LH, I was yanking your chain with "Midnight at the Oasis." I always liked it also. I picked a couple of songs from the same era for points of reference. No one said anything about Melanie's "Brand New Key." A genunine odd-ball that did serve to define "cute."

I was looking for one I couldn't remember the name, I am teasing the tune out of the ether of time, and came across this list of hits from 1970:

1. Venus - The Shocking Blue
2. Mama Told Me (Not To Come) - Three Dog Night
3. I Think I Love You - The Partridge Family   
4. The Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
5. The Rapper - The Jaggerz
6. I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
7. Spirit In The Sky - Norman Greenbaum
8. Vehicle - The Ides Of March
9. War - Edwin Starr
10. Green-Eyed Lady - Sugarloaf


I was, in fact, looking for "Spill the Wine" (War). I heard that a lot one summer when I was in high school, and since I didn't have a job I was reading several Classics. I'd sit up late at night when it was cool in my attic bedroom, window open, radio on in the background, and read. And the songs that came on were an odd array that when I hear them today they transport me back to that really rather marvelous summer.

SRS