Stuck in the 70's

A few years back I ran across a web page called "Stuck in the 70's".  I was dedicated to the teen idols of the day and those of us who loved them.  I seemed to have quite a bit in common with the owner of the site.  In fact, more than I realized. We were the same age, both from Peoria, Illinois, and still had much of our collection of teen idol stuff.  At first I was leery of being labeled a freak, but the more I share of my past with my 13 year old daughters, the closer I feel to them.  They both know who Donny, Tony and Shaun are and love them.  They now love 70's and 80's music.  There are certain moments that caused the teeny bopper in me to burst with pride.

1. The day I introduced them to Jim Stafford's "Spiders and Snakes" and they requested it over and over.
2. The day I heard C belting out Journey's "Open Arms" in the shower.
3. The day I got them to watch The Hardy Boys on Netflix and they both fell immediately for Shaun Cassidy.  I later ran across an old poster mag of mine that had a four page poster of Parker Stevenson which C promptly stole and took to her room.  At one point C exclaimed dreamily, "Shaun is so beautiful."
4. At age 7, C was asked in Primary at church what her favorite TV show was.  Her answer?  Donny & Marie.
5. How excited the girls were (especially C) the day that Tony DeFranco responded to a story I posted on his Facebook wall.  C had made up YMCA type moves to the DeFranco's song "Love is Bigger Than Baseball and I thought he might appreciate the humor in it.

The day I first played Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling" for them.  M said "What the heck is THAT?" upon hearing the Ooga Chukka, Ooga Chukka intro.  By the end of the week, it was their most requested song.

Anyway, this post was inspired by a blog entry by the Stuck in the 70's blogger.  I typed up a response and decided that maybe it was okay to own-up to my past.  Happily, my girls are not drooling over teen idols the way I did.  They live in a more realistic world....a world where former teen idols respond to posts, sometimes within minutes.
Here is this week's shot in the arm.  I don't know if you can view the link.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150119090953351&set=o.151450663351&theater
Anyway, the Stuck it the 70's Facebook page posted a shirtless picture of Tony DeFranco at around 10-12 yrs old.  I commented that he looked....uncomfortable.  Within a the hour, Tony himself responded, "I'm uncomfortable NOW looking at it! Yikes. That has to go. LOL".


Okay, so here is the post that inspired this blog:
http://fidlerforum.blogspot.com/2011/02/legend-of-great-teen-idol-hair.html#comment-form

Here is my reply:

I too remember the unveiling of Tony's new "do". I've never been much for curly hair, so I wasn't too impressed. By this time I was firmly in Camp Bay City Rollers, with an appendage or two in the Osmond Camp as well.
Funny thing is, I married a man with curly hair. He never lets his grow out into a 'fro, but my gorgeous step-son has on occasion. Can't say I like it on him either, but I love the person and that's what counts.
I'm trying to remember what year the DeFranco's came to Peoria. Wasn't it 1975? Does that mean you missed your chance to meet them?
Interestingly enough, I remember the DAY I saw the DeFrancos, but not the concert. I bought a bunch of DeFranco stuff at the concert. My family was kind enough to delay our vacation departure until after the concert. I climbed in the car with my nose firmly planted in the fan club booklet and my mind firmly planted in Tony's arms. Ah...memories. I do wish I had some memory of the concert though.
Upon my return from vacation, I mailed the "centerfold" picture from the book to Tony with a letter and requested he autograph them.  He kindly did so.  They are proudly preserved in my scrapbook.