, but to educate and help the kids of the day be aware of their world.  Following are a few of my favorites.

Sesame Street

Who doesn't know Sesame Street?  However, my memory always defaults to the original run, pre-Elmo and Grover, and with the original Gordon.  I can still remember a lot of the bits, from the pinball game counting to 12, the other counting show with the guy always falling down at the end, the Ladybug Picnic, One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others...etc.  "Being Green".  "I Love Trash".  "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" (pronounced "Abcadefgueejeckelminopquerstuvwitz" by Big Bird)...and, of course, "Rubber Duckie".  I even had the album!

 

Mr. Rogers Neighborhood

As a child with an excellent imagination, I loved riding on Trolley to the Land of Make Believe. Lady Aberlin and Henrietta Kittycat were my friends, and I adored the odd Lady Elaine and her Museum-Go-Round.  And overseeing all of this, the trolleymaster himself, Mr. Rogers was there with gentleness and grace talking TO us (not AT us) and singing his lovely songs.  I also loved waiting to see how Picture Picture was going to greet me every day!

The Electric Company

Set aside the unbelievable cast, including Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno.  This show was hip for those too young to know what "hip" was, and mostly focused on reading.  With recurring characters like Easy Reader; Fargo North, Decoder; Jennifer of the Jungle; Letterman; and the original live action Spiderman!  "HEY, YOU GUYYYYYYYYYS!!!"

Zoom

Tracy. Nina. Tommy. Nancy. Kenny. Jon. Joe.  Seven regular kids dancing barefoot across an almost empty stage...then they start to sing: Come on and Zoom, Zoom, Zoom-a-Zoom!  They acted out skits, sang songs, taught us crafts and Ubbi-Dubbi.  They encouraged you to write to them at Zoom, Z-double-O-M, box 350, Boston, Mass...Oh Two One Three Four!  One of my favorite segments was when they sang "The Cat Came Back".  When they came out with an album, I got it...and I still have it (the song "Always Friends" is my favorite).

Captain Kangaroo

The Captain & his friends (including Mr. Green Jeans and Moose) seem to ride on the ragged edge of my memory.  For some reason, I remember Mr. Green Jeans the most...and the ping-pong balls.  But I remember the Captain being big, gentle, and kind...and I loved that.

Pixanne

This one is an even earlier memory, but I remember my brother & I always watched it.  Pixanne was another one that resonated with my imagination: a pixie in a magical forest.  Afterwards, my brother & I would play: I would be Pixanne, he would be Pixandy (a creation of our own minds).

The New Zoo Revue

Henrietta Hippo, Freddie Frog and Charlie Owl lived in a lovely little town with a gazebo in the center, and were helped in learning life lessons through stories and songs with the help of their human friends Doug and Emmy-Jo.  The costumed characters were a little on the odd side (with huge, googly eyes), but they were sweet: Henrietta was oh-so feminine, Freddie naive and adventurous (and a little clumsy), and Charlie, of course, intelligent...to a point.  It's the New Zoo Revue, coming right at you!

Villa Allegre

I'm kind of cheating with this one.  I didn't watch it regularly, but only when I stayed home sick.  I would search the PBS channels to find it and would be so glad when I did!  It was mostly in Spanish - often 2 characters would converse, one in English & one in Spanish - so I didn't understand a lot, but I got the basics down...and one of the main characters (pictured) was always so kind and comforting...like a hug.

A few Honorable Mentions:  Jabberwocky; Romper Room; Boomtown; Major Mudd