Love this post. As everyone has mentioned, it does bring back memories. We had a park with some equipment a short bike ride from our house. My biggest memory from that is sitting on top of the monkey bars with a cigarette. Not a real one, of course, but one of those tasty candy cigarettes that came in a realistic looking pack. I pretended to smoke it and I got a kick out of seeing various moms looking disapprovingly at me. Also my friend Mary Ann Kenny had a swing set in her back yard and we would swing really hard trying to get the front or back poles to come up off the ground. So now you know two amazingly stupid things I did as a kid. 😬
I love the pictures you’ve been able to un-earth and your comments about them!
What a piece filled with memories! I can only remember one playground I used to frequent, and it's the one that was part of our recess playground at Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School in SW Houston (early- to mid-'60s). I attended K-6 there.
I've actually got an exclusive Clint Holmes performance on FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, Dan! In the late-'70s, Stephen Michael Schwartz and Jay Asher (both veteran songwriters who've subscribed to FR&B for about 4 years) wrote a song called "Only Everyday." It sounds like it'd be perfect for James Ingram; in fact, I think Stephen and Jay sought out James to sing the demo. Instead, they asked Clint Holmes, who agreed to sing on the fully-produced demo you can hear only here! It's a gorgeous song, and a wonderful performance by Clint!
True! I believe I read somewhere that Holmes ended up being the band leader for Joan Rivers' talk show, or somebody who had a talk show '70s/'80s...I'm sure it's on his Wiki page! But, yes, it's amazing what Stephen (and Jay) have gifted me....quite a number of exclusives!!
And, that was the struggle for those who recorded and might’ve gotten some chart action….if you can’t/didn’t repeat it, what do you do….where does your career turn?
For Stephen Michael Schwartz, he spent a couple decades recording and touring worldwide as part of the children’s music trio, Parachute Express! Clint led a talk show band…..you land somewhere, and these are two who managed to re-define their careers!
Not familiar with the song but loved the memories Dan!! We had quite a few kids in our neighborhood of a similar age when I was growing up. No playgrounds around, but we made our own fun with roller skating, making go karts, and getting up to all sorts of mischief (with plenty of injuries and emergency room visits to go around).
On the school playground at my elementary school we had some of those crazy jungle gyms. One was a huge dome shaped monstrosity. To this day, I’m not sure how one of us didn’t break our neck or get killed on that thing!
Great post, and very sweet memories! I loved the song. I wasn't familiar with it, but I really liked the soulful vibes. I think it's really sad that we have come to the point where we question whether we would "allow" a grown man to sing about children. It's pretty much still the case in Europe. I appreciate that in the US this is more of a hot topic than over here but still, I think that as discerning adults we can tell pretty quickly when there's some pervy or sexual tone behind.
Resurrection Hospital is such a powerful name for a hospital 🤣 They take you there to get resurrected, basically! So funny 😂
On a more serious note, I can totally imagine how traumatic it must have been to have that injury, not to mention the link between the ambulance siren and your father's death.
So glad you unearthed this song and these memories!
Thanks Andy. Yeah, I have no problem with the song because I know its intentions were good. We have become way too sensitive without looking deeply into the meaning of someone's words.
Oh my, in a nostalgia coma!!!! Only had access to hot asphalt school playhround in suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. But a couple times a year we did get to go to a lovely old spacious green with large old trees for shade Park of Roses with a hill to run, roll down or sled down plus bit of old, rusty playground and catfish stocked rectangular water thing. Better was my cool, young, hip 2nd grade teacher, Miss Wedemeier, who started everyday with a sing-along to one of her 45's. 🎶✨ Loved belting out Crocodile Rock, Good Morning Starshine and Sing from my carpet square but don't recall Playgrounds of my Mind except from radio.
Completely relate to description/feelings of suburbs and the ball diamonds...it was the dawn of of Title IX and suddenly we had access to youth sports for girls not just boys.
Distinctly remember bawled like a baby when Miss Wedemeier announced she was getting married and moving to NYC for next school year. She even showed us a brochure of the cutting edge "Open School" concept she would be teaching at.
At least Mrs Marolf in 4th grade could play piano and had us singing Blowin in the Wind, If I Had a Hammer etc... We did not ever have a music teacher so teachers who did anything with music were the GOAT. Sorry not so much about playgrounds. Thanks for letting me soakamd ramble on in these knee socked, earth shoe and clog shorn memories. 🥰 Again, great piece!!!
[Looking it up, I'm astonished to see that it was covered by Celtic Thunder. Presumably they know it from Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KEhPjJPCZs
"Texas River Song" (I remember this one as a lullaby growing up. My family didn't have any connection to Texas, but it's a lovely song). -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w50bVqfOL0
Wow!!! 💖 Thank you Nick! Will enjoy digging through all of these. If I know them it is not by their titles. Thank you for taking the time to share them and deliver with links. ✨🫶🏻
Thank you. Those are mostly children's songs, some of which I think of as absolutely classics (both "Magic Penny" and "Place In The Choir" are songs that I was surprised to learn that somebody wrote -- as a kid I just thought of them as the sort of song which would have always existed).
Part of my story is that I grew up around a lot of music. I've never been particularly musically inclined, but that expose shaped my musical tastes and interests. In my 20s and 30s I listened to a lot of music and then, at some point, I got busy and just stopped listening as much. There was a period of many years where I wasn't engaged with music, and I had a little bit of a worry about whether it would still feel familiar when I did have time for it.
My time on substack has coincided with listening more, and being happy that it does feel like a familiar pleasure and that my tastes and my sense of what interests me in music remain similar to what they were before.
As part of that, last year I went through a stretch of remembering a bunch of music from my childhood. As part of that I made a playlist (posted here: https://earnestnessisunderrated.substack.com/p/raised-by-folkies ) of songs which aren't necessarily children's song but which I associate with ages 9-12 (mostly).
It was fun putting that together and being conscious, now, of how some of them are traditional songs but several feel very specific to the early 80s and those concerns about nuclear war, environmentalism, etc . . . (some of that elements that date them may be more apparent to me than somebody hearing the songs for the first time).
Most of those are songs that still exist in the world and get played and sung but are not at all well known.
That's wonderful, I'm so glad to hear that. I commend your taste. I agree, I think if I could pick just one of those songs and have the opportunity to say, "this will live forever in the culture" I would pick "If You Love Me (Rose and Apple Tree)"
Nick can appreciate your sentiment. We have seasons. And boy did I enjoy listening to all of these. Did not know any of them. Writing them all down. Plus thrilled to have some great songs to pass along to a friend in Kyiv with an autistic child who enjoys singing and was looking for some new songs!!! ✨ This is what I love about this Music community here on SubStack...the generosity of spirit. AGAIN thank you!!! 🎶✨ So much better than reading up on some of the latest goings on in the world when couldn't sleep. 🫶🏻
Love your reflections Melba! You're so lucky to have had a teacher that started the day with sing-alongs! I would have loved that! I remember a Christmas show in one of my schools where the older kids got to sing "Joy to the World" - not the seasonal song but the one by Three Dog Night! I was so jealous! I wanted to sing it too!
Also cool that you had a teacher that let you sing "Blowin in the Wind!" Such progressive, pop-oriented educators!
Jeremiah was a Bullfrog!!! Another gem belted from the carpet square.😂. Would have felt the same as you at that school program!!!
Treasure these 2 teachers-VERY grateful, since we had NO art or music teachers. Did not get any music, art except for these 2 years through 6th grade. Seems like Music/Art Education should be part of every public elementary school every year! We would be such better humans and a society for it imho. Sure have tried to support this cause as an adult. And as we currently, likely head into another huge war mess...very unsettling for all but especially perceptive children who soak up vibes no matter what please let us make sure we are getting kids some music and art. OK stepping off soapbox.
I remember carrying you home after that playground fall but I don't remember Mary Sue being there. Glad I got you home safe! Fun writeup about playgrounds!
Thanks! You were my playground savior! Yes, Mary Sue was definitely running ahead of us with a shocked look on her face. I guess I could see her through the blood running down MY face!
What a great writing prompt! It sounds like it really brought the playgrounds to the forefront of your mind! I wish I could remember the names of the parks and playgrounds from my youth. I have next to zero recall on that. I do remember falling off the jungle gym (I think that's what we called it) at a friend's house and landing on my face and being rushed to the hospital. I ended up with stitches in my lip and still have a scar to this day.
And I do recall this song. I had to stop it after a minute, as I could tell it would become a horrible earworm (probably still will) and torture me all week.
I'm sure we're not the only ones who have playground injuries and scars! I honestly don't even know what playgrounds are like these days what with all the over protective parents out there! I wonder if they're too safe to get scars today!
I totally remember that song! What a beautiful reminder of childhood innocence and imagination.
Growing up in Glen Ellyn, we had a swingset in the backyard and spent hours outside playing on it or going to my friend Meg’s house as she had “proper” swings like in a park. I remember both of us trying to pump so we could swing higher, and I fell backwards off the seat hitting my head on a railroad tie that formed the perimeter of the swing area. Luckily, no blood.
My elementary school, Hawthorne, was 1 block from my house, and I loved playing on the jungle gym. In first grade, Scott sells was picking on a friend of mine while on the jungle gym, and I punched him and knocked out his front tooth (which must have been loose). Jungle gyms were dangerous in more ways than one!
My friends and I also rode bikes everywhere, so we visited parks throughout Glen Ellyn, and once we were allowed to go to the pool by ourselves, we often hung out in the park around the pool before it opened at 1 PM. I also recall being in high school and hanging out in the park for a make-out session with a boyfriend 😆
What I remember most, though, are all the sensations of being outside: the smell of grass, the air whooshing by as we swung, the burning sensation on the back of legs going down a metal slide set directly in the sun, and the laughter of my friends. Such great memories!
Great reflections Lauren! I also remember trying to swing as high as I could. Of course, my own anxiety kept me from going TOO high up! I never punched anyone out though! Can't believe you knocked someone's tooth out!
Riding bikes was also great fun for me, especially when we moved to Palatine and the bike trails allowed us to safely ride long distances. It's probably why I still love riding today!
I remember that song but can't believe it was a hit listening to it now. But then radio had split into AM and FM by then, and a lot of the rock music had gone over to FM and AM probably had room for lots more pop. I don't know, just guessing.
Believe it or not, I don't think we had playground equipment or a gym at our elementary school, just a small paved area below and huge field above that we ran around in during recess. I remember taking the president's test of physical fitness and failing the upper arm strength test, but I don't remember any organized physical activities. The lack of playground equipment was probably why I failed the test!
Good point about rock moving over to FM by that point. AM radio was trying to appeal to everyone. One could hear this song followed by a Rolling Stones hit on any Top 40 station!
I also did NOT have good upper arm strength even though there was playground equipment nearby! I wasn't a fan of those organized physical activities. Enjoying swings and monkey bars were enough for me!
I forgot about the monkey bars! I do remember having to climb ropes to the ceiling of the gym in junior or senior high school, with only some floor mats if we fell. I can't believe the health and safety issues back then. Kids were always having 'accidents' like you did, no adults present to keep watch. Crazy times.
Dan, I remember sitting in my swing outside my home singing that Clint Holmes song back in the day. It was a #1 hit in Canada for three freaking weeks. I don't think I've even remotely ventured to listen to it since my childhood. And the only playground I had handy was the one in my mind; if I left our cul de sac, crossed the highway and the traintracks and went up a path through a suburb, I could get to the one at our school. But having a lake meant I could swim or skate when I wasn't reading comics, watching TV, or playing records.
I hear you. Even some of us that had playgrounds relatively close to home preferred watching TV and playing records! Yes, the playgrounds in our minds are always the most fun!
Love this post. As everyone has mentioned, it does bring back memories. We had a park with some equipment a short bike ride from our house. My biggest memory from that is sitting on top of the monkey bars with a cigarette. Not a real one, of course, but one of those tasty candy cigarettes that came in a realistic looking pack. I pretended to smoke it and I got a kick out of seeing various moms looking disapprovingly at me. Also my friend Mary Ann Kenny had a swing set in her back yard and we would swing really hard trying to get the front or back poles to come up off the ground. So now you know two amazingly stupid things I did as a kid. 😬
I love the pictures you’ve been able to un-earth and your comments about them!
What a piece filled with memories! I can only remember one playground I used to frequent, and it's the one that was part of our recess playground at Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School in SW Houston (early- to mid-'60s). I attended K-6 there.
I've actually got an exclusive Clint Holmes performance on FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, Dan! In the late-'70s, Stephen Michael Schwartz and Jay Asher (both veteran songwriters who've subscribed to FR&B for about 4 years) wrote a song called "Only Everyday." It sounds like it'd be perfect for James Ingram; in fact, I think Stephen and Jay sought out James to sing the demo. Instead, they asked Clint Holmes, who agreed to sing on the fully-produced demo you can hear only here! It's a gorgeous song, and a wonderful performance by Clint!
https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/stephen-michael-schwartz-off-the-399?utm_source=publication-search
Wow! That's a rarity! He really does have a good voice. It's too bad he didn't have a bigger recording career.
True! I believe I read somewhere that Holmes ended up being the band leader for Joan Rivers' talk show, or somebody who had a talk show '70s/'80s...I'm sure it's on his Wiki page! But, yes, it's amazing what Stephen (and Jay) have gifted me....quite a number of exclusives!!
Yes, your article mentions the Joan Rivers connection. Who knew?!
And, that was the struggle for those who recorded and might’ve gotten some chart action….if you can’t/didn’t repeat it, what do you do….where does your career turn?
For Stephen Michael Schwartz, he spent a couple decades recording and touring worldwide as part of the children’s music trio, Parachute Express! Clint led a talk show band…..you land somewhere, and these are two who managed to re-define their careers!
Good points. If you can't top a hit you're only considered a one-hit wonder with little chance of further developing your career.
I do remember that song!
Not familiar with the song but loved the memories Dan!! We had quite a few kids in our neighborhood of a similar age when I was growing up. No playgrounds around, but we made our own fun with roller skating, making go karts, and getting up to all sorts of mischief (with plenty of injuries and emergency room visits to go around).
On the school playground at my elementary school we had some of those crazy jungle gyms. One was a huge dome shaped monstrosity. To this day, I’m not sure how one of us didn’t break our neck or get killed on that thing!
Yeah, it's a wonder so many of us survived!
Great post, and very sweet memories! I loved the song. I wasn't familiar with it, but I really liked the soulful vibes. I think it's really sad that we have come to the point where we question whether we would "allow" a grown man to sing about children. It's pretty much still the case in Europe. I appreciate that in the US this is more of a hot topic than over here but still, I think that as discerning adults we can tell pretty quickly when there's some pervy or sexual tone behind.
Resurrection Hospital is such a powerful name for a hospital 🤣 They take you there to get resurrected, basically! So funny 😂
On a more serious note, I can totally imagine how traumatic it must have been to have that injury, not to mention the link between the ambulance siren and your father's death.
So glad you unearthed this song and these memories!
Thanks Andy. Yeah, I have no problem with the song because I know its intentions were good. We have become way too sensitive without looking deeply into the meaning of someone's words.
I was definitely resurrected!
Thanks for your kind words and empathy.
"The Carpenters had a big hit with Sing that same year which was basically a song from Sesame Street."
Basically? It WAS from "Sesame Street"! Their main music man Joe Raposo wrote it.
I stand corrected.
Oh my, in a nostalgia coma!!!! Only had access to hot asphalt school playhround in suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. But a couple times a year we did get to go to a lovely old spacious green with large old trees for shade Park of Roses with a hill to run, roll down or sled down plus bit of old, rusty playground and catfish stocked rectangular water thing. Better was my cool, young, hip 2nd grade teacher, Miss Wedemeier, who started everyday with a sing-along to one of her 45's. 🎶✨ Loved belting out Crocodile Rock, Good Morning Starshine and Sing from my carpet square but don't recall Playgrounds of my Mind except from radio.
Completely relate to description/feelings of suburbs and the ball diamonds...it was the dawn of of Title IX and suddenly we had access to youth sports for girls not just boys.
Distinctly remember bawled like a baby when Miss Wedemeier announced she was getting married and moving to NYC for next school year. She even showed us a brochure of the cutting edge "Open School" concept she would be teaching at.
At least Mrs Marolf in 4th grade could play piano and had us singing Blowin in the Wind, If I Had a Hammer etc... We did not ever have a music teacher so teachers who did anything with music were the GOAT. Sorry not so much about playgrounds. Thanks for letting me soakamd ramble on in these knee socked, earth shoe and clog shorn memories. 🥰 Again, great piece!!!
That's a lovely description.
Some of the children's songs I remember that I still feel great fondness for are:
[Malvina Reynolds -- in her case I've picked performances by other people that I like]
"(Love Is Like a) Magic Penny" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOQZL6jHLFU
"If You Love Me" (Rose and Apple Tree) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP08qALmmno
[Tom Hunter]
"Come Into My House" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDCTz3CcxCE
"Rock Me To Sleep" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVUvd6ev5Vc
[Bill Staines]
"Place In The Choir" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pR5nyeFgmA
[Looking it up, I'm astonished to see that it was covered by Celtic Thunder. Presumably they know it from Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KEhPjJPCZs
"Texas River Song" (I remember this one as a lullaby growing up. My family didn't have any connection to Texas, but it's a lovely song). -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w50bVqfOL0
Yeah, Nick! I don't know most of these songs. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you; I appreciate your interest.
Wow!!! 💖 Thank you Nick! Will enjoy digging through all of these. If I know them it is not by their titles. Thank you for taking the time to share them and deliver with links. ✨🫶🏻
Thank you. Those are mostly children's songs, some of which I think of as absolutely classics (both "Magic Penny" and "Place In The Choir" are songs that I was surprised to learn that somebody wrote -- as a kid I just thought of them as the sort of song which would have always existed).
Part of my story is that I grew up around a lot of music. I've never been particularly musically inclined, but that expose shaped my musical tastes and interests. In my 20s and 30s I listened to a lot of music and then, at some point, I got busy and just stopped listening as much. There was a period of many years where I wasn't engaged with music, and I had a little bit of a worry about whether it would still feel familiar when I did have time for it.
My time on substack has coincided with listening more, and being happy that it does feel like a familiar pleasure and that my tastes and my sense of what interests me in music remain similar to what they were before.
As part of that, last year I went through a stretch of remembering a bunch of music from my childhood. As part of that I made a playlist (posted here: https://earnestnessisunderrated.substack.com/p/raised-by-folkies ) of songs which aren't necessarily children's song but which I associate with ages 9-12 (mostly).
It was fun putting that together and being conscious, now, of how some of them are traditional songs but several feel very specific to the early 80s and those concerns about nuclear war, environmentalism, etc . . . (some of that elements that date them may be more apparent to me than somebody hearing the songs for the first time).
Most of those are songs that still exist in the world and get played and sung but are not at all well known.
If You Love Me (Rose and Apple Tree) was a gem ! 🌹 🍎 But each song had such charm. 💚
That's wonderful, I'm so glad to hear that. I commend your taste. I agree, I think if I could pick just one of those songs and have the opportunity to say, "this will live forever in the culture" I would pick "If You Love Me (Rose and Apple Tree)"
Nick can appreciate your sentiment. We have seasons. And boy did I enjoy listening to all of these. Did not know any of them. Writing them all down. Plus thrilled to have some great songs to pass along to a friend in Kyiv with an autistic child who enjoys singing and was looking for some new songs!!! ✨ This is what I love about this Music community here on SubStack...the generosity of spirit. AGAIN thank you!!! 🎶✨ So much better than reading up on some of the latest goings on in the world when couldn't sleep. 🫶🏻
Love your reflections Melba! You're so lucky to have had a teacher that started the day with sing-alongs! I would have loved that! I remember a Christmas show in one of my schools where the older kids got to sing "Joy to the World" - not the seasonal song but the one by Three Dog Night! I was so jealous! I wanted to sing it too!
Also cool that you had a teacher that let you sing "Blowin in the Wind!" Such progressive, pop-oriented educators!
Jeremiah was a Bullfrog!!! Another gem belted from the carpet square.😂. Would have felt the same as you at that school program!!!
Treasure these 2 teachers-VERY grateful, since we had NO art or music teachers. Did not get any music, art except for these 2 years through 6th grade. Seems like Music/Art Education should be part of every public elementary school every year! We would be such better humans and a society for it imho. Sure have tried to support this cause as an adult. And as we currently, likely head into another huge war mess...very unsettling for all but especially perceptive children who soak up vibes no matter what please let us make sure we are getting kids some music and art. OK stepping off soapbox.
I very much agree with you Melba!
I remember carrying you home after that playground fall but I don't remember Mary Sue being there. Glad I got you home safe! Fun writeup about playgrounds!
Thanks! You were my playground savior! Yes, Mary Sue was definitely running ahead of us with a shocked look on her face. I guess I could see her through the blood running down MY face!
What a great writing prompt! It sounds like it really brought the playgrounds to the forefront of your mind! I wish I could remember the names of the parks and playgrounds from my youth. I have next to zero recall on that. I do remember falling off the jungle gym (I think that's what we called it) at a friend's house and landing on my face and being rushed to the hospital. I ended up with stitches in my lip and still have a scar to this day.
And I do recall this song. I had to stop it after a minute, as I could tell it would become a horrible earworm (probably still will) and torture me all week.
Nice piece!
Ha! Definitely an earworm!
I'm sure we're not the only ones who have playground injuries and scars! I honestly don't even know what playgrounds are like these days what with all the over protective parents out there! I wonder if they're too safe to get scars today!
I totally remember that song! What a beautiful reminder of childhood innocence and imagination.
Growing up in Glen Ellyn, we had a swingset in the backyard and spent hours outside playing on it or going to my friend Meg’s house as she had “proper” swings like in a park. I remember both of us trying to pump so we could swing higher, and I fell backwards off the seat hitting my head on a railroad tie that formed the perimeter of the swing area. Luckily, no blood.
My elementary school, Hawthorne, was 1 block from my house, and I loved playing on the jungle gym. In first grade, Scott sells was picking on a friend of mine while on the jungle gym, and I punched him and knocked out his front tooth (which must have been loose). Jungle gyms were dangerous in more ways than one!
My friends and I also rode bikes everywhere, so we visited parks throughout Glen Ellyn, and once we were allowed to go to the pool by ourselves, we often hung out in the park around the pool before it opened at 1 PM. I also recall being in high school and hanging out in the park for a make-out session with a boyfriend 😆
What I remember most, though, are all the sensations of being outside: the smell of grass, the air whooshing by as we swung, the burning sensation on the back of legs going down a metal slide set directly in the sun, and the laughter of my friends. Such great memories!
It’s no wonder I love being outside to this day!
Great reflections Lauren! I also remember trying to swing as high as I could. Of course, my own anxiety kept me from going TOO high up! I never punched anyone out though! Can't believe you knocked someone's tooth out!
Riding bikes was also great fun for me, especially when we moved to Palatine and the bike trails allowed us to safely ride long distances. It's probably why I still love riding today!
I remember that song but can't believe it was a hit listening to it now. But then radio had split into AM and FM by then, and a lot of the rock music had gone over to FM and AM probably had room for lots more pop. I don't know, just guessing.
Believe it or not, I don't think we had playground equipment or a gym at our elementary school, just a small paved area below and huge field above that we ran around in during recess. I remember taking the president's test of physical fitness and failing the upper arm strength test, but I don't remember any organized physical activities. The lack of playground equipment was probably why I failed the test!
Good point about rock moving over to FM by that point. AM radio was trying to appeal to everyone. One could hear this song followed by a Rolling Stones hit on any Top 40 station!
I also did NOT have good upper arm strength even though there was playground equipment nearby! I wasn't a fan of those organized physical activities. Enjoying swings and monkey bars were enough for me!
I forgot about the monkey bars! I do remember having to climb ropes to the ceiling of the gym in junior or senior high school, with only some floor mats if we fell. I can't believe the health and safety issues back then. Kids were always having 'accidents' like you did, no adults present to keep watch. Crazy times.
Right?! I guess it was more important for us to be "fit" than safe!
Right there with you on this one! Great post Dan. Love it. And the photos...I am jealous. I don't have many of me as a child.
Thanks Taz! My mom took photos and films of EVERYTHING when we were young. It really inspired me to do the same as I got older.
Dan, I remember sitting in my swing outside my home singing that Clint Holmes song back in the day. It was a #1 hit in Canada for three freaking weeks. I don't think I've even remotely ventured to listen to it since my childhood. And the only playground I had handy was the one in my mind; if I left our cul de sac, crossed the highway and the traintracks and went up a path through a suburb, I could get to the one at our school. But having a lake meant I could swim or skate when I wasn't reading comics, watching TV, or playing records.
I hear you. Even some of us that had playgrounds relatively close to home preferred watching TV and playing records! Yes, the playgrounds in our minds are always the most fun!
And that is why I still play records and go to the playground in my mind to this day.