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I Was The Boy Who Stole The Platters' Shoe

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I'll have one more attempt at bumping up this thread before allowing it to sink into oblivion.

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I'm about to bump up this thread again ...just because I can!

 

Seriously, can anyone contribute anything to this thread or are the majority of people who were alive circa 1957 when the thread incident occurred now deceased? Unfortunately, my sister, Glen, who did contribute several posts to this thread passed away almost three years ago ...cancer. RIP, Glen ...it seems strange reading your posts when you were very much alive knowing that now you're no longer with us.

 

Totally unrelated to the topic but I don't want to start a new thread for something so trivial ...I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with a song that Glen and my brother, Rex, used to sing when I was a toddler just to scare me. I've checked the Internet and YouTube but can't find the song in question. It went something like ..."Who's that tapping at my window/Who's that knocking at my door/Oh, it's old man Peters, old man Peters, etc." I don't know if they made up this song based on an old creepy man they knew by the name of Peters or what. Anyone?

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Hi Rod, Hope you're keeping well. I can't believe that Rex or Glenda would ever want to scare you. You must have done something to annoy them?

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Hi Rod, Hope you're keeping well. I can't believe that Rex or Glenda would ever want to scare you. You must have done something to annoy them?

 

Yes, I am keeping well ...thanks for asking. I am suffering a broken ankle at the moment, however, and am sporting a cast and require crutches. I jumped off the stage at one of our Christmas gigs at the Riverway Amphitheater last month and landed badly. While the pain was excruciating it was mainly my pride that got super hurt, i.e. I felt stupid. I completed the two hour gig (what a trouper!) but was taken to the hospital by ambulance after the gig.

 

Back to the topic, it was more likely Rex who instigated this scare tactic on me, although Glenda might have been a willing participant. This was pre-Fulwood Cottage Homes so I would have been 5 or 6. Y'know, in my teens I once defiantly stood up to Rex after he really annoyed me and told him in my most manly voice to "Watch it!" And did he? No, he knocked me down! :hihi:

 

Anyway, these things occurred a long time ago. The years have simply flown. I mean, I know it's hard to believe, but I'm going on 45 now! ;)

 

Anyway, bumping up the thread enabled me to run into you again ...any chance you could email me or give me a call?

 

---------- Post added 29-01-2017 at 06:14 ----------

 

Has anyone else had similar encounters with celebrities over the years? Any stories that might be of interest?

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I've checked the Internet and YouTube but can't find the song in question. It went something like ..."Who's that tapping at my window/Who's that knocking at my door/Oh, it's old man Peters, old man Peters, etc." I don't know if they made up this song based on an old creepy man they knew by the name of Peters or what. Anyone?

 

Try this LINK

 

 

 

 

.

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Paul Mcartney and wings sing this on you tube pal [Circa 1976] the song is called "let Em In" hope you're going ok old mate.

Edited by skippy

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Try this LINK[/url.

 

Thanks. I already tried that YouTube link as well as others but I can't find the piece in question. The song I'm referring to has a different tune and melody line. I can't imagine that my brother and sister would have completely made up the song (the "old man Peters" part, perhaps) and I would more believe that the song would have been already in existence at the time.

 

But again, thanks anyway.

 

---------- Post added 31-01-2017 at 04:21 ----------

 

 

Hello Skip. Yes, besides the self-inflicted broken ankle I'm doing fine. I have an appointment at the local hospital tomorrow and, all being well, the cast will be removed having been six weeks since the event. I am feeling somewhat lonely, however, after the big lead up to Christmas having rehearsed musically with my 9-piece group for several months prior for a half-dozen or so public gigs here in Townsville. It's the same feeling that I get every year at this time but it won't be too many months (and my, HOW they fly!) before my sights will be on preparing for Christmas 2017. There's a lot of groundwork involved and this requires a relatively early start.

 

About the song. No, 'fraid not ..."Let 'Em In" was way after the song that I'm talking about ...not to mention that it's nothing like the song in question. That's the song where Paul laments the names 'Phil and Don' (the Everly Brothers) who had broken up several years prior to McCartney having written the song.

 

Actually, I can't hear the song "Let 'Em In" and the other McCartney song, "Silly Love Songs" without being reminded of the time when the wife, son and I were visiting this huge lake near Chanute, Kansas. We had several of the neighbor kids in tow and we found ourselves atop this high wooden diving platform that looked SO MUCH higher from the top than it did when I looked up. My legs turned to jelly and, while I tried to hide my fear, there was no way that I was going to jump into the lake below. I've never been a real fan of deep water anyway. I think there's a clinical term for this condition ...drowning.:hihi:

 

Anyway, the kids were a tad nervous also and it was suggested that we all hold hands and jump together on the count of three. There was no getting out of it. And so, that's what we did. While still a tad queazy, after that initial jump I was pretty well okay jumping alone from then on.

 

ANYWAY, the two songs I mentioned plus many more popular tracks from that year (1976) were being blasted out from the loud-speakers of the pavilion. So, no ..."Let 'Em In" is most definitely not the song that I'm looking for.

Edited by SputnikBoy

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Get your guitar out and make a video of you singing the song, then put it onto Facebook or Youtube, that way we will be able to see what we're looking for.

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Get your guitar out and make a video of you singing the song, then put it onto Facebook or Youtube, that way we will be able to see what we're looking for.

 

I can't sing or play the guitar at the moment, Skip ...I've got a broken ankle. :hihi:

 

Seriously, I wouldn't have a clue where to begin with the video and the YouTube stuff. If my brother is around these parts he could likely put me out of my misery right away. After all, it was HE who would sing it to me. I would envisage a grotesque, bony old man who would lurk around the neighborhood at night scaring kids by tapping and scratching on their window but never getting caught. If you, Skip, or anyone else has seen the part in the original 1970's TV movie, Salem's Lot, where the dead kid floats into the scene surrounded by mist and begins scratching at his brother's window ...it was a similar mind-picture to that. I was severely and mentally scarred by this. :rant:

 

To tell the truth, it's not of any majorly importance that I find out about this stupid song but every now and again I DO wonder if it was an actual song of the day, some ditty made up by my brother ...or a figment of my wild imagination.

Edited by SputnikBoy

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Hi.  Just thought that I'd bump up this old thread just for the heck of it.  Actually, it was mainly to let others who may know me on this forum from a decade or more ago that I'm still very much alive.  By the way, I'm the boy who stole the shoe of one of the Platters, a popular American singing group of the 1950's.   While I'm still very much into music,  I've sorta gotten out of the 'souveniring shoes from celebrities' business and much prefer stealing hub caps from parked cars. 

 

Anyway, if anyone has anything to add to this old thread and thread topic ...let's be hearing from you!

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I'm still here to Sputnik boy, in fact I have been looking for a few old History and Ex Pat guys from the early 2000s guess some of them are long gone.

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Hello World

 

My goodness, it's been 14 years since I initiated this thread.  I'm the boy who stole the Platters shoe and I'm still around to talk about it.  I never did find the newspaper item of this incident ...not that I've really gone out of my way to do so.   I guess I've mainly bumped up this thread to let others know that I'm  still around and did, in fact, recently team up with 4 other musicians to form a band.   Someone once said, "You never grow old with Rock and Roll" and perhaps there is some merit in that quote.   I also organize a music group (the Millennium Singers) each year to perform public Christmas events in my adopted home city, Townsville, QLD, Australia, where I've resided since late 1989.  The members of the group are not necessarily professional (some are 'semi') but they simply have a desire to sing.  I've organized this group (in one form or another) for the past 18 years.  Actually, here's a video montage of the group in action from Christmas 2018 at the Gregory Street Amphitheater:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrRwxC_GNVM

 

The guy on the far right is the kid who stole the Platters shoe and is also a former pupil of Crookes Endowed School..  Anyway, should anyone care to reminisce about the old City Hall days and the visiting celebrities to that venue - or even to offer any updates on this thread title if that's possible  - please feel free to do so.  Cheers.  Rod

Edited by SputnikBoy

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