Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Do You Know the Way to San Jose (1968)

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

 

1) In this song, someone moves to Los Angeles looking for "fame and fortune" but ends up with a job "pumping gas." Today, the majority of service stations are self serve, so very few people pump gas for a living. Can you think of another job that used to be common but doesn't exist anymore? Elevator operator. Every time I see the movie The Apartment – and it's one of my favorites, so I've seen it a lot – I watch Miss Kubelik in her uniform and carnation, getting to know everyone who works in that massive office building and I think, "That looks neat."

 

2) The San Jose travel bureau advertises "300 days of sunshine" every year. How is the weather where you are today? Chilly and cloudy. But it should be. I'm so glad that awful unseasonal heat is behind us!

 

3) Lyricist Hal David became fond of San Jose when he was stationed there while in the Navy. Tell us about a place you visited that you have affection for. Hot Springs, AR. It's so green and being a flatlander from Chicago, I'm enchanted by the rolling hills and trail that leads up to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower. This is the Grand Promenade at the foot of the trail. I always had such good times on my solo spa trips to Hot Springs. 

 

  

4) Composer Burt Bacharach grew up and worked primarily in New York until his marriage to actress Angie Dickinson. She had to live in Los Angeles for her career, so he relocated and remained a Californian for the rest of his life. Where do you feel most at home? (It doesn't have to be a city. It could be your favorite chair.) Curled up with these two.

 

5) Dionne Warwick thinks this week's song is "dumb." She won her first Grammy for "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" and, decades later, still sings it in concert, but she has not changed her opinion of the song. What is something everyone else seems to like but you just don't get? Football. 

 

6) Now in her 80s, with more than 60 years in show business, Dionne still enjoys performing. She told a reporter that she loves looking out into the audience and seeing an arm go around a shoulder, or a couple begin holding hands, when they hear her sing "their song." What song reminds you of a special romance? I was in love with the most conservative, straight-laced guy. It was a delight to see him go all parrot-head, complete with Hawaiian shirt and foam fin.

 

 

 

 

7) In 1968, when this song was popular, The Doris Day Show premiered. The show was, initially, a surprise to its star. Her manager/husband died suddenly without telling her he had committed her to a weekly sitcom. She was not pleased but honored the contract. Think of the last time you were surprised. Was it a happy or sad surprise? One of my coworkers surprised me by asking me how things were going for me at the store ... and she meant it. I felt very safe being frank with her. I was surprised and grateful for her sensitivity.

 
8) According to the Social Security Administration, the most popular baby names of 1968 were Lisa and Michael. Are there any Lisas or Michaels in your life? Yes, on both counts.

 

9) Random question: What are you looking forward to this week? This coming week I'm going to Michigan to meet our newest family member, Baby Violet!