Episode 79 kicks off with a look back at the potentially final screening of the Lady of the Dunes documentary that debuted in April. The film, produced by Frank Durant, has been a popular talking point on the podcast including a long-form interview with Frank in Episode 62. This segment will look back at the final screening, look forward to the companion book that will be released in the near future, and also give an overview of the Lady of the Dunes murder mystery for those who might be unfamiliar with it.
We go from reality to fiction with a unique and different Road Trip segment. Rather than looking at a place to go spend a few days, this week's segment looks at fictional New England places. It includes towns from famous movies and television shows, places you'll immediately recognize, and others you might have never heard of.
It's the dog days of summer and this week's episode celebrates it. First is a trip way Back In the Day to look at what it was like being a child of the 1980s and the excitement that came when the ice cream truck made its way into the neighborhood.
Summer is celebrated even more with a brand new Top 5 that looks at some of the best summertime songs. Whether lying on a beach towel, sailing on the ocean, or driving a winding road at sunset, these songs are likely to enhance the good vibes.
There is a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule looking back at the murder of an Old West legend, Wild Bill Hickok.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 78 here.
Episode 79 kicks off with a look back at the potentially final screening of the Lady of the Dunes documentary that debuted in April. The film, produced by Frank Durant, has been a popular talking point on the podcast including a long-form interview with Frank in Episode 62. This segment will look back at the final screening, look forward to the companion book that will be released in the near future, and also give an overview of the Lady of the Dunes murder mystery for those who might be unfamiliar with it.
We go from reality to fiction with a unique and different Road Trip segment. Rather than looking at a place to go spend a few days, this week's segment looks at fictional New England places. It includes towns from famous movies and television shows, places you'll immediately recognize, and others you might have never heard of.
It's the dog days of summer and this week's episode celebrates it. First is a trip way Back In the Day to look at what it was like being a child of the 1980s and the excitement that came when the ice cream truck made its way into the neighborhood.
Summer is celebrated even more with a brand new Top 5 that looks at some of the best summertime songs. Whether lying on a beach towel, sailing on the ocean, or driving a winding road at sunset, these songs are likely to enhance the good vibes.
There is a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule looking back at the murder of an Old West legend, Wild Bill Hickok.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 78 here.
Intro
Hello World. And welcome to the in my footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. Coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. And this is episode 79. I am back after a week off due to commitments to the final Lady of the dunes documentary screening. So this week we're going to kick off the podcast by talking about that screening what it was like and what the future could hold for the lady of the dunes documentary and the book I am writing. But there's more. We're gonna follow it up with a road trip, going to a whole bunch of fictional New England towns from different TV shows, movies, et cetera, see which ones are familiar to you. We're gonna go way way back in the day to talk about what it was like to be a child in the 80s and 90s when the ice cream truck came around, and you heard that music, there's going to be a brand new top five as we continue to celebrate summer with the top five summertime songs. And of course, there'll be a brand new this week in history and Time Capsule all coming up right now on episode 79 of the in my footsteps podcast. I am back. Howdy everybody. Welcome into August. I hope everyone's staying cool boy has it been hot everywhere in this country. I'd like to give a special shout-out to Mr. Willis carrier Who is he? He is the father of air conditioning and all thank God for him on days like we've had recently. But like I said, I took last week off from the podcast due to commitments to the lady of the dunes documentary final screening. I'm gonna get deeper into that in a few minutes of what it was like and what the future holds for the project, the documentary, The Book, et cetera. I wanted to first say a special thank you to everybody out there who has been tuning in through all these episodes. Last month, the month of July was the top month for the podcast for downloads, which broke the record that was set the month before in June. So back to back months being the top months for downloads, that is a good trajectory to be on. And I can't do that without you folks that listen, you who share it, who give positive reviews share word of mouth. And as we go I've got a lot more content. I hope you'll keep tuning in and I hope you'll bring others along for the ride and if this is your first time welcome whether you are from New England or beyond over in France and Germany. I've got listeners so hello to you as well. Word of mouth is the best way to promote the podcast but you can always buy me a coffee go to buy me a coffee.com Find the in my footsteps podcast. Any donations go towards advertising the podcast and you'll get a shout-out on a future episode. Because I skipped last week's episode I was not able to give a special birthday shout-out to my baby sisters, Lindsay and Ashley. But you get the better late-than-never birthday treatment we'll definitely have a chance to celebrate. Although I think by the time this podcast goes up, we will have already done that. So hopefully it was fun. I'm sure it was. And although it's the dog days of summer, I've got my eyes towards fall. My favorite time of year it begins right after Labor Day. Tourists leave the cape, which opens up a lot of the beaches, a lot of the roads, but the weather is still great. Then we get into the fall foliage. Then we get into my favorite holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas yet the end of the year. I like summer, but I love fall. So definitely take advantage of these last few weeks of summer. Granted, it's going to be hot as hell a lot of these days. But when it's wintertime, and it's snowing, and possibly below zero wind chills, you'll look back towards these days of wish it was summer again. But like I said at the top of this podcast I skipped last week for the lady of the dunes documentary final screening. So let's dive into that and get a little more into what it was like for anyone that's not familiar with the documentary or my involvement with it. So that'll be how we kick off the podcast right now on episode 79.
Lady of the Dunes Documentary Final Screening
It was a fun and unique night at the final screening of the lady of the dunes documentary at the water's edge cinema in Provincetown. The date chosen was July 26, which corresponded with the anniversary of the day that the lady of the dunes' body was found in Provincetown for longtime listeners of the podcast this is going to be covering some ground you've already heard as far as the documentary, The Book, etc. But for those of you that have never listened to the podcast if this is your first time, I'll try to give you a crash course in my involvement in this last May, May of 2021, producer Frank Durant reached out to me asking if I wanted to write the book companion to the lady of the dunes documentary he was working on. He had found me through my website, Christopher setterlund.com, through my Cape Cod history blogs, and some articles I've written in the books, etc. Being a longtime Cape Codder having the chance to be a part of potentially solving the lady of the dunes mystery that I grew up with was too much to pass up on. So I've worked a lot with Frank over the last 14-plus months. The documentary is amazing. So well shot with so many details that Frank was able to uncover that others have not due to the help of the Medes family. Chief Jimmy Meads was the one who worked on the case a lot in Provincetown during his tenure, and the family vouching for Frank opened a lot of doors that got him a lot of information that nobody else has gotten. For those of you that have some knowledge of the case, if you've got your information from places like Wikipedia, Buzzfeed, others, most of that information is BS, not necessarily their fault. But what's been released is not a lot of the truth. And this isn't really a hard sell or soft sell to see the documentary or get the book when both are available more readily. It's just stating the facts from the things that I've worked on. Everyone who has seen the documentary at its various screenings agrees it's amazing. It's shot well, it gives them pause it makes them think about a case that is almost 50 years unsolved. Besides the titular Lady of the dunes herself. There's a big spider web of other names from the Provincetown and Cape Cod area of the late 60s, and early 70s. You can open up this can of worms without bringing in other names like Tony Costa, Whitey Bulger, Hadden Clark, and many more. It's just it's all there. Like I said, there have been several screenings. And it seemed like during a lot of these screenings, that those would be the last, but the popularity keeps it going. Frank has several companies distribution companies fighting over the rights to the film, but it's sort of like The Godfather analogy. Every time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in. So even this “final” screening at the water's edge cinema might not be the final screening. I don't want to put words in Frank's mouth. I've heard a few things. But if there are no other screenings, at least there won't be any fingers pointing at me. We had a big day planned for the actual anniversary, there was a radio appearance to be had me, Frank, Steven, the medium, and a special mystery guest. But life sometimes intervenes. And there was a family emergency for Frank, and he could not make it down for the radio interview for the screening of the film. But Frank didn't want to cancel. So he ended up leaving it in the hands of myself and Steven the medium, the radio appearance got canceled. Because once Frank put it out there that he wasn't going to be there. The DJ that was going to interview all of us was like, well, we can do it another time, which I could totally understand. It's like if you were going to get a chance to interview a famous artist painter, but instead, the painter couldn't make it and you got the maid that cleaned their floors. They were there a lot for the paintings and have some info but God, do you want to get the head person or do you want to get someone kind of on the fringes. And that's not to insult me or Steven the medium but this is Frank's baby. If you've never been to the water's edge cinema in Provincetown, it's a part of the whaler's wharf. It's beautiful in there. Legit right on the water, open air. The cinema is one theater, about 70 seats, kind of small, like a shoebox with a screen, but in a charming way. The people that run it are amazing, very friendly, very knowledgeable. I was there super early so if I could be of any service greet people say hello. Apologize that Frank wasn't there. I have had this fun experience at every single one of the screenings I've been to where because I am writing the book. I'm privy to all of the inside information from Frank. I have 80 pages of notes from him about the process of the film, all of the information, he got speculation, and some potential avenues to explore for the case. But what it ends up is that these people that were part of the film come to the screenings, they have no idea who I am, but I know who they are just based on hearing their names. And so what has ended up happening, it's happened at every single event is that I hear these people's names, and I tell them things about themselves. And they think that I'm a psychic, and freaks them out a bit. And then I have to explain who I am, why I'm there, and how I know them. So it's pretty funny. It happened again, at the final screening where someone thought that Steven, the medium was Frank went up to introduce themselves, and I heard the name and I said, Oh, I know you and I started rattling off some stuff. And they kind of freaked out in a good way. And then once they knew who I was, then they didn't want to stop talking to me. Having the final screening of the documentary in Provincetown, on the anniversary of the day that the lady of the dunes was found was very symbolic and not by accident. Because it's been almost 50 years, this case hasn't been solved. I am Frank and the rest of us that are associated with it. We're not interested in who killed her. We're interested in finding out who she was, so that she can have a proper burial, a proper headstone that is more than just a body found in Dunes, she deserves her name on her tombstone. And through all my work on the book, I have my leads my thoughts on my hopes on who I think it could be. But again, it comes down now to DNA, they have her skull, all you need is a grain of sand worth of DNA, and the DNA Doe project based out of California, they solve these cases, they crowdfund to get the money to do it. But they offer to solve these cases, and they've done it. And they've offered three times to solve the lady of the dunes case to run the DNA. All they need is a piece of skull, and three times they have been turned down to do it. And again, we could get into the whys. Why are they refused the opportunity to solve this case? What is being hidden, I don't care about that. I'm looking to get this solved, helping in any way I can. Whether that's this podcast or the book, or trying to get a petition together. Everyone deserves at least a name. We're all human. At the very least right now this woman is as much a mystery a ghost story. And for those of you that still don't know anything about the lady of the dunes case, go back in the archives of the podcast, I interviewed Frank on Episode 62, when we were heading up to Provincetown during the week of the first screening back in April. And I've spoken about it a couple of times, which is why I'm trying not to just rehash stuff, for those of you that have listened to the podcast all the way through. The screening was a sellout. It was a success. I enjoyed watching this film for I believe I've seen it five times now. And knowing certain scenes that are coming up, so I can hear the crowd's reaction to it seems like I just mentioned about the DNA Doe project being refused three times a chance to get DNA. That scene is in there, or the scene at the end where Frank reveals who he believes that she is, I'm not going to spoil it. But after the film was over, we were supposed to have a q&a. It was going to be frank, myself and Steven the medium. But without Frank there. It was just myself and Steven. Now, we're very knowledgeable Stevens in the film, and I'm working on the book. I mean, the book is done. But I've worked on the book. So we're knowledgeable. We were good proxies for Frank. And I had a lot of the answers that people were looking forward to some of their questions. But it did feel weird to be there doing a q&a on the lady of the dunes documentary without the person that created it. It was at least an hour from the time that the film ended to the time that I walked out of the water's edge cinema well over an hour. And I was handing out my business cards because Frank had said, If anyone had questions for him, for me to give them my business card, they could email me and then I could forward the email to Frank and he would respond. So it's sort of like playing telephone. I don't have details on distribution yet as far as where this will be available when it goes to distribution. That should be coming in the weeks and months to come. And naturally I'll have all that info. I will share it on the podcast and social media of course, so you won't have to wonder about it when I know you'll know. And with the book the book is written It's 91,000 words, it is a matter now of doing some edits to kind of tighten it up. But also to find myself a literary agent to pitch this book to the biggest publishers. This is no insult to the mid-level publishers. But this book is important, this project is important. I believe in it. So I'm aiming as high as I can possibly go with this. And when I get all of that information, I will share that as well with you. But besides the film going to distribution, the book getting published, it was very symbolic being there on the anniversary of the date that the lady of the dunes was found, I made it a point to go to her grave at St. Peter's cemetery, and left a little gift for her and again reiterated the whole purpose of being there was to find her name, give her her name. Because there are a lot of you out there True Crime buffs that enjoy this type of stuff. I enjoy this type of stuff, the podcasts that do true crime, even mine have better numbers. But the bottom line you strip away everything with this case, it is a human being that was viciously and savagely murdered, dismembered left in the dunes to just rot in the hot sun. And whatever happened, whatever choices were made to get to that point, that's all irrelevant. Now, the only thing left to do with the lady of the dooms case is to find the DNA, get the DNA, get it worked on, give her her name, give her that tombstone that she deserves. And just bring closure. Because like I said, As humans, we all deserve at least that dignity of having our name on our tombstone, it's not too much to ask. And I was very reflective and wistful when I left the water's edge cinema, walked out on the beach, and just stood out there under the stars under the bright lights of the skyline of Provincetown, with the pilgrim monument all lit up and just thought about it the scope of all of this. And it's humbling to potentially have the answer to this 50-year-old Cold Case in my hands to potentially have a chance to be a part of that. As a longtime Cape Codder, as a person who loves this place, I feel a kind of sense of responsibility to remove this unsolved mystery from the books. But that's my jumbled way of explaining what it was like for the final screening of the lady of the dunes documentary we did on the anniversary of the day she was found. If you have gone to see the documentary, thank you so much for supporting us. And I will keep you posted on the future developments of the documentary of the book. And hopefully at some point of the resolution of the case of the lady of the dunes.
Road Trip: Fictional New England Towns
For this week's road trip, I decided to do something a little bit different than what we're used to. Typically I tell you about a spot in New England or it's been beyond at some points. And I rave about places to check out historic spots where to stay where to eat, and I tell you to go there. This week, I thought it would be fun to do something different where we explore fictional New England places and towns, spots in movies and TV shows that are supposed to take place in New England, but they're places that don't really exist in name. It's not going to quite be a top-five list. But I do have a list of places there are 11 total that I wanted to mention and dive a little bit deeper into some of them. Now, when it comes to this list of fictional New England places, and the movies and shows that they're associated with, there are some that I'm not going to be able to give you much of an opinion on because I don't know the shows or watch the shows. So with a lot of apologies to people that are fans of the shows, for example, there's Capeside, Massachusetts, where the TV show Dawson's Creek was supposed to have taken place. My sisters probably could give you a better idea of Dawson's Creek and what the show was all about. I mean, I knew it, but I didn't watch it. So I couldn't tell you anything about Capeside Massachusetts, except that is probably sounding Capeside makes it seem like it's probably a take off of Cape Cod. So it's probably a lot like where I live. As little as I know about Cape side and Dawson's Creek. I know even less about Cabot Cove, Maine, where the TV show Murder She Wrote took place. I just know that was a show starring Angela Lansbury in the 1980s but I couldn't tell you anything about Cabot Cove. And in the same vein as Dawson's Creek, there was the Gilmore Girls which took place in Stars Hollow Connecticut. Again my sisters would probably be more able to tell you about Gilmore Girls and therefore Stars Hollow Connecticut. When it comes to Mandrake Falls, New Hampshire, which was seen in the Adam Sandler movie Mr. Deeds, I can tell you that it was the town of New Milford, New Hampshire that was transformed into that Mandrake falls. And interestingly, Mr. Deeds with a remake of Frank Capra's 1936 movie, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. And interestingly, in that film, Mandrake Falls was in Vermont and not New Hampshire. And then there's the little town of Latham, Massachusetts, from the very last episode of the TV show Seinfeld. This is when the group is on their way to Paris to celebrate and they have an emergency landing in Latham. So wherever this Latham Massachusetts was supposed to be, it had an airport. Now granted, that doesn't necessarily make it a big city, because down on Cape Cod, Chatham and Provincetown have airports and they're hardly big cities. But they did have the Good Samaritan Law when they're all making fun of the guy getting robbed and filming it. And that was comedian John Pinette. But then they all end up in jail in Latham because they did not help. And then there was the town of winter river Connecticut, which was from Tim Burton's classic movie Beetlejuice. There was this beautiful small town with rolling green hills and it had that giant creepy house that was kind of the center of attention. Ironically, it was not filmed in anywhere in Connecticut. It was filmed in the town of East Corinth, Vermont. So you could go and visit East Corinthian maybe get kind of a feel like you were at winter River in Beetlejuice. But it was not a real place. And then of course, there's the iconic Derry Maine from the Stephen King books and movies it has been the setting of several Stephen King books and movies. And it's supposed to be Stephen King's view of the town of Bangor, Maine. Although if you go to the map on Stephen King's official website, the town of Derry is closer to the town of Etna, which is about 15 miles west of Bangor. And there's Spurbury Vermont, which is the setting of the movie Super Troopers and home to the highly inept Spurbury Police Department. The producers of the movie said they chose Vermont and created Spurbury Because one of the producers had a friend that had a house right near the Vermont-Canadian border. And the road was always quiet, there'd be almost no cars on it ever. And they imagined what it would be like to be a cop. And that was your route where there was literally nothing to do ever. One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes takes place. Well, it's on a train mostly. But it's called a stop at Willoughby. And Willoughby is supposed to be a town in Connecticut. And there's a man that is really unhappy with his life at home. And he's always taking the train home from work, and he'll seemingly fall asleep. And the conductor will come to the stop and say Will it be and for the first few times he looks outside. And it's seemingly this Victorian-era small town 1880s or 1890s. And he doesn't get off until the end when he finally gets off it will be and I won't spoil what happens if you've never seen this one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes. When it comes to fictional New England places. There were two that popped into my mind right away for this list to kind of go over. One is the town of Quahog Rhode Island from the animated show Family Guy. It's supposed to be just outside of Providence because in a lot of the scenes of the Griffin house, you can see the Providence Skyline behind it. It's also supposed to be a small town of less than 1000 people and it's got the famous places from the show like the drunken clam. Interestingly, if you go online and search Quahog people have done the work of figuring out the buildings that are shown on the Providence skyline and then in relation to the Griffin house and Quahog, where it should be located if it was a real place. So it seemed to be probably west of downtown Providence, meaning that in reality it will be one of four towns Johnston Cranston Scituate or North providence and your guess is as good as mine, but the most famous fictional New England place has to be Amity Island from the movie Jaws. Obviously, it was filmed on Martha's Vineyard and if you watch it and you know the vineyard, you can see places that are still there now, gay head lighthouse, the Chappaquiddick beach club, and downtown Edgartown. It's a lot of fun to go over to Martha's Vineyard if you're able to, and kind of drive around specifically from Oak bluffs down to Edgartown and over to Chappaquiddick Island, and take it all in and then go watch the original jaws and see these places from all now almost 50 years ago. Interestingly, even though a few scenes were filmed on Martha's Vineyard for jaws to the vast majority of it was filmed in Florida, specifically the on-the-water scenes, specifically in the towns of Destin, Okaloosa Island, and Novare beach, but you can go see all those jobs locations on Martha's Vineyard. So even though all these places I mentioned, are fictional towns, they were obviously filmed in real places. Well, except for Quahog Rhode Island, since that's animated, you really can't go visit that. But that'll wrap up this week's special different road trip of the top fictional New England places. Which of these was your favorites, and I'll be back next week with a new road trip to a place you can actually go that's an actual real place in New England and beyond.
This Week In History
This week in history we're going back 146 years ago this week, August 2 1876. And the murder of one of the most famous figures of the old wild west Wild Bill Hickok. Wild Bill was born James Butler Hickok May 27 1837 in Illinois. He was an old west folk hero, his life was romanticized with his life on the frontier as a soldier, a Scout Lawman a gambler, and he was involved in a lot of gun fights. It was at age 18 When Hickok as a fugitive from justice headed to the Old West stopping in Kansas and Nebraska as a lawman. He was a soldier and a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War. But most famously, and if you watch TV, watch the show Deadwood, Wild Bill Hickok ended up in Deadwood, South Dakota back when it was just the Dakota territory. On that day, Wild Bill Hickok was in a saloon playing poker when he was shot and killed by an unsuccessful gambler named Jack McCall. And ever since that event, the hand of cards that Wild Bill had at the time he was killed, which was two pairs of black aces and eights has come to be known as the Dead Man's Hand. Hickok is buried in the Mount Moriah cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota, along with other famous names that you may know from the Old West or from the deadwood TV show like Seth Bullock and Calamity Jane. And since his death, Wild Bill Hickok. Like I said he's been romanticized his life has been slightly exaggerated, I think at times with the passage of time. He is one of those mythical figures of that time period. And he met his end at a card table in a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota. This week in history 146 years ago. And now it's time again for a new time capsule. We're going back 82 years ago this week to July 27 1940. The reason why I chose this is it was the very first ever Billboard Music chart released and I thought it would be fitting to see what was going on in the world of pop culture back then, when the first Billboard charts were released. The number one song was I'll never smile again by Tommy Dorsey. The song was originally written in 1939 by Ruth Lowe, but Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra have the highest-selling version of it with their version even having vocals by a young Frank Sinatra. And like I said, this was the very first ever number one song on a Billboard chart. Back then it wasn't the Billboard Hot 100 It was the national list of best selling retail records. That was the chart. The number one movie was Andy Hardy Meets Debutante this movie starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. And with Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy and his father, Judge Hardy brings them to New York City, where Andy falls in love with a socialite, but finds life to be too expensive and there are the exploits in the plot of the whole movie. The movie made $2.6 million at the box office on a budget of about 430,000. And this was just one of 16 films in the Andy Hardy series that starred Mickey Rooney, which lasted from 1937 to 1946. With a failed attempt to reboot the series coming in 1958 The number one radio show because there was no TV and no TV ratings back July 1940. The number one radio show was the jello program. The show would later become known as the Jack Benny show, as it starred Jack Benny from when it started in 1934. And the show would kick off with the jello jingle J-E-L-L-O, a fun little fact was that the jello program would often be done without interruption. And this was seen at one point in 1937, when Jack Benny literally left the show to go make a phone call. And that was just dead air because they didn't have commercials or breaks. Although naturally, they had a bunch of commercials for jello mixed in throughout the shows. And if you were a kid back then July 27 1940, and it was a fun summer afternoon and you were looking for something exciting to do with your friends. You could get yourself a highway street wagon 34 inches long with a 28-inch trailer from the Sears catalog both together for $3.89 or just over $82 when adjusted for inflation. This wagon would come with a free 15 day trial so you could test it out. Baked on red enamel steel, it was one piece instead of other wagons that were three with an easy steering front bolster and 4000-mile Congo bearings for the wheels so you could get a lot of work out of it. You'd say they built them differently back in the day. So if you wanted that wagon, you could get it from the Sears catalog. And that's gonna wrap up another time capsule another this week in history. We just talked about summertime fun with the highway streak wagon. Well now let's continue celebrating summer with a brand new top five. These are the top five summertime songs at least in my opinion. So let's get to them.
Top 5: Summertime Songs
All right, this top five is going to start off our celebration of summer as we look at the top five summertime songs, whether it's sitting under an umbrella at the beach, or driving a shady back road watching the sunset. The songs in my opinion epitomize summer and the feeling you get. We'll see if you agree or disagree. As with most of my top five lists, these are in no particular order. I've had a few that have gone in order. Unfortunately, I can't really play you clips of songs. So this a lot of it'll be from memory for you if you know the songs. But what I can do is I'm going to create a Spotify playlist of all the songs even the honorable mentions so you can play it and sit outside in the sun or under the stars or driving at sunset and listen to them and see if it gives you the summertime vibe. So let's kick it off with the honorable mentions. There are five of them as well. Honorable Mentions for summertime songs include summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. sunny afternoon by the kinks. It Takes Two by Rob Base and DJ EZ rock, interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots and keep your head to the sky by Earth, Wind and Fire. All of those you would love playing outside in the summertime. But let's jump into the actual top five. Starting with number one, Ventura highway by America. This song is off of their album homecoming from 1972 It's very much a folky acoustic soft rock 70s type song. Maybe because of the name highways in the song it just gives you a vibe of driving down a wide-open highway at sunset in the summer. And hearkens back to kind of a simpler time. 50 years ago. America is kind of a good summertime band. They had other hit songs like tin man and Horse With No Name. It's just simple melodies acoustic they just breathe and feel summertime. A lot of You'll find I say that they have a summertime vibe. It's hard to explain until you hear it. We move on to number two, Cruel Summer by Bananarama. The song is from 1983. It's from their album high life. People my age might remember it from the Karate Kid. There's a scene where they're on the beach and the song is playing. It actually went to number one after being featured in The Karate Kid. And Bananarama had a couple of other big hits. They had the song Venus, which was a cover, and then I heard a rumor, which was a little lesser known, but if you're a child of the 80s, and you heard it, you probably would remember it. But this song is literally sitting under an umbrella on a beach towel on a warm summer afternoon. That's the vibe I get from this song. Then we jump into number three, Summer Breeze by seals and Crofts. This is from their album also titled summer breeze from 1972. This one reminds me of a summer evening, maybe sitting around a picnic table with one of those citronella candles to keep mosquitoes away having a few drinks, maybe playing cornhole. I'm trying my best to set the vibe for the songs because I can't really play clips of it. You're gonna have to listen to the Spotify playlist. James seals of seals and cross he actually just passed away back in June. But Darryl Crofts is still alive. They had a couple of other big hits with diamond girl and get closer. It's again that 70 soft rock that seems to always resonate with me for summertime songs. But then we go back a little further in time for number four, hot fun in the summertime by Sly and the Family Stone. This is from the album of the same name hot fun in the summertime from 1969. And it is just a celebration of summer this could be at any point in the summer day. This song just fits in. Around this time of the late 1960s early 70s Sly and the Family Stone had a bunch of hit songs. Thank you for letting me be myself again, everyday people. A fun little side note with this song was when my youngest nephew Lucas was born in 2011. And I was leaving the hospital. I plugged in my iPod I said whatever the first song is that plays when I turn on my car that's forever going to be Lucas's song in my mind, and it ended up being hot fun in the summertime, which was funny because he was born in December as a little sidetrack, but let's dive in the final song number five is School's out by Alice Cooper. This is an obvious one obvious reason why this song is on here if you were a kid, in the last 40 years, no more pencils no more books no more teachers dirty looks comes from Alice Cooper. This is from the album School's out from 1972 Alice Cooper was the band, not the singer. But now the singer has changed his name officially to Alice Cooper, which is a fun little trivia bit. This is the hardest rocking song of any including the ones that are on the honorable mentions list. This will be more for high school kids college kids leaving school for the summer, but it can still be played now to bring back good memories. But there you have it my picks for the top five summertime songs. How many of these do you know Ventura highway by America? Cruel Summer by Bananarama Summer Breeze by seals and Crofts hot fun in the summertime by Sly and the Family Stone and School's out by Alice Cooper. I will put a link in the description of the podcast and share on social media the Spotify playlist that I am putting together for this so then you can really enjoy it. And of course I'll be back next week with a brand new top five that will be just as random as this one was. You will be a beautiful, hot, sunny, maybe humid afternoon in the summertime. You've been outside riding your bike or playing in the dirt or playing basketball or something like that. Maybe you've already had dinner maybe it's time to spoil your dinner. But often the distance you hear that sound either a song starting or some chimes getting played. But you know that sound like no other. It's the ice cream truck and it's on its way and the excitement can barely be contained. Right here. We're gonna go way way back in the day As I reminisce about what it was like when the ice cream truck used to show up when I was a kid in the 1980s, and into the early 90s.
Back In the Day: Ice Cream Truck Memories
I was lucky because my neighborhood was a quiet neighborhood. Lots of little side streets. And the reason this was good was that there weren't a lot of cars, so you could hear the ice cream truck from a mile away. And be if you missed it, when it went by your house, it would go so slow because there were so many kids in the neighborhood that you'd have no trouble catching up to it to go way back to the beginning the original idea for a mobile way to deliver ice cream to kids around the town. And this was in the town of Youngstown, Ohio in the early 1920s. It was at a time when there had been advances in refrigeration, which kind of made it easier than to put ice cream in a truck and drive it around the city or town and not have it all just melt. Interestingly, the rise of ice cream in the 1920s coincided with prohibition. So people weren't able to get their beer and wine and such. So a lot of them leaned into sweets to get their fix. Harry Burt actually is credited with creating the good humor bar. So he was running an ice cream parlor in Youngstown, Ohio. And he found this quote-unquote compatible chocolate for ice cream that he was able to coat the ice cream with, and then put a stick up in there and create the good humor bar. And the rest they say is history. Fast forward 60-something years and there's 8, 9, 10-year-old me waiting out in front of the house for the ice cream truck to go by hearing the bells. Growing up in a family of five kids typically there was a list of things to get if I was out there buying it. I do remember what all the other kids wanted. It was like a kid's dream come true. The white truck would come around the corner the bells going or some kind of song playing. And you'd be out there screaming and yelling like it was Santa Claus coming to find you. But they'd pull up and typically you would forget whatever you wanted. So you had to look on the side of the truck. And they'd have paintings of different ice cream treats all over it. And then they had the menu that was pictures with the prices next to it. And the ice cream truck driver would slide the window open. And you know ask everyone what they wanted and kids would be screaming and yelling, you'd have to make a line. In my neighborhood, there was a ton of kids like I said growing up. So if there was 10 of us waiting for ice cream whoever was last in line had to stand there and breathe in the exhaust fumes the longest. It's a weird sort of thing that those exhaust fumes if I smell them now it's like it brings me back to those days. What a weird connection. But what were your favorites? What was your go to from the ice cream truck? It was interesting because despite it being an ice cream truck, they didn't have ice creams to scoop it had to be something on a stick or something in kind of a paper wrapping. toasted almond bars. Those were always my favorite. They had the strawberry shortcake one which was like the same kind, the Nestle's crunch, one coated in the chocolate, the Italian ice that you would get with that little wooden-looking peanut spoon or hoodsie’s that you peel the top off and it's half chocolate half vanilla. A lot of these things you still can find in stores, they just come back to me when I think of my first impressions of the ice cream truck, snow cones, ice cream sandwiches, or the chocolate chip cookie chipwiches or the choco tacos which are now going to be retired that was what kind of spurred me to do this segment sadness over that loss. They had that one bubblegum one where there was like a gumball with the ice cream. So God help you if you tried to save the gum till the end and chew it was like trying to chew a rock. Popsicles fudge sickles cream sickles, the drum sticks that were chocolate coated with the ice cream cone. If your parents were giving you money to get stuff, you might be more experimental because you weren't wasting your own money on something you'd hate. But God forbid if you use your allowance, that's the show the difference. You know the value of money, you make sure you spend your allowance of something, you know, you'll like. We would typically have the same one or two people that drove the ice cream truck, especially during the formative years when I was out there almost every day in the summer getting stuff. So they'd recognize you you recognize them. And it would be fun because every now and then you'd be at the beach and the ice cream truck would be there and it'd be the same person. You'd feel like they were stalking you. It was worse at the beach. because there's only so much ice cream you can fit in that truck. So with hundreds and hundreds of kids at beaches in the summer, they'd run out of stuff. And then you'd be upset and have to get like your second or third choice. Then you get your treat whatever it was, and sit down either in the yard or the driveway or just stand there with their friends, talking and eating. And it would just be melting all over your hand and your clothes. But it's one of those things that you can close your eyes and picture, especially if you grew up in the 70s 80s into the 90s. That was a summer event almost every night, hanging out as it started to get cooler in the afternoon after dinner, with your friends with your bikes, and just getting whatever the treat was that you wanted, and just enjoying the moment of being a kid. Ice cream trucks are still around, it's just different. I think everything's different in the 2020s than it was 30-40 years ago. And then would come the sad day when labor day weekend would come and everything was normal. The ice cream truck would come by every night at the same time. But then Labor Day would pass the next day, the Tuesday, either the day you started school again, or you started the next day, and you'd go home and there was no ice cream truck. And you knew summer was over. But then sometimes you'd get them they'd come around on the weekends through September through Columbus Day in October, just to keep that going. And then those would be the times that the truck would be going around my neighborhood. But all the kids would be inside doing homework or having dinner. So it'd be the lonely Ice Cream Truck playing it song going by and then we'd know kids running out. That was way back in the day before cell phones and internet. That was kind of the big thing getting ice cream and hanging out with your friends outside. Very much simple pleasures. Now I'm sure they have ice cream truck video games and apps where you can reminisce about it while not leaving the house. But you out there listening. Do you remember the ice cream truck coming around in the summer way back in the day? Did you get yourself a firecracker pop or one of those atomic bomb pops the striped ones, maybe a Flintstones push up or one of those pink panther pops that was his face with Gumball eyes or a screwball dropped me a line and let me know if this brought up any great memories if you're going to go to the store and buy yourself one of these ice creams and just stand outside and pretend the ice cream man just delivered it to you. I'm sure you could find the ice cream truck theme song and play that as well. Just bring you back the whole 1980s Summer playset right there for you.
Closing
And that's going to wrap up episode 79 of the in my footsteps podcast. Special thank you to all of you that have been tuning in sharing the podcast leaving reviews. Like I said at the top of the show you can donate through buy me a coffee and find the in my footsteps podcast, but going out of your way to share the show and rate it that means even more to me that's how we get more eyes on it. And you can find me all over social media on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, my Facebook fan page. Speaking of YouTube, go there and click on my latest video searching for the lady of the dunes. It is a kind of preview of the documentary and the book and the story of Lady of the dunes in general. I'm very happy with it and I hope you'll go and check it out. If you're in need of personal training, possibly physical therapy corrective exercise, come and check me out at Mind Body spine Chiropractic in Brewster and stick around for our sister gym Cape kettlebell which should be debuting anytime now when you hear this visit Kiwis Kustoms both spelled with K’s at etsy.com homemade crafts fairy hats, necklaces, dog and cat sweaters that are painstakingly handcrafted crocheted balaclavas, bonnets, things like that Kaleigh marks will take requests as well. She's extremely talented, honing her craft, so go and check her out at etsy.com As always, I've got a link in the description of the podcast for you to go and check it out. Be sure to come back Tune in next week for episode 80 of the podcast. We're going to talk about a beloved Cape Cod restaurant with an even more beloved family that owned it the sword and shield restaurant of Harwich port. We're going to take a road trip up to Concord, New Hampshire, another one of my favorite places in one of my favorite states. We're going to go way way back in the day, which I can't believe to look back at what it was like to see South Park for the first time 25 years after its debut. There'll be a brand new top five that are the top five Could have been athletes, ones that had their careers cut short either by injury or just not living up to the huge hype that they got. So that'll be a fun one. And of course, there'll be a brand new time capsule this week in history. All coming up next week on episode 80 of the in my footsteps podcast. Nine know it's the dog days of summer, a lot of places in the country are just scorching hot, others are hot and humid. But if you can get outside and not be drenched in sweat, get out and enjoy the sunshine, vitamin D is great for your mental health. Take this podcast with you. I make them you know, usually about 50 minutes long, it's a good walk. You could get in two or three miles at a good pace. But soak in that vitamin D while you can because before you know it, it's going to be winter again. It'll be getting dark at four o'clock. It'll be cold, windy, snowy, and you'll be wishing you had gone outside when you did. But even if you don't go outside in the sun, just take care of your mental health. Whatever it is you have to do, as long as you're not hurting anyone else. Whatever you got to do whatever you have to lean into, to keep yourself going to keep yourself happy. That's what you should do. I love doing these podcasts. That's why I keep going if you love them, if you enjoy them, I'm going to keep going I've got plenty more content. And I'm so appreciative of all of you that listen all of you that reach out all of you that give suggestions of things you might want to hear. And if you ever have suggestions, shoot me a message Christopher setterlund at gmail.com. But until next time, remember in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps. Create your own path and leave the biggest footprint you can because you never know what tomorrow brings. So enjoy every moment. Thank you all again for tuning in to Episode 79 This has been the in my footsteps podcast. I have been Christopher Setterlund and I will talk to you all again soon.