The Sunday Memory Drawer - Cool Sounds for a Hot Summer Day

No, I don't know the two oldtimers in this picture.  But, regardless of the age of these geezers, they are doing something we can all identify with.

Listening to a radio on a summer day. 

Who doesn't have a memory or two when a certain song is played on an oldies channel?  The first notes of the ditty might send you back to a hammock in the yard, a boat ride on the Long Island Sound, or a scolding from your mother because you went into the water too soon after finishing your ham sandwich.

You have your own songs to recall fondly.  Here are some more of mine.


The Stripper by David Rose:  This was a big hit one very young summer for me.  In our house, my mother listened to all the hits of the day and even ran out to buy the 45 rpm platters.  This song made me uncomfortable.  It felt dirty.  The distress was felt even more when I saw my own mother dancing to this while drying the dishes.  Yikes.



Theme from Dr. Kildare by Richard Chamberlain:  When I was really small, there were two doctor TV shows that were all the rage.  And you liked either one or the other.  Either you sided with Ben Casey or you were on the Doctor Kildare bandwagon.  Our home was the latter.  And, so Mom ran out to buy this hit when it came out.  With the star, Richard Chamberlain, singing it himself.  She even had a bit of a crush on the guy.

"He's so cute."

Years later, I'd like to tell my mother.  Um, he'd have zero interest in you.

Palisades Park by Freddie Cannon:  When this tune was a big summer hit, I had no clue that it was about an amusement park we could have easily gone to.  It was only on the other side of the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey.  Heck, it didn't look that far on the map.  And they had a big salt water pool!

Unfortunately, my father controlled our itinerary.

"It's too far."

No, it's not.  The radio commercial said it's "easily accessible from all parts of the New York metropolitan area."  I didn't really know what "accessible" meant, but I could parrot with the best of them.

"You don't want to be in that pool with a lot of strangers."

But it's the same as going to the beach. 

"No, it's different."

How?

Dad?

No answer.  We never went.

They're Coming To Take Me Away by Napoleon XIV:  The kids in my neighborhood were absolutely annoying the summer this song became a huge hit.  We sang it over and over and over.  Remember the lyrics?

Remember when you ran away and I got on my knees and begged you not to leave because I'd go berzerk?

Well, you left me anyhow and the days got worse and worse and now you see I've gone completely out of my mind.

And They're coming to take me away Ha Ha

They're coming to take me away ho ho he he ha ha to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time, and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away ha ha

You thought it was joke and so you laughed, you laughed when I had said that losing you would make me flip my lid, right? You know you laughed, I heard you laugh, you laughed, you laughed and laughed and then you left, but now you know I'm utterly mad.

And they're coming to take me away Ha Ha  They're coming to take me away ho ho he he ha haTo the happy home with trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes

They're coming to take me away ha ha...

I cooked your food, I cleaned your house, and this is how you paid me back for all my kind unselfish loving deeds. Huh? Well you just wait they'll find you yet, and when they do they'll put you in the ASPCA you mangy mutt.

And They're coming to take me away Ha Ha

They're coming to take me away ho ho he he ha ha  To the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice men in their clean white coatsThey're coming to take me away Ha HaTo the happy home with trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket weavers who sit and smile and twiddle thier thumbs and toes

They're coming to take me away Ha Ha Ha

Your home the one the bank foreclosed, You cried to me Monogamy is the way we both must live or you'll feel hurt. But, I see, I see there's someone new, your anxious poly-pure-bred coat was even gone at our place while I paid the rent, thanks!

And They're coming to take me away Ha Ha

They're coming to take me away ho ho he he ha haTo the loony bin with all you can eat perscription drugs like torizine, and lithium, and electric shock and insulin

They're coming to take me away Ha Ha

You can imagine how obnoxious we were.  Except I had one huge dissenter when it came to my endless rendition of this song.

My aunt.  My mother's sister.

Every summer for a few years, I would spend a week with her family out in Suffolk County.  I was floating around their pool on a raft and mindlessly regurgitating again the lyrics.

An ominous voice came from the kitchen window.  My aunt.

"That's not funny, Lenny."

Uh oh.

"I work as a nurse in a mental institution.  That's not funny, Lenny."

I, er, heard you the first time. 

And the tune was forever removed from my repertoire.


Something Stupid by Frank and Nancy Sinatra:  Listening to the lyrics of this big summer hit, I was always a little conflicted.

I know I stand in line, until you think you have the time
To spend an evening with me
And if we go someplace to dance, I know that there's a chance
You won't be leaving with me

And afterwards we drop into a quiet little place
And have a drink or two
And then I go and spoil it all, by saying something stupid
Like: "I love you"

Okay, this is being sung jointly by a father and a daughter.  There goes my creepy meter.

Meanwhile, this song takes me back to my own weird-o memory.  The song was playing while my father and I were sitting in our car at Woodlawn Cemetery.  We were watching my grandmother hard at work over my grandfather's grave. 

You see, a giant sinkhole had formed in his still fresh grave.  So, as Frank and Nancy sang away, I saw Grandma shoveling dirt herself into the sinkhole.  Grandpa was essentially being buried a second time.

Now that was really something stupid.

What's New Pussycat by Tom Jones:  This infectious tune was all the rage one summer.  I remember Tom's warbling of it on the "Ed Sullivan Show.  I was watching with Grandma.

"His pants are so tight you can see his business."

Enough said.

Help! by the Beatles:  The focus of this special summer was the opening of the Beatles' second movie.  None of us on 15th Avenue in Mount Vernon could wait.  We trooped down to the Loews Theater for the first show on opening day.  And ran home in the manic and frenzied style that the Beatles adopted in the movie. 

Except none of us could sing.



Mr. Big Stuff by Jean Knight:  This was going to the summer where this White teenager was going to get diverse in a hurry.  It was my first really important summer job.  I was going to be a playground supervisor for the Mount Vernon, New York Department of Recreation.  I was assigned to the Purdy Tot Lot on Ninth Avenue.  My area was in a completely Black neighborhood.  And, as it turned out, this was the easiest gig I would ever have in my life. 

These were the nicest kids in the world.  And they really needed no supervision.  Games?  Not interested.  Crafts?  Forget it. 

All they wanted to do was sit all day and play 500 rummy.  And sing along to the radio.  This song was a particular favorite.  I remember one day where a bunch of them stood up and organized a dance number around it.

"Hey, Mr. Len, Playground Teacher, you want to dance with us."

Um, no.  Diversity for me would have to come in very small doses.

Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet:  If there were any girls hanging around your neighborhood, they annoyed the shit out of you the summer this movie and record came out.  That album cover was a real eye opener.  Eewwwww!  They're naked.  And having sex.  Gross.  What the hell did you want from some 13-year-olds back then?  These days, some of the same kids are already pregnant.

Dinner last night:  A surprisingly delicious BBQ fried bologna sandwich from Blue Smoke at Citi Field.