“When you love someone the goodbyes hurt,” so focus on the great memories you have of them. In the long run, it’s the memories that make us who we are.
I am forever grateful for the wonderful parents I had, and still have in my memories!
I recently wrote and released this song for my Dad, who in addition to my Mom, were always there, with encouragement and love. Thank you, and see you both again one day!
“If There’s A Will, Then There’s A Way”
Note: I’d like to thank my great friend Larry for the excellent digital song cover!
One night in the mid 1980’s, I was watching a rerun of “The Twilight Zone.” The episode was called “Living Doll,” and centered around a talking doll named Talky Tina. It turned out that Tina could do a lot more than talk.
Tina was was owned by a delightful little girl named Christie. Christie’s stepfather had become abusive towards her, and Tina would have none of that. Tina went beyond her pre-programmed phrases and threatened Christie’s stepfather, in fact, eventually killing him. I won’t tell you how, so if you’ve never seen that episode, please check it out. Twilight Zone – always great!
Talky Tina actually gave me an idea for a song. No, she did not speak to me, but the episode did. I recalled the “Chatty Cathy” doll of my generation, and how I used to hear her phrases over and over again. Even as a kid, I remember the neighbor girl endlessly pulling Chatty’s ring to initiate her voice recordings. Geeze, really!
Chatty was a cute doll, but come on, I could only take so much. I decided that I needed a funny song to mitigate my childhood trauma, and “I Killed Chatty Cathy” was born, or died so to speak.
My friend Barry, who happens to be a great guitarist, co-wrote the song. Well, we played the song for a number of people, and it seemed like we had a hit.
But what do you do with a weird novelty song about knocking off a talking doll from the 1960’s? Well you send it to Dr. Demento that’s what. Dr. D had a nationally syndicated radio show that played fun and weird songs from every decade. Dr. D’s show is where Weird Al got his start! As it turned out, Dr. D liked the song too.
The song was first played on Dr. D’s show in May of 1987, and was played another four times.
This was the first time I had heard one of my songs on the airwaves. Other than Dr. D, that would not happen again until 2010 (The Tonight Show). It was pretty cool.
I’ve included a YouTube post of the song below, and you can listen to the original broadcast on “The Mad Music Archive” (https://madmusic.com/song_details.aspx?SongID=5000) You can also stream or download it on a number of sites: Spotify, itunes, and others.
I hope that you enjoy the song. If you are a Chatty Cathy lover, I mean no offense, it’s all in fun.
Mr. G's Mind 