Happy Sad Friday

There are some things from the past that touch you in a weird happy-sad way that you just can't explain, and this video definitely is one of them. I love everything visual and auditory about this Jimmy Webb penned tune sung by one of my favorite groups when I was a child. Even the opening kiddo cheers touch me.

I actually saw them perform this around the same time in similar outfits. They were a perfect wholesome groovy-lite that my parents weren't threatened by . I had an odd attraction to Ron Townson as a child. And as this clip proves, bears don't have to be fat slobs but can be dapper, fashion forward gentlemen. There was something about how Townson always opened his mouth so widely when he sang.

Marilyn McCoo started to annoy me in the 1970s and 1980s, and I've really not given a thought to her in 20 years. But I look at this clip and am stunned by how perfect she was then. Gorgeous, all the right moves and that belt! Oh, that five inch wide belt!

I remember my grandmother taking me to see them at a symphony pops series in Oklahoma City that was a tribute to local legend Jimmy Webb, and they performed The Magic Garden in its entirety. Midway, my grandmother turned to me with a bewildered smile and said, "Oh, I just realized that they're black." Just when I thought she was going to say something wretched, she added, "Isn't that marvelous?"