Memories Through Music

written by Ron Osterberg

        My wife Georgie sang wildly well.  Everyone said that.  Unusual for an Irish girl with Boston roots, she sang the sad ballads of Ireland without crying.  She liked those songs and she liked Irish foot dancing, but her favorites were Broadway musicals.  She knew most and sang them beautifully.

        The song she sang best was “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” from Kismet.  Many singers recorded that song, but none sang it as sweetly as did Georgie.  The song also helped spark a near riot.

        Georgie sang it in a singing competition hosted by a famous local nightclub.  The event was well promoted and many singers competed.  Entrants had their own cheering sections and Georgie’s included her sister Dot, a tough sexy broad.  Private booster groups didn’t help though.  The owner’s niece won.

        When they announced the winner, Dot, with support from a few burly new friends, went ballistic and shouted her sense of injustice.  Other entrants and their fans chimed in yelling that they rigged the contest.  Bouncers scurried around trying to calm the crowd, but they did little good.  Georgie and I left.  Dot said later that we missed much fun.

        The song that drew Georgie and I close was “Fantasy on Greensleeves.”  Before we married, I was a student at UCLA and she lived on the other side of town.  A local radio station played Greensleeves each evening and most evenings I called when it came on so we could listen together.  As we fell in love, it became “our song” and, together or apart, it always brought us back to those days and to each other.  It still does.

        Another song that Georgie loved was the hauntingly beautiful “Malagueña Salerosa” sung by Bud and Travis.  Maybe it was her favorite.  She never tired of telling listeners of the times we saw them live at the Troubadour and the Ashgrove in Los Angeles.

        Shortly before she left us, the song “Georgy Girl” came out and, naturally, she liked the ring of a song with her name in it.  About the song, she said, “That’s me.  People don’t know the real me.  If they did, they’d like me better.”

Happy Anniversary Georgie
April 30, 1961

Hey there, Georgy girl
There's another Georgy deep inside
Bring out all the love you hide and, oh, what a change there'd be
The world would see a new Georgy girl.