Saturday 9

 
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? I don't make any drive regularly – no car – but I do walk 7 minutes to my job at the card shop. I enjoy going through the local business district as the stores are opening. It's neat to see awnings adjusted and A-frame chalk signs coming out. Before I had this job, I never paid attention to how retailers wake up to start the day. 

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? Yes. Badly.

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? Always. I allow myself two mini (7.5 oz) Cokes each day.

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? One of the girls at the card shop says she is a "social smoker." My oldest friend vapes, even though she has heart trouble.

5) Robin Gibb agreed to perform on the CD Sesame Street Fever so his kids could meet Cookie Monster. Who is your favorite Muppet? Cookie, of course. Here he is singing the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field, to which I say, "Bravo!"

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. My late friend Henry's dog, NouNou, was very dear. He was a mixed breed black mop of fur and love. Henry also had two big dogs, and short-legged NouNou had to run so hard to keep up, but he did his best.

 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? The only programs I have to watch as they air are the news, baseball and awards shows. Everything else can wait till it's convenient.

8) The top movie at the box office that summer was Jaws. Have you seen it? Yes. I think the real star of the movie is John Williams' score. I heard Speilberg say that all it took was two notes to scare us all out of our skins, and he's right. As you read this, you can hear those two notes in your head, can't you? Bum bum. Here comes the shark! Shudder!

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? I treasure a ceramic cable car that belonged to my favorite grandfather. He kept it on the nightstand on his side of the bed. He used it for his watch, his tie clasps and cuff links and his favorite licorice throat lozenges. Every time I think of my grandpa, I smile. It can't possibly mean as much to anyone else as it does to me.