tommygirl | we miss you...

It's been twenty years since Ricky Nelson died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve. PBS has a special on regarding his music and his influence on the world by other musicians he knew and his kids.

Random fact about me: I love Ricky Nelson. I used to watch the reruns of Ozzie and Harriet on Nick-at-Nite and I developed such a crush on him when I was little. (I had this habit of crushing on guys much older than myself because of the shows I chose to watch as a kid.)

His son, Sam, (not the Nelson twins who've always had hair that frightened me) looks so much like him. Uber hot.

Now I think I'll pull out some of my Ricky Nelson songs and play them.

I'm such a dork, I know, but really, old crushes are the hardest to die. (I mean that's the only reason I have for tuning in on purpose to General Hospital just to see Rick Springfield.)

Now, I must find a copy of this Ricky Nelson special somewhere. PBS gives it to you with a membership gift of 120 bucks. Alas, I don't have that kind of money if I plan to pay my rent. Must find it elsewhere.

ETA: Amazon has it for 13 bucks! Woo-hoo. Especially since at the end Sam Nelson sings one of his dad's songs (okay, so he sings with Matthew and Gunner, but I'm focused on Sam.)

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Ricky Nelson had some great songs. Kind of surprising -- because you'd expect a kid in a '50s sitcom was just being put forward as another packaged, talent-free teen idol, but it turned out the kid actually had talent. Right now, the only songs of his I can think of are "Hello Mary Lou" and "Garden Party," but I love both of them and your post has me thinking I ought to get them on my iPod!

oooh...I love Garden Party - that's the one that Sam Nelson performed on the special last night. Guh. Really good song.

I have a few other songs if you want me to upload them for you. (You may be the only person to want them. Hee)

Sure, thanks! I'd have to wait until I got to work to download them though. Stupid dial-up at home.

I know all about crushing on older men. I first fell in love with Gene Kelly when he appeared in Xanadu! ;-)

And, Ricky was a great loss. Love those "golden oldies"!

Dude! Gene Kelly...my dream used to be to dance with him. I loved him. I would watch Singing in the Rain over and over when I was four years old.

Oh, and then there was my weird love of Bob Hope. I wrote him a letter when I was seven all about how much he made me laugh and I loved him very much. And he wrote back. it was the greatest thing. Hee. (though the Bob Hope love was not the same as the Ricky Nelson or Gene Kelly love...that was more like "I just want to be on stage with him" - shocking as it might seem, I was somewhat of an outgoing child who liked the spotlight. Hee)

My first big celebrity crush that I can recall was when I was about 12 years old, on 40-something Peter O'Toole. And it wasn't even watching stuff in which he was young (for example, didn't get around to seeing the movie in my icon until I was 21). No, it was the then-current TV miniseries "Masada," in which he was in his mid- to late-40s!

I was so mad when my grandpa wouldn't let me watch Peter O'Toole in "The Stuntman" on HBO (we didn't have cable at home back then) because it was rated R.

we've totally talked about this before, but ricky nelson kind of makes me swoon. i just bought a bunch of ozzie and harriet on dvd to fulfill the dork factor. :)

god...his eyes...i just can't handle it. so inappropriate, but.

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hee...