Thursday, October 25, 2012

Get Wet. Get In. Ride the Wave. Get Frosting on Your Clothes.


I've wanted to live by the ocean, I said, probably ever since I first saw the ocean in a movie.
And you just got here, she said. After all those years. Well, a person just can't do everything.
But you, I said, managed to live in Baltimore during the 40s. There are people who'd pay a million dollars to hear the music you heard.
Oh, yeah, she said.
Ever see Cab Calloway? I asked.
Sure, she said.
Louis Armstrong?
Oh, yeah.
And on we went. From the Inkspots to Glen Miller. The Dorsey Brothers. Bennie Goodman.
I heard about the clubs where she and her sister worked. The Club Charles. The Band Box and the Chanticleer.
And she told me about a crazy Martha Raye act. After she sang her set, she threw a cake at the audience.
People loved it, she said. They didn't care if they got frosting on their clothes.

2 comments:

Suz said...

oh yea i get it!
what a time that must have been
...lucky you to hear and ask about them....
dig somemore.......research for your novel

Ms. Moon said...

That is my favorite kind of post. Thanks. Tell your mama I said howdy, okay?