6 minute read
Which One Are You?
Twin Tales from the Heartland to Hollywood
By Jan Bunker (Beta Alpha, Palos Verdes/South Bay Alumni)
As a small child, I used to lie under the family piano and listen to my dad playing Chopin. I knew I wanted to play like him and seriously studied piano throughout my childhood and teen years. Little did I know this childhood daydream would change my whole life.
I was inspired to write our book, Which One Are You?, because I recently retired from a fifty year career of performing and teaching. I have an identical twin sister, and we had quite an incredible performing career in our 20s, which morphed into many different musical identities during our 30s and 40s. I continued to perform in my 50s but also began teaching piano and voice.
One of the reasons I was able to always make a living in music was my early piano lessons and the discipline and perseverance music education fosters. Mu Phi Epsilon was a big influence in my teaching career and the friendships and opportunities it continues to offer are invaluable.
The book makes for an interesting read about being an identical twin, TV show appearances, life on the road, the recording industry, and making a living as a musician/teacher for over 50 years.
EXCERPT FROM “WHICH ONE ARE YOU?”
Showbiz — Believe It or Don’t
JAN: “There I was in the Miami Playboy Hotel opening night, waiting for the revolving stage to start turning. I was playing the upright piano, the band was grooving, we all were singing. Suddenly I thought, ‘Why is the piano moving away from me?’
I scooted the piano bench closer to the piano, but the keyboard kept inching away. We were still in motion and the stage hadn’t clicked into its final position. When it did ... I almost fainted.
The scene in my memory was in slow-motion. The piano began to vibrate and performed a back dive at least ten feet into the empty orchestra pit. KA-BOING-G-G-G-G-G!
The sound of the piano hitting the floor and the strings reverberating on and on was something I’ll never forget. The audience screamed and we were all in shock. It was a miracle no one was killed. We obviously didn’t perform that night, and the hotel bought everyone drinks. I needed one. OK, two.”
The Cocoanut Grove Incident JILL: “Les Brown’s band was electrifying. The trumpets were blaring, the saxophones wailing and it was almost showtime. My heart was pounding and my throat felt like it was closed off, but this was the opening night at the Cocoanut Grove — the premiere nightclub in Los Angeles.
Dick Haymes, once a famous crooner in the 50s, was making a comeback, and Jan and I and the Burgundy Street Singers were the opening act. It had only been a short time since we were playing gyms and officers clubs across Kansas.
I nudged Jan as we noticed famous faces in the front row. Oh my God — was that Debbie Reynolds? Jack Nicholson? Jane Powell? Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme? Elizabeth Taylor? I thought I might pass out!
We peeked out from behind the curtain as Dick Haymes was crooning one of his famous songs. The crowd loved it. My legs felt like lead as Jan grabbed my hand and we ran into the spotlight. All of a sudden we were performing ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’ with Patty Andrews, of the Andrews Sisters. The crowd went crazy.
‘You’re great!’ said Patty, a moment our parents never forgot. Then the group sang five-part jazz harmony with Dick Haymes on a medley of his hits: ‘You’ll Never Know,’ ‘Tangerine,’ ‘The More I See You’ and ‘It Might as Well Be Spring.’
As we danced across the stage, Henry Mancini called out ‘Great job, Twinnies! I have two at home, you know!’
Les Brown started playing ‘String of Pearls.’ Jan and I were about to do a somersault over our partners’ arms, a toss through their legs and a final throw high in the air that culminated in a landing on one leg.
Fortunately, I landed it. I looked over at the spotlight on the other side of the stage. Jan wasn’t there. What in the world had happened?
JAN: Oh, nothing ... except after I landed my first jitterbug flip over my partner’s arms, my skirt buttons burst. I looked down at the puddle of my skirt around my feet. I was standing in ‘dance pants,’ which look exactly like white panties. I immediately turned and ran backstage, followed by my partner who did a ‘Va-va-voom-and-away-we-go’ move.
All during the two-week run of the show, every time one of the members of the band would ask me ‘Which one are you? Are you the one who lost her skirt?’ I would answer, ‘No, that was my sister!’
But the really amazing thing was many years later, my dance partner was in Aspen and ran into Jack Nicholson. He told Jack that he was one of his favorite actors and had been in the audience at the Cocoanut Grove when he was onstage with Dick Haymes.
Jack smiled and asked lazily, ‘Was that when one of the twins lost her skirt?’
Jan and Jill started small, (tiny, actually.) They were premature twins weighing just four pounds apiece, born in the equally small town of Junction City, Kansas.
Growing up, they loved piano, voice and dance lessons, never dreaming of a life in show business.
But sometimes dreams find you.
The stories behind how they made it from the heartland to the most popular shows on television (like Happy Days) as well as opening for legends like Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Johnny Mathis are inspiring and often hilarious.
Through all their ups and down, the twins’ lives have always been entwined. Even when they were apart, eerie “twin coincidences” continued to happen, along with “twin magic.”
It’s an exhilarating journey that may have you wishing you were a twin. These award-winning musicians, songwriters and teachers have devoted their lives to music and helping others reach their dreams.
Tales From the Heartland to Hollywood by Jan Bunker and Jill Jaxx is available on Amazon. For more information, visit the authors’ website, www.janandjilltales.com.
