When I was a kid, I got to see all kinds of musical shows with my grandparents. They took me on vacation with them for years and I loved their music - big band, mostly....It was the 70s, the era of the 8-track tapes. My favorite was Helen O'Connell, who started out with Bob Eberly and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in the 40s. For a 12 year old kid, I could sing them all: Green Eyes, Amapola, Embraceable You, When the Sun Comes Out and more. She was undoubtedly the best of the Big Band Singers.
I first saw her at the Valley Forge Music Fair when she appeared with Margaret Whiting, Rosemary Clooney and Rose Marie in 4 Girls 4, a live musical variety show. I knew I was getting to see the rare iconic talent of the day - a privilege teen-agers my age would never appreciate - and I was quite often the youngest person in the audience which brought me some attention. I - did - not - care one bit what anyone thought....I liked Rosemary alot, appreciated Margaret, and laughed with Rose Marie, but I LOVED Helen O'Connell. She was GORGEOUS!!! She was magic to me! Even now when I see the old clips, I love to watch her mannerisms, love to hear her talk, love her style of song delivery. Love her personality!
I first saw her at the Valley Forge Music Fair when she appeared with Margaret Whiting, Rosemary Clooney and Rose Marie in 4 Girls 4, a live musical variety show. I knew I was getting to see the rare iconic talent of the day - a privilege teen-agers my age would never appreciate - and I was quite often the youngest person in the audience which brought me some attention. I - did - not - care one bit what anyone thought....I liked Rosemary alot, appreciated Margaret, and laughed with Rose Marie, but I LOVED Helen O'Connell. She was GORGEOUS!!! She was magic to me! Even now when I see the old clips, I love to watch her mannerisms, love to hear her talk, love her style of song delivery. Love her personality!
| I stumbled across a website documenting the 4 Girls 4 years and I was surprised to find that the other three weren't all that happy with Helen......you wouldn't have known it if you saw them perform together. When I was almost 17 years old, I talked my best friend into driving us to the Music Fair to once again see 4 Girls 4. She had just gotten her license and only agreed because she had never been allowed to drive that far out of town yet. I still can't believe our mothers let us to do it, but what fun we had! It's one of our fondest memories to this day. | The last time I saw Helen O'Connell was in the late 1980s at the Hershey Theater. By that time, the girls had changed - Rosemary Clooney was still with the show, but added were Kay Starr and Kaye Ballard. The performance was good but the singers were starting to lose their edge. Kaye Ballard stole the show with her antics and jokes. Sadly, Helen O'Connell passed away in 1993.  |
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