Saturday 9: Baby Love

Good morning! My grandson seems to be content to eat Cheerios, play with his toys and watch his favorite show at the moment, so I'm going to try to join in with you all and get a post up. Cross your fingers!

*SORRY, NO MEMES TODAY, BECAUSE...

Saturday 9: Baby Love (1964)

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

1) When this song was popular, the Supremes were known for their elaborate hairstyles, make up and full-length gowns. When was the last time you got dressed up?

Like really dressed up, in a dress and everything? Um...pretty sure that would have been my daughter's wedding back in September.  We are pretty casual people most of the time.

2) "The girls," as they were known to the engineers and executives at Motown Records, were Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross. They began singing together when they were high school classmates. Are you still in touch with any friends from your high school days?

There are only a couple that I actually see face-to-face, but thanks to Facebook I keep up with quite a few people from high school, including quite a few that weren't friends when we were in school.

3) Mary Wilson was born in Mississippi and her family moved a great deal before settling in Detroit, where she fatefully met Florence and Diana. Were you uprooted often when you were a child? Or did you spend your school years in the same neighborhood?

We moved a lot up until I started junior high. I went to 4 different elementary schools and lived in 6 different houses during those years. We moved to the neighborhood my dad's family lived in right before I started junior high and while we did move once more, it was only one street over and I didn't have to change schools. I left for several years, but we moved back to the old neighborhood 24 years ago and this is where our kids grew up. 

My dad's family was one of the first families here and we've been part of the neighborhood since 1930. It was great being part of a neighborhood that was more like family. Everyone knew everyone else and all the immediate neighbors were more like family...so much so that I grew up calling them all Aunt or Uncle. My kids had that, too. It's changing rapidly, though, as all the older generations pass away and the houses are sold to young families with no ties to the neighborhood.

4) The Supremes began as a quartet called the Primettes. In addition to Mary, Flo and Diana, there was Betty McGlown. In 1960, Betty left the group to get married and was replaced by Barbara Martin. In 1962, Barbara left the group to have a baby. They quit trying to replace the fourth voice, soldiered on as a trio, and made pop history. Have you ever found yourself in a position similar to Betty's or Barbara's, where you had to make a difficult decision and choose between your personal life and your career?

No, I can't say that I have. I haven't really had a career, though, just jobs. I do know, however, that if it came down to my job or my family, my family would always be the priority.

5) Thinking of babies and "baby love," is anyone in your life expecting a baby in 2018?

Not that I know of. I know our daughter is making noises about wanting another baby, but I really hope she waits just a little bit longer.

6) With twelve #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, The Supremes remain America's most commercially successfully recording group, and this song (along with "Stop! In the Name of Love") is one of the most popular karaoke songs. If we handed you the mic this morning and absolutely insisted you perform, what song would you choose (any song, any genre)? 

Well, for starters, I wouldn't sing at all. Remember? No musical talent whatsoever over here. I would find a way to bolt. There is no way you could MAKE me sing. However, if I could at least carry a tune and you put me up to it, I would probably choose Billy Joel's Piano Man. It's a great singalong song and I sing along when it comes on in the car.

7) Original group member Florence Ballard left the group in 1967. She died of cardiac arrest in 1976 at the age of 32. Since February is National Heart Month, it seems appropriate to ask: Is anyone in your life battling heart disease? 

My stepfather had bypass surgery last year and my mom has some weird echo or something (don't know that it's actually heart disease) and both have to watch their cholesterol. He takes meds for his. Mom controls hers pretty well with diet. My husband has to keep an eye on his cholesterol, but his heart and arteries are apparently just fine. So far I am good on all accounts.

8) Florence Ballard's brother, Hank, wrote Chubby Checker's famous dance song, "The Twist." When did you last dance?

Yesterday. Our grandson likes to dance so I'm always dancing with him.

9) Random question: Close your eyes and visualize the most beautiful place you've ever been. Now describe it to us.

I don't know that anyone else would choose it as the most beautiful place, but I choose my grandmother's yard. Nana loved flowers and she surrounded her tidy white Cape Cod style house with flowerbeds that were mixed jumbles of flowers. There was no rhyme or reason, she just planted what she liked. She also had just about every kind of tree that flowered planted around the yard.

Any time I was there we started each day sipping tea on her front porch. She had all kinds of potted plants, climbing Clematis and Morning Glories, and a hummingbird feeder that drew them like flies. We'd sit out there and watch the sun come up and listen to the birds wake up.

And speaking of birds, Nana's house was in the country to start with, but there was a swamp in the woods across the road that was a National Wildlife Sanctuary so there were a lot of different species of birds around. Nana put out feeders in the winter and we'd sit at her dining room table and watch hundreds of birds come and go.

The little guy is getting restless so it's time for me to get moving and find something for us to do. At least I got this done.  

Learn a lesson from this week's school shooting....Tomorrow is not promised. Live and love fully today. Have a great Saturday and enjoy whatever it is you have planned.

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