The 500 - #132 - Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack - Various Artists

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album: #132
Album Title: Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack
Artist: Various (Several tracks by Bee Gees)
Genre: Disco
Recorded: Multiple Studios
Released: November, 1977
My age at release: 12
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very
Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #163, dropping 31 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Disco Inferno

I didn’t exactly thrive in elementary school in the sleepy fishing and farming town of Kingsville, Ontario. Truth be told, I wasn’t a big fan of the experience. Still, I made the most of it and, looking back now, I realize there were some good moments tucked in there. Maybe I’m subconsciously ignoring the positive aspect of my four years attending Jack Miner Public School because I enjoyed my high school experience in London, Ontario, so much more.

Jack Miner Public School.

However, I had a few friends during those formative years -- ages 9-12. I also managed to land a spot on a few Grade 8 sports teams, and even played Chiz Upschlager in our school play, A Hillbilly Weddin’, the kind of script that would never get past today’s socially conscious administrators. However, in the 1970s, cultural stereotypes were fair game for pre-teen farce.

Script Jacket for A Hillbilly Weddin'.

In 1977, I was awkwardly navigating Grade 8 as the youngest kid in class, thanks to being bumped ahead after an educational stint in England earlier in the decade. Consequently, I didn’t really click with my classmates, some of whom were 18 months older than I. Indeed, most of my friends were in the Grade 7 class down the hall.

One day, our homeroom teacher, Mr. Desrocher, offered a handful of us the chance to care for the plants in the school greenhouse. I jumped at the opportunity. Any escape from the daily grind felt like a gift. On my first shift, I was paired with Lorelei, a striking brunette who was new to the school and, just like the hothouse flowers we nurtured, a crush began to bloom.

A small greenhouse, similar to the one at Jack Miner School.

Lorelei was easy to like. She was kind, friendly, relaxed, and genuinely passionate about the plants we tended. Me? Not so much. But the actor within that had secured the role of a dopey hillbilly faked the horticultural enthusiasm necessary to spend more time with her.

One afternoon, she asked if I’d be interested in volunteering with her at the John R. Park Homestead and Conservation Area in nearby Harrow. There, we’d learn about life in the 1800s at a restored Classical Revival house and its farm buildings, including one that housed a steam-powered sawmill. Once trained, we could lead weekend tours. Smitten by the idea, and Lorelei, who was now chatting with me nightly on the phone, I jumped at the chance. Much to the surprise of my neighbourhood chums, I traded my beloved street hockey games for history lessons and her company.

The John R, Park Homestead and Conservation Area still exists. See link to website above.

The other thing Lorelei adored was the soundtrack to the 1977 blockbuster hit film, Saturday Night Fever. This time, I didn't have to fake that fandom with her, I knew the tracks well. Even if my parents hadn't owned a copy of the double record, the songs were inescapable on radio in the autumn of 1977 and spring of 1978. Five songs from the disco record had hit the top 10 in Canada. In fact the third song, Night Fever, held the number one spot for five weeks.

I desperately wanted to see the movie, but there wasn’t a theatre in our small town, and persuading my parents to drive me to the nearest city, Windsor, to see an R-rated film loaded with profanity, nudity, and violence was a non-starter. So I improvised. I managed to track down a copy of the novelization, which I naïvely assumed was the original source material. It turned out to be far more salacious than I expected...a real eye-opener for my young, impressionable mind and a crash course in the complexities of adulthood.

The novelization of Saturday
Night Fever that I owned? or borrowed?

My love for Lorelei went unrequited. I never mustered up the courage to ask her out. I am not sure what I would have done if she had said "yes"...take her to the local arcade and sub-shoppe with babysitting money, I suppose. The next year, she outgrew all of her interests...plants, the John Park Homestead, Saturday Night Fever and hanging out with me. In high school she started dating a guy with a car. How was this 13-year-old pimply faced kid supposed to compete with that? Still, she remained kind, and would say "hi" to me in the hallways. My first dalliance with infatuation was over.

Listening to the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack this week, especially the deep cuts, was a delightful blast from my past and helped me remember that romantically tinged chapter in my life. I still love this record and, now that I think about it, my time at Jack Miner Public School wasn't all that bad. Thanks, Lorelei, wherever you are.

Professional Wrestling and the Romantic Lie.

For the past four weeks, I have been working with four classes of Grade 7 & 8 students at 3 different schools. 

About 100 kids ... and I have been lying to them all.

I have been preparing them for a "Mystery Unit" about which "I am not at liberty to share information" because ... "I am in discussion with both the Principal and Superintendent in order to get permission to try this experiment". 

I do provide the following information...

• It is an incredible unit that they will find rewarding and engaging.
• It requires a high level of independent work and they get to be the stakeholders in their own education.
• Therefore, it requires a level of maturity (that I know they possess) but....
• the Superintendent and Principal are cautious - and need to see the evidence.
• So we are going to do some activities that show them how effectively we can work at a high-school level.
• All will be revealed after the March Break and ... fingers crossed...we get the Green Light! 

Almost everything I have told them is true. The three month, cross-curricular unit I have planned has always proven to be rewarding and engaging. It also provides students with multiple opportunities to share their voice and engage in rich debate through Class Discussions, Blog Writing & Flipgrid posts - shared between classes through the Social Media platform Edmodo.

My only fib is in the mystery I have intentionally created around the big reveal...truth be told...the unit has already been green lit, and will be launched when they return from March Break.

Even if you are not a fan of Professional Wrestling, you have likely heard of promoter Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Entertainment empire. He, and his team of writers, have perfected the tricks originally developed by promoter, huckster and eventual politician PT Barnum in the late 1800's. 

This formula in current wrestling parlance...

• Hint at possibility - Tease
• Create mystery - Create an Angle 
• Build suspense - Generate Heat
• Deliver - Get Pop & Put the Face Over
• Sustain through Surprise - Swerves, Heel Turns & Face in Peril 

Dress it up in the outlandish costumes & over-the-top pageantry and you've got a billion dollar empire.

There is a reason that this approach lands with kids. It's too much to get into here - but there is a lot to discover in the works of anthropologist & philospher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) and educational theorist Kieran Egan (1942- ), particularly his 1999 book Children's Minds, Talking Rabbits & Clockwork Oranges.

Herbert Spencer and Kieran Egan's 1999 Book

In a nutshell - early teens are typically in a state of Romanticism (just like the period) and both could be summarized as

• Showing delight in the exotic (especially the supernatural)
• Putting emphasis on individualism.
• Revolting against convention.
• Evidencing rich imagination.
• Having an intense interest in self-inquiry.
• Resisting order and reason.
• Celebrating transcendent human qualities (particularly redemption).

I guess this was a long explanation to justify my lie. I am a liar with a noble purpose (talk about a Romantic notion). I hope to set these students up for a highly engaging unit that they will find rewarding. I am also confident that they will become better thinkers and communicators by unit's end. I intend to document the journey here. Hope you can join me.