CHECK HER OUT!!! In my dream of dreams I wanted to be a rock and roll singer. As a teenager I would have pretty much given anything to have performed on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. The thought of emulating the likes of a Buddy Holly, Richie Valens or Chubby Checker or Dion was the pinnacle of my 15 minutes of fame, but I had one major obstacle on my path to being a rock and roll star. Simply I was good but I was not a great singer or guitar player. Mi carnal, mi primo was gifted beyond anyones wildest dreams. J as I will call him could sing, I believe he had perfect pitch and after listening to a song on the radio once or twice he had the lyrics and music down perfectly. Later he would pick up any instrument and in a matter of hours was playing as if he was a graduate of Juilliard. J and another primo D would get together and try our best at some doo wop melodies, J was perfect and after a bit D and I were pretty good at the oohs, awhs, bob su bob us bobs,shu do and do be do's and ram a lam a ding dongs. The story of my desire to be a rock and roll singer is so long that in the interest of time I will share with you how I came about writing my first song and the circumstances that led to it. J and I were the same age, he was maybe 3 or 4 months older and so we hung out together. J lived in the west side of Denver and I live in Derby a suburb of Denver, but this did not matter to J as he was foot loose and fancy free. One spring day he shows up at our home in Derby on this fancy Schwinn Bicycle, dressed out to the max, it was a gas, as we would say in those days. In a short while he asked if I could go riding with him and of course he wanted to go to the west side. Mom gave the okay thinking we would stay in the area and hopping on my Hiawatha bike which was as unsightly a bike as you can imagine we eventually found ourselves riding down Santa Fe Drive. We were approaching 8th Avenue and Santa Fe when we spotted this girl, undoubtedly a West High student coming out of the Five and Dime store on the corner of 8th and Santa Fe. J and I were maybe 13 or 14 at the time and seeing this girl was like a double wow. The first thing that came out of J’s mouth, “odelay cuz, check her out” loud enough for the world to hear his comments. I being a bit shy at the time agreed an echoed, yea, check her out. We crossed the street and by now were walking our bikes enjoying this lovely young lady walking some 20 or 30 ahead of us. Suddenly she stopped, turned around and looking at us squarely in the face told to drop dead and beat it and then shared a gesture that I would find out some years later was not very nice. We got back on our bike and headed for J's home and in a short while he was playing a tune on his guitar about the young lady we had just seen. I grabbed a pencil and was writing some words while J played this tune in a matter of an hour or so we had written the following song. Music Intro, C, Am, F, G7 I was crusing down Main street, scoped out this babe so da gone sweet I had to stop-stop to check her out In a skirt so short to tight, she was simply dynamite I had to stop-stop to check her out Slammed my car into reverse, the cat behind me started to curse But, I had to stop to check her out She was poetry in motion, She was out right pure devotion, She lit the flames to my emotion, I had to stop to check her out Music Interlude – C, Am, F, G7 With every step she displayed pride, My mind was racing with delight I had to stop-stop to check her out Had to get her in my ride, so I pulled up by her side I had to stop-stop to check her out She was poetry in motion, She was out right pure devotion, She lit the flames to my emotion, I had to stop to check her out Music Interlude – C, Am, F, G7 Called out to her, hey baby doll, She looked at me as I recall I had to stop-stop to check her out Then she told me to drop dead, my skin went flush my face turned red Well, I had to stop to check her out I had to satisfy my doubt, would such a chick check me out, but I ended up striking out. Still I got to check her out, Yea I got to check her out Over the years the song was changed a bit our only regret was we would never get anyone to back us up in our attempts to record it, however it is still a special song to me. |