Singing Valentines
The week leading up to Valentines Day, members of a cappella groups sold Singing Valentines in the cafeteria during lunch. The buyer would tell us the name and schedule of the recipient. When Valentine's Day came along, we were excused from all classes. The whole group wore red or pink as we ran (actually ran) around all day, trying to cram our average of 15 Singing Valentines per 45 minute school period. We had permission to bust into any classroom, stop what was going on, and start singing. We spontaneously burst into song as we made our way through the door way into each class. Led by Robert's confidence and enthusiasm, we would all surround the Valentine and get down on one knee as we sang. The favorite song was "Afternoon Delight," And "Toxic," "She Will be Loved," "All my Lovin," and "Brown Eyed Girl."
Some of the funniest memories are from when Robert would decide to sing to somebody who didn't even have a singing valentine ordered for them - namely, teachers. I still remember when we sang "Toxic" for his male English teacher. Just like all the others, we made the teacher sit down in a chair in the middle of the room and surrounded him while on our knees. Robert could not stop laughing during the song and the teacher could not have looked more uncomfortable.
Some of the funniest memories are from when Robert would decide to sing to somebody who didn't even have a singing valentine ordered for them - namely, teachers. I still remember when we sang "Toxic" for his male English teacher. Just like all the others, we made the teacher sit down in a chair in the middle of the room and surrounded him while on our knees. Robert could not stop laughing during the song and the teacher could not have looked more uncomfortable.
In addition to the outrageously uncomfortable performances Robert would give to unsuspecting teachers, a few great moments were when Robert started to "dance conduct" trying to stay creative on the fly while making sure we all kept in time. Robert achieved this by waving his hands in the correct tempo to help us out and keep the group singing together. I also liked how if Robert started laughing uncontrollably in the hallways or was running too fast, teachers would come outside give Robert the evil eye and he would immediately retract his head, grin shyly and fiercely power walk away in an exaggerated manner to get to the next class room quickly. The best times were when we surrounded a girl we knew (or we had never met but thought was cute) pulled out her assignment book and wrote down our phone numbers or some obnoxiously flirtacious comment in it while we were singing. Supertonics' Singing Valentines were always a success and made girls (and guys) blush way past normal hues of red....simply awesome.
Robert transformed what had the potential to be an awkward and distressing day into one of the most fun experiences of the year.