Thursday, April 2, 2015

Musical Memories: The Beach Boys



My theme is Musical Memories:  The Memories that music brings rushing back.

It's the late 70's and I'm in High School.  Me and my friend Michelle spend a lot of time in town, cruising.  Talking, laughing, flirting with guys we see, hooking up with friends.  We adore the Beach Boys even though they weren't the hottest or newest group around then.  Their simple, happy lyrics and tunes. And all those songs about cars!  And I was car crazy.

Daddy had passed away.  And I maintained the 1974 Mercury Capri he left for me, myself.  Changed the oil, the plugs, kept the battery clean.  The car clean.  Even changed out a fuel line myself. Instead of Teen magazine or such, I subscribed to Hot Rod and Motor Trend.
    
The car had a button under the hood called an "interlock override".  Now in all honesty, I don't know exactly what that meant.  But, I did read the owners manual that said that if the car didn't start to press that little red button near the firewall.  It rarely happened that I needed to, but one time it was priceless.  

Me and friends had been eating a bite at Sonic Drive Inn.  When I went to crank the car, I got nothing.  I got out and went to the front of the car to pop the hood.  You could hear teen boys all around us groaning, thinking they were going to have to get out and help.  Soon as I got the hood up, I held it with one hand and reached under with the other, pushed the button, dropped the hood, got in the car, started it up and pulled out of my slot.  I glanced around to see the groaners staring in amazement!  The satisfaction of the moment:  priceless.

I finally went to my first ever concert while in college at SFA.  I saw the Beach Boys and it was awesome.  



Did you ever cruise town when you were a teen?
Were you car crazy or only know where the key went?
Who was the first person or group you ever saw in concert?

51 comments:

  1. Love your theme! I love music of all kinds, I even have the beach boys on my itunes!
    I'll definitely keep up with your playlists!
    To answer your questions, I don't drive, never have, until I was with my Boyfriend I was never really into cars, but I'm making up for it now, and learning(!)
    The first gig I went to was to see HIM, who were my favourite band at the time.
    Good luck with your A-Z!!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed today's entry. Way to go! Never too late to learn new skills.

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  2. I didn't learn to drive until I was in by 20's after I finished my PhD, so I never went cruising as a teen - didn't know anyone with a car. I went to lots of classical concerts when I was a teen, through school and church etc, but the first pop concert I went to was Duran Duran in their Pop Trash Comeback tour in the 90's and I was again in my 20's. I was a bit of a late starter :)
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
    FB3X
    Wittegen Press

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    1. Interesting, Sophie! Thanks for sharing those memories!

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  3. Beach Boy harmonies back in the day were tough to beat - God Only Knows just soars. First group I saw (my Dad took me) was The Eagles.

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    1. Gotta love the Eagles! I have a play list that is only them. Very few groups/artists I like enough to listen to only them.

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  4. I was never into cars other than I liked to drive them. Now that I'm older, I really appreciate cars and shows like Counting Cars.

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    1. Well, these days all I care about is that it will go when I want and it's comfortable.

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  5. I know where the key goes and which peddle to hit, other than that, that was it. I get around though and no Barbaraanne did show.

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  6. Never attended a concert, wasn't allowed to learn to drive. Grew up in a small town with strict parents. However I did walk to the Bulldog Snack Shack to Jitterbug to the jukebox.

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  7. Never heard of these kats, are they?

    Welcome in the "B"... as a host I am stopping by to say thank you!
    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2015]

    There's no earthly way of knowing.
    Which direction we are going!

    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
    Come Visit: You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?

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    1. No, but I mention a bobcat named Spud in one of my posts

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  8. I still love the beach Boys. I use YouTube to watch old live performances of them.

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  9. So cute about you having the knowledge with the car, Barbara! Definitely that is not me :) I know where the key goes and I know the car needs gas and oil, but beyond that, well.......

    My first concert was Neil Diamond back in 1976.

    Glad you got to see the Beach Boys!

    betty

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    1. I would have loved to got to see Neil Diamond back in the day.

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  10. Oh wow it must have been hilarious to see those guys' faces. :-D

    I also enjoy the Beach Boys' music. Always a fun listen.

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  11. Beach Boys were a little before my time, but I did see them in concert a few years ago and greatly enjoyed it! Also, in terms of cruising, my hometown had just revived the practice when I was in high school, so I did it once or twice. My dad remembers doing it every weekend when he was in school. Good times!

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    1. Yes, really sort of a senseless activity when you think about it, but cruising can be a blast!

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  12. What a great story! Enjoyed the Beach Boys music and still do.

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  13. You showed them! I guess you liked the song Barbara Ann a lot. My first concert was actually a festival so I can't remember which band I saw first. But SFA played - a different one, Super Furry Animals. Some of their stuff is very Beach Boysesque!

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    1. You know, actually Barbara Ann was and is one of my least favorite Beach Boys tunes. Maybe because they got the middle name wrong. Nice to know some band is keeping the sound alive.

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  14. Their songs are very catchy. I can't help but sing along. :)

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  15. You answered my question today...about us being close to the same age. We are not! I graduated high school in 1969. But I loved the Beach Boys later on. Loved your story and would have enjoyed the faces of those teen boys when you hopped back in your car and drove off. My first ever concert was Johnny Cash...I was country, when country wasn't cool .) But when my oldest son was a very young teen we went to a Beach Boy concert. They were at a ball diamond and has turned the infield into a beach party. It was so much fun!


    Smidgen Snippets & Bits

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    1. That sounds like a fun way to see the Beach Boys. Believe me, I'm knee deep in country, soul, old R & B, and swamp as well. Would have been great to see Johnny Cash in that time period. I graduated in 1979.

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  16. Growing up along the coast, it was impossible to not know the Beach Boys. :)

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  17. Like minds! I chose musicians, too. Todays B was for Beatles! I'll be back to see if our choices merge during the A-to-Z. :-)

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    1. When it comes to the Beatles I either love the song or hate the song. My all time favorite by them as a group is Oh! Darling. My fav Beatle is George Harrison.

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    2. I like that one, too!

      Thanks for the follow, Barbara!

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  18. Beach Boys - one of their songs is on my top 30 list, God Only Knows :) And my husband is the petrol head, for me as long as it's got 4 wheels and petrol I really have no interest in cars LOL! x

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    1. God Only Knows is one of my favorites by them as well.

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  19. Oh yea, cruising was a big deal back then and I loved it. The Beach Boys bring back the good ol' weekend times. Something about their music always made me feel like it was a Summer's day. Still does.
    As I See It Daily

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  20. Hello there.
    Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Some old time songs will always be popular no matter the current trend. Thanks for sharing and visiting my blog.

    Entrepreneurial Goddess

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  21. Great memory!

    I grew up in a village so learning to drive and having "freedom" to go to town was vital! I had a bike way before a car and now I have a bus - although my mechanical knowledge is fairly crap but better than my other half... it still makes me laugh that whenever we go to the garage often the mechanic will automatically talk to him not me, well I say laugh but often I then have to ask them to repeat it to me so we know what's what!

    Mars xx
    Curling Stones for Lego People

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    1. That's rich! I can't imagine knowing more than my husband about such things.

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  22. I have always loved the Beach Boys. My older brothers used to listen to them in the 60's so I grew up with them. I have seen them in concert. The first time was around 1985. Then I saw them again about another 7 or 8 times, including times I took my kids to see them. My kids grew up loving them, too so they were thrilled to get to go see them.

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    1. Sounds like the Beach boys became a family tradition for you! Nice that you could share that with you children.

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  23. Enjoying the theme. I went cruising in my late teens early 20s when I went to college in a small town.It was fun to discover, My first major concert was Robert Plant in 1988.

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    1. Better late than never! At least you got to experience cruising. I would think the Robert Plant concert would be really good.

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  24. My best friend and I cruised in high school in the late 70s. Our route never varied. We rolled down the windows and cranked up Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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    1. Oh, yeah! Sweet Home Alabama! I was cruising in '76-'80. We are the same age!

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  25. I love your theme! My grandpa introduced me to the Beach Boys at a very young age, and I remember putting their music on at my grandparents' house and singing "Fun, Fun, Fun" as young as age 5, when I'm pretty sure I didn't really know what a T-bird was.

    I inherited a lot of wonderfun things from my grandpa: love of cars, love of writing, and love of the Beach Boys. I'm pretty sure he smiles down from Heaven when I blast their music and take turns especially fast. :)

    Commenting from www.kaitlinthrogmorton.com as a fellow A-Z Challenge Participant.

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    1. Probably so, Kaitlin, as long as you are wearing your seat belt and never hit the brakes in a curve! LOL

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So glad you stopped by! Come 'round any time. ~ Barbara

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