Saturday Nine Meme

WOW Haven't heard this song in many years but since I used to like Helen Reddy, I decided to play along with these questions this week.  I'm also waiting for it to warm up a bit to go for my 2 mile walk. I'm linking up with this site to participate in the Saturday Nine. 

Saturday 9: Angie Baby (1974)

Unfamiliar with this week's featured song? Hear it here.

 

1) This week's song is a spooky one about a young man who breaks into the bedroom of a troubled girl named Angie. Their encounter doesn't go well and he's never seen again. Though there's been gossip, no one knows for sure what happened to him. Does your town have any scary legends that have been passed down through the decades?

Not my town specifically (that I know of) but the Hudson Valley area, where my town is just to the north of that, is known for the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the Headless Horseman, and Rip Van Winkle. Also, the town I grew up in, in the Mohawk Valley, (central part of NYS) has a haunted house (the General Herkimer Homestead Site). 

 

2) Songwriter Alan O'Day said he drew upon aspects of his own childhood to come up with "Angie Baby." He was an only child who often stayed home sick from school, with only Top 40 radio for company. What do you recall when you think about sick days as a kid?  

I wasn't often sick as a child but one day I clearly remember, was when I was about 10 or 11 and it was late Autumn.  Dad was at work and Mom, me, and my 2 younger sisters Joy and Hope were all home from work/school with the stomach flu.  I clearly remember sucking on ice cubes and sipping ginger ale while lying on the living room couch and my sister Hope was sleeping on the floor.  Mom and Joy were upstairs. Not sure how this all worked as we only had ONE bathroom in my childhood home. 

 

3) Helen Reddy said she enjoyed hearing what her fans thought happened in "Angie Baby." Can you think of another song that is open to interpretation?

yes.  Many of Taylor Swift's songs are full of metaphors (which sadly most Americans just don't get, but to me and my daughters it's not rocket science!), and one that is currently open to interpretation from her latest album is Wood. 

 

4) When Helen and her husband/manager Jeff Wald heard "Angie Baby" the first time, they immediately agreed she should record it. She went into the studio that afternoon and in less than 10 days, disc jockeys were playing it and "Angie Baby" became an international hit. When were you glad you acted on impulse?

I'm so glad I acted on impulse and decided to buy a piano back in 1988.  I had been a piano major in college and had studied classical piano since the age of 7.  I had to take out a small personal loan but within 2 years it was paid off. It was a total impulse buy. I was single in a small apartment. The piano is a Young Chang and it's for an apartment or small space. It's missing the top 3 white keys. (which are rarely needed so.....) 

 

Questions inspired by Halloween .... 

5) Though best known as a recording artist, Helen Reddy also acted on occasion and appeared as a singing nun in Airport 1975. A nun's habit is a popular Halloween costume. Will you/did you dress up this year?  No. 

6) In 2024, more Americans than ever dressed their dogs up for Halloween. Have you ever taken your pup with you trick-or-treating? 

No. We don't own a dog. 

7) According to the Guinness Book of Records, the award for highest number of jack-o-lanterns in one place went to Keene, NH, where in 2013 there were 30,581. Did you carve a pumpkin for Halloween this year?

No. We don't carve pumpkins.  I have a plastic jack o lantern with a smiling face that has a lightbulb inside that I keep lit on the porch all of Halloween week. It is now in the storage area of the basement. 

 

8) In years gone by, the Irish celebrated Halloween not with pumpkins but by carving turnips, potatoes and beets. Are any of those foods in your kitchen right now?

yes, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, and beets 

 

9) Some Elvis fans insist his ghost hovers in the trees over Graceland. Have you ever seen a ghost?

yes, many former students and neighborhood children dressed as a ghost. as for a "real" ghost which are most likely demons....I've never "seen" one but I've definitely heard one.