You can call me up and have a date any old time
For my last “Theme Party” show, my theme was “Sequels.” (I finally started putting my setlists in the RSS feed for my podcast.) Most of the songs were sequels, but I included some borderline material, including songs that could’ve been more accurately called “answer songs” or just “based on another source.” (I probably won’t do an answer song show, as WFMU has already put together a spazzy collection of them.) One of these borderline songs I played was “Beechwood 4-5789” by the Marvelettes, to which “634-5789 (Soulsville U.S.A.)” is related.
When I spent a semester at the Biosphere 2 Center in 2000, I bought a Marvelettes greatest hits CD at a store in Tucson. It was one of those “I just wanted to buy something” moments, as I only knew “Please, Mr. Postman” and wasn’t particularly eyeing anything on the CD. I was also just stocking up on material to play on WBAR once I returned to New York.
And I didn’t really listen to the CD until I returned to New York. During that summer, I had a lunchtime show on WBAR, and I got a surprise request. (Surprise, because I figured no one was listening to me.) I was playing a Shirelles song, so someone called in and asked me if I had any Marvelettes. At first she asked for “The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game,” which wasn’t on the CD, but then she asked for “Beechwood 4-5789,” which I played obligingly.
It wasn’t an instantaneous thing, but soon after I got really attached to the song. Aside from being a really catchy tune, there’s something about the simplicity and sense of beginning in the song that I really like. No rushing off to get married or jump in the sack just yet. No claiming love at first sight — just a phone number exchange after figuring out you like each other and want to see each other again. It’s beautiful.
Of course, if you want some lovin’, you can call 634-5789.
6 July 2008 – 9:00 PM