SOUTH AMERICA ADVENTURE, WHEN YOU SEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS, PART 2: TIERRA DEL FUEGO--THE END OF THE WORLD

PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE

After three days at sea, we were happy to pull into port. We had reached Tierra del Fuego, at the Southern tip of South America. This is an island, shared by Chile and Argentina. Although the two countries are neighbors, sharing thousands of miles of common border, they have not always had good relations. As recently as 1978, the two squared off and laid mines. Only the intervention of Pope John Paul II averted a war. The dispute was about three islands in the Beagle Channel which were awarded to Chile by an international tribunal. Argentina didn't take that well. Peace didn't reign until the fall of the Argentine junta after the Falklands War.

We landed in Punta Arenas (Sands Point) Chile, the Southernmost large city in the world. Punta Arenas has a population of about 131,000. They get a lot of rain, but usually it is just light showers. This was a major seaport until 1914 when the Panama Canal was built. Then ships just stopped coming here. They got a boost in 1940 when oil was discovered, and infrastructure was built, but today the main industry is tourism. The locals are somehow proud that there is no McDonalds' or other fast food restaurants. Everything here is named after Magellan, even the Magallanes Unimarc supermarket which we visited.

The city is built around a main park, Plaza de Armas which has a market where natives sell their handicrafts to the tourists. Dianne was able to negotiate a good price and purchased a fine fur hat and scarves. A few feet away, in the same park is a large statue of Magellan. The legend goes that if you rub the foot of the statue, you will return to Punta Arenas. I must have done so back in 1998, because here I was again--in the same park. I was careful not to touch it this time.

We booked a 2 hour ferry ride each way to Isla Magdelena to see the penguin and seabird rookery. Only 2 people live on this windswept island--basically to take care of the penguins and keep poachers out, and also to operate the lighthouse. The Magellanic penguins are small--about 2 feet tall, black and white (!) and very cute. Humans are allowed to roam the island but must stay on the path behind the roped off area. The penguins don't have any such restrictions, and they crossed in front of us many times. We were warned that if we crossed over the ropes, we might be fined or shot. Actually, the bigger problem would be breaking a leg in the many penguin burrows scattered around the island.

Wouldn't you know it, but Dianne's glove blew away in the gale force wind, right into the penguin area. We couldn't coax a penguin to retrieve the glove. Finally, our Danish friend, Regitze jumped the rope and quickly retrieved the glove. Nothing happened to her. No cami dudes, no black ops, nothing!

We observed the penguins for quite some time. Although they don't have Facebook yet, they appear to have a complicated social structure and they go through elaborate rituals. For example, the mother penguin waddles (runs) down to the water to search for food. The young penguin runs behind her in lockstep as if he were chasing her. Meanwhile, the male adult penguins sit on the eggs.

The weather, on this midsummer day was awful. It was cold and windy, perfect penguin weather. There are no trees to slow down the wind. It is 1/2 mile uphill to the lighthouse, against the wind, both ways. The winds essentially blow around the world without touching land, so they're pretty strong by the time they get here. The only comparable weather I've seen was Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, which is considered the windiest place in the world. I'm from Chicago, the Windy City, and I know wind, but this is crazy. It was even worse when we got to Cape Horn.

The next day, in the early morning hours, we sailed through the Straits of Magellan, and the Beagle Channel, taking in the beautiful and majestic glaciers. We set the alarm for 6 A.M. so as not to miss this magnificent scenery. We had a room with a balcony. The only problem was that our room was on the starboard (right) side of the ship, and the glaciers were on the port side. To view them, we had to go up to the top deck of the ship. Although it was cold, I couldn't wear a hat because it would blow away in the gale winds.

We took some spectacular shots of the glaciers which by and large are named after European countries. We saw the Espana Glacier, the Romanche Glacier, the Alemania Glacier, the Francia Glacier, the Italia Glacier and the Holanda Glacier. These glaciers are part of the Cordillera Darwin, a 1000 square mile mountain range mantled with a large ice field which stretches for about 50 miles along the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego Island. The highest point is Mount Darwin, named after Charles Darwin, the evolution guy born on Lincoln's Birthday, whose ship, the HMS Beagle gave its name to the channel. The HMS Beagle, with Darwin aboard, spent several years around 1831, charting the coastlines while Darwin studied the flora and fauna.

USHUAIA, ARGENTINA

Our cruise continued on, a couple of hundred miles to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. It is a city of 80,000 perched on the shore and a hillside backed by snow capped mountains. On this day, February 9th, three cruise ships were docked in the port. The souvenir stores were doing a brisk business, particularly in onyx which is a plentiful stone around Ushuaia.

It was midsummer, and we were blessed with sunny mild weather. The temperature was about 15C (60F) although they had had a snowstorm 3 days before, according to our guide. Our tour guide was a lady who lived in New Jersey for many years and moved back to be with her family in Argentina. She spoke American English and was very informative.

The main industry in Ushuaia is outfitting Antarctic expeditions and eco-tourism. Originally the city was built to house a penal colony in the nearby mountains, but that closed many years ago. Now the penal colony is a popular tourist attraction, and you get up there on a small narrow gauge train, similar to what you'd see in an amusement park. We rode that train several years ago when we visited. Although I like old trains, there was no need to repeat that experience.

Instead, we took a bus tour through Tierra del Fuego National Park and walked around the beautiful Lago Roca (Lake Roca) on the Chile-Argentina border. We visited the end of Route 3, the Pan American Highway. You can pretty much drive the length of it and many people do, even on bicycles, but it takes awhile. The trip to Fairbanks, Alaska is about 11,000 miles. A large sign marks the end of the line. In fact, the city's motto is "fin del mundo" which means "end of the world".

CAPE HORN

We set out for Cape Horn which in Spanish is known as "Cabo de Hornos", which literally means "Cape of Ovens". Cape Horn was named in 1616 by the Dutch discoverer, Willem Schouten after his home town of Hoorn in the Netherlands--actually his voyage was financed by the merchants of Hoorn. His ship, also called the Hoorn, was wrecked in the voyage, and he had to complete the trip on the sister ship, the Eendracht.

We arrived the following morning at Cape Horn, 91 miles south of Ushuaia. We woke up at 7:15 to a partly cloudy day, unusual in this area. We went up to the top deck for some photo opportunities. I wore sandals and almost froze my toes off. The winds appeared to be close to 100 mph, and Dianne had to hang on to the mast to not blow away. We had been to Cape Horn several years ago, but it was enshrouded in fog, and we didn't get a good look at it. This time we did.

It consists of some rocky outcroppings and a 1500 foot mountain on which Chile maintains a small military base. There are no trees. The stark scenery is quite beautiful. For many tourists, it's something to check off on their bucket list, but it's about as isolated as one can get.

For yachtsmen, however, Cape Horn is the ultimate challenge, the yachting equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest, because of strong winds and currents, large waves as high as 100 feet, and even icebergs. This is the graveyard of sailing ships, and traditionally, sailors who rounded the Horn were entitled to wear one gold hooped earring in the left ear (the one facing the Horn on an Eastbound passage), and also get a tattoo of a full sailing ship.

We felt relatively safe on the gigantic Star Princess, although the ride is bumpy. Many passengers got seasick, but I was invigorated in the fresh air, eager for our next adventure.

NEXT: FALKLAND ISLANDS, BUT DON'T DARE CALL THEM THAT IN ARGENTINA

SOUTH AMERICA ADVENTURE--WHEN YOU SEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS, PART 1; CHILE CAN BE CHILLY

We flew all night, twelve hours from Chicago to DFW to Santiago, Chile. We dragged our weary bodies through the Comodoro Arturo Marino Benitez International Airport (SCL), with one thought--to get some rest. But first, to get into Chile, you much purchase a visa, but only if you come from U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia or Albania. Albania! Something about reciprocity. For U.S. citizens, the visa costs $140 per person. they charge Albanians only $30. Don't ask!

In case you were wondering, there are several theories about how Chile got its name. It may have been from the native Quechua word meaning "cold" or the Aymara word meaning "snow". So it's been chilly there for a long time. In any event, the Spanish conquistadors led by Diego de Almagro in 1536 got the name from the locals, and they called themselves the men of Chile.

SANTIAGO

Our hotel sent a driver to the airport to pick us up. We booked a room at the San Cristobal Tower which is the classy part of the next door Sheraton Hotel. We arrived there at 11:30 A.M., but check in is at 3:00. We could have walked around town, but there's nothing much to see within walking distance. The clerk agreed to give us an early check-in for 50 bucks, and we needed rest, so we agreed. The room was quite large, and they set the mood with classical music playing as we walked in.

They provided a free local newspaper, El Mercurio, all in Spanish. I can speak and read some Spanish, and I was able to read that Romney won the Florida primary and that tourism was up in the Chilean wine country. Usually, I turn to the sports section first, but all they had was futbol (soccer).

After a short rest, we went down to the pool to look for our friends who were flying in from all over the world. We would be traveling with 3 other couples whom we met on previous cruises--Mike & Dorothy from Long Island; Lach & Regitze from Australia although Regitze is really Danish, from Bornholm Island, Denmark; and Rune & Tured (Trudy) from Norway. Regitze, Rune & Trudy did not have to purchase visas. The Australians had never met the Norwegians, but Regitze, speaking Danish was able to converse with them in their native tongue, and they became fast friends.

We learned a few Scandinavian words to improve our vocabulary. Skol is the Norwegian word for "cheers", or "salud" or "l'chiam" when you're toasting over drinks. Since we were to do a lot of drinking on this trip, we did skol quite often. Chile's signature drink is the Pisco sour, a tasty and popular drink, made with Pisco brandy (a Peruvian grape brandy), lemon juice and sugar. We had several around the pool with our friends. The Norwegian word for beer is "ol". The "o" has a slash through it but my keyboard doesn't recognize it. It is pronounced "aaeerrll". Glemdeh is Norwegian for forgetaboutit. Its great to learn a new language, but there's not a lot of demand for Norwegian speakers in South America.

Prices are high in Chile. Chile has a lot of millionaires because the Chilean peso is 500 to the dollar. So a million pesos is not much more than a buck fifty. (Actually it's about $2000, but who's counting). The hotel served a cheeseburger which was good but cost about $15. For a cheeseburger, a small pizza, 2 ice teas and 1 water, we paid 28,000 pesos (about $56). They tried to charge Mike 75,000 pesos ($150) for 2 buffets, but he objected, and the hotel reduced the price. It wasn't clear if the original price was a mistake.

There is a large and prosperous middle class in Chile, but like in most countries, there is a great inequality with a large underclass. Back in the 1970's, with the alleged assistance of the CIA, they overthrew the leftist Allende government and brought in a group called the "Chicago Boys" to run the economy. At first impression, you'd think a bunch of cigar chomping guys in fedoras from the First Ward came in to run things, but actually, it was a group of economists trained at the University of Chicago under Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman. They brought in market reforms, and today, Chile is one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America.

Our three days leading up to the cruise were packed with tours--wineries, hiking in the Andes, and a tour of Valparaiso. Santiago wasn't covered, although we drove through much of it. Despite being a modern city of 6 million, there's not all that much exciting in Santiago. They are building the tallest building in South America, the Costamera Center, near our hotel. When completed, it will be 300 meters high (about 1000 feet). Like most other major cities, Santiago has shopping malls, and McDonald's, as well as the government buildings comprising the capital of Chile.

We wanted to experience what passes for nightlife in Santiago. So we climbed into 2 taxis (ladies in one, and men in the other) to take us to a local restaurant, Los Muchachos Buenos for a full dinner and floor show featuring singing, traditional Chilean dancing, Chilean folklore groups and a live orchestra. We had reservations but agreed to eat there anyway. It turned out to be a good deal. A $35 tab brought us cocktails (Pisco sours), seafood plate appetizer, choice of steak, salmon or chicken, a half bottle of wine and a fruit plate dessert. The show was entirely in Spanish, and we couldn't understand most of it, but the audience participated enthusiastically. This place is popular with the locals, but there were also quite a few non-Chileans in the restaurant, and the maitre d' brought flags to their tables. We represented Norway, Denmark, Australia, and of course, the USA.

CHILEAN WINE COUNTRY

We motored down to the Casablanca Valley, not far from Santiago. This is the heart of the famed Chilean wine country. Driving through the town of Casablanca, I was reminded of the Humphrey Bogart movie of the same name with famous lines like "I'm shocked, shocked, that there's gambling going on here", and "Play it (again) Sam". Well that's in the other Casablanca, which incidentally means "white house" in Spanish. I have stories about THAT also, but we'll save that for another day.

We visited three wineries, all of which were founded in recent years. The first was Veramonte which was founded in 1990 by Agustin Huneeus, whose family also owns 2 vineyards in Napa. Veramonte has 420 hectares surrounded by 4500 hectares of native forest. A hectare is about 2.47 acres, so we're talking a lot of land. The vineyard is beautiful with tall palm trees and rosebushes flanking the grapevines. The purpose of the rosebushes is to protect the vines. Any pests coming through will attack the rosebushes first and thus give the farmer time to take action. I especially enjoyed a red Carmenere wine which is native to Chile. Their Cabernet sauvignon is very good also.

The second winery we visited was Indomita Vineyard identified with a huge sign on top of a hill. It has 200 hectares cultivated for the production of white wine for export. We ate lunch there with a choice of menus (meat, fish, vegetarian, Mediterranean, and Chilean). I chose the Chilean menu and was served beef filet topped with pastel de choclo, a delicious corn cake with olives, mushrooms and raisins. They served us a different wine with each course. Fortunately, we didn't have to drive.

While we were eating, a group of 40 raucous Brazilian businessmen sat down to eat at the next table. Their English was limited, but they were friendly, and in the spirit of the day we began toasting our respective countries. Mike taught them to yell "Go Giants" in celebration of the upcoming Super Bowl. I don't think they knew what the Super Bowl was, but with all that wine, they were celebrating everything.

The last winery we visited was Casas de Busque which was started in 1993 by the Cuneo Family, originally from Italy. It produces Pinot Noir, Syrah and Carmenere. It is more of a boutique winery and produces just 70,000 cases of wine a year.

At each stop, we walked through the vineyards, admiring the ripening grapes in the warm Chilean summer. There are large and small grapes used for different purposes. Rune, with his dry Norwegian sense of humor, said the small grapes were used for "half bottles"! Ultimately, that day I drank more wine than I had in the last 5 years, and I was feeling good.

HIKING THE ANDES AND BANOS COLINA HOT SPRING

The next day, we drove 2 hours East into the majestic Andes Mountains. The first half of the trip was on a paved highway. The last hour we drove on a dusty gravel road to the foot of San Jose de Maipo Volcano in the El Morado National Park. It is snow capped above the 16,000 foot level with the San Francisco Glacier, a beautiful and popular attraction for hikers and mountain climbers. I thought I was going to leave my heart there, as we huffed and puffed, hiking for about an hour above the 12,000 foot level amidst gale force winds. We were rewarded by the spectacular scenery. It was a strenuous climb, and half of our group chose to stay by the van which was parked by a small farm. They raised horses, goats, pigs and free range chickens. The pigs ran among us and wallowed in the dust, as pigs are inclined to do. It was windy and dusty and exacerbated by a road construction crew digging up the road. We were happy to leave.

We doubled back to the Banos Colina Hot Spring where we changed into our bathing suits for a dip in the warm water. There are several natural pools arranged as outdoor terraces. The water temperature in the various pools ranges from 25C to 60C (77F-158F). You probably want to avoid the 158 degree water. The mud on the bottom of the pools is supposed to have therapeutic value, and the ladies covered themselves with it. Whole families of the locals came out to bathe in the mineral waters. At that altitude (about 9000 feet), it was cold when we climbed out and we quickly covered ourselves with towels. We sat down for a picnic lunch, but we had to hold down everything because of the gale winds. We broke out some more wine to toast to a beautiful mountain vista. Skol!

VINA DEL MAR and VALPARAISO

We checked out of our hotel the last day and drove down to Vina del Mar, the luxurious Chilean resort town by the ocean. It's about 75 miles from Santiago, and on the way there, our guide taught us the Chilean national motto--Viva Chile Mierda! Chilean have a sense of humor. "Mierda" is the Spanish word for "sh*t".

We arrived early in the morning at Vergara Park (Quinta Vergara) which was the estate of the founding family of Vina del Mar. The house had been damaged by an earthquake and was not open to the public. However, we strolled through the verdant gardens, admiring the wide assortment of brightly colored flowers. A few blocks away they brought in a moai statue from Easter Island as a tourist attraction. We took photos, so now we don't have to go to Easter Island which is 2000 miles from anything.

On the beach, they built a world class hotel casino which we visited but didn't gamble. The beach was full of callipygous Chilean girls, sand sculptures and street vendors, not to mention gourmet restaurants.

Close by is Valparaiso, the major seaport of Chile. It is built on hillsides. The streets are very steep, reminiscent of San Francisco (the city, not the glacier--well that is steep also). The houses are very colorful, with bright yellows, greens and blues. We rode the funicular railway down the mountain.

One of the major attractions there is the house of the famous poet Pablo Neruda. It is a popular 5 story museum on a hillside with narrow stairways. It is probably not ADA compliant, but it attracts a lot of tourists. The house was called LaSebastiana after its builder Sebastian Collado. Neruda purchased this unique house because of its panoramic view of Valparaiso. You pay a lot for location. Neruda was a Spaniard who moved to Chile and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. The walls were decorated with photos of Neruda with friends like Picasso and other prominent bon vivants of his era.

NEXT: TIERRA DEL FUEGO

FOUR DAYS IN ROCK 'N' ROLL CLEVELAND AND NOTABLE ONE HIT WONDERS

Last month, we took a pilgrimage to Cleveland, Ohio, to visit the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Although Cleveland has often been the butt of jokes, many of which were true, we enjoyed our 4 day stay at the Doubletree Hotel. The city has cleaned itself up, and we were impressed, especially with the restaurants in the trendy Warehouse District. Cleveland has become an international city, at least while we were there.

The Hungarian president, Pal Schmitt showed up outside our hotel to lay a wreath in front of the statue of Hungarian patriot Lajos Kossuth who visited Cleveland in 1852.Schmitt gave a speech to a group of Hungarian-American boy scouts and others. Although we don't understand much Hungarian, we hung around to watch him because the street was blocked off by Secret Service guys in incongruous suits while everyone else was dressed casually. Cleveland has a large and active Hungarian community.

The R & R Hall of Fame was an all day event for us with about 6 floors of exhibits, none of which are devoted to the Hungarian contributions to rock 'n' roll music. They don't let you take photos in most of them. One piece of information I took out of there was that John Lennon was a big fan of Buddy Holly's Crickets and was inspired to also name his group after an insect. The Beatles? So there you have it! John Lennon was also reportedly a closet Republican.

The exhibit that captured our attention most was the One Hit Wonders display. The computerized exhibit allowed you to scan the alphabet to find One Hit Wonders by group or artist and play the song. We spent over an hour going through the alphabet. While there are literally thousands of these to pick from, below I have featured some of those with interesting stories.

One Toke Over the Line, Brewer & Shipley (1971) According to Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley, the Kansas City based singer-songwriters, the song is about smoking marijuana. They wrote it supposedly while they were high. One toke over the line sweet Jesus, one toke over the line, sittin' downtown in a railroad station, one toke over the line... Radio stations played it because they weren't sure if it was a gospel song or a drug song. While Vice President Spiro Agnew railed against it as subversive to American youth, Lawrence Welk, who was conservative middle America promoted the song. The wholesome looking Gail Ferrell and Dick Dale (Gail & Dale) performed it on his show. They thought the words were "one toe over the line." The song is mentioned in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas by gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson. Apparently it was his favorite song.

Playground in my Mind, Clint Holmes (1973). This novelty song by Holmes with lyrics like "My name is Michael, I've got a nickel..." rose to Number 2 on Billboard. Holmes is now a very popular Las Vegas headliner. He was elected by a tourist magazine as "Best Singer in Las Vegas" two years in a row, as well as "Best All-Around Las Vegas Performer". We've enjoyed his show, and he always trots out that song because it is so incompatible with his image today. Holmes is a high energy performer although he had a broken leg the night we saw him. Holmes has a interesting background. Born in England, his father was an African American jazz musician and his mother an English opera singer. He learned to sing from his mother, and he learned how to have fun doing it from his father.

Susie Darlin', Robin Luke (1958). The 16 year old Mr. Luke was living in Hawaii when he wrote this song about his 5 year old sister Susie. Apparently he had many girlfriends, but to avoid the appearance of favoritism, that was his story and he was sticking to it. He made the rounds of the Dick Clark Show for awhile, meeting Buddy Holly and others, but his family insisted that he continue his education. Today, Dr. Luke is a college professor and the head of the Marketing Department at Southwest Missouri State University. Sister Susie Robison lives in Columbia, MO. and works for the state.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, Vicki Lawrence (1973). Don't confuse this song with Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight, Rainy Night in Georgia by Brook Benton, or Georgia on my Mind by Hoagy Carmichael or Ray Charles. My wife, Dianne is from Georgia, so I had to write about this one. After recording this song, Vicki Lawrence became better known for her comedy work on TV shows ranging from the Carol Burnett Show and Mama's Family to Love Boat, $100,000 Pyramid and even LaVerne & Shirley.

The song was written by Bobby Russell, Ms. Lawrence's first husband. It was offered to Cher, but was turned down by Sonny Bono. Ms. Lawrence became pro-Bono when her song soared to Number 1 on Billboard and sold over 2 million records. Last year, Ms. Lawrence stirred up some controversy among advocates for the homeless when she made a parody about Ted Williams, the homeless man who became famous for about 15minutes when he landed a job doing some voice-over work. He couldn't hit a baseball like his namesake, however, and the Ted Williams Expressway in Boston is not believed to be named after him.

Speaking about lights going out, the BeeGees who were NOT a One Hit Wonder had a song called Massachusetts with the recurring line "and the lights all went down in Massachusetts..." Songwriters take inspiration from everything including power failures.

In the Summertime, Mungo Jerry (1970). I picked this one because I liked the name of the artist. One would expect to find a comma between Mungo and Jerry. Actually there is nobody with that name. This English band was formed by Ray Dorset and is still performing today led by Dorset, although the others in the group are interchangeable. The name of the group comes from a T.S. Eliot poem. Outside of England, this group was a One Hit Wonder. Mungo Jerry had several other recordings that sold well in England though not in the U.S. They bring out this song every summer, and the recording has sold 30 million copies over the years, bringing in a nice annuity for Mr. Dorset. Another favorite Summer song was It's Summertime by the Jamies (1958).It's summertime, summertime, sum sum summertime, summertime, summertime sum sum summertime...etc. So much for original lyrics.

Teen Angel, Mark Dinning (1959). This was a teenage tragedy song like several others by One Hit Wonders, e.g. Endless Sleep by Jody Reynolds; Patches, by Dickie Lee; and Last Kiss by J. Frank Wilson. Teen Angel was written by Mark's sister Jean and brother-in-law Red Surrey. When the song was released, nobody was sure what to make of it, but it rocketed to Number 1 on the charts. Unfortunately, Mr. Dinning's life was a tragedy also. He had a severe alcohol problem and, after appearing at performances in an inebriated state, they stopped booking him. He died of a heart attack at age 52. Back in the 1970's, I met his nephew Howard Dinning, an incredibly talented artist who was performing at a local supper club near Chicago. Between sets, I went up to him and asked if he was related to Mark Dinning. "Yeah, that's my uncle," he said. He agreed to sing Teen Angel for us.

Hang on Sloopy, McCoys (1965). We know that every state has a state song, but did you know that Ohio has a state rock song? Well, this is it. The Ohio State University Marching Band plays it before the fourth quarter of every football game. The song is also played at every Cleveland Indians baseball game. The Ohio Legislature passed a resolution in 1986 in response to the State of Washington making Louie, Louie by the Kingsmen their official state rock song.

Hang on Sloopy (not Snoopy), originally recorded as My Girl Sloopy, was written by Wes Farrell (once married to Tina Sinatra) and Bert Russell. For whatever reason, they wanted to honor jazz singer Dorothy Sloop (1913-1998), from Steubenville, Ohio (also Dean Martin's hometown) who called herself Sloopy on stage. Incidentally, Russell also co-wrote Twist and Shout, a big hit for the Isley Bros. and also the Beatles. Hang on Sloopy has much longer staying power than the group that performed it.

The McCoys was originally Rick & the Raiders, from Union City, Indiana, but to avoid confusion with Paul Revere & the Raiders, they had to change the name. Sixteen year old Rick Derringer and his combo were recruited by the producers of the song to sing it on an already completed backing track by the Strangeloves (I Want Candy) who were still riding that hit and didn't want to release a new record so soon. They needed to get the record released quickly to beat out the Dave Clark Five who were also planning to record the song. They succeeded.

I Want Candy, The Strangeloves (1965). Their story IS strange, if not outrageous. The group was composed of Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gotteher who proved to be brilliant marketers (see Hang on Sloopy above). They claimed to be shepherds from Australia named Giles, Miles and Niles Strange, and their story was they made a fortune crossbreeding sheep. Not many bought that story (their New York accents may have given them away), but they were successful anyway. They recruited and created the McCoys (see above), naming them after a Ventures song. They also produced My Boyfriend's Back, a big hit by the Angels.

San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair), Scott McKenzie (1967). This song was written by John Phillips to promote the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. It became the anthem of the hippie generation and has been featured in several movies including Forrest Gump. McKenzie's real name was Philip Blondheim, but nobody could remember his name. In show biz, name recognition is key, so he brainstormed after a gig with several friends to come up with a new name. Somebody said he looked like a Scottie dog, and he got his first name. McKenzie was the middle name of John Phillips' daughter Laura, now known as actress MacKenzie Phillips. I didn't make this up, it's on Scott McKenzie's website.

Dianne and I met Scott McKenzie in 1986 on an elevator in Dallas. As he stepped on, I greeted him by name, and he was quite surprised that anybody would recognize him. He was gracious, and we talked a little bit.

While living in Virginia around 1960, he became friends with and sang with Phillips who later formed the Mamas and Papas with his wife Michelle, Denny Doherty and Cass Elliott. After Elliott died, the group broke up, but in 1986, McKenzie joined a reconstituted version of the group and was their musical arranger when I met him and saw his performance. Among other accomplishments, McKenzie co-wrote the Beach Boys' song Kokomo with Phillips. He retired in 1998 and lives in Los Angeles.

Sugar, Sugar, Archies (1969). This recording was the Number One song for the whole year, and there is no artist that claims responsibility for performing it. The Archies are cartoon characters--Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, etc. The song was written by Jeff Berry and Andy Kim and performed by studio musicians managed by Don Kirshner. Berry offered the song to the Monkees who turned it down. Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make.

To paraphrase Barbara Walters, the most fascinating character in that group is Forsythe Van Jones II whom we know as Archie's loyal friend Jughead. (Nobody would name their kid Jughead, would they?) His shtick is his laziness, winning eating contests and avoiding female companionship, not because he doesn't like them, but because he likes eating better. He wears a beanie shaped crown on his head and has a big "S" on his sweatshirt. He plays the drums in the Archies band. He does have a sometime girl friend, Big Ethel, a large gangly but friendly girl whom he usually tries to avoid.

How Do You Do, Mouth & MacNeal (1972). This was a short lived pop duo from the Netherlands. "Mouth" was Willem Duyn (1937-2004), a large man with a full beard, loud clothing and a loud mouth. He also plays the violin in the song. His partner, Maggie MacNeal, by contrast is a sweet looking blond girl, 13 years younger. Together they had good chemistry. Maggie's real name is Skoukje Van't Spijker, and in recent years she performed in Europe as Skoukje Smit. This song rose to the top of the U.S. charts in 1972. I highly recommend one of several YouTube videos of the duo because they mingle with the audience and really enjoy performing the song. They performed together for only a year or two and had some success in Europe, but How Do You Do was their only U.S. hit.

You can find all the above songs on YouTube. Enjoy!

KENNETH SUSKIN

CROSSING THE ATLANTIC--NEWFOUNDLAND, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON

We spent two days at sea because it is a long way from Greenland across the Labrador Strait and the Davis Strait to Newfoundland. Cruise ships have many activities (see Party, Polar Bear, in my last installment), and we got to do two activities in which we have never before participated.

The first was the Marriage Game Show (think Newlywed Game) in which three lucky couples are obliged to share their intimate secrets before a live audience. The cruise director cleverly induced us to appear by talking to Dianne and me separately, convincing each of us that the other agreed to participate. How well do I know my spouse? Not as well as the other two couples knew theirs. We had two lawyers in the group, but fortunately no divorce lawyers. we were asked mildly embarrassing questions like "which part of your spouse's body would you like to change?", and "the most unusual place you've made love?"

The other activity was karaoke. Now I've never done karaoke before in my whole life. In school, I sang in Mixed Chorus, and the teacher suggested that I drop the class. Needless to say, I don't sing very well, though perhaps I can do hard rock, or whatever passes for popular music nowadays. The young lady running the karaoke, the lovely Australian dancer, Felicity conned me into performing I'm a Believer, the Monkees' song written by Neil Diamond. I did a somewhat respectable Neil Diamond imitation in duet with her while her proud parents whom we had befriended cheered us on. Their sage advice to me was "Don't quit your day job!"

ST.JOHNS, NEWFOUNDLAND

The unusual thing about Newfoundland, other than the jokes mainland Canadians make about the locals is that it has its own time zone, 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic Time, or 1 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern Standard time. So when you re-set your watch, you are a half hour off. Newfoundland used to be an independent country in the British Commonwealth until 1949 when it agreed to become a province of Canada. The Newfies had one non-negotiable condition to becoming a part of Canada--they must be allowed to hunt the common murre (a/k/a turre) for food all year around. These large seabirds, called guillemot in Europe, can't fly very well, but they swim very well, even underwater, catching fish. In their nesting grounds, they are relatively easy to catch. Since the rest of Canada didn't know what they were, they readily agreed.

We docked in St. Johns, the capital of Newfoundland on their municipal holiday, August 3rd, their annual Regatta. It has been held the first Wednesday of August since the 1820's. In this city of 100,000, about one-third of the people attend this extravaganza. Most stores and banks in town were closed. The Regatta consisted of a series of rowing races in long narrow sculls pitting 5 teams of 3 rowers plus a navigator. Presumably the spectators bet on the outcomes or what would be the point?

The event is like a large county fair with carnival rides and food stands run by local restaurants. It reminded us of Taste of Chicago or Milwaukee Fest. We walked the mile or so to the event and returned on the city bus. We got off by the Yellow Belly Brewery built in 1725.

The bus ride was memorable for one reason--we almost ran over actor Russell Crowe. Crowe was filming a TV series with local actors around town. We encountered the film makers at a red light. The bus driver told us to look for Mr. Crowe. I don't know what he looks like, but Dianne does, and sure enough, he was standing in front of the bus. She pointed him out to me, and I admit he looked familiar, but I wouldn't have picked him out of a crowd.

Other than visiting the Regatta, we did the usual tourist spots in St. Johns, a city totally unfamiliar to most Americans. The Easternmost point in North America (if you don't count Greenland) is Cape Spear which is known for its two lighthouses, the old one and the new one. We are intrigued by lighthouses, and we visit and photograph them all over the world. The lighthouse keeper is a member of the Cantwell family. The original Cantwell saved someone's life and, in gratitude, was granted a wish. The guy actually wanted the lighthouse keeper job, and 7 successive generations have continued the tradition. Standing on the rocky shore, we spotted whales spouting offshore. The famed Grand Banks, renowned for their fishing, are close by.

We went up to Signal Hill where they built a stone fortress Gothic Revival building in 1897 to commemorate John Cabot's discovery of Canada in 1497 while sailing under the British flag. Cabot's real name was Giovanni Caboto, but his descendants quickly became British. The Cabot Tower was considered a white elephant when it was constructed. St. Johns had burned to the ground in a huge fire in 1892, and the Newfoundland banking system had crashed in 1894. Local sentiment compared it to "putting a silk hat on a man who can't afford to buy a pair of boots."

The hill was enshrouded in fog, so we couldn't enjoy the view although we learned a lot at the museum. For centuries, the British had used this site for signaling ships with maritime flags. This national historic site achieved new significance when another Italian guy, Guillermo Marconi, in 1901 demonstrated his new invention by receiving the first wireless radio signals from Europe.

ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON

This stop was almost an afterthought on our trans-Atlantic cruise, but it's interesting for a couple of reasons. First of all, St. Pierre & Miquelon (pronounced MICK-a-lon), little known except to philatelists, is the last French possession in North America--Quebec doesn't count. These anachronistic islands, 10 miles off the coast of Newfoundland are considered part of France. They are totally immersed in French culture. They fly the French flag, and the people speak French. France goes to huge expense to maintain this token presence in the New World. They built a large international airport, but hardly anyone flies there. To fly to France, you have to first fly to Canada. Of the 6000 inhabitants, about 75% work for the French government. Their currency is the Euro, and many places won't accept American or Canadian money, although credit cards seem to work. Other than government, their main industry is fishing.

We took an hour tour of the country and enjoyed the brightly painted houses and stores. For lunch, we went to a French restaurant for escargots with our Aussie and New York friends. They don't put mayonnaise on everything like the Brits do.

The islands have one other claim to fame. Although it is not mentioned in the guide book, the most significant event in their 500 year history occurred when Al Capone came to town to set up his bootlegging operation, and all they have to show for it is his hat. Back in the 1920's, Capone established his headquarters at the Hotel Robert which we visited. With 43 rooms, it's not exactly the Ritz. When Capone left town, the hotel manager asked him for a memento. He gave them his straw hat, which is today locked up on display in a glass case. Al Capone is like George Washington--hotels all over creation like to boast that he slept there. We weren't impressed because Capone DID sleep everywhere we go, back home in Chicago. In any event, when Prohibition ended, these islands sank into depression for decades.

We caught the 5 o'clock Ocean Princess headed for New York and back to warm weather and the real world.

KENNETH SUSKIN