Monday, January 25, 2010

Parental Guidance

(Not a paid endorsement of anything mentioned.  Links are solely for the purpose of information and entertainment.)

As a parent, I try to expose my children to a variety of cultural experiences.  Theater, music, classic educational television...  Just before Christmas, we hauled out the Christmas CDs, and I made sure the boys got a good dose of Mannheim Steamroller.

Just days later, during my own radio show, I ran a program which revealed the fact that the brains behind Mannheim Steamroller, Chip Davis, is the same person who wrote the song "Convoy".  I was stunned.  I was amused.

Mostly, I wanted to hear the song.
Over. And over. And over.

And so it came to pass, my children were introduced to the iconic treasure that is "Convoy".
And they said it was good.

Now, I know what you're thinking:  "Roses, I'm a fan of Mannheim Steamroller, and this has got to be some sort of internet prank." 

Well, just as I was thinking the same thing...
Over the weekend on This Network, Convoy, the movie, came on.
"You've gotta be kidding me!  I've never actually seen this movie.  My parents wouldn't let me."
The Husband and I settled in to watch.
And sure enough, during the opening sequence music credit is given to... Chip Davis.

A few minutes into it, when the first CB chatter came across, the boys (deeply engrossed in computer games in the next room, mind you) called out, "Is that Convoy?  On TV?"
They abandoned their computers and came running.

We all watched Convoy together.
Afterwards, we fired up the computer, pulled up the music on YouTube in one window and the lyrics in another, and had a good ol' fashioned family sing-a-long.

And now that the tune is stuck in your head for the rest of the day...
You're welcome.

7 comments:

Priscilla said...

Computer karaoke! Adorable!

I haven't thought of Convoy in years. Did not know Chip Davis wrote that but hey, genius is genius right?

So they says to him, 'Chip, write us a song about a convoy.' and he does!

Brilliant!

Dani said...

Ya gotta love an earworm.

Thumper said...

And what does Thumper take away from all this? That she apparently named the protagonist of 4 of her books after the guy who wrote 'Convoy.'

Now I has a case of Teh Lame...

St Jude said...

fortunately I'm ahead in time so I don't have the tune for the rest of the day, but the rest of the night... oh joy, dreams of hairy truckers and that tune. Thank you hun ;0}

Andy said...

Roses, "Convoy" came out when I was a Sophomore in High School, and I can still sing it word for word.

When I got my first car (a 1972 Dodge Dart "Swinger Edition") in 1976, the first accessory I bought was a CB radio. AND A 12 FOOT HIGH ANTENNA with the spring thingy that let you drive under overpasses. Ahhhh...good memories!

The next was a cassette player that mounted under the dashboard, alongside the Realistic CB.

I'm not sure whether I had more fun with the CB, or with the cassette player wailing out "Frampton Live" with my future wife in the old bucket of bolts.

Good memories Roses. Really good...

Unknown said...

Hahahahaha! I loooooved Convoy!! A Classic!! :)

Nikia, May and da kids said...

Convoy, first time hearing the story behind it. Thanks.

May