# "Palisades Park": help me out, people- this is NOT and obscure song, am I right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759 "2009-12-18T17:37:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/61 "2009-12-20T02:46:50Z")
Born 1953. Huge music lover and used to be involved in the music industry managing bands and doing audio engineering. Have never heard of Freddy Cannon and only know the song as a “who cares”\* Ramones\* album filler. I am pretty sure that in Australia it would only be known to real\* Ramones \*fans with memories good enough to recall the lacklustre reading they give of it on _Brain Drain_. I vote very obscure. I should add I have never heard any version played on air. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/62 "2009-12-20T14:41:34Z")
Born in ‘48 and it and Breakin’ Up Is Hard To Do (by Sadaka) got me into rock and roll. I became a top 40 disc jockey in the mid ‘60s and the rollercoster effect on Palisades Park was my lead in. [irrational shouting]"…And now it’s time for TV on the radio comin’ at you with the big, Big, BIG sounds of KUBC hit, Hit, HITS radio!!!"[/irrational shouting] ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/63 "2009-12-20T15:21:27Z")
I was born in 1980 outside of Houston, and heard on my mom’s oldies station as I was growing up. She would always sing “Garner State Park” since that’s where her family went when she was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/64 "2009-12-21T04:07:02Z")
Oregonian geezer, 60. Remember the song when it came out, as well as Transistor Sister and Way Down Yonder in New Orleans and Abigail Beecher, Tallahassee Lassie and Buzz-Buzz-a-Diddle-It. I used to play them on my show at the local radio station as oldies when I worked there 1966-70. Great fun, good 60s dance music, and ya gotta love “Boom Boom” Cannon as a stage name for a guy born Frederico Anthony Picariello. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/65 "2009-12-21T05:08:02Z")
I’m 59. I remember it well from when it was a hit, though I’ve only very rarely heard it on oldies stations. From east of the Mississippi, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/66 "2009-12-21T12:54:37Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Maybe semi-obscure, but a song that, once heard, you’re unlikely to ever forget. Yep, definitely… especially the bridge (? – not a music person) with the odd hurdy-gurdy sound (or at least that’s what it sounds like to me). The song is very familiar, but I wouldn’t have been able to name the singer. Born '66 in NZ… is that west or east of the Mississippi? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/67 "2009-12-21T12:59:37Z")
I’m 56, grew up in western Pennsylvania with a radio glued to my ear, never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/68 "2009-12-21T19:13:26Z")
Born in 1962, born & raised in SE Indiana, I know I’ve heard this song. Up till now I’ve never “listened” to it- couldn’t tell you what the title or lyrics were at all. It’s one of those “Never heard of it” until I played a few seconds & then “OHHH! That’s what that is!” BUT I have heard it! ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/69 "2009-12-21T19:24:21Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I was born in the late '50s, and I am familiar with the song - but i doubt I would have paid enough attention to it to remember it today, if not for the fact that when I was a kid I heard the radio ads for the actual Palisades Park amusement park. When I hear the song, I pay just a bit more attention because of that memory. > > I can see why someone who didn’t grow up in that location or era wouldn’t be familiar with the song. I was born in 1958. I know the song from the radio ads for Palisades Park too; I even went to the amusement park once. I never heard of the guy who sings the song though. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/70 "2009-12-21T19:53:19Z")
I only opened this thread because I misread the title as ““Palisades Park”: help me out, people- this is NOT and **obscene** song, am I right?” And I only know the title, I don’t know the actual song. Joe ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/71 "2009-12-21T20:22:11Z")
Obscurity, I believe, is in the Eye of the Beholder. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/72 "2009-12-22T08:16:26Z")
I was born in 1943 and I’m fairly certain that it’s the Freddy Cannon version that I remember. East of the Mississippi. **Sigmagirl** , I think I can still play “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans” on the keyboards. Doing just that made me a bunch of friends among a group of strangers. They just happened to be from New Orleans. I hadn’t thought of that memory in about forty years – maybe more. “Creole babies with flashing eyes…” (_Babies_ or _ladies_?) ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/73 "2009-12-22T09:20:57Z")
I am 29, and I only know the song because it was on heavy rotation in my grandparents’ music collection. I’ve never heard it on the radio or in any medium other than personal home entertainment, and I’ve never heard it anywhere other than my grandparents’ house. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/74 "2009-12-22T11:05:00Z")
I’m 32 and love this song (though I haven’t heard it in a while). My parents listened to 50s and 60s music pretty much as a standard all throughout my childhood, though, so I am relatively familiar with songs from the era. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759/75 "2009-12-22T13:50:23Z")
Creole babies with flashing eyes softly whisper with tender sighs! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palisades-park-help-me-out-people-this-is-not-and-obscure-song-am-i-right/521759.md?page=3)