Maude and Earl

Me and my sister Kimberly Mascheri were recently reminiscing about the old Johnny's and Sammy's restaurant in Salisbury, MD when Kimberly brought up remembering a man and woman duo who always used to perform there named Maude and Earl. I have no recollection of them what so ever but this is how I imagine they would be....


Maude Jacobs was up up the little corner stage, off towards the front and side of the dimly light restaurant. She was finishing up her and her husband Earls second set of the night. She was ending this particular set with a song from one of her favorite blues singers, Miss Billie Holiday. The song was Yesterdays and Maude was bringing it home with a big ending, belting it out about the yesterdays of past. Earl was making the baby grand drive home the sadness of the yesterdays that his wife was reminiscing about, running his long agile fingers along the ivory keys, making the piano come to life and express a sadness to match the vocals of the song. Earl could do that. He had always had the talent to make a piano come to life. To come to life and almost speak and cry out and hit that sentimental spot everyone has but never seemed to visit much anymore. Things were a lot different now in 1979. No one appreciated good music anymore. Now, it was disco, pop and Lord only knows what else. There was that terrible time from the 60's when music stopped being music and the whole world seemed to go to hell. Music that sang about defiance and in your face anti this and anti that. That's when morals and respect for others had gone right out the window to join the singers and songs of yesterday. No one was interested in the entertainers from Maude and Earls time. Back when everybody was listening to the blues and the crooners and the big swing bands of yesterday. Back when the music was MUSIC and not the garbage out today. Still, Maude and Earl persevered. Performing was all they had known and even today with both of them into their 70's they continued to pay tribute to their hero's of yesterday. Maude's being Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, and Sarah Vaughan. She also did a pretty good impression of Bill Holiday and absolutely loved the performers heart and soul and the way she poured herself into all of her songs. Earl liked the old Nat King Cole songs and even had a eerie resemblance to the long gone star. Same tight, thick head of hair. Same dark skin color. And Earl did a pretty good darn impression of him as well. Earls repertoire also included hits from Alan Dale, Bob Manning, Vic Damone and the lovable old Blue Eyes himself Frank Sinatra. Most of their idols of yesterday were backed by a big orchestra but these days it was just Earl and his baby grand. Earl and Maude had been doing this act now for fifty years. They had met in their hometown of Chicago way back in the late 20's when they were both pursuing musical careers , Earl playing the piano on weekdays in speakeasys, the weekends being reserved for the "good bands" when they were the most busiest and Maude singing at charity events and social get togethers, also performing for free and mostly on evenings after working a shift at the garment factory where she worked. Earl was a laborer by day but they had one goal in common, to be entertainers and performers and work the big clubs and venues on the weekends, not just fill ins for the middle of the week. The two of them meet at a audition for a last minute attempt to put a opening act together for the great Buddy Clark after his regular band had to cancel after several members had gotten ill with a flu virus and were ordered to bed rest until recovery. Maude had caught Earls eye and gotten up the nerve to talk to her after the audition (which neither one made the cut) and asked her to dinner. She went and a year latter they were married. The two of them both shared the same dream and they worked their tails off practicing and blending their styles together. Soon, they were performing in supper clubs around Chicago (on the weekends at that) and their name began spreading around the city. Throughout the thirties and forties Maude and Earl continued to perform and opened for many of the big stars of the day in huge venues that held a thousand people, some of them even more. They became friends with those same stars and popped champagne bottles and toasted their success with them after shows. The mood of the country was tense and somber during the early forties as the country went to war and when it ended in 1945 America was ready to celebrate and Maude and Earl helped them do just that. But alas, all good thing must end and when the 50's rolled around the big band sound started it's slow death. Suddenly, the country was wanting to hear a new king of music, they called it rock and roll. Elvis Presley sealed the deal on this new type of music but before him there was The Treniers (more doo-wop then rock and roll), Les Paul and Mary Ford, The Clovers and Lloyd Price. Maude and Earl forged on and still had work but it wasn't anywhere like the heyday of the 30's and 40's. Then came the 60's and that was a decade they didn't like to look back on. The Vietnam war was going on and the youth revolted against anyone or anything of authority. Music ceased to exist for awhile as these hippie, drug using bums who dared call themselves musicians became popular and sang about things that interested no one except other hippies. It was a sad decade for music and Earl and Maude had even considered hanging it up and retiring from the business. They had saved up a very nice sum of money from the golden years and didn't really need to be doing anything but they loved the music and they loved the spotlight. They hung in there and performed at mostly golden memories concerts, playing to a audience mostly their age who, like them, loved the music of yesterday and the performers of it as well. Their music had become nostalgia music. They even left their beloved city of Chicago and traveled up and down the east coast, renting a apartment here and there, staying in one place until they had exhausted the clubs or places that would hire them to do a few shows. Their venues then mostly consisted of civic organization celebrations like at the local VFW or the Lions Club or the Chamber of Commerce get togethers. These groups would usually have a cocktail hour and Maude and Earl would be payed to set up and play during these social hours, singing their songs of yesterday softly so that the people heard them but could still carry on a conversation with their friends. Their latest stop and place they called home was where they were now, Salisbury MD. They had been here for the last six years and they really loved this place. The people were nice, the living was at a relaxed pace and they had found work at one of the nicer restaurants in town, Johnny's and Sammy's. The owners of the restaurant were fans of the big band era and had promised them a job performing on the weekends there as long as they wanted to. Their schedule at the restaurant was performing on Friday and Saturday nights, three sets on each of the nights. They appeared in the more upscale side of the restaurant, the adults only Alpine Room, where patrons could dine on Johnny and Sammy's famous Veal Steak or any of the other fabulous selections from the menu and have a couple drinks afterwards and listen to Maude and Earl performing the great songs of yesterday, songs mostly forgotten here in 1979 with disco and the other junk being played today. Here in the Alpine Room diners could relax and be transported back to a magical era when music was just that, music. No screaming vocals, no blaring music that caused your head to hurt. Maude and Earl were both in their 70's now and they did talk of retiring from the business every now and then but why? They were healthy and they were doing what they loved to do. A two night a week schedule was certainly easy enough and they supplemented their time performing at various events around town and in surrounding ones as well. The regular diners at Johnny's and Sammy's had come to expect to see them on the weekends performing and why stop now and disappoint them. They had became a staple to the restaurant. The marquee out front announcing that they would be performing there this weekend hadn't been changed in three years. And it wasn't like the restaurant was going to be closing anytime soon. The locals loved the place and they loved Maude and Earl. As long as they kept coming they would keep performing there and taking those diners back to a era where the crooners and divas ruled and the big band sound was king. All good things do come to a end but this one's end was far away and they were going to enjoy every minute of it while it was here.

Friday Nite Video (The System)

It's bad when your considered a one hit wonder band when your really not one. Like the group on here tonight, The System. Who? Exactly! Actually, these guys were pretty popular with the club music scene and they did have a few more releases then your normal one hit wonder band. They formed in 1982 and in 1983 they released their first album. There were several songs from the album that were popular and the one release You Are In My System actually was a radio played R&B hit. Other achievements along the way included appearing in the the 1984 movie Beat Street and singing the song Baptize The Beat. Later that year they did a song for the Beverly Hills Cop movie. The following year they did a song for a Miami Vice episode. Their big one hit was from their fourth album that shared the name of their big hit Don't Disturb This Groove. That song/album came out in 1987 and after the followup album the System shook hands and said goodbye. Check out singer Mic Murphy's big, tall box hair! And what's up with the motel setting for the video? Anyway, it's a great song and its from a group that you could maybe call a one hit and a few proud achievements band. From 1987, it's The System and Don't Disturb This Groove. Enjoy!

Friday Nite Video (SOS Band)

The S.O.S band. Loved this band back in the day. They released several songs throughout the 80's. I loved them all. The S.O.S band was soulful. Their vocals were silky smooth. They combined disco with R&B and created a unique sound. They formed way back in 1977 in Atlanta, GA. Their first hit came in 1980 with Take Your Time, Do It Right. After that it was one hit after another up until 1987 when lead vocalist Mary Davis left the group to try her hand at a solo career. Mary was replaced but the band was never able to recapture what Mary's vocals brought to the group. But then in 1994 Mary returned to her band and they continue to tour and play to this day. Here's my favorite song by them. From 1983, its Tell Me If You Still Care by the Sounds Of Success band (that's what the S.O.S stands for)

Summer in Florida

It's hot. Really hot here in normally warm Florida. And the official start of summer isn't until June 21st. Everyone talks about Florida in the summer and how miserable it is. And guess what? Their right! Imagine walking into a giant oven that's preheated to 300 and that's bout the way it feels. Summertime in Florida means when you have something to do outside then you get up and you go out early, usually before ten to do whatever it is you have to do. Anytime much after that and you start running the risk of having heatstroke. 100 percent humidity insures that your clothing will be drenched with sweat in a few minutes. But we Floridians are a tough bunch when it comes to heat. It can be 110 out and we can't let on to fellow Floridians that we think it's hot. We always have to wait for whoever we are with to say it first, like it would be perceived as a weakness for us sun loving people. Put ten of us together and we can be outside and we can talk about sports, politics, whats going on around town and other topics of conversation and when the first person mentions something about how hot it is then we all chime in. Yeah, its pretty dang hot. We just can't be the first to say it. If there's a northerner in the bunch or around us we will NEVER admit it. Hot? This isn't even close to being hot! We still have ten or fifteen degrees to go before its hot! That northerner will have sweat pouring out of every pore on their body and literally be melting before our very eyes but we can't let on like its hot. I get a kick out of being at my job at Disney and you see these red faced guests panting and chugging along. When they ask "How do you stand this heat", we always answer with "what heat"? This is nothing. You should have been here last week. It was hot then. Yes, its mean but we delight in it. Why? Because we like to brag to all of those northern friends and family in the wintertime whens it 10 degrees and there's 2 feet of snow on the ground up there about how we are laying around in our shorts thinking about going and jumping in the pool. We always have to add during the conversation what OUR current temperature is and yes there is a almost a perverted joy we get when we do that. Northern friends post pictures taken outside their homes on Facebook after a big snowstorm and complain that the forecast is for another six to eight inches in the next 24 hours and then we comment with some kind of sentence designed to inflict even more despair and agony on them. Posts like "Wow, and I just got back from the beach". Or "Just finished cutting the grass and dumb me, I took off my shirt and now I have a bad sunburn". Or the real mean one of "And I was just thinking about turning on the A/C". We are a cruel bunch of people down here. But let me let you non Floridians in on a little secret. It gets hot here in the summer. Really hot. And we pay a big price for calling Florida home in the summertime. We are acclimated somewhat and we can probably take a little more heat then non Floridians but we get hot just like everyone else. And we do pay a price for living here in the summertime. When we are outside here in the summer we are always on the lookout for a shady spot to stand under or somewhere else to get out of the sun. If we don't we better have some sunscreen on cause we will get burnt! We get up and get out early to get our chores done and then we search out the A/C till the sun goes down. Darkness provides some relief but you dare not go outside in it or you'll be eaten alive by mosquitoes that look like their more in the horsefly family then the mosquito family. Six bites from these guys and you will get light headed from the loss of blood. Then there's the forest fires that always start up around mid May or so right as we wind down from our dry season. Every year somebody will toss out a cigarette butt and it will roll onto the dry, thirsty grass and ignite a patch of said grass and before you know it you have a 40,000 acre wildfire burning out of control. That fire starts other fires and the process just keeps repeating itself until half of the states woodlands and scrubs are burnt or burning. You can smell the smoke, sometime you see the smoke if there's one burning nearby, which there almost always is. A few weeks ago they had one burning right outside of Disney's property up by the Magic Kingdom and for a week solid the smoke would start rolling in and the guests would ask "Whats burning" and "Should we be concerned"? "No", we would answer. Just a raging, burning wildfire. And they all have the same distinct smokey smell. It's like nothing you've never smelled before but once you do there's no denying what it is. They all get extinguished here very shortly as we enter the rainy season. And calling it the rainy season is a mild way of putting it. When one hears "the rainy season" you would tend to think of a time of the year when it would rain off and on every few days or so. Steady, ground soaking rains that lasted throughout the season of rain. Right? Well friends that's far from it. Typical day here during the rainy season is like this. Sun comes up. By 9 am it's 80 degrees. Noontime it's 90. Humidity is at 100 percent. Suns blazing down, withering anything dumb enough to be out under it. Around 2ish the sky starts getting dark. Dark turns to ugly, scary looking black. Then the sky explodes as the upper air currents coming in from over the atlantic ocean and the gulf of mexico collide and if your outside you better seek shelter. All that humidity that's been building over the course of the day comes pouring out of the heavens in the form of raindrops so big and falling so fast that they actually hurt when their falling on you. Loud thunder rips and echos and the sky comes to life with some of the most amazing lightning bolts your ever seen. Witness one of these storms and you'll know why central Florida is called the lightning capital of the world. At night the weather forecasters will tell you about the days storms we have had and they actually count the number of lightning strikes per storm and the numbers are always in the thousands. A bad one averages 14,000 to 20,000 strikes per storm. I remember when I moved here in June of 2000, right before the start of the rainy season. When it did start I was completely blown away by the force and the intensity of these storms. I remember thinking to myself this isn't normal weather. At least not any I was used to. Once a few years back I got caught outside in one of these storms as I was going into work. I worked at the Magic Kingdom and we had to park a half mile or so it seemed from where we were to report. Anyway, I was almost there when a storm popped up and the winds and the rain and the thunder and lightning started. I had my umbrella because I knew by the storm clouds that it was coming, I was just hoping to beat it. I didn't. I opened my umbrella and tried to shield myself from the onslaught of rain but I was losing the battle. Suddenly, I felt the hairs on my neck and body stand off straight and I felt a funny feeling in the air. The next instant a lightning bolt struck somewhere very close by me and I literally felt the ground shake. I heard the electricity travel through my umbrella and I took off running, scared out of my mind. I ran and jumped onto one of the parked Disney buses and as soon as I got on there my umbrella just fell apart into pieces. The electrical surge had actually blew it apart. Thankfully it had a wooden handle and I saved that handle for a reminder of what had happened. From that day forward I gained a whole lot of respect for lightning and what it can do. But anyway. that's a typical rainy day here in Florida. It will blow, bang, beat, rain buckets and then after about thirty minutes its over. Usually the sun is back out soon after it stops and it's just as hot and then even more humid then before. So you see friends, yes we love to brag in the winter when we're here and your there. But make no mistake about it, we pay our price in the summertime.

Friday Nite Video (Def Leppard)

Hi all. Tonight we're gonna talk about one of my favorite bands from back in the day, Def Leppard. These British rockers busted out on the scene right around 1981 when they released the album High 'n' Dry. It had a couple good songs on it and they started getting some radio play. They had a edgy sound to them and I thought they were great! Me and my friends listened to them and blared their music from our car stereos but two years later in 83 after they released Pyromania EVERYONE was Def Leppard fans. I remember going to Ryans Gems and Junk on the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach and getting a sleeveless muscle shirt with a Def Leppard decal ironed on it and thinking I was the man. Not many muscles to show but I was sporting the look anyway haha. They were riding high and then the following year tragedy struck when the drummer Rick Allen wrecked his car and lost his right arm. Everyone pretty much thought that was going to be the end of D.L or at least having Allen as their drummer. But they surprised everyone when they announced they would be keeping Allen and they were going to have a custom drum set built so Allen could play with his feet in addition to his one arm. In 1986, D.L started doing some live shows again. Allen never missed a beat, his drumming was as good as ever. The boy's were back in business. The following year D.L released their most successful album to date, Hysteria. That album was a huge smash and I think every song on that album had a run in the top 100 at some point. D.L sealed their legacy as musicians with that album. Which brings us up to tonight's video. What better song to feature from Def Leppard then the title song from their hit album Hysteria. Sure, it's not got the hard edge that their earlier music had but it's a great song nevertheless. From 1987 its Hysteria from the boys. Enjoy!

Wizard of Oz remake

I was reading recently and stumbled across a article that was talking about some of the movie studios in Hollywood were throwing around the idea of remaking the Wizard of Oz. I almost choked on the coffee I was drinking! Are they completely nuts?? How dare them to even consider fooling around with a classic like the Wizard of Oz! Most remakes usually stink and they never live up to the originals. I remember as a kid growing up in the days before VCR's and DVD's where we had to WAIT for the yearly showing of the Wizard of Oz. They would start advertising it a few weeks before the air date and boy would we be exciting as we counted down the days. Ahh, the things you remember when you were a kid. That's why I almost choked when I read that they were really thinking of tinkering with a masterpiece. I was pretty steamed for a minute but then I thought now wait a minute, could Hollywood even remake that movie now in 2011? I don't think that they could.
Why not? Here's just a few reasons why.

-First off, Hollywood 2011 would have to explain why Dorothy is living with her Aunt and Uncle. Did her father have a illicit affair with another women and maybe even bore a child with her while trying to keep the affair a secret until one day the lover tells Dorothy's mother about the affair and the child she had with her husband, causing her mother to spiral down into a world of drugs and alcohol as she tried to cope with the betrayal of her husband. The father leaves one day with his mistress and the state finally has to remove Dorothy from her alcoholic and drug addicted mother and then place her into the care of her aunt and uncle. To much juicy story to just leave out.
-Next thing, everyone knows there are no family farms left in Kansas. They were all bought up or run out of business long ago by the mega government sponsored farming operations. The ones that the US government subsidizes and pays them to NOT plant crops and work the thousands of acres they have. There wouldn't be a pig pen for Dorothy to fall into because all the pigs are now raised at the giant swine plants where right after their birth they are placed on a steroid based diet to get them to slaughter weigh in about six weeks.
-So say just for the sake of the movie they do have a small family farm that Dorothy lives on. They wouldn't be able to have Hunk, Hickory or Zeke working there. No self respecting American would stoop that low to perform such menial labor now a days. More then likely it would be three illegal Mexican immigrants. Probably named Pedro, Jose and Juan.
-Then there's the nonsense about the elderly Almira Gulch rushing to Dorothy's house on a bike. Really? Today Almira would drive something there or ride on her Dan Wesson if you qualify for Medicare then I guarantee I can get you approved for a motor scooter from the scooter store electric chair.
-Almira takes Toto. Dorothy runs away. She comes across a out of work fortune teller. He invites her into his wagon read her fortune. HELLO!! She must have never heard the don't talk to strangers sermon. Anyway, as Dorothy's trying to make her way home a tornado springs up. She's fighting the wind, trying to get back home. 2011 and she could have just hopped a ride with one of the many storm chasers whooping and hollering as they followed the funnel, trying to get as close as possible. And what about Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel? Surely he and at least a few more reporters would be on the scene and be able to help Dorothy out.
-Then she wakes up in Oz. She goes outside and sees all these little people and they call themselves munchkins. Sorry, that's not going to work. It might be upsetting to midgets, dwarfs and just short people in general. They would have to be called something like the vertical challenged kins. Or the Not Really that Tallkins.
-Next we discovered Dorothy's house landed on the bad witches cousin, the wicked witch of the east. She's wearing expensive shoes . Red ruby slippers. Today? It would have to be a pair of Louis Vuitton red pumps with maybe a matching handbag. Definitely makes the value of the ruby slippers look pale in comparison.
-Dorothy heads out for Oz. First she meets the scarecrow. That's plausible enough. But the tin man? No way. Standing beside the yellow brick road "frozen". He would have been in the recycle bin a longtime ago. Or picked up by a couple of old guys and taken to the salvage yard and turned in along with some stripped copper wire and aluminum cans for a quick buck. The cowardly lion? He would be praised and loved for being in touch with his sensitive side and his refusal to use intimidating tactics and his passive aggressive tendencies.
-Then they all get to Oz and knock on the massive door so that they can go inside. Dude opens door, looks them over and tells them to leave. Wrong! 2011 Dorothy and gang marches down to the courthouse and files a discrimination lawsuit against the gatekeeper for gender, animal, metal and straw discrimination. Gatekeeper would be sued and then fired after being publicly humiliated.
-Oz tells the gang to go kill the witch and bring back her broomstick. On the way there the witch sends the winged monkeys to get them in the enchanted forest and bring Dorothy back and destroy the others. Now, in 2011 we all know we descended from monkeys so chances are they won't hurt their own. Plus, Peta might threaten a boycott if they think the producers are trying to portray the monkeys in a bad light.
-Dorothy ends up at the castle and her friends arrive and try to find her. They sneak in with the guards and soldiers and precede to look around for their friend. But wait, 2011 Dorothy still has her Verizon smartphone on her so she secretly sends her location to her friends phone in the form of a text message AND a pix of the room just in case, saving her friends from having to search room by room and risk getting caught.
-As is in the original movie, Dorothy and gang get chased through the castle and when finally cornered, Dorothy throws the bucket of water on the witch as shes trying to put the fire out on her friend the scarecrow. Like the original movie, this results in the witch melting but in the remake they add the dialogue of Dorothy explaining to everyone that it wasn't the water that melted the wicked witch but it was the contaminates in the water that got there by mans assault on our natural resources and his blatant disregard for the environment.
-In the old version Dorothy is sad and disappointed when she misses the hot air balloon ride back home to Kansas but cheers up when Glinda explains that all she had to do to get home was at anytime tap her heels together three times while saying "there's no place like home". In the new version Dorothy goes postal when told this and has to be restrained by a large number of Ozians who grab her ankles and click her heels for her while they chant "there's no place like home".

And these are just a few reasons why I don't think they will ever do a Wizard of Oz remake.

Friday Nite Video (Prince)

Hi friends. Can you believe its June already? Pretty shocking for me to think that the year is halfway over. Time flies doesn't it? As for me it's been a interesting week since last last Friday night. I made a new friend. Almost lost a good, longtime friend. Did lose the new friend. Then made up with the old friend (thankfully!). Usually I have these posts always done in advance but not this one! The roller coaster of life was a crazy ride this week. But anyway, back to tonight. I'm taking it back tonight to one of my favorite performers. That would be the entertainer known as Prince. Prince's video The Beautiful One's was the second video I did for Friday Nite Videos. I love the guys music. Always have and always will. He had started out early in the 80's and with 1984's Purple Rain he just took off from there. Every song on that album is great and each one has a different meaning. I like tonight's live performance of one of those songs, I Would Die 4 U! I remember when this video was shown on TV back after it was recorded although I don't remember which channel showed it. I thought it was great then and its still great now. The words to the song are great and as usual Prince sings them with passion and emotion. That's what makes Prince such a special Performer. He puts everything into his music. I like how this performance starts out with Prince shouting out I Would Die 4 U and then screams the name Lisa! He would be referring to the girl in his band The Revolution. He then goes on to name several others including Shelia. That would be Shelia E! The lady that can beat a drum as well as anyone can. Enjoy life and it ups and downs. We only get one and just like it's June 3rd already, it goes all to fast! From 1985, it Prince and The Revolution and I Would Die 4 U. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Joel Wharton!

Hey you old Fart! Halfway to 50! Happy birthday to my best friend!