FABIAN -Oh What An Update!

If you are new to Ramblings, you may have missed the very first two entries. I began this trip down memory lane with a true story I’ve enjoyed telling since I was 12 years old and had my first mad crush on a celebrity. I refer you to my connection with The Fabulous FABIAN. I shan't rewrite the entire story here. Please refresh your memory or read the first chapter of this saga by scrolling back to the beginning and reading the first two entries. I’ll wait and hum

…turn me loose…turn me loose…

Oh good, you are back. Did you enjoy the image of the little girl, totally star struck but savvy enough to make a few dollars in a unique way? I’m glad, because here comes the payoff.

One night last summer, I stood in the presence of FABIAN! Yes! FABIAN, the Teen Idol who first awakened the faintest stirrings of womanhood in me back in my pre-pubescent days.

FABIAN, with the smoldering eyes that could gaze from an album cover and somehow convince you he could really see you. FABIAN, with the lips that made even the girls who so far had no interest in boys, wish he was around to play spin the bottle. FABIAN, who had to mow his mom’s grass before he could go meet up with his pals, Frankie and Bobby and Dion.

I met HIM! I talked to HIM! I touched HIS hand! HE touched my hand! I even had my picture taken with HIM!

We were working in Berryville, Arkansas, at Cosmic Cavern for the summer. Big Jim (who also has fabulous eyes that keep no secrets), took me to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater in Branson, MO, to see the singer, who at the ripe old age of 15, proclaimed to 12 year old teenyboppers everywhere that “I’m A Man” and we bought it!

Performing with Bobby Vee, Brian Hyland, the Chiffons, and Chris Montes, in a fun packed show, he sang all the hits. He even did the twist with a chorus line of Red Hat Ladies, and other former giggling girls, now mostly jiggling grannies who joined him from the audience.

I kept forgetting I was beginning to experience my 6th decade. I kept remembering girlfriends I haven’t seen in 50 years and I looked back with total pleasure on those long ago days in Levittown, Pennsylvania. I could see us all there watching Bandstand in black and white and strolling across the living room tile in our white socks. I astonished myself as I sang along, by knowing the words to songs I’d totally forgotten about. FABIAN helped me to remember so many things and I had a wonderful time.

Now those of you who know me, know I was a somewhat conservative person who never swooned over the Beatles or screamed at Elvis, but I did something crazy last night. I gave HIM a card with my address on it!

Hey! Wait, It’s not what you think! That’s not what I meant! It was my blog address. Hopefully, when he got a few minutes he read the true story of our 48 year old connection right here with the rest of you. He said he would. I only asked one favor of my particular Teen Idol; if it turned out that my friend was conning me all those years ago and it wasn’t his grass I asked that he not tell me.

…what was he like? Charming, friendly, funny, handsome, eligible for Social Security… the only noticeable difference was his hair, no more pompadour!
Don’t be silly, I certainly didn’t notice anything else, after all he’s only 4 years older than me.

He’s FABIAN!

See ya down the road,
Yarntangler