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Post by smoothie2 on Jun 8, 2006 0:47:40 GMT -5
  There are some strangeor quirky characters which the C's sang about. Real or imagined, these are songs that are fun in most cases.
The ones I think of are: Mr. Guder
Eve
Druscilla Penny
Calling Occupants
Perhaps you out there can come up with others. And what's opinion of these characters or of the song itself....
I guess Mr. guder would be my favorite song among these I mentioned. Mr. Guder is (was) a real person and fired the C's.
I think of him as a straight by the book , no nonsense boss.
No sir, no "Casual Fridays" for him!..ha! 
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Post by Rick Henry on Jun 8, 2006 1:44:01 GMT -5
 Vic Guder does sound like an interesting character. I've always wanted to find out more about him. What he went on to do or if he remained at Disneyland. |
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Post by smoothie2 on Jun 9, 2006 21:39:41 GMT -5
Truly Rick, guess maybe that info. would be in a bio. of Disney or Disneyland or who knows...
Don't know exactly why even he fired the C's. Maybe they were too "modern" in their taste
in music than he liked...
In any case, they were destined to get on their own road to stardom. And surely did so, with or without him.
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Post by Rick Henry on Jun 9, 2006 22:13:52 GMT -5
Truly Rick, guess maybe that info. would be in a bio. of Disney or Disneyland or who knows... Don't know exactly why even he fired the C's. Maybe they were too "modern" in their taste in music than he liked... In any case, they were destined to get on their own road to stardom. And surely did so, with or without him. Hi Kathy.... here's the way the story goes. Richard and songwriting partner John Bettis worked at Disneyland's famed Coke Corner in 1967. Karen did not work there. Richard and John were supposed to be playing turn of the century standards - like Yankee Doodle and stuff like that. But they would throw in contemporary favorites like the Beatles and even some of their original works. They continued to do this even after a warning. Vic Guder (who was their boss) had to fire them for insubordination. |
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Dave
Ultra Emissary 
"sleeping in the arms of the cosmos..."
Posts: 1,515
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Post by Dave on Jun 10, 2006 5:19:31 GMT -5
Rick, I think what Smoothie was wondering was if Richard and John kept in touch with Vic after they'd become famous. The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd did just that, keeping a relationship with the teacher who'd "inspired" them in high school. The part of the story you left out was that the Disneyland patrons were requesting them to play these songs, which put them between a rock and a hard spot.
You know, it would be really great to see a "Where Are They Now" or "Behind The Music" special, featuring Vic Guder, Phil Ramone, Russell Javors, and, many of the other folks who either worked with or were inspired by the Carpenters' work.
The trick would be how to keep it away from the sad parts...
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Post by enigma on Jun 10, 2006 7:16:08 GMT -5
I did read somewhere where a person did try to look up Vic Guder and got his widow (Vic had died a few years earlier) and his wife did not know a song was written about her husband and was not even sure if Vic was aware of the song. I found that story quite interesting and it certainly would be a strong indication that Richard and John were not in contact with Vic Guder after the firing. I do find it hard to believe no one told Vic Guder a song was written about him especially considering the Carpenters popularity and the many times Richard has told the story behind the Mr Guder song but I guess anything is possible.   |
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Post by Rick Henry on Jun 10, 2006 10:16:22 GMT -5
I found that story quite interesting and it certainly would be a strong indication that Richard and John were not in contact with Vic Guder after the firing. I do find it hard to believe no one told Vic Guder a song was written about him especially considering the Carpenters popularity and the many times Richard has told the story behind the Mr Guder song but I guess anything is possible. ![]() img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/folder/kc21.jpg[/IMG] [/quote] It does seem almost impossible that Guder would not have heard of the song seeing how popular Carpenters were. The album "Close To You" was a phenomenal success in 1970-71. You'd think Guder would have been curious enough to have listened to the album atleast once seeing he knew Richard personally. Rick, I think what Smoothie was wondering was if Richard and John kept in touch with Vic after they'd become famous. Hi Dave, actually I was the one who posed the question as to whether or not Vic Guder continued working at Disneyland for the remainder of his work career. |
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Dave
Ultra Emissary
"sleeping in the arms of the cosmos..."
Posts: 1,515
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Post by Dave on Jun 10, 2006 14:57:53 GMT -5
I'd bet he did, Rick. Once you get into a managerial position, Disney pays pretty well.
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Post by smoothie2 on Jun 10, 2006 23:18:17 GMT -5
 Truly Rick, guess maybe that info. would be in a bio. of Disney or Disneyland or who knows... Don't know exactly why even he fired the C's. Maybe they were too "modern" in their taste in music than he liked... In any case, they were destined to get on their own road to stardom. And surely did so, with or without him. Hi Kathy.... here's the way the story goes. Richard and songwriting partner John Bettis worked at Disneyland's famed Coke Corner in 1967. Karen did not work there. Richard and John were supposed to be playing turn of the century standards - like Yankee Doodle and stuff like that. But they would throw in contemporary favorites like the Beatles and even some of their original works. They continued to do this even after a warning. Vic Guder (who was their boss) had to fire them for insubordination. thanks for info. Rick, I probably did know that at one time, but forgot. 
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Post by smoothie2 on Jun 10, 2006 23:25:45 GMT -5
Rick, I think what Smoothie was wondering was if Richard and John kept in touch with Vic after they'd become famous. The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd did just that, keeping a relationship with the teacher who'd "inspired" them in high school. The part of the story you left out was that the Disneyland patrons were requesting them to play these songs, which put them between a rock and a hard spot. You know, it would be really great to see a "Where Are They Now" or "Behind The Music" special, featuring Vic Guder, Phil Ramone, Russell Javors, and, many of the other folks who either worked with or were inspired by the Carpenters' work. The trick would be how to keep it away from the sad parts... ???I guess in the back of my mind I was wondering about if they kept in touch or not, Dave, but it was back there in one of them cob-webs of my mind...ha.. Indeed a superB IdeA about knowing the inside and behind the scenes stories for those who worked with the C's or etc.   ::)And thanks for your info. Enigma.
Don't see how Guder wouldn't know about "Mr. Guder"...maybe, he did know but such bad vibes going on at that time, he chose
to not acknowledge it.
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