Thursday, August 06, 2009
summer songs
Occasionally I’ll spin the radio dial over to the NPR (I know know, y’all hate them really NICE talkers) and today (and evidently for a while) they were asking musicians about their favorite summer song memories. Of course, they never called me to ask me but if they had I would have probably blurted out “Hot Fun in the Summer time” by Sly. But they needed a story to not only support an answer but an explanation to fill up time. So ex-nay on the Sly-nay…I got nothing. It’s just the first song I think of when I think of summer songs. I love the song and immediately wanna look through the bottom of a bottle of beer when I hear it but I can’t tie it to a memory of my youth. Let’s see, the first time I heard The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” was while washing my Dad’s red ’65, with a white convertible top, Impala on WKIX 850. They played all the hits here in Raleigh. The first time I heard “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” was on KIX! But if’n I had my way and could talk on the radio about a specific memory I had about a summer song that I was most affected by, then it would have to be “the oogem boogem song”, (I’m sure spellcheck is madder’n hell at me but that’s the best I could do, if you’re 50 or older you know what song I’m talkin’ ‘bout.) This song played over and over (ad nauseum) at Hayes Barton Pool in Raleigh (walking distance from Jack’s house, where we now record). It’s long gone now but not my memory of hearing it louder’n hell on the jukebox pushed out near the pool…over and over and over and over...while I was cowering away from the high dive…
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6 comments:
AMEN, to Sly. Testify.
'Hot fun'-It just drips with golden
sunshine and happiness, doesn't it- It makes you smile in spite of yourself...'has to be my esoteric 'summer' favorite, too.
What a great band, great sound-Timeless.
-lcp
Ah, yes, Brenton Wood - I'm sure Moose could help ya with the spellin', too, but it's "Oogum Boogum Song". I'm sinking back into my musical nerd hole now...
The Music Director and evening jock at Kix in the 60's was "The Fat Cat" Charlie Brown. I listened a bunch! Up in Henderson we had to listen to the FM simulcast on 96.1 in the 60's at night 'cuz 850's night signal barely covered North Raleigh. My second radio gig was at WKIX/WYYD in '84 and he was the General Manager but left about 6 months after I got there. I hardly knew him as I just was a lowly disc jockey and there were several layers of management between me and him. Plus... he had had enough of the BS that was going on within that company at that point and really didn't seem interested in talking. Later he got bored and wanted to do a weekend show. My boss made me the board operator for his weekend shows as part of my work week. So for 5 hours a week I sat in a studio with CB and we have been friends ever since. He has helped me out a bunch through the years and is partially responsible for introducing to the guys/company I have worked for for most of the past 15 years. He was... and is... a huge fan of soul and R&B. He was friends with Sam Cooke. He is still friends with Jerry Butler. He got record label service to his house well into the '90's even though he quit the Music Director's/Jock gig in late 1969. I am SURE Kix added the Oogum Boogum song early as they did with a lot of soul records. I had that 45... on the Bamboo label I think...
Correction.... Not on the Bamboo label.... that was Mel & Tim's "Backfield In Motion". Brenton was on "Double Shot".
Satisfaction might have been my fave.
I was at the Batavia Quarry Pool getting an orange Push Up when I first heard that thing come out of the announcement type horn mounted on the telephone pole by the snack bar. That thing just cracked through the heat out of that little speaker. Stones had a lot of great summer songs.
I saw where WKIX has been sold again, this time to Curtis & they are going to play music. Maybe they will go back to oldies. Charlie Brown was a 'restling & rock 'n roll promoter back in the '60's...he was a BIG man!
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