Oreos rock!

Classical Gas; Mason Williams and Mannheim Steamroller

Tuesday night was Oreo night during my senior year at SDSU. Our fixation with Oreos had begun a few years before, but the tradition of Oreos on Tuesdays started when Mark took the job to sit late night desk at Matthews Hall dormitory. Sam, Greg and I would make a milk and Oreo run at around half past nine, then we’d meet up with Mark at ten o’clock and indulge in one of the most delicious, successful and satisfying combination of two food groups ever fused by any human being, anywhere, anytime, anyplace. Oh, Oh, Oh …

Ice cold milk and an Oreo Cookie

They forever go together

They’re a classic combination

When the dark delicious chocolate

Meets an icy cold sensation

It’s the one and only creamy,

Crunchy, chocolate, O-R-E-O

Keeps your milk from getting lonely

Nabisco. "ding"

I had known Mark and Greg from when they played trombone in the Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band. Greg’s roommate Sam came as a bonus. And I don’t use the term bonus lightly. Sam’s dad owned a music store up in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and he sold me my first keyboard in 1992.

Dad and I had taken a trip to Aberdeen specifically to outfit me with a quality keyboard before I moved to Orlando. I bought a Roland f-p8 at a price of two thousand dollars. I think Dad almost self combusted when he realized how much I was willing to pay for a keyboard, but he didn’t say anything. He DID tell me, however, that he had mentioned our keyboard expedition around coffee at the grain elevator a few days later. Our neighbor, Rolf, responded with, “Well, I hear that if you can afford one of those fancy ones, they can cost up to two hundred dollars.” Dad decided to keep the price of my keyboard to himself.

Now and then, Sam’s dad would hook Sam up with something interesting from the CD rack in his store. So, during one visit to Sam and Greg’s dorm room, Sam threw a CD in my lap. “Check this out. I think you’ll like it.”

Composer, guitarist, comedy writer and author Mason Williams recorded the tune and album “Classical Gas” in 1968. At the time, he served as the head writer for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” where he received and honored several opportunities to perform the song on the show. The song caused a sensation, and it climbed its way to the number two spot on American charts very quickly, selling over a million copies along the way.

Almost twenty years later, in 1987, Mannheim Steamroller and Mason Williams teamed up to re-record “Classical Gas” and many other songs from his tome. This is the version of the song that fell into my lap in the dorm-cave of Greg and Sam. They played the CD for me while I became hypnotized by the cover.

In 1970, Mr. Williams made an appearance as the musical guest on a variety show that reunited regulars of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”. As a visual stimulant, he asked a prop designer for ABC TV to build a plexiglass guitar for his performance of “Classical Gas” on which he finger-synced the song for the show … but not before filling the guitar with water. And goldfish.

Mr. Williams kept the guitar from so long ago and used it for the cover of his album with Mannheim Steamroller. Maybe I should take a cue from Mason Williams and Liberace and have a plexiglass piano made for me. And fill it up with milk. And Oreos.

Credits: To Beth B., who made a giant Oreo cake for my college graduation party. We’ve talked about that cake for years. Can you bake me a giant Hostess Twinkie cake for my 45^th birthday?