Friday, April 14, 2006

You know what? It really is my party and I will cry if I want to

Every time my parents took us to Nifty Fifty's when I was under the age of 11 or so, I would play "It's My Party" by Lesley Gore in the juke box. It was always crowded on Friday and Saturday nights, so usually I'd have to wait awhile before my song came on. Sometimes I would put my money in (I think it was a nickle a song) while we were waiting for a table.

Other songs made it onto the playlist. Once in a while I'd throw in a little Elvis. But I always played "It's my Party." At least once I considered playing it twice.

I didn't seek it out much outside of Nifty Fifty's. (The song is not even from the '50s, so I have to question the authenticity of the entire place, which as a kid I thought had been sitting in suburban Philadelphia, untouched by time, since the 1950s.) But it was the first song I'd ever played on a juke box, so it was mine.

Oldies 98 was my favorite radio station, and I was floored when I heard the sequel, "Judy's Turn to Cry." (Johnny was dancing with Judy at the party, causing the crying of the title, and then later he and party girl made up. So take that, Judy, you man stealing hussy!)

I could relate to our tearful heroine because I've always been a crier. Yeah, party girl is getting dumped, and that's sad, but she's also saying, "Hey, don't be afraid to show that you're sad. I'm not. This, my friends, is my party, and I will cry if I want to."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to always play "Blueberry Hill" at Picard's yogurt shoppe while we'd play pool after school and eat parfaits. Oh, and "Runaround Sue."

Airhen said...

We sang "Blueberry Hill" in sixth grade choir as part of a medley of top 40 songs from the past. You had an after-school hangout? So cool.