Saturday 9: Jive Talkin'

Saturday 9: Jive Talkin' (1975)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

This month we're going to recall Summer Songs. These will all be records that topped the charts during August.

1) Number 1 on the charts in August 50 years ago, "Jive Talkin'" was originally called "Drive Talkin'," because it was inspired by the "chunka-chunka" sound the Bee Gees' car made as it rolled over the bridge from Biscayne Bay to Miami every morning. Tell us about a drive you make regularly. What do you love, or hate, about it?

A. I drive regularly to the grocery store. I don't love it or hate it; it is just the way to the grocery store. If I go left from the driveway, eventually I make another left, and I'm on a curvy road that has no middle line, and you wave at people as you pass them if you feel like it. If I go right, then another right, the road has been updated and has a line, and even turn lane lines, and eventually it turns right onto a major 4-lane highway. This way is 1 mile longer than the other, but if my husband and I leave at the same time, and one goes left at the end of the driveway and one goes right, we used to end up at the stoplight on Catawba Road at the same time. Now there are two stoplights between my house and Catawba Road if I go to the right, so I doubt we'd end up at Catawba at the same time.

2) Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb always enjoyed singing together and as kids, practiced their harmonies in the bathroom because that's where the acoustics were best. Do you sing in the shower?

A. I do sing in the shower.

3) Early in their career, the brothers wrote and recorded a radio jingle for Coca Cola. If we were to peer into your refrigerator right now, would we find any carbonated beverages?

A. You would find my husband's Diet Dr. Pepper.

4) Though their sound depended on tight harmonies, all three Bee Gees were heavy smokers, which is bad for the throat. Do you smoke? Are there smokers/vapers in your life?

A. I do not smoke, nor does my husband. I do not know of any smokers/vapers in my life.

5) Robin Gibb agreed to perform on the CD Sesame Street Fever so his kids could meet Cookie Monster. Who is your favorite Muppet?

A. I do not have a favorite Muppet, but I will say Frog because he sang that lovely song about rainbows. "Why are there so many songs about rainbows, and what's on the other side? Rainbows are visions, but only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide."

6) In addition to younger brother Andy, who also scored hit records, the Bee Gees have a sister, Lesley. Unlike her siblings, she didn't go into show business. Instead, she became a dog breeder. Tell us about a dog who holds a special place in your heart.

A. When I was a child, we had many dogs. I think my favorite dog was Major, a white poodle. His mother was Heidi, a black poodle, and she gave birth to Major. I don't know if Major was the dog I saved from the water when it was a pup, but I have always thought he might have been. When I was 7, Heidi had her pups, and one night I heard a noise, and I got up and one of the pups had crawled into Heidi's water bowl, and it wasn't moving. I got it out and wrapped it in a towel and went to wake my mother. She and I massaged the pup and it came back to life. As an adult, I only had one dog. She was a pup I picked up at a flea market, a mix of an Eskimo Spitz and a terrier. She was not an affectionate dog but she was my dog. We kept her outside because of my allergies and honestly, she seemed to prefer being outside to being inside when I put her in the garage on very cold nights. She died in early 2001 at the age of 17, which is quite old for a dog. It took me a year to stop looking for her when I pulled into the driveway.

Let's look at the summer of 1975.

7) That summer, producer Lorne Michaels was auditioning talent for the Not Ready for Prime Time Players. This band of comedic performers would premiere that October in a new show called Saturday Night Live. In the days before DVRs and streaming, Saturday Night Live was considered "appointment television," a show you wanted to catch when it aired so you made sure you were in front of a TV to hear "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" Is there a show you go out of your way to watch when it airs? Or is most of your viewing either recorded or streamed?

A. We watch The Voice live, but we also record a lot of things these days, or stream.

8) The top movie at the box office that summer was Jaws. Have you seen it?

A. I don't think I have ever seen Jaws. Nor have I ever wished to.

9) In 1975, Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles was having a career season and won the second of his three Cy Young Awards. In 2012 he put all three trophies up for auction. As proud as he was of the awards, he said, "My priorities have changed," and the money would help pay for college for his grandchildren. Think about your belongings. Is there anything you would never part with at any price?

A. Belongings are just things. I don't know of anything I hold that dear. There are people I hold that dear, but not things.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.