Bubby Thompson And The Giddyups

When Bobby Thompson was little, he couldn't say "Bobby," it came out "Bubby" and the name stuck as everyone called him "Bubby."

Bubby's parents owned a ranch and he grew up riding horses with his friends, with Bubby gently saying "giddy-up" whenever he wanted his horse to go faster.

But what really captivated Bubby was rock 'n' roll and he learned to play the guitar at 10 and formed a boy band at 15.

He called the band "Bubby Thompson and The Giddyups."

Everyone thought they were cute and soon Bubby Thompson and The Giddyups were playing at school functions and parties and getting paid to perform.

Then one night a record producer heard the band and said, "I'm gonna make you guys stars." And true to his words, he did.

Bubby Thompson and The Giddyups were constantly on the radio and television and in magazines.

The band performed at concerts as teenage girls packed the concert halls and screamed in glee at every song they played.

Those girls bought the Bubby Thompson and The Giddyups' music and posters and everything else the band's business managers marketed.

For the next few years, the band was huge, and Bubby Thompson and The Giddyups moved to Hollywood and for a time even had their own television show.

Bubby and his band members thinking the money would always keep coming in spent it as fast as it came in on lavish parties, fast cars and faster women.

But fads come and go and when Bubby and his band members turned 20, they were washed up and quickly forgotten as new boy bands took their place.

Bubby Thompson and The Giddyups were broke and went back where they had come from to build new lives.

Eventually Bubby went to law school, and began calling himself "Bobby" and then "Robert." He also married and had a family, settling into a conservative routine

His children had no idea he'd ever been a rock star or even much fun to be with.

As the years passed, Robert became a successful lawyer and wore a suit and tie as he mingled with other lawyers every bit as boring as he had become.

But then one day at age 65, on the 45th anniversary of when the band broke up, Robert did something that shocked everyone that knew him.

He retired from his law practice and got it in touch with his long ago band mates.

"Would you guys like to have some fun," he asked. "Why don't we reform Bubby Thompson and The Giddyups and play oldies shows?"

"We'll be creative and colorful as we were when we were young," said Bubby, having dropped the name Robert. "But now we'll be much wiser and really appreciate what we'll be doing."

"Sure," the old band members responded. "We'd love too."

In their youth, the band had long brown hair, but now what little hair they had left was gray.

But that didn't matter as they wrote new music to go with their old hits and took their families with them whenever they performed.

"It's funny," Bubby told a reporter. "When we were young, we never stopped and savored the good times, we just burned through them."

"Now that we understand life so much better, we are having more fun than we ever did before and we share the fun with our families, which are a blessing in themselves."

"Our message to everyone is simple: every day is a gift, and a chance to enjoy life in all the beauty it has to offer. Enjoy life and do everything you can to bring a little joy into the lives of others as well."

Dick