Jughead, Ariel, & More

September 25, 2024, at home

Today is National Comic Book Day.

I became a big fan of Jughead comic books (digests) in the early 1990s, when I was in my early 30s. During that time (1992 to 1996), I was a reporter, writer, editor, and researcher for a weekly, international magazine on the financial and technical aspects of the chemical industry, and I needed to read something simplistic for a change, so I chose Jughead.

Jughead Jones and I are very much alike. He's lazy, awkward, clumsy, and a free spirit, plus he likes to eat, especially hamburgers, and is not popular with the ladies. He is just kind of ... "there," being somewhat superfluous.

I have been a fan of Jughead since I was a kid in the 1960s. I enjoyed the comic strips, which I still do, and The Archies Show cartoon TV series that aired for one season in 1968, when I was seven years old.

September 25, 2024, at home

Today is National One-Hit Wonder Day. What is your favorite one-hit wonder? Mine is "Ariel" by Dean Friedman from April 1977. I was 16 years old when it was released. Although it's about northern New Jersey in the 1960s, I can absolutely relate to it because I grew up not far away on Long Island, New York. (Both areas are quite close to New York City, so the experiences were similar.) I like this video and the lyrics of the song because both really captures the time period, and also both somewhat remind me of my childhood. (I'm not Jewish.) Friedman had other minor hits, but "Ariel" is by far his most famous.

https://youtu.be/WSkX2o__7VU

LYRICS

Way on the other side of the Hudson
Deep in the bosom of suburbia
I met a young girl she sang mighty fine
Tears on my pillow and Ave Maria

Standing by the water fall in Paramus Park
She was working for the friends of BAI
She was collecting quarters in a paper cup
She was looking for change and so was I

She was a Jewish girl, I fell in love with her
She wrote her number on the back of my hand
I called her up, I was all out of breath
I said, "Come hear me play in my rock and roll band"

I took a shower and I put on my best blue jeans
I picked her up in my new VW van
She wore a peasant blouse with nothing underneath
I said "Hi." She said, "Yeah, I guess I am"
Ariel, Ariel

We had a little time, we were real hungry
We went to Dairy Queen for something to eat
She had some onion rings, she had a pickle
She forgot to tell me that she didn't eat meat

I had a gig in the American Legion hall
It was a dance for the Volunteer Ambulance Corps
She was sitting in a corner against the wall
She would smile and I melted all over the floor
Ariel, Ariel

I took her home with me, we watched some TV
Annette Funicello and some guy going steady
I started fooling around with the vertical hold
We got the munchies and I made some spaghetti

We sat and we talked into the night
While channel two was signing off the air
I found the softness of her mouth
We made love, the bombs bursting in air
Ariel, Ariel, Ariel, Ariel

Way on the other side of the Hudson
Deep in the bosom of suburbia
I met a young girl
She sang mighty fine
Tears on my pillow and Ave Maria
Tears on my pillow and Ave Maria
Tears on my pillow and Ave Maria

(Songwriter: Robert James Smith)