I remember a show Harlem Globetrotters gave at G. Rollie White back in the early '60s and I've posted this about it before:
Aggie basketball was pretty good back then, under Coach Shelby Metcalf.
In fact, basketball was Aggieland's most successful sport when I was in school, although we were never ranked in the top ten.
Anyway, that evening, the Globetrotters played around with their hapless, touring foils, the New York Generals.
They did all the famous set pieces and their athletic talents and comedy were well received by the Aggie audience.
Their "Sweet Georgia Brown" circle drill went over big.
And Meadowlark Lemon and that bald-headed dribbling dude named Curly both did their things.
There was a water bucket full of confetti, instead of water, to throw on the audience at courtside and a basketball with an elastic string to pull it back after a shot.
It was fun to watch.
The halftime entertainment was Cab Calloway with his swing jazz band of about fifteen musicians.
Now, Calloway was the original jive hep cat who had been an international star since his days at Harlem's Cotton Club in the 1930s.
His headlining heydays were now far behind him, though, and his part in this show hadn't even been advertised to my knowledge.
He came out in an orange zoot suit with a long watch chain, suspenders and spats and when he removed his snappy hat he revealed processed hair with a single curl pasted to his forehead.
If you don't have a mental image of this yet, picture Sammy Davis Jr., pimped out for his role as "Sportin' Life" in George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess."
Or Prince at the Super Bowl halftime.
Yeah, Mister Calloway was every bit that flashy.
Cab started out by singing and dancing to his signature number, "Minnie the Moocher," and he followed it up with his famous call and response trademark tune, "Hi-De-Hi-De-Hi."
Personally, I thought this opportunity to experience a little musical diversity from a true show business legend was cool, but I was in the extreme minority.
Well, actually, Cab Calloway and his band of all Black musicians were the minority.
I dug what they were doing, but.....
If what music went over best at Aggieland in those days is assessed by remembering which recorded tunes were played most often on loud phonographs from open dorm windows to the Quad below, then "Teach Me, Tiger" by April Stevens and "A Six Pack To Go" by Hank Thompson and his Brazos Valley Boys would top the list.
The English Invasion by The Beatles, The Animals and The Stones was coming very soon, but it hadn't reached culturally isolated College Station yet.
Aggieland was horny, caucasian and country.
Anyway, the less than impressed, all male and all White, student crowd, few of whom had any idea what to make of this unfortunate booking miscalculation, first yelled derisively at Calloway and his band, then loudly booed him and even pitched numerous pennies, which fell onto our hardwood basketball court.
He played a short halftime show and left the stage.
It was not one of Aggieland's more cosmopolitan moments, but surely one a sharper booking agent would have foreseen.
If Cab Calloway had only been accompanied by some dancing girls, he could have had a much warmer reception.
Heck, we probably would have been the most enthusiastically responsive crowd since the Apollo Theater, if he'd only brought a few, lovely showgirls with him.
We'd have loved that and been grateful.
Heck, if he'd simply been advised to yell "Howdy" at us before he started jiving around in Jolly Rollie, he might have had a fighting chance at winning our favor.
The Aggies booed him off the stage.
And this was back when Aggies never booed.
It wasn't a proud moment.
Thankfully, Aggieland has, seeks, supports, accepts, welcomes and embraces more diversity now.
We are sincerely supportive of all our students and student athletes, especially our basketball teams these days, regardless of their sex or ethnicity.
And if a legendary artist like Prince, or maybe even Cab Calloway, were booked to entertain an Aggie crowd at a basketball halftime now, he'd quickly turn Reed Arena into a giant, accepting, appreciative, applauding mosh pit.
And the happy thought of all that makes me very proud of what our fine, modern Texas A&M University has become.
Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.
Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.
[This message has been edited by FAST FRED (edited 2/28/2008 1:50p).]
