Post by boogieboarder on Sept 27, 2022 9:27:02 GMT -5
I don’t understand why The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean version of California is considered a myth. If you grew up in California, particularly Southern California, you went to school all year from September to June. It was tough. The schools were strict. But from mid June to mid September you were off. (This national schedule was apparently a holdover from the days when children were needed on the farms).
So, you could do anything all summer. No school, no work. You went to the beach every chance you got. You laid around getting a tan and played in the sand, went body surfing or actual surfing, and the girls were all wearing bikinis. You’d bring a transistor radio to the beach. Every beach blanket had the top 40 blaring out: The Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Motown, Mamas and Papas, Sonny and Cher. If you played guitar, you’d bring it. Some beaches allowed campfires at night.
If you weren’t at the beach, you were riding a bike somewhere, or going to a park. Or a local public or private swimming pool: you could stay there for hours, all afternoon.
It was always sunny, all summer long. It wouldn’t rain until November. If you were older, you’d drive your own car. If not you’d get your parents or older siblings to drive you. You’d go to drive-in movies at night, or regular movies during the day. Beach Party movies, science fiction, horror, Jerry Lewis comedies.
So where’s the myth? What myth? It was all real.
So, you could do anything all summer. No school, no work. You went to the beach every chance you got. You laid around getting a tan and played in the sand, went body surfing or actual surfing, and the girls were all wearing bikinis. You’d bring a transistor radio to the beach. Every beach blanket had the top 40 blaring out: The Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Motown, Mamas and Papas, Sonny and Cher. If you played guitar, you’d bring it. Some beaches allowed campfires at night.
If you weren’t at the beach, you were riding a bike somewhere, or going to a park. Or a local public or private swimming pool: you could stay there for hours, all afternoon.
It was always sunny, all summer long. It wouldn’t rain until November. If you were older, you’d drive your own car. If not you’d get your parents or older siblings to drive you. You’d go to drive-in movies at night, or regular movies during the day. Beach Party movies, science fiction, horror, Jerry Lewis comedies.
So where’s the myth? What myth? It was all real.