So,  I'm sharing an intimate appletini in the La Paloma Resorts' hillside hot tub with my new lady... Glenn Close.  We're both at the Up with People Reunion 2007,  she having been one of the original cast members back in 65,  and I came along starting in 77.   We have the "Push on Through" album from 77 playing in the background,  and we're chuckling over the pictures on that 1st album from 65.  Can you believe Glenn looked so young,  that Bob Hope and Walt Disney had their pictures and endorsements on the back cover...  All of a sudden I sense her lips on mine,  and I sense a very rough, wet tongue... 

That's where the dream always ends,  being brought to reality by my Lhaso mix,  Duster DoGooder lapping away on my face until I swat him away.  The reality is I've never met Glenn Close,  but we do have one thing in common (well, 2 things if you included the massive wealth and stardom),  we were both in "Up with People".  She was a member of the original cast,  started in Mackinac Island,  Michigan back in 1965.  It was a a little different back then,  it was more of a "review" with the core "Sing-Out" group,  and then some small groups,  in particular the Colwell Brothers (who are legends to us "Uppies"),  and the Green Glenn Singers (Glenn as in Glenn Close). 


Some old friends,  and the "Flag" the truck that carried all of our equipment

I spent a little short of 2 years as a cast member,  more specifically the drummer for 4 different casts. I have great friends from all 4 casts,  but the one that mattered the most,  the one that probably affected my life and future the most (and for the better) was Cast B (or as we called ourselves "Company B" as in Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from... you get it) 77-78.  I just finished attending the 30th reunion of that wonderful year.  It's very difficult to explain how amazing it was to see this "family" of mine 30 years later,  but I'm going to try. 

I had been a "fan" of Up with People since I was a 10 year old kid.  I saw the TV specials,  had all the albums,  attend all the concerts in Phoenix etc.   A cast came to my high school for an assembly show my senior year - I knew then I had to be in Up With People.  It took a couple more years until I got around to actually becoming a cast member,  but finally in July 1977,  I headed down to Tucson,  to join about 350 other folks who would make up the 4 UWP casts for 77. 

Explaining the  Up with People experience can be a little difficult as well.  You take about 60 to 100 young adults between 18 and 24 (now 29) who have been selected through an interview process that is held after all Up with People shows.  If you're a musician, you also have to audition.  My audition was with one of those "legends" I talked about earlier,  I got to jam with Paul Colwell,  and the band from the cast that was performing in Phoenix. 


Who's that attractive (thin) guy with the glasses,  in the white shirt with the stripe?  I promise I haven't gained a pound since this was taken. This is actually 1/3 of a panoramic shot of "Company B" taken early in our tour.  We all looked the same at the reunion.

After 5 weeks of intense (I mean INTENSE!!!) staging and rehearsals,  you head off onto the road with 60-100 of your now closest friends.  The public face of Up with People (at least back then) was of course the 2 hour show that each cast puts on 3-4 nights a week (sometimes more).  If you're not familiar with the Up with People show,  it's a very high-energy professional quality show.  We travelled in 2 buses for the most part,  and were followed by a semi-truck hauling 1000's of pounds of professional grade sound and lighting.  We did everything,  taking turns unloading the truck,  setting up the massive sound equipment,  hanging the lighting,  setting up the sound board, putting up the staging equipment etc.  The band was also responsible for setting up their own equipment,  so I had to set up my drums,  mics,  monitor,  etc.  We did shows in all manner of venues,  high school auditoriums, and football stadiums,  bullrings,  professional baseball stadiums,  symphony halls,  20,000 seat basketball arenas,  you name it,  we played it.  We also would perform daytime shows (sometimes the whole cast,  and sometimes in small "acoustic" groups )  at high schools, rest homes,  prisons,  breweries,  tequila mfg plants on and on and on. 

So you're thinking,  you must have all been want-a-be broadway stars or recording artists,  but that was the exception not the rule.  The UWP show is more a vehicle that allows the educational / social aspect of UWP to exist,  and that's really what UWP is about.  Cast members came from all over the world. Having the opportunity to travel around the world,  meet all types of folks,  live with host families (I didn't mention that part did I?) was a very important piece of the UWP experience.   I've lived with host families that have had extreme wealth,  and I've stayed with host families that didn't have running water in the house (1 tap out back in the outhouse/shower,  err cold shower) or glass in their windows.  

That doesn't mean that the show isn't important,  it's often (at least in the minds of the cast members) too important.  But UWP has a storied reputation to live up too.  Just some examples of "big" UWP events,  4 Super Bowl halftimes,  Television specials in the US,  Belgium, Mexico, Venezuela etc.  The 1st International performing group to perform in Mainland China since the revolution (that happened in my 1st year,  in 77).  We've had casts perform on every continent except Antarctica.  I was lucky enough to perform at the White House (Summer of 78 - unfortunately President Carter was off at Camp David negotiating w/ Begin and Arafat),  and that same cast also performed on the DC mall for the big annual 4th of July spectacular that's become such a big thing.  We also performed for the 78 Indy 500,  performing at the big dinner,  then in the parade (on a float),  and finally at the big race (Back home again in Indiana,  where the...  that's all I remember). 

We did a tour covering almost all of Mexico.  starting at Tijuana,  ending at Nuevo Laredo,  and going almost to the Guatemalan border.  In Mexico (and in a number of other countries for that matter) Up with People was well,  it was like we were the Beatles.  In our 1st show in Tijuana,  we had to lock up one of our male cast members from Mexico,  because the women were "attacking" him after the show,  trying to get a lock of his hair,  or to hug him,  sign autographs. etc.  Everywhere we went,  we were treated like big stars.  I've signed 1000's of autographs in Mexico, and I was just the drummer (Soy El Baterista!).  We had to limit the amount of albums and other merchandise we could sell in any particular city,  because we couldn't keep it in stock.  We did 3 nights in a huge basketball arena in Guadalajara (probably 20000 seats),  and sold out all 3 nights.  It was the same story in bullrings,  baseball parks,  the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City,  all sold out,  all big venues.  I have a reputation for drinking a lot of Diet Coke,  and my castmates still bug me about the northern part of our tour,  where our sponsor was Coke,  and they'd follow us around with a truck full of bottles of coke products - I was in heaven!!

Unfortunately life on the road wasn't always so splendid.  In that summer cast I mentioned earlier,  we also spent 3 weeks at the Inaugural "Baltimore County Fair" at the abandoned, rat and bug infested,  Martin Airfield, accompanied by Chuck Carbo and his Hell Drivers,  and Princess Ida atop her 30 foot pole.  Somebody in scheduling really screwed up on that one. 

I also went on to travel with a couple of casts the following year (more like 1 1/2 casts,  special project for General Electric long story) but again,  none were as special as "Company B". 

I have hundreds of stories,  and maybe I'll share a few more as time passes.  The important thing,  is that this  past weekend,  seeing this extended family of mine,  was 1 of the high points in my life and couldn't have come at a better time.  We lived together for almost a year,  often spent 14-16 hours of virtually every day together,  sometimes more.  We laughed with and at each other,  cried together,  kept each other warm on those long bus trips.  We taught each other Spanish (or for some English).  We rehearsed until out throats, muscles  and feet ached,  and then we'd rehearse some more.  We put on shows that ended at 10p (in a 90 degree,  100% humid, non-air conditioned theatre),  finished the strike at 1a,  and had a breakfast show the next morning,  90 miles away @ 7am.  It's a singular experience,  and it's difficult to convey how much I love these people,  and how wonderful it was to see them again.  Some I've seen recently,  some within the last 10 years or so,  but most,  this was the 1st time I'd seen them in 20-30 years,  yet it was like we just finished that last show a few days ago.  If you're one of those family members who happen to be reading this,  well... God Bless You so much.  I can't tell what it meant to see you all again,  I love my Up with People family so much.

One last thing - about that Indy 500...  We did a recording session in preparation for the TV presentation of the parade.  The producers of the show asked me to play a drum cadence that could be played for the bumpers going into and out of commercials.  Well,  it's been 30 years since I recorded that cadence (it was a variation on the cadence from 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover),  and they are still using that cadence for the Indy 500 parade TV show to this day.  Unfortunately I haven't seen a penny in residuals... maybe if I renew my American Federation of Musicians membership I can get the union involved...