WFMU's Beware of the Blog kindly digitized this 45 RPM record of "Meet Me in Seattle," which was the theme song for the 1962 World's Fair.
There's a reason why you can't write music that appeals to everyone, unless you're the odd genius who can pen an "Mmm...Bop" or "Macarena." When you try, you wind up watering things down to the point where they're meaningless. That's one of two problems with this song. It says nothing about the fair itself, instead serving up a "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" great-date theme, minus the baseball love or love for much of anything. To their credit, the songwriters did slip the marvelous double-entendre, "If you're gonna kiss me, kiss me there" into the lyrics, a lone conceit to songwriting skill handcuffed by the need for that elusive mass appeal.
The other problem with the song is the recording. By 1962 standards, this is dreadful. It sounds like the band was encased in an oildrum and miced from the outside. Audiophiles should note that this recording will likely reverse the magnetic fields in your Harmen-Kardon speakers.
If You're Gonna Kiss Me, Kiss Me There
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As a sci-fi starved kid in the 70s I used to love trips to Seattle and the Space Needle. I'm still waiting for the saucer section to separate and fly off...
I'm waiting for the lower tower structure to articulate into legs and watch the whole thing amble away over Queen Anne hill.
@biyobi
Shh, not so loud. Michael Bay might hear you.
Or even your harmAn-kardon speakers...
If you play it backwards, the magnetic fields of your speakers will turn everything in the room into antimatter.
Wow that song is awwwwwwful!
I love Seattle by the way, it's my hometown and I was not even one year old when the fair opened.
DO they even have Worlds Fairs anymore - how quaint.
@6 : Oh, certainly. One just finished in Spain, and the next one will be in Shanghai in 2010.
What's on the flipside?
An instrumental version of the same tune?
Lame filler?
For better or (probably) worse, the 1982 theme was much catchier. It still pops in my head - even though it was so long ago.
See also: "Bart on the Road".
There are people that *like* the macarena? Sheesh.
"It sounds like the band was encased in an oildrum and miced from the outside."
It sounds very much like a recording of its time. It's been heavily soaked in reverb to sound like, say, Les Paul or Mitch Miller.
Other than that I'm surprised at how good the quality. No scratches, no pops, no 'been played a million times' high-end loss. The record (if it was transcribed from one) must not have been played much (which wouldn't surprise me!!).
Hah! My son (11) was looking over my shoulder and caught the double-entendre before I did.
It may not be a great song, but if you grew in or around Seattle during the 60s-70s, it sounds like Seattle: something that might be sung on JP Patches or used on an ad with Ivar Haglund.