Bobby Volare - The Best Of
If you were a rock fan who grew up in California’s San Joaquin Valley during the late seventies and early eighties, you listened to KKDJ. And if you listened to KKDJ, you knew Bobby Volare. For the 99% of you who didn’t, let me explain: to those of us in the Valley, Bobby was The King. You can have your Elvis, we had our Bobby. You can have your Led Zeppelin, we had our Bobby. You can have your tuna sandwich, we had our Bobby. Sure, he didn’t rock as hard as, say, Pablo Cruise (who did?), but we loved, nay, worshipped him.It was a much simpler time back then. Things were so much more donde la chi-chi than they are today. Some may call me a sentimental fool and they could be right but now I have a mission: it’s not enough that I can enjoy Bobby Volare in the digital age, I must share his good works because you, you are the sunshine of my life! For the next several months I will be spreading the gospel of Bobby Volare throughout the planet using the power of the Internet. Get on your knees and behold the power, the glory, the magic, and the hair, baby! Yeah.
My idea at the time was to buy bobbyvolare.com (which was available at that time) and put up MP3s of all four albums, which I had just digitized. Call it a sixth sense, call it witchcraft, call it woman’s intuition, or call it common sense but something told me to not go ahead with the plan. Good thing, too. I hate getting letters from lawyers About the same time I was hatching my plan, it seems that Bobby was hatching his own because Bobby Volare is back, baby!
A new compilation with the title of, get ready for this, Smashed Hits and Golden Chi-Chi’s / Sgt. Bobby’s Jalapeno Pepper Club Sandwich Band - The Best of Bobby has finally been released (I ordered mine back in freakin’ February). It’s not all four of the classic albums but it will do if all you have is memories because that girlfriend of yours stole your copies along with that collection of Ratt cassettes way back when. The hits are there, of course. Blackstone Side of the Street. Valley Guy. Coalinga Was Gone. Lock The Snackbah, too, but some damn fool remixed it. You don’t remix Bobby Volare, people! Do you remix Sinatra? Streisand? Da Vinci? I rest my case. There are a lot of unreleased treats, as well. Nights in Visalia, anyone? And, of course, Love Theme from “The Wizard of Oz”, dug up from the vaults at last. Ah, memories…
It’s been a long time since I was a Valley Guy (actually, I am a San Fernando Valley guy, now that I think about it) but you don’t have to be one to know the joy of Bobby. Yes, my friends, if your idea of a good time is putting some smooth music in the ride’s CD player and waiting for the babes to start coming by (even if it’s just to ask “You want fries with that?”), then I have what you need. Bobby Volare. It’s…oh so…donde la chi-chi.
