THE BUDDY ( HOLLY ) SYSTEM ( in boston globe )


_http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2005/09/05/the_buddy_system/_
(http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2005/09/05/the_buddy_system/)

The Buddy system
September 5, 2005


''Very simple, very human, very upbeat" is ad man Steve Connelly's
description of the Buddy Holly song ''Everyday," used in the Fallon Community Health
Plan ad campaign in heavy rotation these days. Produced by Connelly Partners,
the ads -- print, radio, and TV -- drum home the message that FCHP will be
there for you 24/7. So what if Holly's song, recorded nearly 50 years ago,
concerned unrequited teenage love, not health-care coverage? It's a treat to hear
and, for aging baby boomers, an aural trip back to earlier, less
angst-ridden times.


''I'm more of a Van Halen fan," admits Connelly, 45. ''But the simplicity of
Holly's music is kind of cool. Does it matter it's a love song? No. Besides,
most Americans don't overly analyze song lyrics anyway."


Let's not lose sight of Holly in all the fine print about copayments, though.
A charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he stands alongside
Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, and Little Richard as one of rock's
founding fathers. His death in 1959, at age 22, was also the first cataclysmic
Rock Death. A pocket primer on the legend from Lubbock, Texas:
JOSEPH P. KAHN
Background: Born Charles Hardin Holley on Sept. 7, 1936
Backup band: The Crickets
Signature songs: ''Peggy Sue," ''That'll Be the Day," ''Oh Boy," ''Not Fade
Away," ''Maybe Baby"
Appearances on ''The Ed Sullivan Show": 2
Artists citing Holly's influence (partial list): Beatles, Rolling Stones,
Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello
Tidbit #1: The Beatles and Hollies (Graham Nash et al.) both named
themselves in homage to Holly.
Artists covering Holly songs (very partial list): James Taylor, Linda
Ronstadt, Los Lobos, John Mellencamp
Tribute songs: At least a dozen, headed by ''American Pie," Don McLean's
1971 ode to ''the day the music died."
Tidbit #2: Among rockers who saw Holly in concert were John Lennon, Paul
McCartney, and Dylan. McCartney, who bought Holly's publishing catalog in 1975,
once said, ''At least the first 40 songs we wrote were Buddy
Holly-influenced."
Holly resurrections: Several, beginning with the rash of late-'60s and early
'70s rock deaths (Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin) and peaking with ''The Buddy
Holly Story," a 1978 biopic earning Gary Busey an Oscar nomination. After the
film was criticized for gilding the Holly, so to speak, McCartney produced a
1986 BBC documentary titled ''The Real Buddy Holly Story."
Post mortem: The Iowa cornfield where Holly's plane crashed on Feb. 3, 1959
-- also killing singers Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, a.k.a. The Big
Bopper -- is still visited by hundreds of mourners annually. Lubbock erected a
bronze statue of Holly in 1980. A 1990 auction of B.H. memorabilia netted more
than $700,000.
Not fade away: It may not help with your choice of HMOs, but according to
the title of Bradley Denton's sci-fi novel, ''Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on
Ganymede." We wish.
Gray helps evacuees
It wasn't for a concert. R&B singer Macy Gray went to Houston specifically
to help refugees from the flooding in New Orleans.
''I just really wanted to help out," Gray said after spending Saturday
handing out clothes and toiletries in the Astrodome. ''They are here, and they
have gotten out of that disaster, but it is like, now what?"
The Grammy winner said she was able to lift
the refugees' spirits and many were excited to see her.
''It is very humbling, but I loved every second of it," Gray said.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Jeff Beck clip
    ... a song and sing. ... could do that better was Hendrix, but even Hendrix was maybe more ... went to a double bill with JB and buddy guy a couple of years ago. ... god beck was boring. ...
    (alt.guitar)
  • Re: LANCE LOPEZ VS ROMEO ROSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    ... The hilarious bit is that Busby thinks this song is about him. ... "Buddy was a phenomenal bass player. ... But there were a couple of riffs, ... talking about him & buddy wrote the riffs/music not the lyrics. ...
    (alt.guitar)
  • A Post To Remember The Day The Music Died
    ... In the Song "American Pie" by Don McClean, Buddy ... Hollyand his honesty is the protagonist and The Rolling ... in stereo at the time. ...
    (rec.music.classical.recordings)
  • My Morning Singsong Sept. 15 - for LoriB.o.B.
    ... I dug up some Buddy and Julie Miller songs. ... And here's a song made famous by Emmylou Harris. ... Take GOOD Care and I hope you have a happy, happy day on your birthday, ...
    (alt.med.fibromyalgia)
  • Interview--on the Grammys, Pauls childhood and more
    ... PAUL McCartney's Grammy nomination total stands at 64 on the eve of the ... interview in his office complex in fashionable Soho Square. ... "It was really an arbitrary number when I wrote the song. ... And here was McCartney singing about a lifetime beyond that. ...
    (rec.music.beatles)