Chapter six- 1965
"You've Got Me Under Your Spell" was beginning to climb the charts. Amber sat under a tree on campus, studying her third year communications book, the first time she heard it. Young, sweet voices sang of a first crush and the magic feelings it caused. She stopped reading to listen to the words and they were lovely. Then the DJ announced the local singers who were rocketing up the charts, "Inez and the Charmettes". INEZ! How many girls in Baltimore could be named Inez?
Amber had not tuned into the Corny Collins Show in quite a while. The year after she landed the job at WBET, a new book was released by Betty Friedan, "The Feminine Mystique". Quite controversial, the book criticized the idea that women could only find fulfillment through childbearing and homemaking. Amber ate it up. A woman could be all that she wanted to be. Whether a Scientist, a Doctor or a bricklayer, a woman could do it. And Amber felt that it was almost written for her. She was too much into furthering her own career and education to look at the fluff that used to be her life. Yet today, her curiosity was peaked. She had to catch a glimpse of that show.
Her contract stated that she must be in the studio for make-up at 5:00. Today, Amber would arrive early. She could catch the last half of the show on a television in the control booth She had to see if Inez of the Charmettes was that little girl who took her place three years ago..
She raced across the campus to her aging car. It had been new when she turned 16, and was so darling back then. Now, six years later, it showed age, sometimes sputtering when it started. She silently prayed that this time it would start without a hitch. She backed out of her spot and whizzed down to the WBET studio.
Amber stared up at the monitors which ran all the stations in the Baltimore area. She never quite understood the reason for keeping an eye on the competition but she often watched to see how the other anchors handled their jobs. She learned a bit of flash, even in front of the weather board, could bring in the ratings numbers. She had gotten the idea for a bright sunshine and frowny face clouds to add to her board. The skier and bathing beauty were added this year. The audience loved it and she soon moved from the morning broadcast to the afternoon and evening forecasts. Rumor was that they were considering her to actually anchor the midday report. Unknown for a woman, her newfound feminism took the management aback. However, they saw that she was a moneymaker with the housewives. She looked innocent but was a strong young woman who spoke to the bored wifey waiting for hubby to come home, The happy weather girl took the spotlight doing entertainment interviews during the morning show and she became the most popular face in the city. Amber Von Tussle was shooting like an arrow through Baltimore tv. And unlike her mother she did it on her own terms.
But now she stood staring at the monitor watching young bodies move to the beat. It brought a wash of memories. She was able to push them out of her mind until the song ended. Suddenly, Corny's face flashed on the screen,
"That was 'My Girl' by the Temptations! Another hot hit from Motown Records. Now don't touch that dial, coming up, our own Inez and the Charmettes will put you 'under their spell'. After station identification". The audience went nuts and the camera faded to black.
She wasn't quite prepared for that face in extreme close up. Damn that man could make her knees quiver. In the years since her mother married the oil man and moved on to Texas, she was on her own to do as she pleased. A first, she took invitations to parties and dinners, but soon found that the lifestyle interfered with her studies. Or at least that's what she told herself. Too many of these occasions included the personalities from all the Baltimore stations. Many times she would look across the room to see that smile heading toward her. She was polite enough, but he didn't fit into her plans. She didn't dabble with the "womanizing man" labeled taboo by all her feminist friends. Although, deep down, she knew that he could move her like no one else and that he was far from "womanizing". And that actually made it worse. She would never be the sweet housewife, with a gaggle of kids, a white picket fence and a fluffy dog waiting for "the man" to come home. No she was woman with a capital W and didn't need any of that. Her name would be know for what she did, not who she was related to. She did that with her mother and it would never be that way again.
His voice brought her back from her thoughts, "And now the moment you've all been waiting for. Let's give a big hand for Inez and the Charmettes"
Three young girls ran out before the bleachers as the audience went wild. Amber stared. It was that little girl alright, but little no longer. Amber did a quick calculation; the kid was 12, maybe 13 when she took over, now 15 or 16. The group had pony tails and loafers, they sang like angels, moving smoothly in perfect synchronization. They were "Martha and the Vandellas" or "The Supremes" only younger, brighter and happier. Kind of like that boy group out of Gary, IN she had interviewed last week. The one with the cute baby brother that could sing up a storm. What was that name? Jackson, that's right.
Amber made a mental note to book these girls on her show. Inez and her group were star material and Amber wasn't going to miss out on an exclusive for her emotions of the past. No way. The kid may belong to WYZT, but WBAL would get a performance out of her too, before she went national. And national she would go, Big Time. Amber was sure of it.