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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The "Sticky" Business Of Panini Group



I really don’t know any child who grew up not liking stickers.

I don’t know about anybody else, but stickers played a huge role in my childhood.  Even when I was four years old, I have vague memories of playing with those Garbage Pail Kids stickers and sticking them everywhere.  I stuck them on my toys, in my colouring books...

...on the living room walls, on the kitchen refrigerator, in my hair...

Yeah, you can say it.  I was a pretty mischievous child when it came to stickers.  But I couldn’t help myself.  All those stickers with their bright colours and different shapes were calling out my name.

And there wasn’t a sticker that I didn’t like.

I loved the stickers that had the adhesive ready-stick backing, but I also loved the stickers that you had to moisten the back to get them to stick.  I loved stickers that felt fuzzy, I loved stickers that glowed in the dark, I loved stickers that glittered and sparkled.  Stickers were just cool.

Whenever I was in elementary school, there was no bigger rush than getting a test back from the teacher and getting a huge sticker on the paper rewarding you for a job well done.  Seeing that gold star, smiley face, or “Good Job” sticker right there on the paper meant that I was on an instant high the rest of the day.  And every single teacher that I had in elementary school gave out stickers. 


Well, everyone except for my third grade teacher, who used stampers and ink pads.  Although I liked the stamp pads well enough, they weren’t as good as stickers.

For today’s blog entry, I thought that I would take my love of stickers and use it to talk about a popular activity that I partook in along with many other people my age.  And as it so happens, this activity is linked to my love of stickers.

Before I get into that, I’d like to talk a little bit about the company that was behind this activity that I loved so much, just for you to get an idea as to what they were about, how they were founded, and what drove the company to create this idea.


In the community of Modena, Italy, two brothers named Benito and Giuseppe Panini were operating a newspaper distribution office in the early 1960s.  And, they likely would have continued doing that had it not been for a discovery that they had found.  The two brothers found a small collection of stickers that were made to be attached with glue.  They were unsold merchandise that a Milan based company were unable to sell.  Seeing potential in these stickers, the Panini brothers purchased the leftover inventory, and began selling the items themselves, setting a price of ten lire for a two-pack.

By the end of the 1960/1961 fiscal year, the brothers had managed to sell over three million packets of stickers, and they soon discovered that they had a potential gold mine on their hands.


In 1961, Giuseppe founded the business known as the Panini Group, in which he would manufacture and sell his own stickers.  His brother Benito would join the company later that year.  Two more brothers, Franco and Umberto, would also join the company by 1963.

By 1963, the Panini Group continued to be a huge force on the marketplace.  In their first year of business, the company sold fifteen million packages of stickers.  The following year, that number grew to twenty-nine million sold!

During the mid-1960s, the company started printing themed sticker sets.  One of the more popular sets that were created back in that time period was the ones that featured soccer players.  The general public in and around Italy snatched up the stickers as quickly as they could be made, and are widely considered to be collector’s items today.  Children’s board games were also made where the stickers doubled as playing cards. 

And beginning in the 1970s, some changes to the way that the stickers were produced lead to the creation of a very successful venture.

In the early part of the decade, the stickers began to be manufactured with an adhesive backing, which allowed people to peel the stickers off and stick them onto a surface without needing glue.  Right around that same time, the Panini Group began publishing “L’Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio Italiano” (The Illustrated Guide to Italian Football), after purchasing the rights from Carcano publishing house.


Soon after, the company published their very first sticker album, “The 1970 Football World Cup Sticker Album”, which proved to be incredibly successful.

Thus, the Panini Sticker Album was born.

I have such fond memories of Panini Sticker Albums.  When I was just a little boy, I would jump at the chance to go grocery shopping with my mom.  At that time, I admittedly was bored out of my skull when it came to standing in the aisles of the grocery store.  My mother was (and still is) a very fussy shopper, and she would often spend an average of ten minutes in each aisle, trying to decide what she wanted to buy.

But then we got to the front checkouts, and I was in heaven.

At that time, my mom’s favourite grocery store was a little supermarket called O.K. Economy (it’s since been replaced by a dining establishment after closing up shop in the early 1990s).  And at the end of each cash register was the magazine rack.  There were Archie Digests, Reader’s Digests, tabloids, and horoscope books.

And on the bottom racks were where the Panini sticker albums (as well as Diamond brand albums, which were more common here in Canada) and packages of stickers were kept, and if I were behaving well in the store, she would buy me three packages of stickers for the sticker album that I was using at the time.


The packages of stickers were something along the lines of 49 cents for each package, of which each package contained anywhere from five to seven stickers. 

When you opened up the sticker album, you would see a whole bunch of numbered squares on each page, kind of like this.


In each package of stickers, the stickers were labelled with a different number.  All you would have to do is locate the number of the sticker that corresponded with the numbered space within the album.  All you would then have to do is stick the sticker on the space.

Each album contained at least one hundred stickers within the pages.  Most of the stickers were standard sized, but there were also some instances in which you would need a set of two or four stickers to stick together to create a bigger picture (for instance, to fill in the sticker picture, you’d need stickers 18-21).

The more stickers you bought, the better chance you had of completing a sticker album...but because the stickers came in random packages, sometimes you would inevitably get doubles, triples, or even quadruple copies of stickers.

Of course, this lead to a whole bunch of kids in the elementary school playground trading stickers desperately needed to complete their sticker albums.  And yes, I definitely was a part of that crowd who partook in the Panini Sticker Exchange.


MINI-CONFESSION:  In all my years of collecting sticker albums, I never managed to fully complete one in its entirety.  I did come close with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sticker album, but the supermarket stopped selling the TMNT sticker packs just before I found the last four stickers.

That was a part of Panini’s appeal though.  They literally had sticker albums on all subjects.  Certainly there were dozens of sticker albums that featured sports teams.  It made sense, given that their first album was sports-themed.  But there were so many other sticker albums out there for kids of both genders.  Some of the ones I remember owning over the years aside from the TMNT album I almost completed were largely based on cartoon shows I watched.  Among some of the albums were He-Man, Snoopy, The New Archies, The California Raisins, Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters, and Garfield.  But lest you think that Panini sticker albums were made solely for boys, think again.  There were just as many Panini sticker albums for Barbie, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, and even on Troll dolls!

If it was a pop culture phenomenon, it was turned into a Panini Sticker Album.

These days, the Panini Group still manufactures stickers and albums all over the world.  In 1986, Panini opened up a sticker museum, and in 2006, the company teamed up with Coca-Cola and Tokenzone to produce the very first virtual sticker album for the FIFA World Cup.  The album was viewable in ten different languages.

Beginning in March 2009, Panini soon moved into the trading card business, purchasing famed trading card company Donruss.  Shortly after, the company began printing off their own baseball cards.  The following year, the company added hockey cards to their line-up.  And in 2010, the company acquired a license to create a sticker collection for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Not a bad legacy for a company that began with an accidental discovery by a couple of Italian brothers, huh?

It’s good to see that the Panini Group is still going strong over fifty years later.  Their sticker albums were creative, and kept millions of kids entertained.


It’s been years since I last used a Panini sticker album, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have a clue as to where one can purchase them anymore.  But I’ll never forget the rush that I felt looking through my Panini Sticker Albums, and always being regretful that I never managed to complete a sticker album in full.

I wonder if eBay still has any in stock...

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

April 24, 1965


When I started off the Tuesday Timeline feature three months ago, I always assumed that I would have an easy time choosing a subject to feature in this space because so much happens on any given day.

Yet, for some reason, April 24 was one of those dates in history where I really had a tough time selecting a suitable topic for discussion.  Sure, there were lots of famous people born on April 24, such as Shirley MacLaine, Barbra Streisand, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Eric Bogosian, Michael O’Keefe, Cedric the Entertainer, Djimon Hounsou, David Usher, Stacy Haiduk, Melinda Clarke, Eric Snow, Lee Westwood, Thad Luckinbill, Danny Gokey, Kelly Clarkson, and Doc Shaw.  But, I’ve already done a feature on a celebrity birth this month, and didn’t want to go into overkill on that.

Since I featured a celebrity death last week, I didn’t want to do the same this week, although celebrities who did pass away on this date include author Lucy Maud Montgomery in 1942, Dutchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson in 1986, and cosmetics entrepreneur Estee Lauder in 2004.

Looking at significant historical events that took place on April 24th, there were quite a few happenings, but none I could really expand into a blog.  But, if you’re interested, here are some of the events that took place on April 24th.

1704 – The first newspaper in the United States is published in Boston, Massachusetts, with the name “The News-Letter”

1800 – The United States Library of Congress is established

1877 – Russian Empire declares war on Ottoman Empire during Russo-Turkish War

1885 – Annie Oakley hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West

1898 – The United States declares war on Spain in the Spanish-American War

1907 – The opening of Hersheypark by Milton S. Hershey

1913 – The Woolworth Building skyscraper is opened in New York City

1926 – Treaty of Berlin is signed

1953 – Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

1967 – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when his parachute malfunctions, making him the first person to die during a space mission

1980 – Operation Eagle Claw; Eight U.S. servicemen are killed as they try to end the Iran Hostage Crisis

1990 – The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from Space Shuttle Discovery

1993 – IRA bomb detonates in London, devastating Bishopgates area

1996 – Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced in the United States

2005 – Snuppy, the world’s first cloned dog, is born in South Korea

So, as you can see, there was a lot that happened on April 24th from the good, the bad, and the just plain bizarre.  But, I didn’t really have much information on some of those topics, while others would have sounded like a high school history essay if I attempted a blog on them.  For the first time since I began the Tuesday Timeline, I was stuck.

That is, until I found a site on Music History.  There, I found the date that we’re going to take a look back on.


April 24, 1965.

Coincidentally, that date happens to be the birthday of my brother-in-law.  This entry isn’t about him, but a happy birthday to him anyway.

No, this date is a significant date for a British man and his band.  It was the date that the band scored their highest ranking single in both their native United Kingdom, and the United States.  In the United Kingdom, they managed to peak at number two on the charts.  But in America, the band managed to do one better.  This song hit the top of the charts on April 24, 1965, and managed to stay there for one whole week before being dethroned by the Herman’s Hermits song “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” on May 1, 1965. 

Although the members of the band went their separate ways shortly after this song hit the charts, one member launched into a solo career while two of the others started up another successful band in the early 1970s.

So, what’s the song that hit the top of the charts exactly 47 years ago today?  Let’s listen.


ARTIST:  Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders
SONG:  The Game of Love
ALBUM:  The Game of Love
DATE RELEASED:  February 1, 1965
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 1 week
REACHED #1 POSITION:  April 24, 1965

That would be “The Game of Love” by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders.  The song was a huge hit for the band, and it was also featured in both the 1983 film “The Big Chill”, and the 1987 film “Good Morning, Vietnam”, starring Robin Williams.


But, I suppose that you’re probably wondering who Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders are, aren’t you?

Wayne Fontana (or Glyn Geoffrey Ellis, which was the name he was born with) was born on October 28, 1945, making him 66 years of age today.  When he was eighteen years of age, he expressed a desire to become a singer.  In 1963, he adopted the stage name Wayne Fontana (named after Elvis Presley’s drummer, D.J. Fontana), and went in search of a backing group to make his dream a reality.

Enter the Mindbenders.

The Mindbenders were made up of Bob Lang, Eric Stewart, and Ric Rothwell.  They took their name from the 1963 film “The Mind Benders”, which starred Sir Dirk Bogarde.

It took some time for the band to make it in the world of music though.  Their first four singles didn’t get much of a critical reception at all, although their debut song “Hello Josephine” did reach the British Top 50.  It wasn’t until 1964 that the band would get the taste of success with the 1964 song “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um”.


I’m not kidding.  That really WAS the title.

The song rocketed up to the #5 position on the British charts, which was a terrific improvement for the band.

And then the band released “Game of Love”, which ended up being the band’s biggest hit.

The funny thing about “Game of Love” was that it was a rather simple song lyrically.  The same chorus repeated itself at least three times during the just over two minute single.

The purpose of a man is to love a woman,
And the purpose of a woman is to love a man,
So come on baby let’s start today, come on baby let’s play
The game of love, love, love, love, la la la la la love

Not exactly Shakespeare, but it was a nice feel-good song for the time period it debuted in.


Regardless, the song should have put Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders on a huge high, scoring their first American #1 hit.  But as time went on, love definitely wasn’t the game that the band members were playing with each other at all.

The band’s follow-up singles to “Game of Love” flopped, which caused tensions to rise within the band.  Despite this, the band decided to tour America in 1965, hoping that they could win fans over across the pond.

Instead, that tour lead to the break-up of the band after Wayne Fontana quit the band DURING a concert performance!

I don’t know whether to call that ballsy, idiotic, or selfish.  Maybe it was all three.  To quit the band while you’re performing...it was certainly memorable.

If I were a member of the Mindbenders, I would likely be quite annoyed at Fontana.  Who knows?  Maybe they were at the time. 

But here’s the thing.  The Mindbenders regrouped and went on to continue recording WITHOUT Wayne Fontana.  When Fontana left the band, Eric Stewart stepped up to assume the lead singer position, and the Mindbenders released their first single post-Fontana.


“Groovy Kind Of Love” was released just months after “Game of Love”.  It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Charts in 1965, and ended up at the same position on the UK charts in early 1966.  For those of you who grew up in the 1980s as I did, you may also recall that singer Phil Collins did a cover version of “Groovy Kind Of Love” in 1988, which also did very well on the charts.


“Groovy Kind Of Love” managed to sell over one million copies, making it a success.  Yet none of their subsequent single releases performed as well as "Groovy Kind Of Love".  Despite this, they made an appearance in the 1967 film “To Sir, With Love” starring Sidney Poitier, and contributed a couple of songs to the soundtrack.


However, with the departures of both Rothwell and Lang (who were replaced by Paul Hancox and Graham Gouldman, the band continued to struggle musically, and in November 1968, they announced that the Mindbenders were calling it quits.  But just four years later, both Gouldman and Stewart would reunite to start up another band by the name of 10cc, who recorded hit songs such as “The Things We Do For Love”.

But whatever happened to Wayne Fontana after he left the Mindbenders?

Well, he attempted to start up a solo career, but he didn’t have many hit singles.  His highest charting single was this 1967 release, peaking at #11 on the UK charts.


In recent years, however, Fontana’s life reads almost like a storyline on Coronation Street or EastEnders.  In 2005, he almost went bankrupt, but managed to avoid that fate.  But just months later, Fontana was arrested after pouring petrol over the hood of a car, and setting it ablaze...with a bailiff inside whom he had argued with beforehand!!!

Whoops.

The good news is that the bailiff wasn’t hurt.  The bad news was that if convicted, Fontana faced up to fourteen years in prison for the crime.  To add to the insanity, shortly after his 2007 arrest, Fontana came into court dressed as the lady of justice, claiming that justice was blind, and then proceeded to fire his entire defense team in the trial!


Seriously, what the heck?

As far as Fontana’s ultimate fate went, he actually got off easy.  He was sentenced to almost a year in prison, but because of the Mental Health Act of 1983, he was let go under time served.

Talk about lucky.

These days, Fontana is still making music and still performs, and aside from a March 2011 arrest regarding an unpaid speeding ticket (charges were eventually dropped), he’s managed to stay out of the negative spotlight for now.

Isn’t it crazy what happens to band members after they break up?  Some become successful in other projects, while others seemingly lose the plot.  But despite the break-up of the band, none of the members gave up on their ultimate goal, which was to make music.  That’s commendable.

Though it’s also nice to know that at some point, the members of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders once got along well enough to record a catchy and upbeat number one hit single.

A single that topped the charts on April 24, 1965.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Dirty Dancing


Here’s a little bit of an admission for all of you.  I can’t dance to save my life.

“Wait a minute”, I hear some of you saying.  Today’s not Thursday!  You’re three days early for the Thursday Confession!

Note that I used the word “admission”.

It’s true though.  I don’t have any sort of fancy footwork on the dance floor whatsoever, and I reckon that in order to get me on a dance floor, you’re going to have to loosen me up with lots and lots of liquor.  I think part of the reason why I avoided school dances the way that a germaphobic person avoids public restrooms was because of my dancing skills, or lack of them.  School dances were supposed to be fun where nobody really cared what you looked like on the dance floor, but I really did care.

I stunk on the dance floor.  Why bring attention to it?

I doubt that I would even be considered a contestant on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”.  For one, I’m not a celebrity, and secondly, I don’t think the judges on that show could give a mark less than a zero on that show.


But do you want to know who COULD dance?  Patrick Swayze.

Patrick Swayze was always one of those stars who seemed as if they could do it all.  A real Renaissance man if ever there was one.

Dancing was just one of the many things that Patrick excelled in, which really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as his mother was a dance instructor and choreographer.  In his youth, Patrick took up ballet dancing, ice skating, gymnastics, and played high school football.  Patrick’s plan in high school was to win a football scholarship to get into college, but an injury prevented that plan from going forward.  So, Patrick decided to turn to an alternate plan.

Dancing.

Little did Patrick know that the completion of his studies at the Harkness and Joffrey ballet schools in New York would lead to the beginning of his acting career.

Shortly after appearing as a dancer for Disney on Parade, he got a job as a replacement playing the role of Danny Zuko in the Broadway production of Grease.  Following that was his first role in a motion picture, the low-budget 1979 film “Skatetown U.S.A.”

Fortunately, Swayze managed to net better parts over the years.  Some of his most memorable movies included “Ghost”, “Red Dawn”, “The Outsiders”, “Road House”, “Donnie Darko”, and “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar”.

Patrick Swayze really did do it all.  He danced, he acted, he even dressed in drag!  And, would you believe that he also sang, and had a hit song in early 1988?  Here it is below.


ARTIST:  Patrick Swayze (f. Wendy Fraser)
SONG:  She’s Like The Wind
ALBUM:  Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
DATE RELEASED:  September 24, 1987
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #3

Considering that this was Patrick’s debut single, peaking at #3 on the charts was a huge deal!  And, here’s a bit of trivia for you.  Swayze initially co-wrote the song with Stacy Widelitz for the soundtrack for “Grandview, U.S.A.”.


Sadly, Patrick Swayze passed away on September 14, 2009 after a battle with cancer.  He was survived by his mother, three siblings, and his wife of nearly twenty-five years, Lisa Niemi.  But his work continues to live on through his movies, television projects, and song releases.

And today’s blog topic deals with one of Patrick Swayze’s most memorable movies.  The song you just heard happens to be on the soundtrack of this film, which was so popular that it ended up being the most rented video of 1988!


Today’s Monday Matinee is featuring the film “Dirty Dancing”, which was released on August 21, 1987.  The film starred Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, and Cynthia Rhodes.  As of 2009, the film has made well over $214 million, and has spawned a prequel (2004’s “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights”), and several stage productions worldwide.

The film also spawned a successful soundtrack album, which was quite unique in that the majority of the songs were recorded two decades earlier.  Songs by Otis Redding, The Shirelles, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, The Ronettes, and Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons were heavily featured in the movie, which made sense, given that it took place in the summer of 1963.

The beginning of the movie introduces us to Frances “Baby” Houseman (Grey).  She’s seventeen, and on a vacation with her family, staying at a Catskills resort named Kellerman’s.  Baby’s plans for the future include attending college, and from there, entering the Peace Corps.  The reason why she is vacationing at Kellerman’s is because her father, Jake (Orbach) is friends with the physician who owns the resort.

At first, Baby’s not exactly sure what she is going to do for fun at the resort...that is until she happens to cross paths with Johnny Castle (Swayze), a member of the staff of the resort.  Johnny is the resort’s dance instructor, and during the day, Johnny teaches his students relatively safe and standard dance moves.


Oh, but when the night fell, things heated up in a big way.  While carrying a watermelon one day, Baby is invited to one of the resort’s after-hours parties, and when she arrives, she’s shocked to find the partygoers indulging in some rather sultry, sexy dance moves.

It was the phenomenon known as “Dirty Dancing”.  And Johnny was right smack dab in the middle of all the excitement, even giving Baby a couple of dance lessons on the spur of the moment. 

Later, Baby discovers a secret about Johnny’s dance partner, Penny Johnson (Rhodes).  Penny has gotten pregnant by a man named Robbie Gould.  Robbie Gould is a piece of work.  He’s a womanizer, a cheater, and Baby wasn’t impressed.  Of course, part of that could have been because Robbie had dated Baby’s sister while he was sowing his wild oats with Penny and others.

The problem was that Robbie didn’t even seem to want to help Penny out once he knew that she was expecting.  He really acted like a first-class jerk.  So the only solution that Baby could come up with was for her to borrow money from her father so she could help Penny pay the cost for an illegal abortion.

Of course, she couldn’t let Jake know the REAL reason why she needed the money.  Regardless, Jake, who had always trusted his daughter, gave her the money, no questions asked.  In the meantime, while Penny is sidelined from the after-effects of the abortion, Baby agrees to stand-in for Penny for a performance at the Sheldrake, which Johnny and Penny performed in annually.


Over the next few weeks, Johnny teaches Baby everything that he knows about dancing (both clean and dirty), and while their relationship is a bit prickly at first, sparks soon fly between the two.  The performance at the Sheldrake goes well, but Baby is a bit too nervous to attempt the lift at the end of the performance.  Either way, Johnny grows more impressed with Baby each day, and Baby and Johnny soon fall head over heels for each other.

Hmmm...I think another song is in order from the soundtrack, courtesy of Eric Carmen.


Anyway, Johnny and Baby arrive back at Kellerman’s on a high from the performance, but are crestfallen to hear that Penny’s abortion did not go according to plan, and she is left in excruciating pain.  Baby’s instincts tell her to get help from her father, who is a physician, but Jake jumps to the wrong conclusion, believing that JOHNNY fathered Penny’s child.  Jake is furious, and forbids Baby from seeing him again, and is hurt that she betrayed his trust in her. 

But Baby wasn’t quite ready to give up on Johnny.  She snuck out of her cabin to see Johnny again, and the two of them share a wonderful night together.

Unfortunately, secret relationships don’t seem to stay secret for long in Kellerman’s, and when Johnny is accused of stealing a wallet from a guest, and is unable to come up with an alibi, Baby is forced to admit that she was Johnny’s alibi to clear his name so that he wouldn’t be arrested.  Baby’s selfless act succeeds in proving Johnny’s innocence in the wallet theft, but he still ends up getting fired from the resort for his affair with Baby.

But, if you think the movie ends there, think again.  I won’t spoil it for those who have not yet seen the film yet, but it involves redemption, forgiveness, dancing, and the famous “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” line.

All in all, I enjoyed “Dirty Dancing”.  Some may refer to the film as a “chick flick”, but I honestly don’t see it as such.  I think that it’s a wonderful movie for anybody at any age to enjoy.  It’s got a fantastic story, great actor chemistry (seriously, Grey and Swayze really clicked with each other on screen), and a great life lesson.

“There are people willing to stand up for other people, no matter what it costs them.”


In a little bit of an epilogue, Jennifer Grey went on to compete on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars, and ended up winning the coveted mirror ball trophy that year along with her partner Derek Hough.  And, well...I found a clip of one of the performances which might seem a bit familiar to those who watched “Dirty Dancing”.



I think that had Patrick Swayze been alive to see the performance, I’m sure he would have been proud of his “Baby”.  As for Grey, I’m sure that she “had the time of her life” in that moment.



Sunday, April 22, 2012

Mercy Mercy Me Things Ain't What They Used To Be




First things first, I would like to take the time to wish everybody here a happy Earth Day.  I certainly hope that everybody reading this does at least one thing that will help us preserve our planet so that we can continue to enjoy it for hundreds of years.  Whether you dry your clothes outside on a clothesline, carpooling, or simply wearing an extra sweater on a really cool day, every little bit helps.

I’ve turned this blog entry green for today in the spirit of Earth Day, and this year, Earth Day happens to fall on a Sunday.  So, today’s Sunday Jukebox entry will feature a song that is appropriate for today.

Before I get into that though, I thought I’d talk a bit about the artist who sang the featured song for today.


When I say the name Marvin Gaye, what words would you use to best describe him?

Some of you will likely say the word “Motown”.  This is very much true.  Marvin Gaye was signed to Motown Records by Berry Gordy in the early 1960s, but the way that his joining the record label varies depending on the source of the information.  Some believe that Gordy heard Gaye singing at a Detroit club and signed him on the spot.  Others believe the theory that Gaye had invited himself to the Motown Christmas party inside the Hitsville USA studios and played an impromptu performance of “Mr. Sandman” on the piano inside the studio.  Regardless of what the real story is, Gaye found himself signed to Motown Records in early 1961.  Through his near 20-year association with the company, Gaye sang dozens of hits, including "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", "What's Going On", and "Let's Get It On".

TRIVIA:  Marvin Gaye was born Marvin Pentz Gay Jr.  Shortly before releasing his first single with Motown in May 1961, he added the extra “E” on the end of his last name.  There were many reasons behind why the name change was made, but it was widely believed that he had done it to appear more professional, and to distance himself from his father, Marvin Gay Sr, a minister.


Some might associate Marvin Gaye with the name Tammi Terrell.  Tammi Terrell probably helped Marvin Gaye achieve one of his biggest hits by singing a duet with him back in 1967.  The song was “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, and it managed to climb into the Top 20 (though a cover version by Diana Ross would hit #1 in the fall of 1970).  Still, the chemistry between Terrell and Gaye was strong enough for the duet to record other songs together.  Some of their other hits included “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You”, “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing”, and “You’re All I Need To Get By”.  Despite the fact that both liked working together, and had a rumoured relationship, both Gaye and Terrell insisted that their relationship was more like siblings than lovers.  They remained close until Terrell passed away in 1970, and Gaye revealed that he would never record another duet with another female singer since...a promise that he managed to keep.


Besides, at the time the duo recorded together, Terrell had a boyfriend, and Gaye was married to Anna Gordy, the sister of Berry Gordy.

But Gaye’s marriage to Gordy didn’t last.  Anna Gordy was eighteen years older than Gaye, and there were allegations of infidelity on both sides of the marriage.  The marriage disintegrated in 1975 when Gordy filed for divorce after Gaye got involved with Janis Hunter. 


TRIVIA:  Gaye was cash-strapped during the divorce proceedings due to extravagant spending and a cocaine habit, making it impossible to pay for alimony and child support.  So, when his attorney came up with the idea for Gaye to record an album where half the profits went to Anna Gordy, Gaye agreed to the terms.  The name of the album?  “Here, My Dear”.

By 1981, Gaye had become disillusioned with Motown Records, and after the company released the album “In Our Lifetime” before Gaye could put the finishing touches on the record, he left the company, signing himself to CBS Records the following year.


By 1983, Gaye was well on his way to making himself a success on a second label.  “Sexual Healing” was released in late 1982 and it became a Top 5 hit in the United States, and a #1 smash in Canada in early 1983.  But Gaye’s drug addiction soon began rearing its ugly head once more, and soon he was living at his parents home in Los Angeles, hiding from the groupies and drug dealers he owed money to.  Tensions between Gaye and his father escalated, and these tensions would lead up to a terrible end for Marvin Gaye.

On April 1, 1984, Marvin got into a terrible argument with his father which resulted in Marvin’s father pulling out a handgun (ironically enough the same gun that was given to him as a gift by Marvin) and shot him.  Gaye died at the scene, just one day before his 45th birthday.  Marvin’s father wasn’t charged with first-degree murder, as it was revealed that Marvin had physically beaten him just before the shooting happened, but he was charged with voluntary manslaughter, and sentenced to five years probation.

It was certainly a bizarre end for one of Motown’s greatest singers.

Despite his personal demons, Marvin Gaye’s music still lives on, and he has been awarded several posthumous honours, including a 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and him being awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame three years later, in 1990.

And of course, there’s his extensive catalog of hit singles spanning nearly twenty-five years. 

I had wanted to do a spotlight on Marvin Gaye for a while now, but it was difficult just choosing one song to feature in the Sunday Jukebox spotlight.  But with today being Earth Day, the choice really became crystal clear.




ARTIST:  Marvin Gaye
SONG:  Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
ALBUM:  What’s Going On
DATE RELEASED:  June 10, 1971
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #4

This was the second single release from the “What’s Going On” album, and appropriately enough, the song was released a little over a year since the first Earth Day celebrations.


The song was described as being a poignant anthem of environmentalism, and Gaye really peppered the song with lyrics detailing a world that was quickly decaying.

Where did all the blue sky go?  Fish full of mercury?  Oil wasted on the oceans and upon the sea?  Radiation in the ground and in the sky?  Not exactly lyrics that would warm the cockles of your heart, are they?

That was the point though.  The song wasn’t meant to make you feel good.  It was meant as a way to get people to see just how much damage was being done to our world each and every day by carelessness, greed, or just plain ignorance.


Let’s look at the lyric “oil wasted on the oceans and upon the sea”.  I can recall two major oil spills in my lifetime that were newsworthy.  There was the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill off the shores of Alaska, which devastated marine ecosystems for years to come.  But even that was nothing compared to the April 20, 2010 oil spill that began with the explosion of Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico.  For nearly three months, oil billowed out of the busted pipeline, and caused extensive damage to ecosystems, as well as the fishing and tourism industries, and the event also cast a ton of negative publicity for the BP company, which was responsible for the drilling project at the time of the spill.

These two oil spills caused so much harm to the environment.  And that’s not counting all the lesser oil spills that have occurred in between those two spills.  It’s a really scary thought.  I can’t even imagine someone bursting into my house and coating it in gallons of crude oil.  Imagine how those poor fish felt.

I can remember a time in which I used to go swimming at a nearby beach in my hometown.  At that time, the beach was loaded with people, and everyone enjoyed swimming in the river.  Those were great times.  Lately though, the beach that I enjoyed in my childhood seems as if it is closed more than open.  Seems the water isn’t quite as safe to swim in as it once was these days.  I don’t have children yet, but it makes me a bit sad to know that a place I loved as a little boy might not be safe to play for any children that I might have. 

I think that’s why I like this Marvin Gaye song.  It really makes you think about what we’re doing to our planet.  Unless we find another planet out there in outer space that can sustain human life (which will likely not happen for a while given that the space program is in limbo in the United States right now), this is the only planet we’ve got.  Doesn’t it make sense to want to take care of it now?

That’s exactly what Earth Day is all about.  Reflecting on the condition of our planet, and coming up with ways in which we can take care of it.  Here are some ways in which you can make a difference this Earth Day;

-      Remember the 3 R’s.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

-      Plant a tree.

-      Carpool, or use methods of transportation that are non-pollutant.

-      Buy products with less packaging.

-      Take shorter showers and turn off the water when brushing your teeth.

-      Pick up trash in a community park.

-      Turn off any lights or appliances that you aren’t using.

-      Dispose of any excess chemicals in safe ways by reading the labels on the package carefully.

-      Compost your food scraps.

And those are just a FEW suggestions.  For more tips, just click on http://www.globalstewards.org/ecotips.htm . There’s tons more to choose from. 

Seriously, just check out these tips and do at least one of them.  Every little bit helps.  And if more people do these things, the better chance we have to make our planet more like a paradise and less like Marvin Gaye’s Mercy Mercy Me.



Saturday, April 21, 2012

Stop The Smoggies!




It’s been 42 years since “Earth Day” was founded, and as a result of this, I’ve decided to dedicate this weekend’s entries by focusing on some environmentally friendly subjects.

The first Earth Day observances were held in 1970, though two separate events were held.  The first one was held on March 21 in San Francisco, but one month later, on April 22, United States senator Gaylord Nelson called for an “environmental teach-in” after witnessing the devastating aftermath of a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California.  A reported 20 million people took part in Earth Day festivities on April 22, 1970, and has been celebrated on April 22 in years since.

Although the day had huge success in the United States since its inception, it wasn’t until 1990 that the day became celebrated worldwide, with its programs devoted to environmental protection and recycling.  The 1990 Earth Day celebrations helped pave the way for the United Nations Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

As of 2012, Earth Day is now estimated to be celebrated by half a billion people every year, and a total of 175 countries observe Earth Day every April 22.  That is phenomenal.

I know that I certainly do my part to make the world a more environmentally friendly place.  I use reusable shopping bags, I try not to buy items with a lot of packaging, and I certainly try not to waste resources.  When I was younger, I even took part in a workshop called “Catch A Star” in which we learned more about how to take care of our planet, and preserve it for future generations.  I even still have the mug and Dr. Zed’s Science Experiments book that I won during the workshop.

I think the message is of Earth Day is one that we can all benefit from.  I believe that we all have the right to live in a world that is clean, safe, and beautiful.

I’ll readily admit that whenever I see people being wasteful, or ignorant about disposing of their trash and garbage, it makes me very disgusted.  I wonder if they’re aware that the more they pollute our planet, the more that their quality of life decreases.


Of course, you’d have a difficult time telling Emma, Clarence, and Polluto that.  To them, the destruction of a few ecosystems is nothing to them as long as they can get whatever they desire.

Now I suppose that you’re wondering who Emma, Clarence, and Polluto are, right?  I suppose I should introduce you to them by posting the intro to today’s Saturday Morning blog topic.


That was the introduction to the Cinar produced cartoon series “The Smoggies” (or “Stop the Smoggies” in the United States).  Debuting in 1988, the series was a joint production between France and Canada.  The show aired in Canada, the United States, France, and Ireland throughout the 1990s.


The cartoon’s setting was the fictional Coral Island, a tropical island where the homes and villages were run with solar energy and wind and water powered equipment.  The island happens to be the home of a group of people known as the Suntots.


Now, granted the Suntots sort of resembled troll dolls, but don’t let their short stature and rainbow coloured hair fool you.  The Suntots were intelligent, brilliant, caring, and environmentally friendly.  Coral Island was definitely one beautiful place where everyone who lived there had fun, and where everybody enjoyed a safe, clean place to call home.

Unfortunately, a certain area outside of Coral Island happened to be dirty, disgusting, and just plain toxic.  If one were to look out at the horizon just outside of the island, they might spot a boat out on the water with enough smoke billowing out of it to give asthma to the entire city of Seattle.


The boat was known as the SS Stinky Poo, a coal fired steam ship that turned both the air and the water beneath a disgusting shade of dark brown.

This boat happens to be the home of the Smoggies...Emma, Clarence, and Polluto.

And the reason that they were there was all about greed.  It didn’t matter that they were destroying the planet with their steam ship of toxicity.  They were only after one thing.

The magic coral of Coral Island.

Everybody has heard of the various legends surrounding the “fountain of youth”, where there is a secret spring that has water that supposedly keeps a person looking youthful. 


According to Emma, the magic coral was her “fountain of youth”.  The legend of Coral Island stated that the secret behind the youthful appearance of the Suntots was the magic coral that supposedly surrounded the island.  And, Emma, being absolutely obsessed with looking young and beautiful wanted to get her hands on every single piece of coral she could get.

In regards to Emma, I suppose one could admire her determination and her reluctance to give up on her dream.  That is however where my respect for her ends.  Although she was only a fictional character, Emma was probably one of the meanest cartoon bullies I’ve ever seen.  She kidnapped Suntots for ransom until they gave her magic coral, and she lied and deceived people all to satisfy her own selfish desires.  A real piece of work, she was.


Certainly, her husband Clarence was no help in controlling his cold, calculating wife.  He was actually kind of a doormat to Emma.  The more she abused and took advantage of him, the more he seemed to take it!  Although Clarence tried to help Emma out by creating inventions that could assist her in her quest for coral, they usually ended up doing more harm than good.

Polluto on the other hand was kind of a double agent of sorts.  On the surface he was simple-minded and was widely regarded as an idiot by Emma.  Yet, as the only crew member of the SS Stinky Poo, Polluto proved his worth in more ways than one.  Aside from running the ship’s boiler room, he cooked, cleaned, and did almost everything under the sun and moon for Emma and Clarence, usually with little to no appreciation in return.


So it’s no surprise that Polluto sometimes befriended the Suntots when he was feeling bad about himself.  Despite what the Smoggies were doing, the Suntots were still happy, and often treated Polluto with more respect than Emma.  I think that Polluto’s intentions were kind-hearted, and the only reason he did pollute was due to his desire to do his job, not being aware of how harmful it was.

The Suntots however, were well-prepared against the arsenal of attacks that Emma and Clarence launched at them in their quest for the special age-defying coral. 


Princess Lila, the scarlet-haired ruler of Coral Island loved her people, and was more often than not the person who stood up to the wickedness of the Smoggies the most.  She even tried to convince Emma that there WAS no magic coral, but of course, Emma was too greedy and materialistic to take that into consideration.

And Princess Lila had help from all the Suntots on the island in protecting the island from the pollution caused by the Smoggies.  There was Speed, a blue-haired Suntot who could solve problems faster than he could swim underwater.  Chip, the orange-haired Suntot responsible for building environmentally friendly inventions meant to improve the quality of life on the island.  You had Cookie, a pink-haired Suntot who prepares most of the food on the island (in environmentally friendly ways, of course).  And, there’s Uncle Boom, the oldest Suntot on the island who despite his absent-mindedness proves to be an effective ally.

Throughout the whole series, the Suntots teach the viewers about how we can make our world a better place, and offered us tips on how we can preserve our planet instead of harming it.

Though as far back as I can remember, I don’t believe that Emma ever did find that magical coral that if it existed, would have helped her stay twenty-seven forever.  So, the question is, was Princess Lila correct in saying that the magic coral didn’t exist?

I tend to believe that this is the case.  Have you noticed how happy and vibrant the Suntots were in comparison to the Smoggies, who were miserable and grouchy?  I believe that the surroundings are a major factor behind why this was the case.  Wouldn’t you feel more vibrant, energetic, and young on a beautiful island filled with crystal blue water, blooming flowers, and clean, fresh air?  I know I would. 

Seriously, looking at the SS Stinky Poo, it was a black, disgusting, depressing place.  I reckon that all that smoke that billowed out of the smokestacks prematurely aged Emma thirty years or more alone!  I certainly wouldn’t feel young breathing in all that pollution. 

There was no magic coral.  It was all an illusion.  But if Emma could have woken up and realized that the way she was living was causing her more harm than good, then perhaps she could have lived a nice, rewarding life just like her enemies, the Suntots.


Though, I always liked to admit that the reason Emma and the rest of the Smoggies couldn’t find the magic coral was because of the fact that all the pollution that seeped out of the SS Stinky Poo was contaminated and died off.

Wouldn’t that be tragic irony?