Saturday 21 July 2012

SATURDAY NIGHT JUKEBOX! - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - 'Summertime'



DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - 'Summertime' (1991)

School is out and it's sort of a buzz...........I've never found a song that has just got it so right. It almost gets me misty eyed now as this song is exactly like it was back in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the last day of school. OK so in 1991 I was only 10 and I didn't even know what an aphrodisiac was, but the memories are still so vivid. We'd finish our last day of school around 1pm and I would come home to an empty house as everyone was still at work or out. I had a ritual, as I was in such high spirits, I would play a select few CD tracks loud on the family hifi. Two that were the mantra for the next three months were 'School's Out' by Alice Cooper and 'Summertime' by The Fresh Prince. The evening progressed much like that of the one in the film 'Dazed and Confused'. I was like a human hummingbird, flitting from one group of friends to the next until at the end we'd all end up in the same place, a party somewhere, often at my house as an 18 year old Flycasual was back from the UK.

We'd hop on our bikes and meet at the Star Market, grab a chicken in a bun from Fast Eddies, the local diner and hang out joint. Funny thing is, Fast Eddies wasn't particularly fast and I know the owner's name damn well wasn't Eddie. It was likely to be something a bit more Arabic sounding. That asides, his burgers and fries were outstanding. Next we hung out at the Water Tower until more troops joined in, there would usually be a rumour about a massive game of Jail Break at the high rises in the compound or a fight which would never happen.

Last day of school? Parents just don't understand!
How about a pit stop at the Roller disco? It would be rude not to! And I still have some money left over for a raspberry and blueberry snow-cone! Hey there's mum and dad playing tennis on the next court, I pop by and say hello. Great news! Dad is ordering pizza for later on! Then its back on the bikes because there's a BBQ party going on somewhere! I know 10 years old was a bit young for slow dancing but it was all the rage! Boyz II Men and The Bodyguard soundtrack being the main faves (oh my god, I know!). Sigh....those really were the best days of my life!

There's an air of love and of happiness, Fresh Prince's new definition of summer madness was spot on.

Meet you at the water tower at 19:30...


More musical reminiscing? Have a browse of my Saturday Night Jukebox!

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SATURDAY NIGHT JUKEBOX! - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - 'Summertime'
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1 comments:

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28 July 2012 at 15:25

Excellent post, spot on and a fitting homage to the Fresh Prince's classic. It's no exaggeration that the last day of school was similar to what he was rhyming about and of course the general feel good factor of the song. It is indeed why I also love Dazed and Confused. Fast Eddie was infact named Nathan, I was on first name terms with the portly Sri Lankan after the amount of 'specials' I had for ten Riyals. I remember one of my friends who I skated with was the only one who could drive and we were always try to time it so that we would drive past the 'Star Market' of B-ball court just when he says "two miles an hour so everybody sees you", I think we managed it once. If I have one beef about the song is that I always believed he had too much on. How could you fit all that in?

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