01/02/2011 - "The guy was writing the ticket and I was writing the lyrics..." - Sammy Hagar

Good Morning and Merry January 2nd! 

In addition to "writing ahead" on the "meat" of the posts, I'm attempting when possible to coordinate my blogs with events in history so that we can all have a bit of a learning experience too because learning is fun!!!  - :) - You're welcome :) 

Anywho, as I scanned today's events in history to see if anything caught my eye that I could relate to music -

and it did - 

1974 – President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo

And now, for today's

Ocho-rific Song o the Day...
I Can't Drive 55 - Sammy Hagar - 1984

::from SongMeanings.net::
One foot on the brake and one on the gas, hey!
Well, there's too much traffic, I can't pass, no!
So I tried my best illegal move
A big black and white come and crushed my groove again!

CHORUS:
Go on & write me up for 125
Post my face, wanted dead or alive
Take my license n' all that jive
I can't drive 55! Oh No! Uh!

So I signed my name on number 24, hey!
Yeah the judge said, "Boy, just one more
I'm gonna throw your ass in the city joint"
Looked me in the eye, said, "You get my point?"
I said "Yeah!, Oh yea!"

CHORUS

I can't drive 55!
Uh!

When I drive that slow, you know it's hard to steer.
And I can't get my car out of second gear.
What used to take two hours now takes all day. 
Huh - It took me 16 hours to get to L.A.!

CHORUS

No, no, no, I can't drive...(I can't drive 55!)
I can't drive... (I can't drive 55!)
I can't drive 55!

::WIKI "FACTS"::

"I Can't Drive 55" was the lead single and first track from Sammy Hagar's eighth studio album VOA in 1984. Perpetuated by a very successful music video, it became a concert staple that continued throughout Sammy's tours as a member of Van Halen.

It is the 100^th song on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.^[1]

"I was in a rent-a-car that wouldn't go much faster than 55 miles an hour. I was on my way back from Africa. I did a safari for three months throughout Africa. A really great vacation after Three Lock Box. I was traveling for 24 hours, I got to New York City, changed planes, Albany, New York. Got in a rent-a-car. Had a place in Lake Placid at the time, a little log cabin, I used to go there and write with my little boy. Aaron, at that time, went to North Country school when I was on tour. I would go there and see him. It was a really cool getaway. But it took two and a half hours to drive there from Albany. And I was driving from Albany, New York at 2:00 in the morning, burnt from all the travel. Cop stopped me for doing 62 on a four lane road when there was no one else in sight. Then the guy gave me a ticket I was doing 62. And he said, 'We give tickets around here for over-60.' and I said, 'I can't drive 55.' I grabbed a paper and a pen, and I swear the guy was writing the ticket and I was writing the lyrics. I got to Lake Placid, I had a guitar set-up there. And I wrote that song there on the spot. Burnt."

—Sammy Hagar, 1994^[2]

The song's video includes Sammy and his band being chased and jailed by the California Highway Patrol for traffic violations. A trial scene is presided over by a judge played in a cameo appearance by John Kalodner. The intro to the video includes Sammy driving a black Ferrari BB512i which is later tuned up by Sammy's real mechanic, Claudio Zampolli.

The song has been a signature track for Hagar during and after his tenure with Van Halen, and is commonly used on TV programs and commercials related to automotive racing. Most recently, the song was featured in a NAPA Auto Parts commercial, where NASCAR drivers Michael Waltrip and teammate Dale Jarrett) asking Hagar to keep the noise down during a recording session; in response, Hagar asked Waltrip if he could drive faster. Waltrip's car number at the time of the 2007 commercial was #55.

In 2001, NBC Sports had Hagar record a "corrected" version, now known as "I Can't Drive 65," reflecting the common 65 MPH speed limit on freeways, for use duringBudweiser Pole Award presentations on Winston Cup Series broadcasts on NBC and TNT. It was used from 2001 to 2003 during the broadcasts.

The accelerated version of the song was also available as a download for NHL Rivals 2004.

In 2008, Hagar recorded a newer version of the song that was used in NASCAR Dirt to Daytona 2008 called I can't drive 195, reflecting to the speeds used on NASCAR's biggest tracks Daytona and Talladega.

::Extra Goodies::


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