From: MAJ) Mike Walton (settummanque, the blackeagle (blackeagle@POP3.SCOUTER.NET)
Date: Sun Jan 16 2000 - 01:43:20 CST
As promised earlier this week; of course, most of the songs and the skits we
did cannot be performed anymore due to hazing and youth protection issues.
But it was fun when we DID do them back then!
"All Together Brand New Different Show"
(from "Patches and Pins...", (c) 1988 Mike Walton)
My mother, God help her, think that I can sing. I cannot -- well, I can if
one considers singing commercial jingles in the shower with the hot water on
"full blast" as "singing". One time, our next door neighbors actually
called my mother and asked her to "Please tell your son to stop yelling!"
My "singing lesson money" went to, well, we'll just say that I didn't use it
for its intended purposes.
So, I thought that Carolyn Avery was absolutely nuts when she suggested that
I be a part of something called "All Together Brand New Different Show" my
senior year of high school. They sing. They do funny skits and stunts.
But they sing.
I don't sing. Okay. Maybe in church.
"You're an Eagle Scout, you've been hosting campfire programs -- this would
be a natural for you, Mike! Just think about it -- you, out there with an
upright piano, singing one of *your* songs..."
"Not in a million years!" I responded.
All Together Brand New Different Show -- or ATBINDS for short -- started
with WFKE.
[Earlier it was explained that Explorer Post 294, or WFKE-TV, was a
mass-media and communicative arts Explorer Post; it's sister Post, Post 666,
was chartered to the Fort Knox radio station WSAC-FM In addition to
covering Fort Knox community events, we also produced several Boy
Scouting-related events as a favor to the Old Kentucky Home (now Lincoln
Heritage) Council]
During a meeting in 1974, a discussion arose about why we were being asked
"to cover a Boy Scout campfire program" -- actually the campfire program for
a District Camporee. The girls in the Post, many of whom have never been
involved in Scouting period before they "became explorer scouts", just
didn't get it:
"Every campfire program is the same thing. You sing some, you roast
marshmellows, and some guy with a bunch of badges stands and tells some
stupid horror story which keeps everyone awake all night long!"
Of course, all of the guys -- and those few Senior or Cadettee Girl Scouts
in our communicative arts Explorer Post -- all withheld our larger laughs
for smaller, more personalized laughter at Lisa Daley. So her boyfriend, at
that time our Vice President for Program, Terrance Mixon, decided to put on
a simple campfire program during our next full Post meeting and asked
several of the Post members to help him.
The rest, as they say in the movies, is history. Between 1974 and 1981,
when the last All Together Brand New Different Show was performed in October
of that year, Explorer Posts 294, 666, and 184 put on close to 2000 of those
shows, each unique, each, well, an all together brand new different show,
for church groups, schools, and during county fairs...
The production was very simple: take a regular Scout campfire program, boil
it down to four skits, four songs, twelve "run-ons" and always include local
talent. The local county homecoming queen would sing or perform; or a
barbershop quartet, or some kid that can say all of the states and capitals
in reverse order in less than 2 minutes. We had high school drill teams
perform and the drill team that did all of the REAL moves in the movie
"Stripes" which was filmed at Fort Knox (they came from my college). And
each show would start out with the lights out, and someone coming in
announcing the start of the show and "lighting the fire".
The "fire" was artificial, but people swore that we had built a REAL fire in
the center of their gymnasium floor. We even had buckets of water and sand
handy to add "realism" to the location.
I was a stage hand and an "extra" starting in 1975. But when the Associate
Advisor for Program and the Advisor of Post 184, Carolyn Avery (whom was
also a former community Mayor) asked me to SING in the next ATBINDS, I said
"Nope!"
I eventually changed my mind, but it was a long time afterwards...and I
never sang by myself out there. Steven Stovall (we all called him "Red"
for his bright red - orange hair) left the community to move to Indianapolis
and Carolyn was stuck without a guy that can lead the audience in those
simple camp songs.
The Quartermaster Store. Pink Pajamas. This Land is Your Land. Ravoli.
Red River Valley. The More We Get Together. My favorite, Kum Bah Yah.
I would be assisted by crew members holding large pieces of cardboard with
the words, so that everyone can see them and follow along with us. I
agreed to do it until Carolyn would find someone to take "Red's" place.
That lasted for three years. In all those years, my parents have never seen
my performances -- my Mom heard about it from her clients at her beauty
salon, but because of the hour of the performance and all...she didn't get
to see her oldest son and his friends and some other kids put on an "indoor
campfire show." My Dad couldn't because he was out of the country in Korea
for a year, followed by duties which didn't get him out of the office until
6 or 7pm each evening.
The local Councils did, and they took great advantage of ATBINDS to increase
memebership and to start new units. Many of our "gigs" were during school
days especially to young third and fourth graders. Both Boy and Girl
Scouting executives were glad we were around!
The thing I enjoyed most about ATBINDS was the fact that I was educating a
large group of people, many of whom have NEVER been to a campfire program
before. Kids would come down off the rafters or onto the stage afterwards
and ask "how they can be Scouts like we were" and those among us whom were
Scouts or Scouters never missed an opportunity to wear our uniforms during
the final part of the show. It was something I was extremely proud of
belonging to, and which provided a lot of "inside jokes" and laughter about
when meeting up with some of the ATBINDS alumni later in life.
Like when Jeff French and I did the "suckers on the line" skit one time.
For those that don't know this skit, here it goes:
Me on telephone: Hey Jeff, I'm glad I got to reach you before you went out
fishing!
I wanted to know if I can go along with you today...you know, things have
been really slow....Hey Jeff, can you hear me?
Jeff: Mike? Is this Mike Walton? I can barely hear you, bud...hang on a
minute, okay...don't hang up!!
(Jeff stands up from his seat, and goes out to the audience and finds
someone and brings them down to the "stage area". He then tells them to
stretch their arms out, and point their fingers in the direction of Jeff and
me, on different sides of the stage.)
Jeff: Hey Mike, Can you hear me better?? Now what were you saying?
Me: Jeff, I can hear you better, but-- hang on a minute, I'm going to see if
I can make it even better!
(I go out to the audience and find someone else, and have them to do the
same things that Jeff's person is doing.)
Me: You still there??
Jeff: But the signal isn't that great... (he and I go back out and repeat
the process. This goes on until we have about 10 or 11 people on the stage)
Me: Alright!! This is great!! Now can you hear me?? I'm glad I got ahold of
you before you went fishing...
Jeff: I went fishing already, Mike, sorry you missed me before I went!!
There was plenty of room on the boat though!
Me: Well, tell me (by this time, we're both cracking up and can barely hold
our composure) what did you catch??
Jeff: (standing and pointing) Well, I didn't get any bass, or catfish but
I've got 10 or 11 SUCKERS ON THE LINE HERE!!
One night, one of the "suckers" we picked out of the audience at random
proudly announced that evening that he WORKS FOR THE PHONE COMPANY, and that
HE'LL BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE SOME LINEMEN TO PERMANENTLY KEEP THIS CONNECTION
UP!! which broke us and everyone else present into a round of laughter and
applause. We still ask each other if either of us knew that that "phone
company man" was out there that night....and laugh about getting our own
prank backfire on us!
There were some wonderful singers. Dana Harvey, for one. Lisa Daley and
her guitar, which added some realism to that darkened fire (the performers
were "lit" by Coleman(tm) lanterns and large beamed flashlights, just like
at a "real" campfire program). At one stop, a guy I went to college with
and majored in theater named Sam (I can't recall his last name) gave such a
performance that we wanted him to be a permanent member...but he said "nah,
there's no money in it" and he was right. None of us got paid for the fun
we were having. So I didn't really have to worry too much about my lack of
singing ability....there were plenty of great singers!
Singing for me would come much later, to my pride and my embarrassment. But
for now, I am glad that only my mother feels that I can sing.
Settummanque!
