34 South Main St., Attleboro, MA - Directions - (508) 222-7000
Home News Sports Features classifieds milestones services photos tvlistings cars jobs realestate subscribe
Opinion

What did you sing on the way home from the dance?







I check in on the Guestbook at www.thesunchronicle.com from time to time, as do a lot of former residents who have moved on to sunnier climes - well, mostly; some appear to have moved on to Alaska, northern New England and crazy places like that - and a lot of current residents. As it goes with most online forums, you've got to sift out the occasional flame job, but otherwise it's must reading for Sun Chronicle area nostalgia. Jolly Cholly's has been well-remembered there. So too, Rattey's Car Hop, Rollie's Doughnuts, and Bobby's - "the both of them," as we used to say, Pawtucket roller skating rink and Attleboro ice cream shop.

But I had the rare experience this week of having to say No - if only to myself - when a guestbook correspondent asked "do you remember..." Finishing out the question was a reference to dances held at the snack shack at Bearcroft Swim Club in 1965 or so. I was still in high school then - it really was that long ago - but don't remember even hearing about dances at the swim club off Pike Avenue.

There are many others I do remember, though, and would like to hear from readers who could add to the following list (contact information is at end of column) of teen dances held around the area in the late 1950s and 1960s. Reminiscences about big band dancing at King Philip Ballroom, or more recent dances wherever are equally welcome.:

The North Hop. Canteen at the Attleboro YMCA. Lakeview Ballroom in Foxboro. CYO block dances at Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro. CYO dances indoors at St. Mary's parish hall in Norton. Teen dances at South Attleboro Junior High School. Square dancing at the Almac's, South Attleboro, parking lot. Block dances at Tarpy's in downtown Pawtucket. Friday night dances at Holy Trinity Parish Hall in Central Falls, R.I., and Saturday night at St. Raphael's Academy, Pawtucket.

As for the dances done there: The twist. Mashed potatoes. Hully gully. Popeye. The locomotion. The watusi. So much for that list. I wasn't much of a dancer.
And here are the songs, according to Billboard, we were listening to "now, then and in-between:"

Now:

The top 10 songs of 2007 are: 1. Beautiful Girls, Sean Kingston; 2. Stronger, Kanye West; 3. Me Love, Sean Kingston; 4. The Way I Are, Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson 5. Crank That, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em; 6. Ayo Technology, 50 Cent; 7. Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's; 8. S.O.S., Jonas Brothers; 9. Big Girls Don't Cry, Fergie; 10. Shut Up and Drive, Rihanna.

Then:

I should have said that those were the Top 10 as of 3 p.m. Wednesday. The listing has no doubt changed several times since then. It is updated hourly in the Internet Age.

But if you were of age during this week in 1957, you were probably singing along to "Tammy" with Debbie Reynolds. The song, the theme from the first of a series of movies about a teen ingenue, hit number one of Aug. 19, knocking Billy Williams' "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" off the perch it had held since Aug. 5.

In between:

The top 10 of 1967 were: 1. Respect, Aretha Franklin; 2. Light My Fire, Doors; 3. Sunshine Of Your Love, Cream; 4. Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix; 5. A Day In The Life, Beatles; 6. Whiter Shade Of Pale, Procol Harum; 7. Somebody To Love, Jefferson Airplane; 8. Soul Man, Sam 9. Strawberry Fields Forever, Beatles; 10. Nights In White Satin, Moody Blues.

The best sellers of 1977 were: 1. Tonight's The Night, Rod Stewart; 2. I Just Want To Be Your Everything, Andy Gibb; 3. Best Of My Love, Emotions; 4. Love Theme From "A Star Is Born," Barbra Streisand; 5. Angel In Your Arms, Hot; 6. I Like Dreamin', Kenny Nolan; 7. Don't Leave Me This Way, Thelma Houston; 8. (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher, Rita Coolidge; 9. Undercover Angel, Alan O'Day; 10. Torn Between Two Lovers, Mary MacGregor.

In 1987, they were: 1. With Or Without You, U2; 2. Alone, Heart; 3 Shake You Down, Gregory Abbott; 4. C'est La Vie, Robbie Nevil; 5. Faith, George Michael; 6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, U2; 7. Shakedown, Bob Seger; 8. La Bamba, Los Lobos; 9. Open Your Heart, Madonna; 10. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), Whitney Houston
1997: 1. Don't Speak, No Doubt; 2. You Were Meant For Me, Jewel; 3. Foolish Games, Jewel; 4. Fly, Sugar Ray; 5. You Make Me Wanna, Usher; 6. Sunny Came Home, Shawn Colvin; 7. Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Madonna; 8. Wannabe, Spice Girls; 9. Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind; 10. Bitch, Meredith Brooks.

It is surely a quirk of memory that the older a song listed above is, the more likely I am to know some of the words.

MARK FLANAGAN is Opinion page editor of The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0335 or by e-mail to mflanagan@thesunchronicle.com.

 


*Member ID:
*Password:
  Forgot Your Password?
 
View Comments » No comments posted. « Hide Comments


*Member ID:
*Password:
  Forgot Your Password?
 
 or