Detweiler: Growing up with a father who loved Glenn Miller
Rock and roll was not played in the Detweiler household.
My father graduated high school in Tallmadge, Ohio, in 1952, towards the end of the big band era. He was in Germany in the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1958, so he pretty much missed Elvis-mania. My mother graduated high school in Mantua, Ohio, in 1957 and she was a typical teeny-bopper. She liked Elvis but her taste ran more towards the sounds of Eddie Fisher and Bobby Darin. I do recall that August day in 1977 when she came home from work and I broke the news to her that Elvis had died. She cried, even though she wasn’t a total Elvis freak.
Not that my parents were totally out of touch with the world of music. I know they know who the Beatles were and we must have watched them on the Ed Sullivan Show. The first song I ever sang was “She Loves You” by the Beatles, recorded during one of my father’s kid interviews that he used to conduct on his fancy reel-to-reel tape recorder before we could barely talk. But after that performance, I don’t think I heard the words “The Beatles” until I went to college.
Hence, I grew up listening to Glenn Miller and Ferrante & Teicher. Then my older sister, Karen, turned 12 in 1972 and started buying 45s. She brought home “It Never Rains in Southern California” by Albert Hammond and my life changed forever. Then I got my own Marion Star paper route, and my $4 weekly paycheck was spent exclusively at Lawson’s (I had a horrific sweet tooth) and at Musicland.
My favorites growing up in the ‘70s were Elton John and Billy Joel. My brother, with whom I shared a bedroom, would wake me up at 5 a.m. as he blared Ted Nugent and AC/DC while he was getting ready for before-school baseball practice. Then I started playing Broadway cast albums and my brother would make fun of me, although I know he was singing along to “Dance: Ten; Looks Three” from “A Chorus Line” under his breath.
When I got to Kent State in 1981, my world of rock and roll opened up. The first show I did at Kent was an unauthorized production of The Who’s “Tommy.” In the early ‘80s, retro-'60s music was making a comeback, and all the guys in Koonce Hall (my dorm) were playing The Doors, The Stones, The Zombies and The Beatles. That is where I developed my love for oldies rock and roll.
We have a couple of oldies rock and roll shows at the Palace Theatre in May. For all you fans of The Beatles, we have a tribute show starring Brit Beat on Friday in the main theatre. On May 20, the May Pavilion will be presenting “The Geezecats” — a doo-wop band from Cleveland. Tickets are available in person at the box office, or by calling 740-383-2101 during our box office hours. You can also order tickets online on our website marionpalace.org. A $5 per ticket surcharge applies to tickets purchased online.
Have a great May!
Kirk Detweiler is the executive director of the Marion Palace Theatre. For more information about theatre events and activities, go to marionpalace.org.