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Meltzer's Musings: Summer Madness |
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Earlier this morning I heard two songs that instantly transport me to another place and remind me of my childhood in Philadelphia. One of the song was "Summer Madness" by Kool and the Gang (hence today's blog title). The instrumental was used extremely effectively in the first Rocky movie. It's in one of the opening scenes, where Rocky returns home to his apartment and turns on his record player before going over to mirror to practice telling a joke before noticing a photograph of himself at 8 years old.
The other song was "The Hustle," which brought back happy memories -- hockey memories --- from my childhood. In the dog days of the offseason -- and in writing a pretty detailed topical hockey blog in substitution for Eklund (who is still on the mend from surgery and not quite ready to write yet) -- I thought that it might be a fun change of pace to talk about songs that may not specifically be about hockey (obviously including "The Hockey Song") but which make you think about hockey.
It could be a song you associate with hearing frequently at the area, a song you play to psyche yourself up for a game, or anything else that triggers an association with hockey (such as songs used on the EA Sports NHL games).
To me, the Van McCoy "Hustle" song does not conjure images of people doing bad "Saturday Night Fever" impersonations or wedding line dances. It's the tune that used to play when the minor league (first NAHL, then AHL) Philadelphia Firebirds took to the ice at the Philadelphia Civic Center in the mid 1970s.
Likewise, hearing "Right Back Where We Started From" often puts me in the mood to watch Slap Shot again. Lines from the movie swirl in my mind from the very first familiar strains. There are other, more recent songs that have the same effect, but I'll hold them for the comments section. I'd be interested in hearing which songs of the past or present make you think of hockey. (By the way, during the NHL lockout in 2004-05, one of the few things I didn't miss about being at the arena was being regularly subjected to "Cotton Eyed Joe" -- one of the worst Swedish imports this side of Hardy Åström).
Anyhow, let's get back to the memories triggered by hearing "the Hustle."
Before I saw my first live NHL game, I'd been to about a half-dozen Firebirds games. The tickets, of course, were much cheaper and more readily available than to games for the "Broad Street Bully" era Flyers at the Spectrum.
One of the often-forgotten facets of pro hockey in Philly in the 70s was that you could not only watch Clarke, MacLeish, Schultz and Barber playing for the Flyers at the Spectrum, for a time you could also go the Civic Center and see (Mike) Clarke, (Dale) MacLeish, (Ray) Schultz and (John) Barber suit up for the Firebirds in the NAHL. Dale MacLeish and Ray Schultz were the brothers of their Flyers counterparts.
My favorite Firebirds player, however, was Gordie "Road Hog" Brooks. A prolific minor league goal scorer, Brooks spent brief NHL stints with the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals. For my 35th birthday, my wife went to Mitchell&Ness and surprised me with a Gordie Brooks Firebirds jersey that is one of my absolute sentimental favorites among the hockey jerseys I've accumulated over the years.
Today, when I think back to the games at the Civic Center, I think of the green helmets the players wore, the team's Lockhart Cup championship season and some of the colorful player nicknames (in addition to Road Hog, in the Firebirds AHL days there was former Red Wings Dave "Crash" Kelly and Fred "Fats" Williams, former Maple Leafs' first round pick Bob "Waldo" Neely, enforcer Mike "Barretta" Haworth and a host of others).
By the way, Miracle on Ice Team USA captain Mike Eruzione played briefly for the Firebirds before gaining fame in Lake Placid. Former Flyers goaltending coach and longtime NHL backup Reggie Lemelin was also a Firebird. So was future broadcaster Steve Coates, which may explain why the team promptly moved to Syracuse (just kidding, Coatesy).
So many memories come flooding back when I hear that silly little '70s relic. Every time I hear "the Hustle," it brings a little smile to my face as, in my imagination, the Road Hog rides again at the old Civic Center.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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