EC's South Island League

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Yes, Suzy Bogguss is good too. Lari White was good too, but unfortunately, she's no longer with us. Among many others, of course.

The Alabama Band just lost one of their key members recently, someone named Jeff Cook. He was good, for sure. It is quite certain that Alabama's one of the best bands that has ever been present in the music industry, although there are probably many people who might disagree with that assessment, of course, especially if they hate country and/or gospel music, for instance, quite a bit in their lives. Cheap Seats is a good song by them, as well, but it's not their best of all, in any case. Although I don't quite know which song of theirs I'd call my favorite one by them, to be honest, at the moment. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

I have 45 songs by Alabama... but don't have Cheap Seats... never cared for it... much prefer Tennessee River, My Home's in Alabama, Close Enough to Perfect, Deep River Woman (with Lionel Richie), Dixieland Delight, Mountain Music, Feels So Right, Jukebox in My Mind, Old Flame, Touch Me When We're Dancing and Dancin', Shaggin' on the Boulevard and Love in the First Degree.

Christmas in Dixie is one of my favorite Christmas songs.

But my all-time Alabama song is one that was never popular... it was released in 1977 before they became popular... I Wanna Be With You Tonight... it only made #78 on the Country charts.

My station in 1977 was WYNK in Baton Rouge... we never got that song... but we did play Alabama before many country stations did... I was the music director and I added their first hit to our playlist... that was I Want To Come Over... it was on a small label and only reached #33 on the Billboard Country chart... it should have been a Top 10 song... sadly, many country stations don't play songs on small record labels... which is a terrible shame... my stations just played good songs regardless of record label... there was a lot of good songs on small labels in the 70s and 80s... it is even worse today... small labels get no airplay.

Here's some early Alabama for you... a song called I Want To Come Over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dka3v3Wxm9U

Alright... this is for all you little darlin's and you buckaroos, too, that love Alabama... I was a disc jockey and program director for 32 years... and my ears tell me that this next song should have been a #1 song.

Here's the first Alabama song to make the Country charts... some T. L. C. from Alabama... tender... loving... country... I Wanna To See You Tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQ_7e2GF34

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

You mean Lionel Richie, don't you? Angels Among Us is good, too. They certainly do have quite a lot of good songs in their discography on many albums, and a number of those songs you've just mentioned here I happen to like too, by the way. Mark Herndon may or may not have been an official member of the Band, but they still probably couldn't have done what they did without his presence with them as they performed their songs, I think. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 22, 1959

JOLIET JOLTS BRAXTON, TIES BRUINS FOR 1ST PLACE IN SECONDARY LEAGUE... CHERRYWOOD SLIPS TO 3RD PLACE
Two of the top teams clashed Sunday in the South Island Secondary League... trailing by one game runner-up Joliet
took on the top team Braxton and jolted the Bruins 10-7 to tie them for first place... another runner-up Cherrywood failed
to rise to the occasion... the Stouts lost to the Pelham Oaks 8-6 and dropped to the third spot in the standings.
In other Secondary League action Parkland got some good pitching and upended Grin Hill 4-1... and bottom-rung Littleville
pulled out a 3-2 game with the Billings Rams.

[Eugene Church]

Secondary League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1959
EC's Life Declines in '59

Old EC was just sittin' here and thinkin'... I need to change the heading occasionally... so I looked up and found about 100 or so words that rhymed well with "1959" and also captured my mood and state of mind at the time... am I a poet and don't know it?

yep, EC needs to get a life, don't he?... nobody in his right mind spends time looking up rhymes, especially non poets... it's whine time and time to opine... looking at my life since high school, it has to a certain degree declined... I didn't have much of a life in high school, but it was better than the Air Force... nope, the Air Force was not bad at all... it was a good experience overall... but it was still lonely... at least in high school I had sports to keep me busy... those years were certainly great playing basketball, softball and baseball for the Galvez Guppies, Crawford Cougars, Baltimore Knicks, Central Baptist Church and the N. S. Hatcher Construction Company Red Sox... EC has some many fond memories from 1953 to 1958 of playing sports... yep, I really miss playing sports...however, that is missing in the Air Force... they did have intramural sports at the Army Language School, but for whatever reason, I didn't get involved in basketball or softball... I don't think the leagues were well run or organized.... now I really did enjoy the Intramural Bowling League which my team won by whupping the cocky NCOs... I also enjoyed the mixed league team with the Chavez sisters... really enjoyed Marge and Beth and their whole family... they invited us over for holiday get togethers... those were some good times.

Well, it won't be long until we finish the Russian Language Course... the higher you finish in the class rankings, the better assignment overseas you will get.... since I am just an average student, #42 in a class of 102, I don't expect to get a plum assignment like Germany or Italy... it will probably be exiled to remote Alaska or remote Turkey.

Well, I guess EC "opined" more than I "whined"... there is some positivity in this post.

Musically, I never realized what a big hit "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton was... 10 weeks on top of the country charts and 6 weeks on top of the pop charts... it must have been the record of the year.

Some of my fondest memories of the Army Language School was some of the characters we had... every morning at 9 am one of them would stand out on the porch of the classrooms and belt out "The Battle of New Orleans" and he could really sing it... yep, he sang the English version... he didn't translate it to Russian... this guy has flaming red hair and a fine voice.

All of us would gather outside in the break between classes and listen to him sing it... we all would join him on the chorus:

Here 'tis again... Johnny Horton from Shreveport, Louisiana singing "The Battle of New Orleans"
All y'all need to join EC, the Red-Headed Airman and Johnny on the chorus.

Yeah, they ran through the briars
And they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes
Where a rabbit couldn't go
They ran so fast
That the hounds couldn't catch 'em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Yep, EC had some good times at the US Army Language School studying Russian at the Presidio of Monterey.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 29, 1959

YANKS ARE DEVINE IN '59 - WIN SUPREME LEAGUE TITLE
Last year the New Yerby Yankees were the best in the South Island Secondary League... this year they were the best
team in the South Island Supreme League... the Yanks clinched the flag with one week left in the season... they wrapped
it up with a 6-3 victory over the Zebulon Zips... New Yerby's top rivals, Meraux and Jackson met Sunday with the Jackalopes
stopping the Tigers 7-6 in Jackson... in other league activity Delta romped over the Mystic Mariners 16-7 and St. Dominic
blanked the Bar Harbor Acadians 4-0.





Supreme League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[jg2977]

Yankees did it! Some clutch hitting in the late innings. Didn't the real Bronx Bombers used to be called 5 o'clock lightning?

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by jg2977

Yankees did it! Some clutch hitting in the late innings. Didn't the real Bronx Bombers used to be called 5 o'clock lightning?

Never heard that to describe the Bronx Bombers.

[jg2977]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Never heard that to describe the Bronx Bombers.

https://www.amazon.com/Five-OClock-L.../dp/0471778125

https://1927-the-diary-of-myles-thom...g-993cebb0706a

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 29, 1959

GREEN GIANTS GRAB SECONDARY LEAGUE LEAD... STOUTS, BRUINS ONE GAME BACK... PENNANT RACE CLOSES WITH A FLOURISH NEXT WEEKEND
The odds favor first place Joliet going into the final weekend of the South Island Secondary League... if the Green Giants can defeat red-hot Pelham at home, Joliet is the
league champion and will advance to the Supreme League next year... if they lose to the Oaks, then the winner of the Cherrywood Stouts and Braxton Bruins will meet Joliet
in a sudden-death playoff... the Stouts-Bruins game will be at the Braxton Fairgrounds.

This past Sunday Joliet nipped the Littleville Supermen 2-1 in 10 innings to move up into first place... Braxton fell to second when they lost to the Parkland Perfectos 4-2.
Cherrywood bested the Grin Hill Smileys 8-5... and Pelham demolished the Billing Rams 15-3.

[Eugene Church]

Secondary League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]