'That's Where the Girls Are': 'Palisades Park' by Freddy Cannon
- edgarstreetbooks
- 2 days ago
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‘100 Greatest 60s Pop Songs’ Book Excerpt
Frank Mastropolo
Palisades Park was a popular New Jersey amusement park that was open from 1898 to 1971. The park was located atop the New Jersey Palisades overlooking Manhattan.
Game show creator Chuck Barris, the host and producer of The Gong Show, wrote “Palisades Park.” Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, a Massachusetts native, had a №3 hit with the tune in 1962.
“I knew nothing about Palisades Park,” Cannon told NJ.com. “I didn’t know where it was or anything.
“Now, Chuck Barris of The Gong Show wrote that song, but the title he gave it was ‘Amusement Park.’ All of the lyrics were the same, except for the title.”
Cannon said the song’s producer, Bob Crewe, suggested the title change.
“Bob Crewe, being the genius that he is, heard that song and said, ‘We should zero in on a place.’ Bob knew about Palisades Park.
“Everybody was going there. He thought that would be the place to be. So the song became ‘Palisades Park.’”
Cannon told USA Today that Barris intended “Palisades Park” to be recorded by another teen idol until the record company’s co-owner interceded.
“Dion was supposed to get the song ‘Palisades Park,’” said Cannon. “Chuck Barris sent that song to Swan Records and Bernie Binnick and asked him if he knew how to reach Dion.
“He didn’t know, so Bernie says, ‘Why, what do you have, Chuck?’ because he knew Chuck Barris. He said, ‘Well, I’ve got this song’ and Bernie says, ‘Well, I’ve got an artist here — let me hear the song,’
“That’s how I got the song. He was trying to get it to Dion but Dion never heard the song, but I don’t think he could’ve sang that kind of song anyway. It was more my kind of record. It was too upbeat, too fast.”
“From then on,” said Cannon, “I played and played there many times. It was great fun to go there and work with ‘Cousin Brucie’ (Bruce Morrow) and Clay Cole from New York radio.”
Frank Mastropolo is the author of 100 Greatest 60s Pop Songs, part of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
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