FOF #2214 – I Survived Up with People
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As crazy as it sounds, in the mid 1960s, the right wing group Moral Re-Armament created Up with People,
The Madonna Bar Mitzvah voguing boy, Shaun Sperling, returns to tell us about his life in a musical cult- Up with People, which aimed to bridge cultures through song and dance. But in reality, it was a conservative effort to thwart liberal youth movements in the 60s.
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Comments
Up with People were pioneers of the Superbowl Halftime Show, which led the way for bigger stars to showcase their song medleys.
For every bad episode (*cough*..#2213..*cough*), you put out a great little gem like this one. I loved hearing about the world of UWP. I know a guy I did some community theater with that refused to come out of the closet at the time and went into UWP. I need to search out that documentary you guys spoke about and watch it.
Hope you have Shawn on again soon!
Fun show! Shaun Sperling is a great guest: very engaging and full of interesting stories! I like his laugh a lot! I had never heard of Up with People before! And I really enjoy seeing his Bar Mitzvah video in the credits for Transparent!
Hey Guys…I Loved This Show! I haven’t even finished listening to it yet. I attended an Up With People concert in the late 60s. I think it was about 9th grade. If one of the members had said, “Come join us,” I would have left home in a heartbeat. I bought their album and listened to it over and over and over again. The sixties were filled with folk songs, and UWP seemed to nail it. When Fausto started reading the titles, I thought, good god are they still singing the same songs! Then he mentioned he was reading from a 60s album, which makes me wonder…do they still sing some of those same songs from the early days? Up With People was an escape for me, and hearing about how they still exist was quite interesting. When Shaun told the story about his experience at his aunt’s house, I would never in a million years have guessed it ended the way it did. That was embarrassingly hilarious!!! If I close my eyes, I can still see them running through the aisles singing the theme song. I tend to also remember a ballad about Joan of Arc – rather haunting. Does Shaun know that one? Thanks again. Fun show!!
I love Shaun so much. He’s the most adorable bear. Great stories guys. From Ireland myself so never heard of Up With People but we did have touring drama groups teaching about tolerance sorta like you can imagine.