Tuesday, June 15, 2010

DRIVING WITH THE TOP DOWN


(Part One Of The Top Ten Drinking & Driving Songs List)

When Stephen McCarthy asked me to participate on this latest blog-hop, I was just a little apprehensive. After all, Stephen is from La La Land, where you’re pretty much born with a set of car keys in your hand, and in Phildelphia, you’re born with no shoes and if you’re lucky, a trolley pass.

All right, who am I kidding, I’m a kid from the suburbs. Driving just was not as much a part of my formative years as it was for Stephen because public transportation was plentiful, and while we were not poor, there was one car to share among six drivers. We did have shoes, though, except when I hid mine in an attempt to get out of going to school.

Not only didn’t we have cars, but for six months a year, the weather was not ripe for rolling down the window and letting the tape deck blow (who can tell me where that line comes from?).

But there were those times when the Rock would borrow his dad’s Cadillac convertible, and we’d all pile in and drive down to the Jersey shore with the top down in the Friday rush hour traffic (that was bumper-to-bumper all the way down the Atlantic City Expressway and the Garden State Parkway), and I thought of those summer songs that would make us sing along.

Some of these are those songs. Some are from years later, but could have been those songs if I had been born later and still had a friend with a borrowed Caddy convertible.

Sorry, Stephen-no Radar Love. And I hope everyone knew that Todd Rundgren was going to be represented on the list.




Born To Be Wild-Steppenwolf


Born To Run-Bruce Springsteen


Crazy Train-Ozzy Osbourne


Drive-Todd Rundgren


Free Ride-Edgar Winter Group


Life Is A Highway-Tom Cochrane


Mustang Sally-The Committments


Running On Empty-Jackson Browne


Slow Ride-Foghat


Here are some of the songs that did not make it to the finish line.

Highway Star-Deep Purple
The Weight-The Band
(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles-The Proclaimers
Roadhouse Blues-The Doors
Black Betty-Ram Jam
Mississippi Queen-Mountain
The Boys Are Back In Town-Thin Lizzy
Summer In The City-The Lovin' Spoonful

Tomorrow, I’ll post the drinking list. I was afraid if I drink and drive at the same time, I’d get pulled over...



6 comments:

  1. I matched you on two of yours-- "Born to Be Wild" and "Running on Empty". And I went for "Radar Love"--it was just too obvious. The songs on your list are commendable songs that would inspire me to head out on a road trip. Be interesting to see your drinking song list.

    Lee

    Tossing It Out

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  2. "I was afraid if I drink and drive at the same time, I’d get pulled over..." You made my morning! Nice one! bahahahaha ...

    Stephen asked me to participate too, but as I said on Yvonne's blog, I don't think I'd be able to come up with more than two, cause when I'm drunk I tend to listen to the same thing over and over.

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  3. No drinking & driving! Good choice with Ozzy. I decided to go with the music I really blast on the road instead of those with a road theme. Although if any imply explosions, then that works, too.

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  4. TODDFAN DISCMAN ~
    Certainly plenty of A-List driving songs on your list, Brother! "All Right Now"; "Born To Run"; "Free Ride"; "Running On Empty"; "Slow Ride", etc. Top-notch stuffs, man!

    And "Born To Be Wild" is about as much a no-brainer as "Radar Lo--". Oops. You left it off. Hmmm... Wait'll the Highway Patrol hears about THIS!

    I wasn't familiar with "Drive" (sorry) or "Life Is A Highway". That's why a thing like this requires more than just one participant.

    I actually considered "Black Betty" also, but it didn't make the final cut for me either.

    But what's funny is that I considered "Roadhouse Blues" more for my "Drinking" list than my "Driving" list.

    Never even thought about "Mississippi Queen", but that's an EXCELLENT song for the road!

    ~ "Lonesome Dogg" McD-Fens

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  5. Great list, I even have heard some of them!

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  6. Great list, I even have heard some of them!

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