Back when I lived in Groves, the local Putt Putt Golf would reward students’ good grades with game tokens. My report cards would usually net me enough tokens for around 30 minutes of video games.
I think this place was on 39th St., just west of TX 73. If that’s correct, current aerial maps suggest the place has been razed and replaced.
I remember one really enjoyable game. To get to it, you would take a right after entering the facility and find the rightmost video game machine perched in front of a balcony.
On that game, I would pilot some car through a course where you would jump between platforms while the scenery moves from right to left. It was as if you are looking at the passenger side of a moving car that was maneuvering through all sorts of erector sets.
I don’t remember the game’s name, but I remember that I liked its song. At the time, I thought it was a classical song, although I didn’t know what it was.
Fast forward around 20 years: on today’s A Prairie Home Companion summer break rebroadcast, I knew the first song, although I couldn’t put my finger on it. After a few seconds, I realized that it revived the 20 year old memory of the long lost video game song! You can listen to the song here.
This song is Pipeline, a 1962 surf rock song by the one-hit-wonder group The Chantays. I’ve been looking for that song for years, but could never find it because I didn’t remember how to describe it. It’s amazing that I never got exposed to that landmark song in those 20 years.