WATCHING THE PROGRAM ON PBS LAST NIGHT ABOUT THE BIG BAND ERA, BROUGHT BACK A LOT OF MEMORIES.  THE FAVORITE MUSIC IN OUR LIVES IS USUALLY WHEN WE GO THROUGH OUR "ROMANTIC" STAGE, AND THE BIG BAND YEARS WERE THAT TIME FOR ME.  IT WAS WHEN DATING WAS JUST THAT AND MERELY HOLDING HANDS WITH A GIRL WAS A THRILL.  THE FIRST KISS GOODNIGHT, LEFT ME WALKING ON AIR FOR HOURS.  A RADIO IN THE CAR PROVIDED MUSICAL BACKGROUND, WITH THOSE BIG BAND SOUNDS.  FOR THOSE WHO DANCED, THREE PAVILIONS IN WEST MICHIGAN, GAVE US AN OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR THOSE BIG BANDS IN PERSON--SISTER LAKES, FRUITPORT AND THE BIG PAVILION IN SAUGATUCK.  MY FIRST LIVE LISTEN TO A BIG BAND WAS A NIGHT IN ROCKFORD ILLINOIS, WHEN SAMMY KAYE AND HIS ORCHESTRA APPEARED AT A LOCAL THEATER.  IT WAS SPELLBINDING TO THINK ALL THOSE MUSICIANS WERE THE BEST OF THOSE WHO TRIED OUT FOR A CHAIR IN THE BAND.  RADIO DID A LOT TO PROMOTE THE BIG BAND SOUND AND WHEN I BEGAN MY JOB AT WHTC, THOSE BANDS WERE VERY MUCH A PART OF THE VARIOUS PROGRAMS WE FEATURED DURING THE DAY.  FRED MARTIN'S SOFT TONES AT NIGHT ON THE 1450 CLUB, COULD MAKE YOU THINK YOU WERE RIGHT IN ONE OF THE BIG BALLROOMS.  IT WAS A GREAT ERA BUT EVENTUALLY YOU WENT FROM GLENN MILLER TO SPIKE JONES.  

ANYBODY REMEMBER?