Bandstand Stories

By John Suhr

I used to see in movies that night club audiences would actually stop dancing or talking to look at whoever was singing. In real life, I found that almost nobody paid attention to band singers. I thought I would prove it to myself. One night, I jotted down a quick parody to "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" just to see if the dancing audience was paying attention.

Our bandleader, Jimmy Fuller, was a great sport and laughed loudly and was easily amused. He always went along with my weird antics. The music background was normal and nice as I sang,

"I left my hearrrrrrrt .... in San Franciscooooo. - my left legggg ... in Winnepegggg. And my liver and my spleeeeen .... I left in Abilieeenee, I left my kneeeee... in Waik-keeeee, I don't care. My hair waits therrrrrrre ... in San Francisco. -- Above the bluuuue and windy seeeeeeee.

When I come home to youuuuu, San Franciscooooo.... There won't be muuuch of meeeeee to seeeeeeeee!" Since I was in charge of the sound system, I know that the words were crystal clear over the loud speakers, but the audience never heard the strange words, never turned their heads and they all kept dancing. There was, however, one unintended consequence:

The drummer stopped playing halfway through the song and couldn't continue because he had fallen over on his bass drum, face down, shaking with laughter. I liked surprising drummers.... and now we KNOW who listens to the words.

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The contents of this page will contain short notes of interest on a variety of
subjects, as the muse dictates. All of the stories will have something to do
(one way or another) with life on the bandstand...ours, theirs, even YOURS.
We'd love to add your favorite bandstand stories here as well!
Submit them to the SJO WEBMASTER. Miss some of the past stories?
Check out our "Bandstand Stories Archive