Up With People
"Up With People" was the name of both an organization and a performance event popular in the U.S. beginning in 1968 and continuing through the 1970s. The performance traveled around the country, playing in generally modest venues — school gymnasiums, hockey arenas, and the like. Approximately 40 volunteer student performers presented upbeat songs using vocal soloists, a choir, electric guitars, and other instruments. The music was accompanied by choreographed dance.
Groups of local volunteers in each city would provide housing and food for the performers, with each volunteer family opening their home to one member of the cast. At the event's apogee, there were several casts touring the country at the same time.
A theme song, "Up With People" was written for the group and performed at each event. Copyright is guarded closely by the foundation, which does not permit the song to be recorded or performed commercially. The lyrics were part of the 1970s cultural fabric:
It happened just this mornin' while I was walking down the street
A milkman, and a postman, and a policeman I did meet
There in every window, at every single door
I recognized people I'd never noticed before.
Up, up with people! You meet wherever you go!
Up, up with people! They're the best kind of folks we know
If more people were for people
All people everywhere
There'd be a lot less people to worry about
And a lot more people who'd care.
The squeaky-clean nature of the group made it a target for parody, and there were at least two "up with people" albums released by different groups that poked fun at the group's style.
Now reinvented as the "Worldsmart Leadership Program," the program continues in modified form today.
External Link
Referenced By
List of humanitarian and peace organizations | Super Bowl XVI
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