Welcome to Status Symbol Land for the 22nd in my series of caches highlighting the rich and diverse history of West Orange! The Monkees had a #3 hit in 1967 with "Pleasant Valley Sunday," an upbeat-sounding tune about a sunny summer day, right?
It really IS a great tune, and you can (and should!) listen to it here while you're caching here, just a block from the Pleasant Valley Avenue they're singing about.
But if you pay attention to the lyrics, you'll notice that they are actually a bit darker -- or at least more than a little melancholy -- than the music would lead you to believe, as you can get a better feel for if you listen to Carole King's original demo version.
Musical legend Carole King and her husband and songwriting partner Gerry Goffin actually lived right around the corner from this spot on Waddington Ave. Sorry, it's a private house, so I won't give you the exact street address — but you can drive down the block and decide for yourself if she was being a little harsh about "rows of houses that look all the same..." Although I'm more a fan of pre-war architecture than the post-war style, to me, these houses look a lot more interesting than the new home construction that came later!
The Broadway musical Beautiful related some of King and Goffin's experience as a young married couple here in West Orange. They lived here from when they got married in 1959 until their divorce in 1968 -- a timeframe when they wrote some of the era's most popular hit songs, including “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” "Take Good Care of My Baby," "Up On the Roof," “The Loco-Motion," "You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman)," "One Fine Day," and, of course, “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” a song that offered up a somewhat critical view of King's life in suburban West Orange, where "keeping up with the Joneses" felt like the most important activity.
"Living with Gerry in New Jersey suburbia, I was surrounded by the wives of doctors, accountants, lawyers. With a pen in one hand and a baby in the other, I was a real oddity: a working woman," King said.
Despite their divorce, King remained fond of her ex-husband. When he passed away in 2014, she said: “Gerry Goffin was my first love. He had a profound impact on my life and the rest of the world. Gerry was a good man and a dynamic force, whose words and creative influence will resonate for generations to come. His legacy to me is our two daughters, four grandchildren, and our songs that have touched millions and millions of people, as well as a lifelong friendship.”
For today's nearby residents, it's being able to say we live near where Carole King wrote some of the century's biggest hit songs that makes this area Status Symbol Land!
Fun fact #1: The Monkees that year somehow outsold both The Rolling Stones AND The Beatles.
Fun fact #2: This song marked the first time that all the Monkees played their own instruments on a song.
Fun fact #3: The guitar-bass line is a pretty clear rip-off of the Beatles "I Want To Tell You" which you can listen to here.
Fun fact #4: And Grand Funk Railroad's "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)" in turn stole its guitar intro from "Pleasant Valley Sunday." You can judge for yourself by listening to it here.
Fun fact #5: In the Gilmore Girls season 5 episode "To Live and Let Diorama," Carole King had a cameo as music store owner Sophie Bloom — and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is playing in her store.
Congrats to The Bogjuan for the FTF! For the cache itself, this should be an easy P&G.