Saturday 9: Angie Baby

Saturday 9: Angie Baby (1974)

Unfamiliar with this week's featured song? Hear it here.
 
1) This week's song is a spooky one about a young man who breaks into the bedroom of a troubled girl named Angie. Their encounter doesn't go well, and he's never seen again. Though there's been gossip, no one knows for sure what happened to him. Does your town have any scary legends that have been passed down through the decades?

A. The ragman seems to have endured somewhat. Back before paper was made from pulp, old men would travel in carts from town to town, picking up rages to make paper. Parents told their children if they didn't behave, they'd give them to the Ragman. One little girl allegedly opened the door to find the Ragman after she'd been particularly bad and died of fright.
 
2) Songwriter Alan O'Day said he drew upon aspects of his own childhood to come up with "Angie Baby." He was an only child who often stayed home sick from school, with only Top 40 radio for company. What do you recall when you think about sick days as a kid?

A. I would stay with my grandmother, and we watched The Price Is Right and she gave me Campbell's chicken soup.  
 
3) Helen Reddy said she enjoyed hearing what her fans thought happened in "Angie Baby." Can you think of another song that is open to interpretation?

A. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, although I don't know if that song is really open to interpretation. Maybe Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds?
 
4) When Helen and her husband/manager Jeff Wald heard "Angie Baby" the first time, they immediately agreed she should record it. She went into the studio that afternoon and in less than 10 days, disc jockeys were playing it and "Angie Baby" became an international hit. When were you glad you acted on impulse?

A. A very long time ago, I asked someone I barely knew if she'd ride with me to pick up my car at the out-of-town repair shop. I was driving a loaner. She agreed. And then we became very close friends. We'd known one another before, of course, but it seemed like that trip, those 2 hours together, was the real start of our friendship.
 
Questions inspired by Halloween . . .  

5) Though best known as a recording artist, Helen Reddy also acted on occasion and appeared as a singing nun in Airport 1975. A nun's habit is a popular Halloween costume. Will you/did you dress up this year?

A. No dressing up here.

6) In 2024, more Americans than ever dressed their dogs up for Halloween. Have you ever taken your pup with you trick-or-treating?

A. No.

7) According to the Guinness Book of Records, the award for highest number of jack-o-lanterns in one place went to Keene, NH, where in 2013 there were 30,581. Did you carve a pumpkin for Halloween this year?

A. No.
 
8) In years gone by, the Irish celebrated Halloween not with pumpkins but by carving turnips, potatoes and beets. Are any of those foods in your kitchen right now?

A. I have potatoes.
 
9) Some Elvis fans insist his ghost hovers in the trees over Graceland. Have you ever seen a ghost?

A. I have seen many ghosts. When I was growing up, we used to stay with Uncle Carmen and Aunt Helen in West Virginia. Their house was haunted, and you couldn't sleep through the night for the rocking chair rocking, the pipes banging, the clock that didn't run suddenly bonging, and the banjo playing.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.