Saturday 9: I Get Around

Saturday 9: I Get Around (1964)

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

1) Sixty years ago this month, the Beach Boys were singing that having a cool car and helped them get girls. In your teen years, what did you drive?

A. I drove a burnt orange Datsun hatchback. My friends and I had many adventures in that car. Here is one: The Hells' Angels were camping outside of the Town of Fincastle, and I was ordered not to go there under any circumstances. On a Saturday, I had my friend Beth with me, and she played piano in the band I was in. We were out running around and needed to be back at my house to get ready to go play a gig. We decided we'd just drive down past the Hells' Angels camp on the way home, just to see, you know. As we were tootling along, I ran over something. We didn't stop, but eventually we had to because the tire went flat. We were also inexplicably out of gas. We were dead smack in the middle of nowhere, a good 3 miles or more from my house and maybe 2 miles from the Hells' Angels encampment. We trudged up a long driveway to a home and beat on the door. An elderly woman answered, and we explained that our car had broken down. She allowed us to use her phone (this was 1979; no cellphones). I called my father's friend who lived near my family and begged him to come and help us, bringing a can of gas, but to not tell my parents he was helping. He obliged and came and changed the tire and filled the car up with gas. We got the car home and explained we'd had car trouble, though we didn't say where we'd had the car trouble. However, we couldn't drive ourselves to the gig because the gas was all gone out of the car again. My father looked under the vehicle and found a knife. I had run over a knife that had cut into the tire and then ricocheted into the gas tank, leaving a small hole. That's what happens when you run around in a Datsun and defy your parents. Fortunately, Beth's dad was a mechanic, and he fixed the gas tank for next to nothing. I don't know if my parents ever learned the truth of that. I sure didn't tell them.

I really was a bit of a hellion when I was younger. Good thing I grew out of it.

2) They are searching for a new place to party. This weekend, will you be visiting any bars, theaters or restaurants?

A. No. At least not that I am aware of as I write this.

3) When Brian Wilson was forming the group, he turned to his friend Al Jardine, his brothers Dennis and Carl, and his cousin, Mike Love. Though most of their songs were about cars, beaches and surf, only one of those founding members was a surfer: Dennis. Do you enjoy the beach? Are you good on a surfboard?

A. I am not that fond of the beach, although that is where we vacationed during most of my childhood and on into adulthood. Everyone around here goes to Myrtle Beach, SC for vacation. I have never been on a surfboard. The waves aren't that big at Myrtle Beach.

4) They were originally from Hawthorne, California. Hawthorne was the early childhood home of Marilyn Monroe. Since Marilyn was one of the most iconic women of the 20th century, we know you recognize her image. Have you seen any of her movies?

A. Not that I recall.

5) "I Get Around" is included in Endless Summer, the greatest hits compilation released in 1974. Influential music critic Robert Christgau said Endless Summer should be part of any basic record library. What's one of your favorite CDs?

A. The Best of Bread is one of my favorite vinyl albums. My favorite CD is The Dance, by Fleetwood Mac, followed by Breakdown, by Melissa Etheridge.

Let's look at the summer of 1964.

6) The #1 film of the summer of 1964 was Walt Disney's Mary Poppins. Have you seen it?

A. A very long time ago, I saw Mary Poppins. I'm not sure I could tell you what it's about, though.

7) President Lyndon Johnson accepted the Democratic party's nomination at the August 1964 convention in Atlantic City, NJ. Atlantic City is known for casinos and gambling. Do you often play the lottery, bingo, or any other game of chance?

A. We play the lottery when the winnings get high, but that's about once a year.

8) Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was still a baby in the summer of 1964. What was in your most recent Amazon delivery?

A. A pair of Sketchers hiking sandals that I bought for my husband. He wears them for house shoes. He can't stand slippers; he says they make his feet hot. He used to go barefoot all the time but that is not comfortable for him anymore. The hiking sandals work well.

9) Another little one born in '64 is Mariska Hargitay. The star of Law & Order: SVU is the daughter of a well-known movie star. Without looking it up, do you know who her mother was?

A. I haven't the faintest idea. I've never watched an episode of the show and never heard the name.

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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.