Summer In Stereo #16

HERC has shared the story of when he first heard "Little Red Corvette" on the radio and he has also shared the story of how he came to have his second high school girlfriend and first true love.  (For the purposes of this post, HERC will be referring to her as "Marie" - not her real name.)  One Friday or maybe Saturday night in the middle of July 1983, HERC went on a movie date with Marie.  As he did not yet have a vehicle of his own, HERC borrowed his Mom's pale green Chrysler Cordoba, which to its credit had a bench seat so Marie could sit realclose.  Picking Marie up at her Mom's house, she surprised him by bringing her best friend Ann (also not her real name) along on the date.  With a dubbed copy of Prince's 1999 album playing in the cassette deck at relatively low volume, Marie and Ann spent the ride to the theater with the overhead light on, flipping through the latest issue of Rolling Stone (below) which HERC hadn't yet read.

Although they had talked about seeing the new movie, Staying Alive (Marie was a big Travolta fan), the plan changed when Ann said she hadn't seen the Summer's Biggest Movie yet which just happened to be on the cover of Rolling Stone.  After seeing Return of The Jedi, Marie still had some time before her curfew so the three of them cruised around midtown until, while in an intersection waiting to make a left turn, the Cordoba just died.  It just clicked as HERC desperately turned the key.  Ann & Marie thought it was funny but HERC was more than a little embarrassed.  Fortunately, the traffic was light on the well lit road they were on and with Marie strong arming the steering wheel, HERC and Ann managed to push the car out of the intersection and into a empty parking lot.  After going through the motions of looking under the hood, HERC decided to find a payphone and call HERC SR.  It was a short one block walk until the three of them found a payphone and they each called their respective parents, with the girls saying they would be home a little late and HERC asking his father to come and help.  HERC SR. showed up, tried to start the car and then popped the hood. He asked if the girls had called their parents and if they could wait a few minutes while he tried to start the Cordoba.  He pulled jumper cables out of his Suburban and had HERC hook them up to the Suburban's battery and then the Cordoba's.  It was HERC's first jump start but HERC Sr. had trained him for it so he looked like he knew what he was doing.  The car started up and after 10 minutes, HERC disconnected the cables and HERC SR. left.  The girls and HERC piled back into the Cordoba and HERC pulled out of the parking lot as Ann said "Home, James."  (not HERC's real name) Marie pushed the tape back into the player and "Little Red Corvette" came fading in.  When the song was over, Marie rewound the tape and played it again, this time they all sang along loudly.  The song ended a second time just as HERC pulled up in front of Marie's house.  Ann got out came over to the driver's side and kissed HERC on the cheek and told him "thanks for the adventure" before running into the house.  Marie rewound the tape yet again and this time she sang the song  into HERC's right ear in a breathless whisper, working him into a tizzy. They both saw the front porch light flash, which meant she had to get in the house, so she kissed his ear and got out of the car.  As HERC closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself before his drive home, Marie appeared in his window and kissed him long and hard.  Once their lips parted she told him he was "gonna need a few more deep breaths" and walked into her house, flashing him with her neon pink mini skirt just before going inside.  HERC had always loved "Little Red Corvette" but that Summer night he loved it just a little bit more.  Much more often than not, "Little Red Corvette" is his favorite Prince song.