First of all, this is a bit of a misnomer — technically speaking, the DMAA did not hold a Bay Area mini-reunion in the fall. However, after the CA mini-reunions were canceled at the last minute, a set of northern California Doox alums decided to meet anyway. (Photos of the event can be found here). The first arrived around 5pm, most left around 10pm, and the last stayed til midnight.
All decades but the ’50s were represented as guys shared wine, stories, and discussed why Istanbul got the works. Hint: it’s nobody’s business but the Turks.* Host Ken Goldman’s wife was suitably impressed when the party broke out in spontaneous song, and it was agreed that annual or semi-annual singing dinners lie ahead.
Ken noted that songs sung that night included Alexander’s Ragtime Band, We Meet Again Tonight, You Are Too Beautiful, Lulu’s Back in Town, Mon Coeur Se Recommende a Vous, Little Lamb, Elijah Rock, Istanbul, and maybe even some other songs that required clapping and/or snapping. Also, due to the lack of a pitchpipe, a cello was impressed into service to find starting pitches.
Attendees in chronological order included:
Warren Rothman ’65
Jeff Parish ’66
Bingham “Toby” Kennedy ’66
David Kincaid ’74
Don Hayden ’77 (who remembered that Tom Bulleit told him that he was the reason Tom joined the group)
Ken Goldman ’87/’88/’??
John Gnuse ’92
Jim Casey ’07
* Though “Istanbul” has faded somewhat as the definitive closing song for all sets, its overall importance in American pop culture may actually be on the rise, as evidenced by its entertainment and thematic importance to the “Dream Hoarders” episode of Fox’s “Raising Hope, which first aired on 10/5/2010 and may be viewable here .