Bye Bye Black Bird-Saturday 9

Thank you all for the comments yesterday. I was called in yesterday to replace someone at the museum. 

Saturday 9: Bye, Bye Blackbird (1957)

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

1) In this song, Julie London complains about all the "hard luck stories" people are handing her. Did you more recently listen to someone else's problems, or share your own?

Ha! I freely overshare (well, not all the time or even begin to state everything). My husband came home yesterday--he was only suppose to drop his mothers mail off and get kerosene and he was there 2 hrs. listening to her complaints. "Whoa" is me is what I call it; No one is stopping you from going anywhere or doing anything;  you have money for a cab or the bus, your not taking the car because neither of you have a license/it sits in our driveway, we give you an allowance, my wife isn't stealing from you, your bills are paid, you have a roof of over your heads, what more do you need, your taxes are paid, your not getting the finances back etc. That was the gist of it.

2) She promises to arrive "late tonight." What time do you think is too late to drop in on someone?

Around here 7:30-8 pm. Usually when it gets dark I'm already in pj's.

3) Julie's nickname was "The Liberty Girl" because she was Liberty Records' first successful artist. The second was singer-songwriter David Seville, who had a couple novelty hits as "The Chipmunks." There were three singing chipmunks. Without looking it up, can you name them?

Alvin, Simon, Theodore and let's not forget their gal pal Brittany

4) Julie's love of music was shared by her mother. When Julie was a little girl, mother and daughter would listen to Billie Holiday records together. What recordings did you enjoy when you were very young?

My parents allowed us to have a large free will when it came to music and their record player. All kinds of music and genres. I fell in love the Doobie Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Big Bopper and so on. From the 50's on up.

5) She began modeling when she 17. Julie was working as an elevator operator when a talent agent saw her and decided she would photograph well. With the advent of push-button elevators, elevator operator is a job that doesn't exist anymore. Can you think of another job that was once common but now is rare (or non-existent)?

My husbands grandfather, Melbourne, ran the elevator at the now de funk Tuttle and Rockwell Department store here in Hornell (it's now the antique 'mall'). Folks still talk about him. My mom was a telephone operator and use to "plug" the lines in, my grandmother wrapped packages for customers at Marshall Fields--there were no bags back then, everything got wrapped. Spent many summers in the basement of Marshall Fields watching and learning how to wrap packages.

6) Julie recorded more than 30 albums and was named "most popular female vocalist" by Billboard magazine in 1956. If you could see any entertainer -- male or female -- in concert, who would you choose?

I am really not a concert go'er. I think though, I would like to see Riverdance in person.

7) She appeared in Westerns on both TV and in the movies. Have you ever dreamed of being a cowboy/cowgirl?

When we first got married, we moved to Hudson, NY to manage a farm. I would go back to it in a heartbeat. 

8) For six seasons, Julie played Dixie McCall R.N. on the show Emergency! The series was about Los Angeles paramedics and firefighters. Do you often hear sirens in your neighborhood?

Of course, we live in town/city. I still haven't figured out why they call Hornell a city, we have no skyscrapers, and only have like 9,000 souls.

9) Random question: You're pulled over for speeding. Do you think you'd have an easier time talking your way out of it if the officer was a man ... or a woman? 

I have never ever talked my way out of a ticket, and the only time I was pulled over was recent when it was snowing and the trooper told me I had a headlight out and please to get it fixed. Maybe its because we have 'MARINE' tags. I don't know. The military is highly respected around here.