When I was a kid, back in 1986, my sister and I had a collection of four cassette tapes from McDonald’s. They were called “Rockin’ Gold”, and even though they were just a collection of top 40 oldies hits, they had a huge impact on me. I listened to them over and over and over and over and over again. They were the soundtrack to my childhood summers.
I forgot about the tapes until about five years ago, when I heard Chad & Jeremy’s “A Summer Song” on the radio. That song was on the McDonald’s collection! I was suddenly overcome with the need to track down all four original tapes. I didn’t need the actual cassettes, but I wanted to find the playlists so I could recreate them.
The task was harder than I thought it would be; I couldn’t remember the actual name of the collection, and I couldn’t remember the name of the individual tapes. I just recalled keywords like “golden” and “classics” and “summer” and “McDonald’s”, and if you type those words into Google, you get all kinds of stuff that you can’t dance to.
Eventually I stumbled upon two of the tapes on this site, but I still couldn’t find the other two in the series. I asked for help from the listeners of the TBTL podcast, and they helped me track down the playlist for a third cassette.
One awesome Canadian had the great idea of searching the U.S. Copyright Office, which confirmed that there is a fourth tape: “Rockin’ Classics.” I haven’t found the playlist for that one yet, but at least I know it’s out there.
So, we’ve now accounted for three tapes in the “Rockin’ Gold” collection, and I spent this weekend downloading the songs and putting them in the order that God intended them to be played in (or at least the order that Ronald McDonald intended them to be played in.) And now I’m that much closer to reliving my childhood.
These tapes, I’m sure, will have little resonance with you — just a collection of Golden Oldies you’ve heard a million times. But if you want to pretend you’re a chubby, 10-year-old Andrew Walsh, download the tapes below, put them on your iPod in the right order, and go outside and play.
I think this is going to be an awesome summer.
Summer Classics
1/ Surfin’ Safari / The Beach Boys
2/ One Fine Day / The Chiffons
3/ A Summer Song / Chad and Jeremy
4/ The Wanderer / Dion
5/ Summer In The City / The Lovin’ Spoonful
6/ Remember (Walking In The Sand) / Shangri-Las
7/ Rhythm Of The Rain / The Cascades
8/ Summertime, Summertime / The Jamies
Lovin’ Classics
1/ (You’re My) Soul and Inspiration / The Righteous Brothers
2/ Baby I’m Yours / Barbara Lewis
3/ Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow / The Shirelles
4/ Sea Of Love / Phil Phillips
5/ Cherish / The Association
6/ Blue Velvet / Bobby Vinton
7/ To Know Him Is To Love Him / The Teddy Bears
8/ There’s A Moon Out Tonight / The Capris
Dancin’ Classics
1/ Let’s Twist Again / Chubby Checker
2/ Shout / Joey Dee & The Star Liters
3/ Ally Oop / Hollywood Argyles
4/ Sea Cruise / Frankie Ford
5/ Soul Man / Sam & Dave
6/ Twist & Shout / Isley Brothers
7/ Kansas City / Wilbert Harrison
8/ Come Go With Me / The Del-Vikings
If you have issues downloading this, let me know.
Good for you for being persistent, Andrew. My summertime music obsession was the Grease soundtrack when I was that age. Love you on TBTL.
Thanks so much for sharing! The few clips you played on the show had me feeling very nostalgic. My childhood tapes consisted of the Big Chill Soundtrack and Queen’s Greatest Hits, but I think these will be the soundtrack of THIS summer. Thanks again!
In an effort to not do any work today, I have created a spotify playlist for anyone to listen to. I’ll update it with the 4th tape when Drew Hampshire finds it. Oh, um. one thing. I get furious whenever I hear a song that is not the original one that I grew up with on the radio.. so I had to change “Shout” to the Isley Brothers version. Because the one that is listed is BS. It will keep me from a Hulk-like rage. http://open.spotify.com/user/126506847/playlist/3tG5HdttKO39PYl8ByRGH2
Oh my gosh — The version of “Shout” on the McDonald’s tapes is the worst! That was the biggest bummer of the weekend. I actually had to buy that MP3 to keep the recreation pure. It’s awful to listen to.
Andrew, you rock. Here is a different situation for me, but one that still makes me feel nostalgic: when I was a kid growing up in Syracuse, NY, my uncle had a camp in the Adirondacks. Every summer he would load all the kids in his big red Chevy van (probably without car seats) and drive up to the woods for summers at camp. His van had an 8-track tape player. And he only had four tapes: Eagles Greatest Hits, Fleetwood Mac Rumors, Linda Ronstadt, and I think an Elton John album. All four now bring back very fond memories of childhood whenever I hear them.
Andrew, you totally inspired me to make another attempt to track down some obscure kids’ tapes from my childhood that my sisters and I have been looking for for years! We wanted to share them with my nephews… We finally found them after someone finally posted the track names! Thanks for giving me hope and inspiration to continue my search, and I’m really glad you found yours as well. Good luck finding the 4th tape!
P.S. This playlist is totally RAWR!
I had a similar situation as Julie where I decided one day to find some of the music my brother and sisters and I grew up with around our house. For me, being a kid in the late 60′s early 70′s the one album that stood out in my mind was the album “Free to Be You and Me” by Marlo Thomas and Friends.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/free-to-be…you-and-me/id251154976
Well-known songs include “It’s All Right to Cry,” sung by former football hero Rosey Grier; the title track by the New Seekers; “Helping,” a Shel Silverstein poem performed by Tom Smothers; “Sisters and Brothers” by the Voices of East Harlem (many of whom were members of The Short Circus group of singing children from PBS Television’s The Electric Company); and “When We Grow Up” performed by Diana Ross on the album and by Roberta Flack and a teenage Michael Jackson on the special.
That album is what immediately comes to mind for me along with the whole “Schoolhouse Rock” episodes.
Awesome work, Drew Hampshire.
I didn’t have the McDonald’s tapes, since, as a kid, I very rarely went to McDonald’s – what I had, though, was a series of tapes from the Shell Station which my mom kept in her 1986 blue Volvo, along with Whitney, Janet Jackson’s Control, and Phil Collins’ Serious Hits…Live!
Holy hell, those Shell Station tapes. Cruisin’ Classics.
Someone else kept them and found the playlists. That was my crack as a kid.
http://bunnieswithsharpteeth.blogspot.com/2007/05/cruisin-classics.html
i have the 4th tape, it is the country song version of the collection. 1 of the bands on it is diamond rio. i will get it back from my daughter who now listens to it and post the play list soon
Here is the tape details you are missing:
Rockin’ Classics
1/ Shake Rattle & Roll / Bill Haley & The Comets
2/ Wake Up Little Susie / Everly Brothers
3/ Lonely Teardrops / Jackie Wilson
4/ Stagger Lee / Lloyd Price
5/ Runaround Sue / Dion
6/ Great Balls of Fire / Jerry Lee Lewis
7/ He’s So Fine / Chiffons
8/ Runaway / Del Shannon
TIM! You are the hero! Thanks so much. I’ll track down the MP3s and post soon.
Andrew, I had these same tapes growing up and I am happy to have stumbled across your site in my cursory search for the lists of songs! I have just been taken back about 20 or so years to family road trips to vacation while these songs blared happily away in the background…and sometimes complete with 6 finely tuned accompanying voices. Thanks for the throwback and I will definitely be downloading these and putting them on a CD for my siblings. Too funny!
You are missing the “Rockin’ Classics”
Side one
Shake RAttle & Roll / Bill Haley and the Comets
Wake Up Little Susie / Everly Brothers
Lonely Teardrops / Jackie Wilson
Stagger Lee / Lloyd Price
Side two
Runaround Sue / Dion
Great Balls of Fire / Jerry Lee Lewis
He’s So Fine / Chiffons
Runaway / Del Shannon