The Leader of the ‘Doomed Love’ Singles

Picture this: Good-girl Betty meets motorcycle bad-boy Jimmy at a candy store, where he's obviously buying candy cigarettes. He turns around and smiles at her. You get the picture?  (Who knew that candy stores were such popular pick-up joints in 1964?) But is she really going out with him? Yep, the next thing you know, she takes Jimmy's ring, wraps her legs 'round those velvet rims, and straps her hands 'cross his engines (no, wait; that's another song about an outcast luring a chick to his Harley).  Anyway, Daddy tells her to ditch the biker. Alas, the sad, misunderstood Jimmy drives off into the sunset to crash and burn. Oh, the drama, the poignancy, the sound effects! How we all longed for a Jimmy who would self-destruct for us! Yes, folks, I'm talking about the Shangri-Las' doomed-love classic "Leader of the Pack," which hit the #1 spot on the Billboard charts 50 years ago today.

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Ode to Bobbie Gentry…and that Tallahatchie Bridge

"It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day…" I sing in the car. This is about as far as I get before my sweet hubby groans, "Okay, THAT'S enough." He knows what's coming next: the entire five verses of Bobbie Gentry's Southern gothic hit, "Ode to Billie Joe." Yep, I've known the lyrics to that moody little song frontwards and backwards since Daddy first brought home the single in July 1967. The beautiful Bobbie is 70 years old today, and I want to thank her for inspiring me at a young age to write about my life and my observations.

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