"Palisades Park": help me out, people- this is NOT and obscure song, am I right?

Cafe Society
21

It used to be common on oldies stations, at least up to around 1990. Subsequently I found an oldies station that played a lot more 50’s R&B stuff. When that station died and I had to go looking around again, I found that most oldies stations barely dipped into the 60’s anymore. So, I suspect a lot of stuff is slipping into the memory hole now. Recently, I discovered that a co-worker of mine didn’t recognize a picture of Buddy Holly.

If Palisades Park is vanishing from collective memory, then Way Down Yonder in New Orleans and Transister Sister must be gone already.

22

I’m 39. Recall hearing this song on oldies radio frequently throughout the '70s and '80s. I don’t think I’ve heard it once in the last twenty years, though.

23

I know it. I’m 31 and grew up west of the Mississippi.

24
  1. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it, though it’s hard to be sure, as it doesn’t really sound that distinctive.
25

I know it. I’m 39, east of the Mississippi, and have never heard the Ramones version.

26

Not to mention Abigail Beecher:

“Hey, everybody get out of the street now
I hear the roar of an XKE now
Sloppy sweater and pony tail
And the cop on the corner is turnin’ pale
Whoo! It’s Abigail Beecher, our history teacher”

27

Way Down Yonder in New Orleans came out in 1922. Freddy did it a favor in '59.

28

Wow! I didn’t know this one, but one look at those lyrics and I went running to YouTube . . .
. . . this song kicks ass!!!

Thank you for sharing!

Good responses here. Without doing the math it seems close to 50/50.
Interesting to compare these comments:

Such different impressions from each listening to the same song. Interesting.

29

Same answer here.

30

Californian here: I know it–first heard it in 1971, I think–but have only heard it a very few times in my life. Not something that was ever a staple of any oldies station I’ve ever heard.

31

Well, I think it’s the difference between listening to a song for the first time and knowing it quite well (even from a nostalgic haze). Sampling audio sounds and real world effects is more normal now, but having the calliope bridge and the rollercoaster audio made for a pretty distinctive sound back then. YMMV.

32

I’ve never owned a recording of it, but I know it well from the radio.

I’m 45, and have lived within a few miles of the Pacific most all of my radio-listening life.

33

41 years old, never lived anywhere that didn’t have “Carolina” in the name, stayed pretty current on popular music since before I could talk through the mid-to-late 80s, and this song (I also Googled the lyrics) rings no bells for me at all.

34

I know the song well, but I’m also in my late-40s and like old music.

35

This is my memory of the song as well. I’m 28 and I remember hearing it on oldies stations all the time when I was a little kid. Then it disappeared and I didn’t hear it again until Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, but it instantly came back to me as a song I “know.”

36

I was born in 1966 and I knew the song even before I read Chuck’s book. I was surprised to find out that he had written it.

37

I only know it from one of those 80s compilation commercials a la “Freedom Rock” (hell, it might have BEEN Freedom Rock for all I remember), where they play the medley of songs while the titles scroll by.

I can still hear it in my mind: “At Palisades Park - A thumb goes up, a car goes by, it’s nearly 1 a.m. and here am I Hitchin’ a riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide - Indian Lake is a scene you should make with your little one - Undercover angels, midnight tennesee - The night chicago dieeeeed” etc.

I’m probably misremembering parts of it but you get the idea.

38

I was born in 1962. I didn’t fully recognize the name, but did know the song once I heard it. It’s not a song I hear a lot, but might be okay with some better sound quality.

39

Born in 1965, grew up in the Midwest.

Know this song, though not well, but I’m a fan of old-style rock. I don’t think I’ve heard the song in many years; most radio stations that play the “oldies” format don’t go back that far anymore.

40

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.