Summers of Yesterday

Remember when you were a kid? School just got out and you felt like you had all the freedom in the world. You’d go to baseball in the morning, grab something from the refrigerator for lunch (we never worried about getting a balanced meal if mom wasn’t home), and head out with your friends. There weren’t any cell phones, so you had to stop at people's house to see if they could come out to play. If your friend’s house was far enough away, you could always take your banana seat bike with the high handlebars and ride over there. And, if you were really cool, your bike had a playing card clothes-pinned in the spokes, so it made that motor sound. The really privileged kids had streamers hanging from their handle grips that flew in the breeze when they went really fast. Some girls even had white baskets on the front of their bikes with large daisies stuck in the front of the baskets. 

There was always that family in the neighborhood that had a big yard where all the kids would gather to play pick-up games with whoever was around. Kickball, hide and seek, freeze-tag, hide and tag, and ante eye over were just a few of the games. It was there that you learned about picking teams and not wanting to be “it”. You even learned how great it felt to finally be picked first for the team and how to rig the “einy, meiny, miney, moe” count so you didn’t have to be “it”.

Parents didn’t worry about their kids, knowing that when they got hungry, they would show up to eat.  And, it seemed like everyone in the neighborhood had supper at the same time because one mom would call and all the kids would scramble in the direction of their own house for supper. In June, the days were long and allowed you to sleep in, because, if you were old enough, you got to stay out after the street lights came on. Night games of hide and seek were the best, especially when all of a sudden you noticed that the neighbor girl was cuter than you remembered her last summer.

It seemed that summer was best before the Fourth of July. Not long after the fireworks faded, the yard games didn’t hold the same appeal when the sun was high in the sky. Biking the alleys and sidewalks became monotonous and it seemed like your favorite friend was always at his cabin. You started waking up early and nagged your mom with talk of being bored. All she would tell you was to mow the lawn, wash the car, or do some other chore you didn’t really want to do.

And, when the sun started setting earlier again, you couldn’t quite remember the excitement you felt for school to be over because you were so anxious for it to begin again. Ahh, nostalgia.

The Dreamer’s Brigade 10 All Time Favorite Cartoons

The Dreamer’s Brigade are huge cartoon fans and remember every fall when the television stations launched the new Saturday morning line up on Friday night. And, then, there are the special cartoons that show up for the holidays. In fact, any of the Peanut’s specials start our list at number ten.

At number nine is Space Ghost. He was one of many versions of heroes that brought justice to the universe. Bugs Bunny is our eighth favorite, not only for the rabbit’s classic sarcasm, but for the magic that Mel Blanc brought to all the voices of this Warner Brother’s classic. Spider Man is our seventh favorite cartoon hero, if for nothing else, the theme music was incredible!

Who can forget everybody’s favorite prehistoric neighbors, the Flintstones? We can’t, and that’s why we put them at number six. We still wonder how a tiny waitress can carry a rack of ribs that topple over the car that’s made out of rocks. Then again, it was a cartoon. Anything was possible in the cartoon world. Just look at our fifth pick – Popeye. All it takes is a little spinach and usually some jealously or protectiveness to elicit some superhuman powers.

Our fourth favorite is Scooby-Doo. Did you ever notice that Scooby and Shaggy always had the munchies? I wonder why? And, the adventures of the “Gang” in the Mystery Machine were always

Adventure was the reason we chose Johnny Quest to start our top three picks. Dr. Quest, with his intelligence and Race with his brawn solved all sorts of problems while the boys and Bandit had adventures and inadvertently helped the bigger cause. Our second favorite is Super Man as the classic powerful hero with a mild mannered nerd alter ego. None of the caped crusaders are a cool as Super

And, finally, the Dreamer’s Brigade’s all-time favorite cartoon is Rocky and Bullwinkle. It was like a variety show of cartoons. Who can forget Mr. Peabody, Sherman and the Way Back Time Machine? What about our favorite evil Russian spies, Boris and Natasha? Snidely Whiplash always used to tie Nell to the railroad tracks and Dudley Do-Right of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, incompetently saved the damsel in distress every time. Fractured Fairy Tales brought fables to life with a twist each week. Can they get any better? The formula of a little satire, some pun-laden humor, political commentary and a little something for adults as well as children put the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle at the

The Dreamer’s Brigade debated for a long time over this list and wants to include some honorable mentions: Mickey Mouse, who started the Disney empire, Road Runner who is still out there somewhere outsmarting Wylie Coyote, Josie and the Pussy Cats, the sexiest cat band that ever had cartoon adventures and Sponge Bob – need we say more.

We expect a lot of commentary about your favorites to add to this list. Who can stop at 10 when cartoons are so great? What’s on your list?

Born in America: The Song

The song Born In America is the title track of The Dreamer's Brigade's first album.  This song was inspired by the movie ‘Revolution’ starring the infamous Al Pacino.  I like to call this particular song my ‘freebie’, because I wrote the words and music in a very short period of time. It was an amazing experience.

The recording of the song, however, was much more a challenge for me than the lyrics themselves.  After all was said and done, there were over 20 different versions of the song including one that incorporated a duet with a young lady I was recording at the time.

I chose the version that’s on the Born in America CD because it had what I considered the best overall elements of the recordings, and well, because I enjoyed this version - it just felt right.

I consider the song Born in America my very own personal ‘National Anthem'.  This song supports, reiterates, and speaks to my personal belief in the creation and evolution of the ‘American Dream’.

God bless America and God bless the American Dream. 

The Brigade’s Beginning

Though we are a bit newer to the online world, the original creation of the Dreamer’s Brigade is roughly 8 years in the making.  Wow, 8 years— time flies when you’re having fun!

As the Dreamer’s Brigade, our hope is to create a revolving door for fellow musicians and singers to lend their talents and skills by using the Dreamer’s Brigade as a central ‘outlet’.  We wanted to be here as a sort of starting point for new or ‘undiscovered’ artists that share our passion for music, and the inspiration it creates.

In hopes of both engaging and entertaining listeners, our theme revolves around the American nostalgia, while our music focuses on a traditional folk-rock feel.

Why "Dreamer's Brigade"? The name was developed in reverence to Led Zeppelin:
- Led Zeppelin meaning light and heavy.
- The Dreamers' being the light, ethereal and eclectic.
- The Brigade being heavy and militant.
The way we saw it, these were euphemisms for both words and music.

Born In America is the just the first in a series of The Dreamers' Brigade projects.  The task of doing everything on the album from start to finish in order to establish true credibility can be trying at times, but it is definitely a labor of love with so much more to come!

Come, join the Dreamer’s Brigade.