Modern Screen (Jan-Dec 1960)

j And that's how it all started, our friendship, our romance, our love for each other (though, deep down, I fought the idea that i it was "love" at the time). . . . : ' We went out lots together those first six : months, though actually "went out" is the wrong expression since, with work hard to 5 come by, I didn't have money for that. Instead, we'd spend most of our time at Jo's and Jeanie's apartment, eating those TVdinners I talked about before, watching TV, listening to records, singing ourselves; or else we'd visit friends, or my mom, or i Jo's mom and dad and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hatcher, who'd moved North by this time and to Long Island, which is very accessible to New York. Then, at about the time the first six months or so passed, somebody suggested to me one day that I write a song. I'd already (1 written about ten dozen, seven of which were recorded and became immediate flops. But this friend of mine suggested I try something in the rock 'n' roll style. As he said, "Everybody else is doing it and making good." i So one day I wrote Splish-Splash, in I exactly twelve minutes. x It got recorded. : ; Within ten days it had sold nearly 100,000 :r records. And I was on my way. To put it mildly, I was in seventh llj heaven. A little too high up there, looking back. And it was Jo who helped bring me . down to earth. c. I remember this one night we were sit ting in a Chinese restaurant over on West Forty-Ninth Street, I mean actually having dinner out. And I started to laugh 1 about this and say something like, "It's about time, hey, honey, the two of us 6 living, like real people?" And I remember how Jo said to me, t This is only the beginning, Bobby. Don't get spoiled or satisfied by only one record. One rock n roll hit — that makes you like a thousand other fellows instead of like a million others. Now you've got to show them that you can really sing, too. . . ." And I remember another time, not long after I started to show them, and started getting club bookings here and there, how something was wrong with me — I wasn't really getting through to my audiences; I guess I was afraid and made myself into a pretty brash and unpleasant character — and I remember how Jo sat with me one night right after a show and said to me, "Bobby, I don't know much about show business. But this much I do know. The real performers, they don't fight the audience. They enjoy it. Which is what you've got to do, Bobby. Enjoy it. . . ." I remember these things Jo said to me, at a time they needed saying. And, remembering, it's strange, ironic, to think that this is just about the time we started drifting apart. Or, I should say, the time I started drifting away from Jo. What happened? It's hard to explain. I just wouldn't see her so much anymore. I was dedicating myself to a whole new world now, and the strain of this dedication was knocking me out — the hard work, the newness of it, the constant late hours, the learning to sleep by day and live by night, the excitement, the having to hang around a lot with all sorts of people, some of them who wished you well, others who didn't give a damn, you'd find out, but just hung on for the free ride — a new life, all of it devoted to the Big Crowd, and that gave me little time for those few people who really cared. People like Jo-Ann. We had a discussion about this one night; nearly a fight. Jo was blue because I hadn't shown up a few times when I'd promised to. I was born in a small town, Bobby, she said. "Maybe it's different up here in great big New York. But where I come from we're used to a fellow calling to break a date if he has to, even calling a girl once in a while between dates just to talk. Girls like to be treated that way, Bobby." I answered all this with a lot of stuff that sounded very good and reasonable to my own ears at the time. "The kind of thing you're talking about," I said, "is forced — and anything forced is ill." It all boiled down, what I was saying, to take me, Jo-Ann, or leave me. "Take me?" I said, when I was finished. "Yes," she said. "Good," I said, "because this is just the way it's got to be." But nothing was ever really right between us, for a long time after that. I was still going through my period of making the grade, of confusion. And my mom died suddenly during this period, and her passing made me more miserable than she would ever have wanted me to be, this wonderful mother who'd done so much for me. . . . Anyway, as far as Jo was concerned, I'd see her a lot for a while and then, sometimes for three or four weeks running, I wouldn't see her at all. Finally, one night, it really seemed over between us. I phoned her after one of these long stretches and told her that a friend of mine and his wife had invited me to dinner at their house and asked me to bring a date if I wanted to. "Would you like to come?" I asked. Jo-Ann said she would. During dinner that night I got to feeling depressed about something. I couldn't eat. I figured there was no sense staying at the table. I don't know if it occurred to me that this would make it a little hard '150 FOR YOU! Fill in the form below (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) as soon as you've read all the stories in this issue. Then mail it to us right away. Promptness counts. Three $10 winners will be chosen from each of the following areas — on a basis of the date and time on your postmark: Eastern states; Southern states; Midwestern states; Rocky Mountain and Pacific states; Canada. And even if you don't earn $10, you'll be glad you sent this ballot in— because you're helping us pick the stories you'll really love. MAIL TO: MODERN SCREEN POLL, BOX 2291, GRAND CENTRAL STATION, N. Y. 17, N. Y. Please circle the box to the left of the one phrase which best answers each question: 1. I LIKE MARILYN MONROE: 0 more than almost any star 0 a lot 0 fairly well 0 very little 0 not at all 0 am not very familiar with her 1 READ: 0 all of her story 0 part 0 none IT HELD MY INTEREST: UJ super-completely UJ completely UJ fairly well UJ very little UJ not at all 2. I LIKE ROBERT STACK: UJ more than almost any star UJ a lot UJ fairly well UJ very little UJ not at all UJ am not very familiar with him I READ: UJ all of his story UJ part UJ none IT HELD MY INTEREST: 0 super-completely UJ completely UJ fairly well UJ very little UJ not at all 3. 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I LIKE TUESDAY WELD: 0 more than almost any star 0 a lot 0 fairly well 0 very little 0 not at all 0 am not very familiar with her 1 READ: 0 all of her story 0 part 0 none IT HELD MY INTEREST: 0 super-completely 0 completely 0 fairly well 0 very little 0 not at all 7. I LIKE BOBBY RYDELL: 0 more than almost any star 0 a lot 0 fairly well 0 very little 0 not at all 0 am not very familiar with him 1 READ: 0 all of his story 0 part 0 none IT HELD MY INTEREST: 0 super-completely 0 completely 0 fairly well 0 very little 0 not at all