For the longest time I thought this song was the reason Cape Cod went to the dogs — Patti Page sings a sappy song and the hordes come rolling over the bridges looking for the vision the song painted. Then, homesick and a coast away in California, in a pizza parlor way out in the Sunset of San Francisco on Clement Street, down to my last $20 bucks, a calzone, a pitcher of Anchor Steam, and a couple college buddies, I drop a quarter in the jukebox and there she was: Old Cape Cod. There’s only one other song that is more evocative of the Cape gone-by, and that in my mind is the Thompson’s Clam Bar jingle. Anyway, I punched in the buttons, sat down, picked up my beer, and toasted the Cape as she began to sing:
Patti Page: 1927-2012, RIP: (New York Times obituary)
Thought this was a really nice mini-eulogy, David. I have to say, as a music nerd and jazz aficionado, I take it hard as each icon of the golden age leaves us. I always think of the “Great Day in Harlem” photo of jazz greats–Life Magazine re-staged it years later and it was chilling to see all the deceased musicians missing from it.
I wrote this piece when a documentary came out on the subject: http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/a-great-day-revisited/Content?oid=1191509
Hope you’re well–think of you often here in the social media trenches.
–G