It's not like the details are even remotely interesting, they are mindnumbing. The fact is Wapella likes a good dust-up and has liked dusting it up for 150+ years. I have taken at least my share of smacks to the head in Wapella, and still find it my favorite place on Earth. When some punk tells me "Wapella deserves better" I always think of my dad saying that people moved to Wapella because it was the last place to go.
I have given it some thought as to what Wapella "deserves" and it is pretty clear: Theme Song. What Wapella deserves is some country fried rock and roll from Buck Owens and the Buckaroo's as a theme song. Yeah, you can connect it to Buck's Superway/Red Fox if you like, but the song has it all, guitar, beat, and a good bit of comedy.
Here's to you Wapella...Let it rip Don Rich
13 comments:
Tell me more about your revolver, Tex.
HG
It's a punk catchphrase from The Mission of Burma....doesn't sound that punk anymore having just listened to it for the first time in 10 years or so....they were trying to anti-sentimental, as in
"Whenever I hear [the word] 'culture'... I remove the safety from my Browning"..
JBP
Sounds like you should stay away from village meetings.
The Shootist
I may open up a can of worms, but.
Wapella does deserve better. There seems to be only one person sitting on that board that seems to even give a s**t about the village. It's time for the Attorney General to step in.
Wapella deserves better than Buckaroo?
If the Village Board, any Village Board can pick out a better theme than Buckaroo, I suggest they bring it on.
Lisa Madigan? What would she pick...some Lady GaGa theme? Springfield does not know Wapella and has never-never picked an effective theme song.
Anyone listen to "Illinois" lately? It is no "On the Banks of the Wabash" The Board of Wapella Historians has spoken and It's Buckaroo for Wapella.com.
I think this C&W theme song is just too Tennesee for me. Wapella was settled by a mix of Yankees, English, Scotch-Irish, Irish, and Germans, few if any of whom were twanging around on their six strings yoddling mountain music while wearing cowboy hats.
I propose an alternative. A pre-civil war tune from Stephen Foster-a native of western Pennsylvania, and more in harmony with many residents of Wapella. I think this solo tuba version should be the preferred arrangement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dM_FIjHmcs
HG
HG,
I like a good tuba solo as much as the next guy, but there is something in the tubist's earnestness that is lacking in virtuosity.
The Board of Historians has noted the importance returning veterans from the Mexican War in the settling of Central Illinois, and the hot guitar picking of the Bakersfield Sound of Buck Owens and the Buckaroo's as the primary drivers in choosing Buckaroo as the theme song.
I am guessing that Buck and Co. did some Foster folk songs as well, but Buckaroo is the total package.
JBP
I would like to see the minutes of the Board of Historians' meeting. Since when have slick electric amplified Nashville/Oklahoma/Bakersfield ways trumped the earnestness of a good tuba solo? And who can argue with America's tunesmith, Mr. Stephen Foster, who wrote on topics wide and varied, and were crowd favorites for generations of Wapella Grade School music students? When were the Buckaroos ever a part of Joe Hindman's repertoire? No, the path is clear to overturning this questionable decision, if it is in fact a legitimate decision, of the Board.
After a closed session of the Executive Council of the Board of Wapella Historians, it has been decided that the minutes of the meeting determining "Buckaroo" as Wapella's theme song will not be released to the general public.
Any complaints or concerns must be filed with the appeals council of the the BOWH which meets after the rising of each full moon at the monument to the Lone Elm.
In the words of the late Senator Byrd,
"Fie on this body!"
What the board of historians need to do is go back to 1954 and listen to the three songs written for the Wapella Centennial Pageant. Beautiful Wapella, Heart of the Prairie and Wapella,Through the Years. Music to my ears.
Mission of Burma's "Revolver" is still a great tune, though.
P.S: WBOH almost chose a sweet little ditty by 2 Live Crew as Wapella's theme song, considering Wapella has always had the well-deserved rep of being extremely sexy by all standards.
EEP
That sneaky smile on Don Rich makes me think he just finished taking final payment for construction of a shoddy barn in Rutledge Township and made his way South of the Ohio river to celebrate.
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