LITTLE PEGGY MARCH, MARY HOPKIN AND MARTHA STEWART.

For nostalgia Tuesday, I reach back to 5August2014 on American Idol, America's Got Talent and talented idols of half a century ago.  Here was one of them:

Little Peggy March was a shock to me.  First, she looks decent (she's only 58), but all these years I thought she was black.  This is Peggy singing "I Will Follow Him" in 1963 (she was 14 and remains the youngest female to reach #1 on the Billboard top 100) and 2011.  The song, co-composed by Paul Mauriat, has quite a history, as it first was a 1961 instrumental in France, then a #1 hit in Europe sung by Petula Clark.  Frankly, not sure when that right photo of grown up Peggy was taken, but it must have been a many few years ago.

Peggy grew up and is now 75 years old.  She was a one hit wonder.  Called Little Peggy March because at the age of 13 she was 4 ft 10 in tall when she recorded  I Will Follow Him.  Became #1 on 24 April 1963.  Turned out her manager squandered the money, leaving her in 1964 with $500.  Her second manager, Arnie Harris, became her husband in 1969.   She did make 18 singles from 1964 to 1971, but her career was derailed by the British Invasion.  Moved to Germany and had a career there.  In 1984 she co-wrote  When the Rain Begins to Fall, a European hit with Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora.   She moved back to Florida in 1999.  Watch her sing the 50th Anniversary version of  I Will Follow Him.  The photo to the left is a decade later, or now.

Soon on You Tube after that song, came a rare version of Mary Hopkin singing Those Were the Days.  She recorded that song 55 years ago.  Doing some research, learned that this song was first composed by Boris Fomin in the 1920's, and translated from Russian into English, when it was performed by the Limeliters in 1962.  The Hopkin 1968 version was produced by Paul McCartney.

How's this for really reaching back to the past, this final star kind of looks like Mary Hopkin.

That's Martha Stewart when she was a model at the age of 15, two-thirds of a century ago.  Well, on Thursday, May 18, you can pick up your copy of the 2023 Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue.  She is 81-years old and one of the cover models.  Read about her experience.

I close with something old, but new.  Honohono Orchids (Dendrobium anosmum) in Hawaii tend to mostly bloom in early March.  You rarely saw them flower into April.  Well, here on 16May2023 is my Honohono just blooming.  Growers must have found a way to spread out the flowering period.

What a fine fragrance.

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