Awakenings from Then ’til Now allows you to Embrace Your Past, Empower the Present, Enrich Your Future.
Welcome to Awakenings
Life IS history in the making. Every word we say, everything we do becomes history the moment it is said or done. Life void of memories leaves nothing but emptiness. For those who might consider history boring, think again: It is who we are, what we do and why we are here. We are certainly individuals in our thoughts and deeds but we all germinated from seeds planted long, long ago.
The teen idols dominated the scene for decades - 40s, 50s, 60s. Many of today's performers experience passing through the teen idol phase of success. These are the heartthrobs that mesmerize swooning crowds of young people. To this day, "They are dream mates who fuel romantic daydreams, and provide a safe release for hormonally-charged emotions. (Source: Teen Idols)." In the 60s, during a time when 'screen images' were just as important as musical talent, marketing focused generally on the image. The teen idol was structured to appeal to the pre-teen and young teen female pop audience member and children in general. Their sheer magnetism was a box office draw.
Paul AnkaToday's spotlight is on one of the biggest classic pop performers, Canadian singer, songwriter and actor. Paul Anka recorded his first song at the age of 14. At the young age of 16, Anka had the #1 hit in the world, 'Diana' (No.1 hit on August 25, 1957), which went on to sell 20 million copies. Before his 20th birthday, he was already a world traveler attracting swooning crowds with every performance, that is except one: his own hometown, Ottawa, Canada. Sadly the folks of Ottawa largely refused to embrace him. Local kids booed him at his hometown show in 1956, and he refused to play there again for decades. That, however, did not slow him down!
Paul Anka's talent included the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (reworked in 1962 from a song Anka wrote earlier called "Toot Sweet"; it had been rewritten with lyrics and recorded by Annette Funicello in 1959 as "It's Really Love"). Anka composed Tom Jones's biggest hit record, "She's a Lady", and wrote the English lyrics to "My Way", Frank Sinatra's
signature song. In the 1960s Anka began acting in motion pictures as
well as writing songs for them, most notably the theme for the hit film The Longest Day, in which he made a cameo appearance as a US Army Ranger. For his film work he wrote and recorded one of his greatest hits, "Lonely Boy".
He also wrote and recorded "My Home Town", which was a #8 pop hit for
him the same year. He then went on to become one of the first pop
singers to perform at the Las Vegas casinos. In 1960 he appeared twice as himself in NBC's short-lived crime dramaDan Raven. (Source: en.wikipedia.org)
1974Paul Anka with Odia Coates started a three week run at No.1 on the
US singles chart with '(You're) Having My Baby', Anka's 24th US top 40
hit. It made No.6 in the UK. There was a lot on controversy over the lyrics to the song but solely depended on a person's perspective.
Anka, for his part, intended "(You're) Having My Baby" as a
straightforward, apolitical tribute to the wife who had given him four
healthy children. And political backlash aside, it struck enough of a
chord in American record-buyers to give him one of the biggest hits of
his extraordinary career. (Source: History.com)
Paul Anka is still performing and touring to this day! Some of his greatest hits include...
The teen idols dominated the scene for the decades 40s, 50s, 60s. Many of today's performers boast of the experience passing through the teen idol phase of success. These are the heartthrobs that mesmerize swooning crowds of young people. To this day, "They are dream mates who fuel romantic daydreams, and provide a safe release for hormonally-charged emotions. (Source: Teen Idols)." In the 60s, during a time when 'screen images' were just as important as musical talent, marketing focused generally on the image. The teen idol was structured to appeal to the pre-teen and young teen female pop audience member and children in general. Their sheer magnetism was a box office draw.
Paul AnkaToday's spotlight is on one of the biggest classic pop performers, Canadian singer, songwriter and actor. Paul Anka recorded his first song at the age of 14. At the young age of 16, Anka had the #1 hit in the world, 'Diana' (No.1 hit on August 25, 1957), which went on to sell 20 million copies. Before his 20th birthday, he was already a world traveler attracting swooning crowds with every performance, that is except one: his own hometown, Ottawa, Canada. Sadly the folks of Ottawa largely refused to embrace him. Local kids booed him at his hometown show in 1956, and he refused to play there again for decades. That, however, did not slow him down!
Paul Anka's talent included the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (reworked in 1962 from a song Anka wrote earlier called "Toot Sweet"; it had been rewritten with lyrics and recorded by Annette Funicello in 1959 as "It's Really Love"). Anka composed Tom Jones's biggest hit record, "She's a Lady", and wrote the English lyrics to "My Way", Frank Sinatra's
signature song. In the 1960s Anka began acting in motion pictures as
well as writing songs for them, most notably the theme for the hit film The Longest Day, in which he made a cameo appearance as a US Army Ranger. For his film work he wrote and recorded one of his greatest hits, "Lonely Boy".
He also wrote and recorded "My Home Town", which was a #8 pop hit for
him the same year. He then went on to become one of the first pop
singers to perform at the Las Vegas casinos. In 1960 he appeared twice as himself in NBC's short-lived crime dramaDan Raven. (Source: en.wikipedia.org)
1974Paul Anka with Odia Coates started a three week run at No.1 on the
US singles chart with '(You're) Having My Baby', Anka's 24th US top 40
hit. It made No.6 in the UK. There was a lot on controversy over the lyrics to the song but solely depended on a person's perspective.
Anka, for his part, intended "(You're) Having My Baby" as a
straightforward, apolitical tribute to the wife who had given him four
healthy children. And political backlash aside, it struck enough of a
chord in American record-buyers to give him one of the biggest hits of
his extraordinary career. (Source: History.com)
Paul Anka is still performing and touring to this day! Some of his greatest hits include...
Teenage mania occurred over 20 years ahead of Beatlemania. The teen idols were not always teenagers but relatively young. A classic example is Frank Sinatra who at 27 years old had fans swooning at the sound of his voice and swarming theaters for any mere glimpse of him on stage.
"The sound that greeted me was absolutely deafening," Sinatra recalled
years later. "I was scared stiff. I couldn't move a muscle." The fans
were labeled "Bobby soxers" because they were forced to dance at clubs
in their bobby socks so their shoes wouldn't damage the floor. [Source: Rolling Stone]
Eric Hilliard Nelson, aka Ricky NelsonAmerican singer and songwriter Ricky Nelson was an early teen idol who
acted out his real-life childhood on The Adventures of Ozzie and
Harriet.
Eric Hilliard Nelson, known as Ricky Nelson, lived amid musical talent from birth. On February 20, 1949, he joined his parents' hit radio show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which was at that time in its fifth year. Ricky was 8 years old. At age 11, he starred along side his parents in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet television series (1952–66). The show
continued to be a success and Ricky Nelson went on to achieve solo
success as a teen heartthrob in the 1950s.
In a 1957 episode of the popular family sitcom Ricky performed a cover
of the Fats Domino song "I'm Walkin'." It became a huge single for the
16-year-old, who went on to score a series of hits through the early
1960s. His career dried up around the time the Beatles hit America in
1964, but Nelson managed a brief comeback in the 70s with his
anti-nostalgia song "Garden Party."
Like so many performers before him and after, his life was cut short. While touring the United States, Ricky Nelson was killed in a plane crash on December 31, 1985, in DeKalb, Bowie County, near Texarkana, Texas in northeast Texas. He was en route to a New Year's Eve concert in Dallas. In 1987, he was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
For those of us growing up in the 50s and 60s, teen idols, also known as heartthrobs, dominated the entertainment scene, music and television. Swoons and screams were not uncommon whether during live concerts or on the TV screen. Many performers worked alongside their parents as group entertainers or in sitcoms.
Ricky Nelson was well known for his good looks and captivating blue eyes!
Ricky Nelsonan early Teen Idol of the 50s who acted out his real-life childhood as the son of Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson on the popular series, 'The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'
It was on the popular TV series where Nelson began to conclude each episode with a song from his band that established his popularity as a musician. A number of albums were produced whereby Ricky Nelson owned the music charts for a
three-year period from 1957 through 1959 with his hit songs. In addition to his recording career, Nelson appeared in movies, including the Howard Hawks western classic Rio Bravo with John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Walter Brennan (1959), plus The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960) with Jack Lemmon and Love and Kisses (1965) with Jack Kelly.
Garden Party reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Rick Nelson maintained his celebrity status through the 1970s, appearing in television shows ranging from the Midnight Special to Solid Gold, The Streets of San Francisco, and Saturday Night Live, while continuing to perform with his band.
Rick Nelson Garden Party 1985
Teen Idol Tragedy on This Day in Music History: December 31, 1985...
As with so many entertainers, lives are cut short with many being the result of airplane crashes.
Nelson dreaded flying but refused to travel by bus. In May 1985, he
decided he needed a private plane and leased a luxurious, fourteen-seat,
1944 Douglas DC-3 that had once belonged to the DuPont family and later to Jerry Lee Lewis. The plane had been plagued by a history of mechanical problems.
In one incident, the band was forced to push the plane off the runway
after an engine blew, and in another incident, a malfunctioning magneto prevented Nelson from participating in the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois.
On December 26, 1985, Nelson and the band left for a three-stop tour of the Southern United States. Following shows in Orlando, Florida, and Guntersville, Alabama, Nelson and band members took off from Guntersville for a New Year's Eve extravaganza in Dallas, Texas. The plane crash-landed northeast of Dallas in De Kalb, Texas,
less than two miles from a landing strip, at approximately 5:14 pm. CST
on December 31, 1985, hitting trees as it came to earth. [Source: wikipedia.org]
And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...more to come on December 31...#1 Hits, Live Debuts & Music Trivia!
The Beatles dominated the music industry of the 60s. It is not surprising that many bands tried to fashion themselves after the greatest and most influential act of the rock era. One such band appeared for a brief but fervent period(nicknamed "Rollermania") in the 70s. They were worldwide teen idols. According to the BBC they sold 70 million records.
The Bay City RollersAs an enormous heartthrob phenomenon in the UK, the Bay City Rollers had their audience mesmerized. Scotland's tartan-clad teeny bopper sensations every move was greeted with the same hype as that which was encountered during the days of Beatlemania. However, their 'stardom' never reached the heights of aspiration hoped for at the time. Like so many first crushes - here today, gone tomorrow - within 18 months of their television debut in 1975, their unofficial shining as America's most kissable newest stars had dimmed. The music of The Bay City Rollers lives on and on with the irresistible stutter-step rhythm of "Saturday Night" never waning. Some songs just have a way of becoming stuck in our heads, then, surfacing at just the right moment as we dance to the rhythm of life.
1975 The Bay City Rollers made their US TV debut when they appeared on the first broadcast of 'Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell' show on NBC. The show would later become known as just 'Saturday Night Live'. The heavily hyped Scottish band performance led Cosell to compare this pop group openly to The Beatles.
The Beatles dominated the music industry of the 60s. It is not surprising that many bands tried to fashion themselves after the greatest and most influential act of the rock era. One such band appeared for a brief but fervent period(nicknamed "Rollermania") in the 70s. They were worldwide teen idols. According to the BBC they sold 70 million records.
The Bay City RollersAs an enormous heartthrob phenomenon in the UK, the Bay City Rollers had their audience mesmerized. Scotland's tartan-clad teeny bopper sensations every move was greeted with the same hype as that which was encountered during the days of Beatlemania. However, their 'stardom' never reached the heights of aspiration hoped for at the time. As for the USA, like so many first crushes - here today, gone tomorrow - within 18 months of their television debut in 1975, their unofficial shining as America's most kissable newest stars had dimmed.
1975 The Bay City Rollers made their US TV debut when they appeared on the first broadcast of 'Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell' show on NBC. The show would later become known as just 'Saturday Night Live'. The heavily hyped Scottish band performance led Cosell to compare this pop group openly to The Beatles.
The
music of The Bay City Rollers lives on and on with the irresistible
stutter-step rhythm of "Saturday Night" never waning. Some songs just
have a way of becoming stuck in our heads, then, surfacing at just the
right moment as we dance to the rhythm of life.
1969 During a meeting in London between John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Lennon announced he was leaving
The Beatles.
Paul Anka's talent included the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (reworked in 1962 from a song Anka wrote earlier called "Toot Sweet"; it had been rewritten with lyrics and recorded by Annette Funicello in 1959 as "It's Really Love"). Anka composed Tom Jones's biggest hit record, "She's a Lady", and wrote the English lyrics to "My Way", Frank Sinatra's signature song. In the 1960s Anka began acting in motion pictures as well as writing songs for them, most notably the theme for the hit film The Longest Day, in which he made a cameo appearance as a US Army Ranger. For his film work he wrote and recorded one of his greatest hits, "Lonely Boy". He also wrote and recorded "My Home Town", which was a #8 pop hit for him the same year. He then went on to become one of the first pop singers to perform at the Las Vegas casinos. In 1960 he appeared twice as himself in NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven. (Source: en.wikipedia.org)
