I’m a fairly big music nut, but confess to never hearing about the British pop band Christie and its 1970 single, “San Bernadino,” which was a worldwide hit but barely scraped the bottom of the U.S. Billboard 100. Incidentally, the spelling of the song’s title is correct, if not accurate.
And after much lobbying to the City Council, the Route 66 town of San Bernardino, Calif., adopted “San Bernadino” as the city’s official song in 2005.
Incidentally, Christie front man Jeff Christie is not related to Tony Christie, another British musician who also had a sizable hit about another prominent Route 66 town with “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo.”
Here’s a clip of Christie and “San Bernadino” during the band’s prime, on German television:
(Hat tip to reader Ray Chan.)
Thanks a lot. Now, I’m going to drive my friends crazy with another Christie song. At parties, if “Yellow River” comes on, they get to hear it twice, hey, three times is better, wait, four times.
“Hey, Dog!!! You play that again I’ll wreck your turntable!!”
“OK, then you’ll get to hear some “Feelings” followed by “Don’t It Make My Brown …”
I’m going to have to get a copy of this song. Know any old mom and pop record stores? I doubt I could get it at a Best Buy or Circuit City.