Diesel - Sausalito Summernight

aaronk wrote: RichM921 wrote: I don't think airplay coverage was as good as it could have been. I don't recall ever hearing this song on the radio in 1981. I never heard it until it popped up on '80s CDs in the late '90s. I was also surprised when I learned about the low peak position of "Sausalito Summernight." My dad bought this 45 for me when I was only 3 years old, and I played it to death. I wonder how he knew about it. Another 45 he bought for me around the same time was "Breaking Away" by Balance. Both of those 45s have always been favorites of mine.

There were a number of high profile releases from big acts within a 1-2 month window in the fall of 1981: Journey, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Hall & Oates, The Police. Radio and the labels were working the first singles from those albums very heavily. I wonder if that contributed to several great singles from one-off acts getting lost in the shuffle (Diesel, Balance, also "Don't Give It Up" from Robbie Patton and "My Girl (Gone Gone Gone)" from Chilliwack were memorable).

The charts were crowded with singles from name acts with few singles from new acts charting Top 10 during those months ("Harden My Heart" from Quarterflash is one of the few that comes to mind).

The original recording is from the Netherlands. Released
there on Polydor. 2050 633 the catalog number. Wish I
owned one of those. Own the USA Regency 45, the second
Atlantic/Atco distributed version. I think if this hadn't
changed distributors, might have been promoted better and
had a better chance of a hit .