A love song...

I was amazed recently to see a YouTube video of a 1960s song that appears to be making a comeback of sorts. It is a love song that hit the charts in 1965.  It was in Billboard’s Top 100 that year – Number 4 in August ’65 performed by The Righteous Brothers. These guys; Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, were not brothers. They were performing in night clubs in the early 1960’s. In one place, a group of U.S. Marines, mostly Blacks, couldn’t believe how intense and soulful their songs were. Many people didn’t believe the singers were white. One marine remarked “You brothers have righteous music.” And so the name stuck.
The interesting thing on YouTube is that so many young people – young women mainly – are reacting to the song like it is the most wonderful thing they’ve ever heard. It is easy to understand why.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYj2hex99gY
When you think about the time this song hit the charts, the Viet Nam war was ramping up. Ten of thousands of young men were on the other side of the world. Their sweethearts were back at home. People were in love and missing each other. It didn’t matter if you were black or white.
So then you have Bobby Hatfield in a voice as smooth as warm chocolate crooning;

“Ohhh,  my love, my darling, I’ve hungered for your touch….

“I’ll be coming home. Wait for me. Wait for me.

You’ve got to go and listen to this song on YouTube to get the full effect. Hatfield is amazing. He performed the song live, with just an orchestra, no Auto Tune, no back up singers. Just the man, singing his heart out.
Don’t forget that when these guys hit the charts – twice that year – The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, The Four Seasons, Stevie Wonder, Elvis and Bob Dylan were already dominating the scene.  
Hatfield sings solo on this song, but the Brothers  were in full bloom that same year when they released You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, another chart topper. Fans of Bill Medley will remember his voice when he performed a duet years later with Jennifer Warnes in the movie Dirty Dancing, singing I’ve Had The Time of My Life. Another amazing song.

Hoping for the best ...

So here we are with the first full day of summer. It used to a wonderful time for young people finishing up the school year and looking forward to a time of fun and relaxation. But now there is a lot of worry for what the future holds.  Education is the most important thing we can provide for our young people. Ontario has two and half months to figure out how to get it right. When students return to school in September they might be in classrooms, they might be doing remote learning online or have a combination of both. I don’t have the answers but I hope our education gurus can find a way to help our young people learn and get they answers they need to go forward and make good decisions. And if we have to pay higher education taxes then I am okay with that.

Sudbury Saturday night ...

Was more than pleased to have a nice Saturday night fire in the valley with the gang at Scott and Jennifer’s place. Don and Denise moved back into Sudbury so they were there along with Christine and Victoria who made the drive up from the city. Tyler and Emilie joined along with Nathan and Dara. So it was nice to sit around and chat even though the bugs were out. But there was just enough woodsmoke to keep the bugs from being too nasty. A few drinks, some great conversations and it was the perfect way to kick off summer. It was the best way to catch up with everyone and I was thinking how perfect it was after two and half months of isolation.  I think we will have to do this again.

Camera

For years I have carried a camera with me, no matter where I go. Just in case I might see something that would make a good picture for the newspaper. Things have changed. It seems everyone with a cell phone has a good camera these days. And for people who do bad things, more and more of that is being recorded on camera. Sadly, we are seeing more instances of bad cops doing stupid things.

A case in point is the cop who kneeled on the neck of George Floyd which surely looks like it contributed to Floyd’s death. In recent days I have seen half a dozen other videos of stupid cops doing stupid things and because it was on camera, these people will pay, either with lost jobs or criminal charges.

It is the new way of things. If people do stupid things, they will likely be caught on camera.