Crank it Up Baby!

There’s nothing like driving with the top down and cranking up the  music on hot summer nights.  I remember my old 1970 Volkswagen Rabbit with the crappy red vinyl seats that literally turned in to molten lava in the summer heat.   That was one bad ass car, but it had a great sound system!

I spent much of my summer at the Jersey shore.  Friday evening after work I would pack my I. Goldberg Army backpack , throw my old welcome-to-the-Jersey-shore beach blanket in the back seat and sort out what I called my Traveling Music and drive to Wildwood, NJ.

I would blast my tunes on the Atlantic City Expressway until I reached the boardwalk.  I miss that car, but I still remember those classic summer songs like it were yesterday.   Here are a few of my favorite  jams that put the sizzle in my summer.

Hot Fun in the Summer Time – by Sly and the Family Stone – Hot Fun in the Summertime” is a 1969 hit single recorded by Sly & the Family Stone. The single was released in the wake of the band’s high-profile performance at Woodstock, which greatly expanded their fan base.  Sly & the Family Stone played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s.  The band also launched the solo career of singer, Larry Graham.  His chart climbing single, “One in a Million” is played at just about every weddings I’ve ever attended.  Sappy . . .  absolutely!   Sadly, most  of the brides later found out  they were just one in a dozen.

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant – by Billy Joel in 1977 from his The Stranger album.  This song was one of his most successful and celebrated songs of his career.  Beginning with its traditional Italian melody and finishing with his signature rock and roll wrap up; Italian Restaurant is high energy combination of  two songs in one.  Also refer to as The Ballad of Brenda and Eddie, Joel’s pumping  piano style is classic and the lyrics bittersweet –  but like the song says Brenda and Eddie always knew how to survive and so did this timeless tune.

Summer in the City – by the Loving Spoonful – featuring John Sebastian, cranked it up for this group.  You can literally feel the back of your neck getting  dirty and gritty.   It reached number on the summer charts in August of 1966.   It still remains one of the all-time great summer  playlist favorite.

Working My Way Back to You – by The Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli hit the charts in 1966 on the Philips Label.  In of their more rocking tunes summer just ain’t summer without Frankie Valli.  I saw them perform in Wildwood New Jersey at the Hurricane Club.  I believe it’s a strip joint now but back in the day they had some good music! Valli’s falsetto pipes (in my opinion) should be considered a national treasure.

The Dock of the Bay – by Otis Redding has to be one of my favorite.  Sitting by Wildwood Crest listening to Otis belt out, “Sitting here resting my bones and this loneliness won’t leave me alone” while watching the sun set was as good as any summer evening gets.  It was also the first time I’d ever shot Tequila.  I don’t remember much after that?  The Dock of the Bay was released in January 1968 amid the fall-out of Redding’s death. R&B stations readily added the song to their playlists, which had been saturated with Redding’s previous hits. The song shot to number one on the R&B charts in early 1968 and, from March, topped the pop charts for four weeks.  Like Jim Morrison said, “Poor Otis dead and gone.” But he’ll never ever be forgotten.

Fun, Fun, Fun (till her daddy took her T-Bird away) – by the Beach boys was totally California beach music but sand is sand and fun is fun!  Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, was a hit single by The Beach Boys that was released in 1964 on the band’s album Shut Down Volume 2.  It was also the catalyst which prompted my first New Jersey speeding ticket!  The officer handed it to me and said, “Slow down or NJ will take your license away! Have fun, fun, fun!”  What a jerk, but I deserved it.

Ain’t Nobody (Does it Better) – Rufus with Chaka Khan is an R&B kick ass masterpiece of funk and soul.  This single was among the songs that lead to Chaka Khan becoming a solo artist. I remember blasting it on the beach near the life guard stand.  One of them came over and said, I love that song, crank it up!”  He was a stone hard Rufus fan.   I ended up dating him until the end of summer.  I’ll never forget him.  Nice dude,  smoking hot body and always had an abundance of Tequila. I still have fond memories of what’s-his-name.

I still have a photo of us standing in front of his life guard stand.  Someday (after many shots of Tequila) I’ll have the guts to post it.

Photo by: skot53

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8 thoughts on “Crank it Up Baby!”

  1. I wish I had had a convertible to really extract the joy out of some of these tunes. At the time however, my car was lucky to have a working steering wheel much less an actual radio that made music sounds and didn’t hiss all the time! W.C.C.

    1. I feel your pain W.C. My VW was held together with duct tape and prayers but it had a jammin’ stereo speaker system! I recently found an old tape labeled “Summer Jams” circa 1980. Just wish I had a system to play it. I miss those days! 🙁

    1. Mike Ain’t Nobody (Does it Better) in my opinion is on of the best funk R&B songs ever made!! No one does it better than Chaka Khan! Check it out on YouTube!

  2. That is a great list. I remember the Billy Joel Song. I think that was a late grammar school one. I love it though and I love the Beach Boys song to. Can’t go through the summer without the Beach Boys!

    1. Geeez Donna I am old!!! Grammar school? LOL, I guess my next article should be titled, “Sing-along-with Moses!” 😉

  3. Nice list, sweet memories. I’m a child of the 80’s, so my list is slightly different, but the sentiment is still the same. My ride was a ’69 Dodge D-100 with a 426 hemi, and I think I might have been a little, oh, on the rowdy side. Just a tad. Muahahaha!!! You post that picture, and I’ll tell about the hell I raised. I think the statute of limitations is well past now.

    1. You . . . rowdy . . . NO! But I’ll tell you what if you provide the Tekillya I’ll post the photo. Big hair, cut-off jeans and white tees ruled. LOL!

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