Greetings Everyone !!
All set for DRAPER DAYS ??. FREE CONCERT Friday the 15th Felix Cavaliere of “The Rascals,, .. and Colin Raye after the Car Show on Saturday the 16th .. FREE CONCERTS?? WOW, What a cool FREE event, Thanks to the City of Draper! !.. and then.. during the FREE Car Show on Saturday, .. Thanks to the 2022 Draper Days Celebration Committee, You will get to meet.. Shirley Johnson England… It has always been a quest of mine to let our community know as much as I can about our connections with Rock and Roll of the sixties, Well Saturday during the FREE Car Show (Parking on Grass)..We will connect a little story on Salt Lake City history behind the Beach Boys song…Fun, Fun, Fun!, And at the same time expose/confirm a little known secret about the song …. Salt Lake City. Well, join us at Draper Days FREE Car Show ‘22 (Saturday) along with beautiful classic cars , good weather, and always a huge fantastic crowd. Lots of vendors of all types, sizes and products.. AND SMOKE A BILLY BBQ !! .
The Song “Fun, Fun, Fun” was actually written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys while in route to the Salt Lake Airport during the bands visit to our City in late ’63/early ’64. In the sixties, the Beach Boys were a “regular” in Salt Lake, you really could say they were at “home” In Salt lake, they were always warmly welcomed, they loved the area and most of all, they had a great relationship with the management and “DJ’s of KNAK radio, at times during their visits, the station would even block off the street and host live Beach Boy parties right in front of the station. It’s Amazing the fun times we had WITHOUT electronics and video games,, Most of us waited ‘till after 8 to call “long distance, because it was cheaper.. and FYI to call Provo from Salt Lake … WAS LONG DISTANCE!
Fun, Fun, and more Fun..
Shirley was KNAK Radio station receptionist, and station owners daughter,, on one particular night, she was “supposed” to go and “study” at the library… Well, instead she was out “Dragging State” .. in our day, dragging state street and ending up at Don Carlo’s or Fred & Kelly’s was the “cool” thing to do! (mine was Color Tile by South High School) …Anyway, she was caught red handed and her father Howard Johnson grounded her and, .. took away her car,… the car was a beautiful little “T-Bird”.
And as for the “secret” about the song Salt Lake City, it was a promotional song written by the Beach Boys as a “thank you” to the town they come to love, and as they recorded the song, someone in the back ground yelled “K-NAK” as they were singing part the lyrics about a radio station, as time was short, the recording stayed “as performed” and when played by competing radio stations (KCPX), the part about KNAK was dubbed out, only 1000 copies were made, all were 45’s.. and as they say.. The rest is history, Rock & Roll History!
Tell your Friends, and your “Family of Friends” to come on out to Draper Days FREE Car Show on Saturday July 16th..Lets all make this a Memory we will “chat” about, for a long time.. Hope to see you “Somewhere” .. Jc
J.C Hackett
Oldies “Rock & Roll Radio” Productions
Real Oldies, KCPX
Salt Lake City, Utah 84127
Email jc@jchackett.com