Very tiring week, which included another late night with the theater posse for karaoke following an evening of auditions, work responsibilities keeping me awake and some internal thought-rumblings regarding where i was a year ago* – all of which have interfered with my sleep. Last night? Tucked in to bed with work readings and then happily off to sleep before 11:00 pm (rare for me).
Awakened by the phone, i groggily reached across the bed and snagged it from the nightstand. With no idea of what time it was, i saw it was The Girl, and briefly experienced that momentary parental terror thing… but it still didn’t quite wake me up!
The Girl: Mom, you have to turn on Leno**, there’s this amazing group…
daisyfae: [blurble… snort…] huh?
The Girl: Oh, shit. Did i wake you up? I’m sorry – i didn’t realize it was so late.
daisyfae: [flipping channels… scratching assorted body bits…] hlumphf?
The Girl: They’re called the Young at Heart Chorus! A bunch of senior citizens singing rock covers! They’re amazing!
daisyfae: [grinning wildly… staring in awe at the spectacle on the television…]
The Girl: The Ramones, Mom! They’re singing The Ramones!
Yes – it was beyond beautiful… and well worth a brief interruption in my sleep. Ladies and Gents, i present the Young At Heart Chorus – covering “I want to be sedated“, and then there’s David Byrne’s “Road to Nowhere“…
It is without question that i shall join up as soon as i get my retiree card! I think they could use a choreographer… and it’s cool that my daughter knows me well enough to know i wouldn’t have wanted to miss this!
________
* One year ago this week i was finishing radiation. One year ago this week, i joined up with Team In Training and committed to run a half-marathon. One year ago this week i was turning on my denial machine full blast, and putting the cancer behind me…
** For any non-US readers, Jay Leno hosts “The Tonight Show”. Which starts at 11:30 pm, and finishes at 12:30 am. Which is why my Vampyre-Daughter should have realized that it was, in fact, just a little late to be calling the old lady on a work night…
Trailer Park Refugee 
DF,
Those were some of the worst covers I’ve ever heard, but thank you for sharing this and, especially, good for them.
Also, there’s no little bit of irony in the “I wanna be sedated” cover. My late wife was a rec therapist in senior’s lodges and she would often descry the rampant use of sedatives to keep the residents as docile and trouble-free as possible. A sorry excuse for quality of life.
So, it’s great that these folks are up and around, exercising their brains and their bodies. Not only is it enhancing the quality of their retired lives, but I’ll bet it’s helping them live longer too.
* sidebar: I must have missed the fact that you’re a cancer survivor (can only blame my poor attention span). Congratulations to you and I sincerely hope that you remain NED from here on out.
Awesome!
Ha!
I’m right there with you girlypants. Sign me up for lead guitar although by then my arthritic fingers will no longer be able to manuever around a fretboard ala Eddie Van Halen…….
I knew I was officially old when I recognized the Muzak coming out of the elevator as The Cure’s Just Like Heaven.
BTW, I do a killer Joey Ramone impression except for the strung out heroin skinny as a bean pole physical thing.
Remember this one; “I don’t want to be buried, in a pet semetary”?
too freakin awesome… did you listen to wild side!!!! shiat…….
I wanna join ’em in about 10 years, especially if they need a pianist. Their version of Stayin’ Alive is better than the Bee Gees’, especially the two women singing at the pool table.
What a fabulous thing to see first thing on a rainy morning – thanks honey! 🙂
I love that group. Hearing them sing “talking about my generation” is hilarious.
And hey you…congratulations on a fekkin’ awesome aniversary!
I hope i get old before I die, talkin about my generation! Brilliant!
Seems to me that The Girl was surprised to find you asleep. You’re obviously not taking your dotage seriously.
Rob – i’m not sure i’d listen to the CDs, but there is beauty in this gang! and yes, i got very lucky, very early breast cancer. prognosis is good, no worries (and that’s not just the denial talking). a few older posts back there, but i’m not out here as a cancer blogger… my extended family is more likely to kill me at this point!
annie – can’t keep the smiles away when i see the videos/pictures!
uncle keith – sheer joy, isn’t it?
umdalum – almost makes you look forward to getting old! you get lead, i’ll do rhythm… me loves me some Ramones…
paisley – Wild Side was beautiful… another one of my all time fav’s…
toby – this group is in Boston, but i suspect there could be a need for one (and lots of talent available) in the Bay area! something to look forward to, perhaps…
az – just wish i could access youtube at work. for when the day turns to shit…
dolceii – i’d love to see their entire setlist. and i’m assuming it’s written down somewhere – i have to write down my own, and i’m only now starting to lose memory cells. and yeah. i got lucky. and not in the more festive sense of that phrase…
Bb – Road to Nowhere… My Generation… i wouldn’t even mind seeing them do Freebird!
kyknoord – good point. i’m ususally up past midnight, up around 0630. not healthy. but she truly had no clue what time it was – pretty funny….
You got lucky. We got lucky. It’s win win really. 🙂
dolceii – thanks!
I’m not trying to change the subject but what happened to your header? Back on topic, if my kid ever wakes me up over singing old people I would paint his back porch fire engine red!!!
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