For those of you who don't know or remember, Studio 801 was a roller rink, located at 801 Development Drive in Kingston. In addition to the roller rink, there was a disco, arcade and bowling lanes. I don't think I ever went into the bowling area but I spent a lot of time in the rink and arcade, on roller skates no less. It was one of the few places in town at the time where kids could hang out, unsupervised.
We were exposed to kids from other schools (us suburban kids got to mingle with actual city kids!) and felt quite grown up, or at least I did. Music was a big part of what made Studio 801 so cool. Certain songs were associated with certain "skates." For example, they would play Joe Dolce's "Shaddupa You Face" for the backwards skate, "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" for the speed skate and of course, The Beatles "Help" for the adult skate (ie over 21 - they looked so old to our 13 year old selves).
One song that I really loved and that I'll forever associate with that roller rink with the orange shag carpet and christmas lights was a big hit for Steely Dan. "Hey Nineteen" is one of those songs that takes me right back there. It's probably as perfect a Steely Dan song as ever there was. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
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