Gone Too Soon

Thanks Barbara  :-)

Who says T.V. rots your brain and robs children of their creativity?  Certainly not my sister, cousin or me.  Every week we eagerly anticipated our  "fix" of beauty, 1970's fashion and exciting mysteries.  Every Wednesday night at 7:00 pm  we sat down to watch our three idols, Kelly, Sabrina, and Jill charm and karate chop their way through an hour long adventure, otherwise known as, "Charlie's Angels".

Of course a once a week T.V. show wasn't enough for the fertile imaginations of three English girls.  Not only did we admire Charlie's Angles, we became Charlie's Angles at every opportunity.

When we came together at either our house or our auntie's home, for our frequent role-play of Charlie's Angels, we all wanted to be "Kelly" played by the beautiful Jacklyn Smith.  She was the prettiest brunette and we were all brunettes.  My cousin always seemed to win the role of Kelly.  To this day I am not sure how she managed it, although I suspect her current profession as a lawyer might have had its early manifestations back then.

That left my sister and I to battle it out for "Jill" and "Sabrina".  Neither of us wanted to be "Sabrina" (she was the brainy, athletic one - and not as glamorous).  As I was the elder sister, I dictated to my sister that She would be Sabrina - no discussion, it was final.  My sister grumpily accepted the role of Sabrina, and I became feisty Jill, perfectly portrayed by the drop-dead gorgeous  Farrah Fawcett.

Our imaginations went into overdrive.  The back garden became the Los Angeles freeways and streets.  Our ratty, tatty shed: our office, complete with one of Dad's old phones so that "Charlie" could call us.  An old teddy sat in for "Bosley".  The kitchen: a crime scene, our bedrooms transformed into apartments.  Our unsuspecting family members, pets and neighbors rounded out the cast.  And our bikes were our humble transportation.  My Aunt's closet was a plentiful wardrobe department full of glittering high heels,  sparkly purses and colorful, silky scarves.

Farrah Fawcett and the other angels were a part of my fantasy child's play.  Fun-filled afternoons where we created story lines, plot twists, dressed up and pretended we were crime fighting gorgeous grown ups.

As we grew up, we left the fantasy play world of "Charlie's Angels" behind us and our time together became filled with talk of boys, endless homework assignments, shopping, make-up and pop music.  Enter Michael Jackson into our lives.

The first album that my sister and I bought was Michael Jackson's "Thriller".  Up until that point we made our own tapes by listening to the Top 40 every Sunday afternoon (while doing our homework)  and recorded our favorite songs.  But there was something different about Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album that we needed to own an original and not make one of our cheesy recordings.

Like thousands of other teenagers, we were captivated by the "Thriller video".  Our cousin (same cousin who played "Kelly") managed to get a bootleg copy of the video.  The image was a little grainy, but we watched it over and over again, trying earnestly to imitate the moves. 

We played the album as loud as we dared on our dad's stereo system, before our parents hollered from some other room in the house, "turn that racket down".  Michael Jackson's music was exhilarating.  It made us want to move and dance and sing.  It was pure joy.  Back then I didn't know (and I still don't know) what the following means: Ma ma sa, Ma ma sa ma ma coo sa ,Ma ma se, ma ma sa,  Ma ma coo sa, but it sure was fun to sing it!

Both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson played a significant role in my childhood.  My sister, cousin and I were inspired by Charlie's Angels to create our own stories and to use our imaginations.  The memories of our childhood play will stay with me forever.  And the music of Michael Jackson will never get old and will always bring a smile to my face and make me want to get up and dance.  In fact I did just that yesterday with my 3 month old son while I rocked him.  Yet another generation introduced to the music of Michael Jackson.

Image Source:

www.squidoo.com/Charlies-Angels-1
www.lyricspond.com/