Summer Nights and My Radio

I got my drivers license in March of 1986 which meant the summer of ‘86 was the first summer of freedom for my friends and I. Several of us were able to drive at that point and there were no cell phones so once we left the house our parents had no way of knowing where we were or what we were doing. We could get into as much mischief as we wanted and, as long as we were home on time, no harm no foul. And to quote that great theologian, Kevin McCallister in Home Alone 2, “ma’am, sometimes I do get into mischief. We all do!”.

There were two albums that were the soundtrack to our summer mischief: 5150 from Van Halen and The Big Prize from Honeymoon Suite. I mean, honestly, with a song titled “Summer Nights”, that Van Halen album was a no-brainer, right? No matter what car we were in, somehow one of those tapes made it into the tape deck. I probably have a story for just about every song on both of those albums. First time kissing a cute little blue eyed, blonde haired girl while sitting on the hood of my car? “What Does It Take” from Honeymoon Suite. My first drag race on the half-mile strip of the back road to Circle Mountain? “Get Up” from Van Halen was playing (my car looked and sounded tough but I got blown out). Sunbathing at the waterfalls of Osage State Park and jumping off the bluff? “Dreams” and “Wounded”.

That summer, they were the albums that were playing while we congregated in parking lots with our classmates and dragged Washington Boulevard from Price Road to Tuxedo Drive, while we TP’d houses and went on first dates. I can still see all their faces: Mike, Ron, Jennifer, Kim, David, John, Joe, Lisa, Lacey, Loren, Jeff, Jessica, and on and on and on.

I still listen to both of these albums on a regular basis. More so when May rolls around and the days are warm and starting to get long and I’m feeling nostalgic. I’m transported to the summer of ‘86.

Summer nights and my radio. Well that’s all we need, baby, don’tcha know? We celebrate when the gang’s all here. Ah, hot summer nights, that’s my time of the year.