singing our hearts out, or, greta and malala i was not

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nov 4 1979 fifty-two United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and seized hostages. A diplomatic standoff ensued. Wikipedia

perhaps some background would be helpful

i was in 6th grade and not at all tuned in to current geopolitical affairs/crises. we attended an ultra conservative baptist private school (lots of redundancies there).  parochial schools were the norm for our large family, whether anglican, catholic, baptist, jewish.  it was very much an upbringing of comparative religion yet somewhat haphazardly if not altogether unintentionally applied.  i digress.

temple christian baptist in pleasant grove (an ironic misnomer, i assure you), taught the basics -- god and country.  i'd likely have been expelled for that lower case "g", incidentally. i would have cared then; i am no longer concerned with such infinitesimally minute trivialities now, thank goodness i suppose.

despite my oblivion to many global current events, i nevertheless was aware who the ayatollah khomeini was, what he looked like, and that most if not all americans considered him a "bad man".  likely i associated it to waiting in line at sarge's exxon gas station on lemon and oak lawn.  before the late '70s, i didn't remember having to sit parked in the street as scores of cars patiently or impatiently waited to inch up to the pumps. 

this obvious departure from typical day to day seemed more than just disruptive to the general populace.  even as a naive 6th grader, i was perceptive enough to ascertain these folks were mad, and the khomeini, given the hostage crisis, was an excellent focus for all sorts of fear, hatred, general consternation, disappointment and disgust. and in hindsight, i expect americans were worn thin and raw still from vietnam. so this new global cataclysm de jour likely picked that soft scab.  but what did i know. i was 12.

what i knew were things like the recently released off the wall was a killer m.j. album and that i was still riding o.n-j's huge release the year before, totally hot.  those red and black boots on the album cover made me swoon -- too hot, totally hot...almost as hot as core temps at the nuclear reactor in middletown, pa.  three mile island to me then was a funny snl skit.  ah yes, humor; laughing feels easier and is more acceptable than crying. looking back, the late '70s were a mess -- a radioactive, oil, blood and tear-stained mess.

meanwhile, in dallas tx... a few of the creatives at a local recording studio that typically pumped out advertising jingles determined what america needed, what the wider world needed, was a shot to the arm of redwhiteandblue. we needed a boost, not exactly an anthem, but something punchy, sweet, patriotic and ...cute (think children's xylophone)?

enter jim kirk.  no, not james tiberius kirk, although that would have been infinitely cooler for bill shatner to have been on this project.  anyhow, kirk assembled a full orchestra and his typical jingles background singers. hmm, he needed something else though, something emotional, something to tug at the national heart-string. the search resulted in an adorable, lisping, redheaded cutie soloist along with an army of blue collar, largely white, red blooded kids to sing backup. 

here's where blanche and i get to be on a 45 pressed by capitol records (b side was star spangled banner. can't argue with that choice), sold to thousands and appearing on billboard hot 100 for 3 weeks.  yes, three weeks is way longer than 15 minutes, so andy warhol's misattributed math was off by a little. despite this, i have yet to autograph any record sleeve, teddy bear or photo of my performances.  

as part of the tm singers, we appeared at various events throughout town in 1980 and maybe into '81.  these engagements were both informal and formal,  an organized, choreographed and rehearsed performance at smu basket ball games or something that today could be called pop up sorts of events, say a k-mart parking lot in balch springs gathering.  when kirk took the show on the road to appear on dinah, only a handful of the group went, likely on their own dime which would have been the limiter for me and my sister.

digging up various youtube video clips and hearing some interviews way after the fact, it occurs to me only now that many back then may have viewed it as a fairly politically and religiously conservative project, inspired by who really knows what motives.  maybe not, but i wouldn't be surprised.  of course this is not something we considered as middle schoolers.

for us then? we were just kids excited to be in the recording studio like david cassidy or leif garrett, eyes closed, one hand on the giant headphones, singing our hearts out.