The “Bulletin”
Published originally in the
The Holy Name Dance
(1951-1955)
By Hank Brandli (Melbourne, Fl)
The other night, while
watching TV, I switched to Time-Warner Digital's easy listening music station
and "The Theme from Moulin Rouge" was on. My nostalgic mind recalled
the early '50s when that song was a popular record at the Holy Name Dance in
The Holy Name Dance
started on a Saturday night in the early '50s in an old, wooden church
community house on
Wooden folding chairs
were every where. Before my first communion, I had my catechism lessons in that
building, which was next to the
The Dixons, Hardings,
Kelleys, Ryans, Feeleys, McNultys, Kindelins, Hennesseys, Johnsons, Burns,
Bennetts, Haddads, Smiths, Sullivans, Eckbergs, Hallisseys, Clearys, Fannings,
Butlers, Watsons, Cairns, Parks, Burchills, Devlins, Costellos, and Collins
remember the old Holy Name dances that drew 100 or so teenagers every Saturday
night.
The No. 1 songs of
1951. "Be My Love" by Mario Lanza, "Because Of You" and
"Cold, Cold Heart" by Tony Bennett, "Come On-a My House" by
Rosemary Clooney, "Cry" by Johnny Ray and The Four Lads, "How
High the Moon" by Les Paul and Mary Ford, "If" by Perry Como,
"Sin" by Eddy Howard and His Orchestra and "Too Young" by
Nat "King" Cole.
How many times did I
fall in love at the dance while swaying on the wooden floor with a girl and
captivated by the music, songs, lyrics, perfume and atmosphere? Jane and I
danced very close together - you couldn't slip a piece of carbon paper between
us - to a song on the flip side of "Cold, Cold Heart" called
"Blue Velvet" by Tony Bennett. She wore a green velvet dress with a
full skirt with a crinoline petticoat.
We dated once after
that, a movie, but the romance faded quickly away from the dance environment
or, maybe the fact I didn't drive and had to use MTA buses killed it.
Movie dates were a
great convenience and variety in those times. You could walk to the
"Blue
Velvet" was made famous later by an up tempo version by Bobby Vinton, but
it was not as good to me as Tony Bennett's original.
The No. 1 songs of
1952. "Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart" by Vera Lynn and Chorus,
"Blue Tango" by Leroy Anderson and His "Pops" Concert
Orchestra, "Delicado" by Percy Faith and His Orchestra, "The
Glow-Worm" by The Mills Brothers, "A Guy Is A Guy" by Doris Day,
"Half as Much" by Rosemary Clooney, "Here in My Heart" by
Al Martino, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by Jimmy Boyd, "I
Went to Your Wedding" by Patti Page, "It's in the Book (Parts 1 &
2)" by Johnny Standley, "Kiss of Fire" by Georgia Gibbs,
"Slow Poke"
by Pee Wee King and His
Golden West Cowboys, "Wheel of Fortune" by Kay Starr, "Why Don't
You Believe Me?" by Joni James, "Wish You Were Here" by Eddie
Fisher and "You Belong to Me" by Jo Stafford.
Al Martino's
"Here in My Heart" brought me to Mary near
The top songs of
1953. "The Doggie in the Window" by Patti Page, "Don't Let the
Stars Get in Your Eyes" and "No Other Love" by Perry Como,
"I'm Walking Behind You" by Eddie Fisher, "Rags to Riches"
by Tony Bennett, "St. George and the Dragonet" by Stan Freberg,
"The Theme from Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)" by Percy Faith
and His Orchestra, "Till I Waltz Again With You" by Teresa Brewer,
"Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)" by Les Paul and Mary Ford and
"You, You, You" by the Ames Brothers.
Back then, say 1951
or '52, there was a huge field on the hill (“Brown hill”) above the Parkway
next to
Well, the old
carnival grounds gave way to a new school and gym. And, in that gym, the new
Holy Name dance was born. It was 1953.Word spread and kids came from all over
the city to dance and fall in love.
"The Theme from
Moulin Rouge" by Percy Faith along with "You, You, You"
by the
At an early dance in
the new gym, Jerry Vail came in person (My buddy Chuck and I were responsible,
after meeting Jerry on an elevator going up to the WMEX radio station in
Boston) and sang "Two Purple Shadows On The Snow" without musical
accompaniment and it was magnificent. Disc jockeys with names like Jay
MacMasters on WMEX and Bob Clayton on WHDH played the songs of the '50s. The
combination gym and hall was filled to the brim every Saturday night with well
dressed and expertly groomed teenagers, as many as 600-1000 as I recall.
The No. 1 songs of
1954. "Hey There" and "This Ole House" by Rosemary Clooney,
"I Need You, Now" and "Oh! My Papa (O Mein Papa)" by Eddie
Fisher, "Little Things Mean a Lot" by Kitty Kallen, "Make Love
to
Me!" by Jo
Stafford, "Mr. Sandman" by the Chordettes, "Secret Love" by
Doris Day, "Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)" by the Crew-Cuts,
"Three Coins in the Fountain" by the Four Aces featuring Al Alberts
and "Wanted" by Perry Como.
Nancy, the strawberry
blonde Kim Novak lookalike, and I connected with "Three Coins In The
Fountain" and other hits of '54, so much so we went to my Junior Prom in
the back seat of my buddy Don’s parent’s brand new lime green and white Buick
Roadmaster. We were picked King and Queen. And, Bingo, the romance was over in
a week.
Boys and girls
dressed in a variety of outfits including Billy (Mr. B) Eckstein shirts with
pique collars, a variety of dress shirts with French cuffs, cufflinks,
sleeveless sweaters, sports coats of all kinds, skinny knit ties, pegged pants,
blue suede shoes (I wore a black pair), saddle shoes, loafers called penny
loafers, Apache Mocs from Hanlon shoes in Jamaica Plain, buckskin shoes with
red rubber soles (I wore a pair with black rubber soles), suede belts, long
pleated charcoal skirts, long sleeve white blouses (some Ship 'n' Shore with
stud pin across collar). The wardrobe was basically everything the kids wore in
"Peggy Sue Got Married."
Records changed from
78 rpm large diameter black vinyl discs with small spindle holes to small
diameter 45 rpm discs with large spindle holes during these years.
"Little Things
Mean A Lot" led me to Bev and we dated a lot through the summer of '54 and
most of '55. My dad bought a '51 Ford with his Treasury number betting pool
winnings, and Bev and I saw a lot of each other, culminating in my Senior Prom
.One Friday night, Bev wanted to see a certain movie. I was broke, but
desperately in love, so I punched out the pennies from my blue book collection
albums. At that time, gas price wars kept the price of a gallon of gasoline as
low as 12 cents ,so a bunch of pennies meant something even on a date.
The No. 1 songs of
1955. "Ain't That a Shame" by Pat Boone, "Autumn Leaves" by
Roger Williams, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" by Bill Hayes,
"Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" by Perez Prado and His
Orchestra, "Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower)" by Georgia Gibbs,
"Hearts of Stone" by the Fontaine Sisters, "Learnin' the
Blues" by Frank Sinatra. "Let Me Go, Lover" by Joan Weber,
"Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" by the Four Aces, "Medic"
by Les Baxter and His Orchestra, "Sincerely" by the McGuire Sisters,
"Sixteen Tons" by "Tennessee" Ernie Ford, "Unchained
Melody" by Les Baxter and His Orchestra and Chorus,
"(We're Gonna)
Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets, "The Yellow Rose
of
“Love Is A Many
Splendid Thing” ,the song, the movie and going to the Totem Pole to see Al Alberts and the Aces
resulted in brief teen age loves with
Joanne and Margie.
Every once in while,
a carrot colored-haired girl named “Vi” would appear at the dance. Actually,
Vi’s hair color and lipstick matched.
Vi would prance in
and around the sawdust-covered dance floor on her very - very long legs. Vi
went to Holy Cross Academy, I seem to recall. I heard later her catholic high
class classmates called her “Vizzie”.
She was stunning-
very slim and tall with creamy porcelin skin. A few freckles speckled on her
high cheek bones. Vi always wore green tight dresses to emphasize her eye color
and other attributes. She was funny, bright and kind of devilish in her manner.
When you asked her to
dance, she came to you like a magnetic force attraction. Her sparkling
twinkling jade green eyes were at your eye level. You felt like you were her
Siamese twin joined at the abdomen when you whirled around the floor. I tried
not to monopolize Vi’s “dance card” lest I appear too greedy for her seductive
modology. We occasionally saw each other at parties in the upscale
neighborhoods on the
I still wonder to
this day why I didn’t have the courage to ask her out. After All, we had been
pretty ”close”.
From a conservative
dresser at the early dances, I progressed to a kind of dandy later on. Maybe
having occasional use of my father's car had something to do with it.
Every Saturday
evening, after putting the final touches on my appearance - from the Tony
Curtis-like DA coiffure to the tips of my black suede shoes - I went downstairs
and always played one last 45 rpm record from my wire, thin metal rack holder
of favorites before “I left the building”.
My dad would be
sitting in his comfortable, maroon, pub back, wing chair with matching ottoman
reading the
I would pull the
paper-sleeved record from the rack, remove the paper protector and put the red
labeled 45 on the spindle. Then, I would click the release switch, crank up the
volume and dance across the gray, carpeted room like James Brown. When the
refrain in a deep baritone saying "My darling." Then "I love
you" came on, and I would
mouth the words as I
pointed my index finger at my father's face.
That special look
(only he had it) came over my father's face. What he said to me is unprintable.
After finishing up this entertainment, I laughed hysterically, gave my mom and
dad a hug and left the house with their departing words still ringing in my
ears 50 years later. "Be Careful, Hank."
The dances were quite
sedate as I recall. The dirty dancing was going on somewhere else.
The dance ended with
the song "For All We Know" by Bob Manning. The melody is still
popular, but the words will ring in my mind forever. Evidently, Clint Eastwood
loved this song also, because he used Johnny Hartmann's version in his
passionate slow dance scene in the kitchen of the "
After the dance, the crowd
slowly exited the hall. A few couples held hands, but most were singles going
home or to Brigham's or Howard Johnson's on
or any high ground in Jamaica Plain to view
the lights of
Those were great
romantic times at the weekly Holy Name dance, which slowed in frequency in the
'70s, and now is held every three to six months with a disc jockey on Friday
nights. The Holy Name dance was a big deal for each of us, if only for a few
years. College or jobs brought the end for each generation.
One recollection that
is constant when I talk to friends about those times over 50 years ago. The
girls, mostly Catholic, were lovely and in total control.
THE END
*I recently
(Oct,2002) found out that the magnificent Holy Name church on Center St. was
originally going to be built on this hill site, but Danny Ryan’s grandfather
convinced the planners that elderly people would struggle climbing that hill,
especially in winter.
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