Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Volare (1960)

 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) The word "volare" is Italian for "to fly." Say something else in Italian. "Cantare" means "sing." It's in the next line of the song. Duh. (Since I'm the one who does the questions, I can make a smartass response with complete impunity.)

2) This week, Bobby Rydell invites us to take off with him up in the clouds and promises we'll find a rainbow. Countless lyricists have included rainbows in their songs. Can you name another song that mentions rainbows? I have loved this song since I first saw Ski Party on the after school movie when I was a little girl. I have spent much of my adult life on public transportation. I can attest that the movie misled me and this never, ever happens on buses in real life.

 

 

 

3) His happy heart is singing. What is making you happy this morning? I just learned that my beloved Joe Maddon is returning to Chicago for next weekend's Cubs Convention. He was manager of the magic 2016 World Series team but has not appeared at anything Cubs related since management fired his ass declined to renew his contract. I get such a kick out of old Joe and am looking forward to seeing him as part of the convention. (Rizzo will be there, too! My heart is not only singing. It's spinning around like Julie Andrews on a mountaintop.)

 

4) Bobby Rydell, like Frankie Avalon and Fabian, was a 1950s teen idol who hailed from Philadelphia. Home to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, Philly is Pennsylvania's most populous city. Have you ever been there? Many times. I was once in a long-distance relationship and came dangerously close to moving to Bala Cynwyd, a suburb less than half an hour outside Philly.

 

5) Bobby was such a perfect example of a clean-cut American boy that when Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey sat down to write the play Grease, they named their fictional high school Rydell High after him. Do you have a favorite song from Grease? Wella wella wella uh! Summer Lovin'.

 

6) In addition to singing, Bobby also acted. His most famous film role was opposite Ann-Margret in Bye, Bye, Birdie (1963). Have you seen it? Yes, but I don't think of it a an Ann-Margret/Bobby Rydell movie. I remember it for this Dick Van Dyke musical number. (We sang it for our fathers at the annual Girl Scout Daddy/Daughter Dinner.)

 

 

 

7) In 1960, when this record was popular, so were hand-loomed, 100% virgin wool sweaters from Italy. You could order one from the Sears catalog for $12.60 (approx. $135 in today's dollars). That sweater was labeled "dry clean only." Do you have any garments waiting to be picked up from the cleaners? Nope. Since I retired from advertising, I seldom wear those grown up/suitable for big presentations/dry clean only jackets. I really should donate them to Goodwill before they go too far out of style.

 
8) Also in 1960, Princess Margaret married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones. They met when he was commissioned to take her official portrait. Who took the most recent photo of you? My niece took a freaking adorable photo of me with her baby on Christmas morning. I told her that from now on, she does all my portraits.

 

9) Random question: Is your oldest friend also your best friend? Not anymore. This makes me sad because we met in kindergarten and, for more than 40 years, we were best friends. But she has changed and while my heart goes out to her and I work to understand the financial, physical and emotional challenges she has faced since moving to Los Angeles in 2011, I can't honestly even refer to us as friends anymore. That implies an equal partnership she is simply incapable of. I legitimately cannot recall the last time we talked about anything but her: her anxieties, her money troubles, her (completely one-sided) "love affair" with her landlord ... It's depressing and exhausting. Every time she reaches out, I respond because I love her and honor our history. But I'd by lying if I didn't admit I emit a heavy sigh and wonder, "Now, what?" when I see a message from her.