JAIMIE VERNON – 40 SUMMERS AGO

Jaimie Vernon_ViletonesThe end of the school year is fast approaching. As I take my son back and forth on what will be his final year in high school, I find myself drifting back in time to when we looked forward to summer break. My childhood was filled with great ones. In 1975 I took a two week trip west across Canada with my grandmother in her 1972 Skylark which changed my life, and my world view, for the better. That was almost completely undone when my parents attempted to take my sister and I on a similar trip to Canada’s East Coast in 1977. It was a study in stark contrasts on how not to travel with one’s family.

class-photo

Between these events was the Summer of 1976. The year itself was one of settling into a new life after we’d left our old low rental apartment to the promise of suburban splendour in the untapped backwoods of northern Scarborough. I entered middle school – well, I entered middle school’s Grade 7 at Berner Trail P.S. in the newly growing Malvern community (two decades before gangs, guns and drugs turned it into a punchline on the evening news).

75-blackwell

I also got myself a newspaper route so I could earn some money; 122 Scarborough Mirror newspapers to be delivered before 6.30 AM every Wednesday making for dysfunctional school attendance on any given Wednesday thereafter. But I had cash. Enough to indulge my hobbies.

As a pre-teen I was being bombarded by all matter of stimuli not the least of which was comic books and television. There was no social media. No video games. It was all organic and visceral. The telephone was our lifeline – or we looked out our front windows to see who was playing street hockey or hanging out in someone’s garage engaged in ping pong or board games. It was this summer that we kept a Monopoly game “live” beginning in the final week of June right through until Labour Day.

beatles-wall

My friends Gord and his brother Brad and a third friend, transplanted Floridian John Shuler, kept atop of the latest musical trends all year. My Dad had done dances and parties when he and my Mom were younger and still maintained a sizeable collection of 45s. I followed his lead having bought my first singles as far back as 1971 (“Ben” by Michael Jackson was my first). Our townhouse had a walk-out basement. My Dad had built a massive stereo system in the recreation room. With sliding doors open, he’d blast tunes into the backyards of several neighbours. We’d often hang out back there playing tag or badminton or what have you just so we could listen to the tunes in glorious stereo. The June 5, 1976 RPM Top 50 in Canada looked like this:

1) Silly Love SongsWINGS

2) Welcome Back KotterJOHN SEBASTIAN

3) ShannonHENRY GROSS

4) Get Up And BoogiesSILVER CONVENTION

5) RhiannonFLEETWOOD MAC

6) Happy DaysPRATT & McCLAIN

7) Rock and Roll Love LetterBAY CITY ROLLERS

8) The Whole World’s Goin’ CrazyAPRIL WINE

9) Shout It Out LoudKISS

10) Love HangoverDIANA ROSS

11) Boogie FeverTHE SYLVERS

12) Shop AroundCAPTAIN & TENNILLE

13) Bohemian RhapsodyQUEEN

14) Disco LadyJOHNNIE TAYLOR

15) More More MoreANDREA TRUE CONNECTION

16) Roxy RollerSWEENEY TODD

17) Sweet LoveTHE COMMODORES

18) Love Is the DrugROXY MUSIC

19) Tryin’ To Get the Feeling AgainBARRY MANILOW

20) LoreleiSTYX

21) Love Really Hurts Without YouBILLY OCEAN

22) Show Me the WayPETER FRAMPTON

23) Give a Little LoveKEN TOBIAS

24) Playing In the BandSTAMPEDERS

25) Fool To CryROLLING STONES

26) Love In the ShadowsNEIL SEDAKA

27) Lonely NightCAPTAIN & TENNILLE

28) Dream WeaverGARY WRIGHT

29) Never Gonna Fall In Love AgainERIC CARMEN

30) DollyLIVERPOOL

31) Young BloodBAD COMPANY

32) Misty BlueDOROTHY MOORE

33) Let Your Love FlowBELLAMY BROTHERS

34) Late Night Lovin’ ManHAMMERSMITH

35) Linda Write Me a LetterCHOYA

36) There’s a Kind of a HushCARPENTERS

37) Takin’ It To the StreetDOOBIE BROTHERS

38) Love Is AliveGARY WRIGHT

39) Anyway You Want ItCHARITY BROWN

40) Sara SmileHALL & OATES

41) I Do, I Do, I DoABBA

42) December 1963 (Oh What A Night)FOUR SEASONS

43) LiarsIAN THOMAS

44) Dream OnAEROSMITH

45) It’s Alright (This Feeling)CRACK OF DAWN

46) Fooled Around and Fell In LoveELVIN BISHOP

47) One Piece At a TimeJOHNNY CASH

48) Lookin’ Out For #1BTO

49) I.O.U.JIMMY DEAN

50) Moonlight Feels RightSTARBUCK

sonia-teskey

The kids in the area came to hear the latest tunes as my Dad and I bought what we liked from the CHUM-AM TOP 40 chart at the local record store (The Disc Shop at Cedarbrae Mall). That listership included the neighourhood girls. Both of them. The sister of our immediate neighbour had come down from Parry Sound for the summer. Her name was Debbie and she was big and blonde and 14. Directly across from our side yard was another strip of townhouses and another 14 year old, Sonia, lived there.

Jaimie_1976Sonia became my obsession, er, muse. I laughed at her jokes. I flirted. I made inappropriate juvenile comments. I was 12. I had no moxie. No sex appeal (though my wife says my eyes were killer). Did I already mention that I was short and nerdy? I was also NOT self-aware and had no filter. It never occurred to me until years later that I was a pest and a cling-on and she painfully endured my infatuation like a tick on a dog. We attended the same high school in 1977 where she remained until graduation after which I lost track of her but in 1976 she tolerated me and we hung out. Looking at it now, it was more like a brother and sister relationship.

I usually woke up early during weekdays in the summer – pining, Cyrano-like, outside her back window (which was the window to her kitchen, not her bedroom). Even when she was in the house I could watch her talk on the phone. She never phoned me, of course. Those days play back in slow motion now in my mind’s eye like a more PG version of the Phoebe Cates pool scene from ‘Fast Time At Ridgemont High‘.

But I was about to forget all about my unrequited love when my parents shipped me off on a camping trip with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Jimmy and cousin Danny – who was only a few months younger than me. He and I were tight as kids as we only lived 20 minutes away from them in Pickering, Ontario. I had never been camping before. I dreaded the idea of being away from my warm bed and my Beatles themed bedroom. We headed to Lakefield, Ontario and a camping ground on Katchewanooka Lake that was frequented by hundreds of other city-escaping summer refugees. I was not entirely sure I’d survive the week. My uncle patiently tried to teach me how to row a canoe. To his credit, I did learn how to do it – despite my complaining about it the entire time.

family-tent

 

On the second day my cousin got the stomach flu and was confined to the tent we shared. It was suggested that I try and make friends with the kids at some of the other campsites to make the best of the week on my own. It didn’t take long. I followed the gord-the-djmusic. A few trailers from our campsite was a guy named Gord who had music blasting from speakers on posts on each side of his trailer. He had two turntables on a picnic table and was spinning 7″ singles – ALL. DAY. LONG. At another table was a horde of teenagers. I introduced myself and was welcomed in. Most of the kids were annuals – that is, they came with their families every year like my aunt and uncle did. Because I was the nephew of someone the campers already knew they took me under their wing.

The other kids dragged me along to the lake, or to the stores, or the French fry stand in the park. One of them was a ginger blonde named Sharon Partridge. I was smitten and promptly forgot about my other crush ‘back home’. She had a smoky voice that was pretty deep for a 12-year old. Like Lindsay Lohan’s, in fact. She also wore jeans and a T-shirt and could kick ass in touch football; Tom-boy material for sure but she clearly liked me as she’d stop by our campsite each morning and scoop me up for a day’s adventure. By dinner time we were all back at Gord’s trailer listening the latest tunes he’d gotten at the Sam the Record Man store in Peterborough. One such tune was “Dance” by Canada’s Deja Vu. It’s the song that still reminds me of Sharon to this day.

By the wrap-up of our week there my cousin was feeling much better and I introduced him to my new friends. He already knew Sharon from the previous summer. I badgered him all day to find out if she actually liked me. The answer was a definite yes. But he warned me that I needed to make a move soon as we were heading back to Toronto in the next two days.

beach_composite

That night he and I ended up back at Sharon’s trailer with two of her gal pals. Her Mom was in Lakefield playing bingo and we were all alone. The evening started innocently enough until someone suggested we play Truth or Dare. I took ‘truth’ and admitted I like Sharon in front of all her friends. It was met with snickers and an impish “oooooooooo”. Sharon picked dare and her friends demanded she kiss me. Gulp.

sharon-partridge_1976

She agreed but insisted that the trailer lights be turned off. She sat directly across from me at the breakfast nook, pulled me toward her by the shoulders and planted her lips right on mine. It was cold and wet and I was freaking out. OMG. A cute girl is kissing me! Holy shit, dear mother of God. In my head it lasted an eternity. Sharon was only supposed to kiss me for ten seconds. Her friends counted down from Ten Mississippi. She wasn’t letting go. I had been holding my breath. I was turning purple in the dark. Finally she let go. I fell back onto the nook seat and was embarrassed to be wiping my mouth as the lights went up. Sharon and I smiled at each other. Her friends burst into hysterics. Everyone rolled out of the trailer ahead of us. We exited holding hands which we continued to do until I had to leave on Sunday with my aunt and uncle and cousin.

Sharon’s family remained in Lakefield for the remainder of the summer, but I had a phone number for her place in Scarborough. I called and she was glad to hear from me. I trekked a good 15 miles to her place by bicycle. Once. Grade 8 started shortly thereafter and we drifted into our own social universes never to make contact again. Here’s hoping she still has as good a memory of that summer as I do.

Send your CDs for review to this NEW address: Jaimie Vernon, 4003 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, ON M1C 1J3 CANADA

=JV=

Jaimie’s column appears every Saturday

Contact us at dbawis@rogers.com

dbawis-button7Jaimie “Captain CanCon” Vernon has been president of the on again/off-again Bullseye Records of Canada since 1985. He wrote and published Great White Noise magazine in the ‘90s, has been a musician for 33 years, and recently discovered he’s been happily married for 16 years. He is also the author of the recently released Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia and a collection of his most popular ‘Don’t Believe A Word I Say’ columns called ‘Life’s A Canadian…BLOG’ is now available at Amazon.com http://gwntertainment.wix.com/jaimievernon

2 Responses to “JAIMIE VERNON – 40 SUMMERS AGO”

  1. greg simpson Says:

    great article Jaimie that got me, along with everybody else who read it, I’m sure, remembering similar experiences…for me it was Tunnel Mountain campsite in Banff where I got my first exciting kiss from a girl named Mary who lived in Duluth MN…obviously, I never saw her again, but I’ve never forgotten, either.

  2. yup. a classic youth tale from mid 70s canada. very heartwarming and familiar. that decade was radio’s golden decade. look at that top 50, so many gems. i hate to be a fogey but no way today’s top 50 will ever mean as much or last as long. i was 14 in 75, it was perfect.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: