"SCHOOL DAZE" by Richie D.

It's me, Richie D, back from wherever. We've kind of gotten off the subject of going to school and have been discussing fifties ROCK & ROLL, instead. That's okay because ROCK & ROLL takes precedence over school any old day. Especially the schools I attended. I kind of wish I had gone to ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL with THE RAMONES and maybe even, JACK BLACK. No such luck. TWELVE YEARS, Man. TWELVE YEARS of CATHOLIC SCHOOL! Help!
I'm just kidding. It wasn't so bad, I don't think. Blotted most of it out.
No seriously, if I had it to do over again, I would definitely go back to LITTLE FLOWER. The kids who went there with me are the reason why. We had a great group of kids who lived and grew up in my neighborhood. I think about them all the time. Where are they and what are they doing, things like that. Some of them I think about more than others.
I lost track of a lot of people when I moved out west but recently have reconnected with some of them.
We hung out on Avenue D at a place called Von Dohlen's, when we were teenagers. It was the neighborhood ice cream parlor. A MALT SHOPPE! It was two doors down from THE AVENUE D MOVIE THEATER and it was the most popular hangout on the Avenue. Generations of kids and their families spent the best years of their lives right there.
Two of the girls in our crowd, Marianne M. and Maureen M. were both KNOCKOUTS and very popular. I liked both of them at one time or another. Too bad both were dating other guys. Oh, well.
Sometimes people's lives go off in different directions but it seems that eventually some of the people we knew come back into our lives. That's the case with Marianne and Maureen. We've reconnected through the world wide web and I don't mind telling you that of all the people from my past that I could have conjured up - these ladies would be the ones. It gives credence to the theories about GROUP SOULS incarnating together. When I talk to them, it seems that we just continued where we left off.
I won't start to get too philosophical now, but I just want to tell all of you and them that I'm extremely HAPPY we reconnected. THERE'S LOTS MORE TO THIS STORY!
We'll talk again. This is Richie D., The Kid From Flatbush, wishing all of you a HAPPY REST OF SUMMER!

thekidfromflatbushremembers: "The GIRL IN MY DREAMS" by Dickie Doo Wop

thekidfromflatbushremembers: "The GIRL IN MY DREAMS" by Dickie Doo Wop

"The GIRL IN MY DREAMS" by Dickie Doo Wop

I know, man, I've been away from my desk. How time flies. I talked to Richie D, whose blog page this is and he said to tell you that he's starting to remember more about the old days in Flatbush so he'll be back "on the job" (code words) soon. I admit I'm a bit of a hog. I've sort of taken over his page and have been concentrating more on FIFTIES ROCK AND ROLL! It's what it's all been about from the beginning, though, hasn't it?
Now, if you read the last GUEST BLOG I did you may notice that in it I mentioned THE GLADIOLAS! That Fabulous 1950's Group founded by MAURICE WILLIAMS (later of Zodiac fame). It was The Gladiolas who originally sang, "LITTLE DARLIN'" which WILLIAMS had written. Released in 1957 on the EXECELLO Label, it was soon overshadowed by THE DIAMONDS later version which became a MONSTER HIT for Mercury Records. I'm partial to both.
Later that same year, TOM & JERRY who later became SIMON & GARFUNKEL had their FIRST BIG HIT for fittingly, BIG RECORDS.
The title? "HEY, SCHOOLGIRL".
Well, there must be something to all of this COSMIC STUFF that's been going around because lately, everything I've been thinking about HAS BEGUN TO MATERIALIZE! I happened to be watching television last night and there was a DOO WOP OLDIES SHOW on Public Television. There they were - MAURICE WILLIAMS with THE GLADIOLAS SINGING a "LITTLE DARLIN" DUET with THE DIAMONDS!
I'm telling you, it's COSMIC!
Right after that on the same station - I'm not lying - PAUL SIMON was telling his life story! Yeah, yeah, GARFUNKLE wasn't there but still - don't you think there might be something to all of this ROCK AND ROLL ENERGY? It's like THE FABULOUS FIFTIES are being recreated RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES!
Okay, I'll tell you one more. Richie D told me that he had been listening to a song called, "THE GIRL IN MY DREAMS" by a group called, THE FOUR LOVERS. The lead singer was - I'm saving this one for a future rock and roll trivia question - okay, I'll give you a hint - he was AN ORIGINAL JERSEY BOY and he also had a recurring role on THE SOPRANOS! Give up? Too, bad. You'll have to wait until someone comments in with the answer. Anyway, back in the fifties, Richie D and a group he was in used to sing, "THE GIRL IN MY DREAMS" as part of their repertoire.
They loved singing that song. One night, Richie says, they were singing the song at a party and he looked up and saw her standing across the room. She was beautiful. Stunningly beautiful. She looked to be about fifteen. Richie was seventeen.
If there is such a thing as, "THE GIRL IN MY DREAMS" in real life, he thought, there she is. It was a moment - frozen in time. You know what I mean.
The song ended and it turned out that she was going with somebody else. Maybe they'll break up.
Life went on and there were two other "DREAM GIRLS". One had the same name and the other one, he married. Can there ever be more than one, "GIRL IN MY DREAMS"? Wow, that's heavy.
Guess what? "THE GIRL IN MY DREAMS" (the song) has reappeared in Richie's life and so has "THE GIRL IN MY DREAMS" (the girl). He'll tell you all about it when he gets back from wherever it is he is.
This is DICKIE DOO WOP wishing all of you, SWEET ROCK AND ROLL MEMORIES!