Cruisin' Classics was a series of oldies music compilations released onto

audiocassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otten ...

from 1989-1990 by

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...

About the series

The idea of the tape albums as described in a 1990 edition of ''

The Stanford Daily ''The Stanford Daily'' is the student-run, independent daily newspaper serving Stanford University. ''The Daily'' is distributed throughout campus and the surrounding community of Palo Alto, California, United States. It has published since the U ...

'', was to tailor them to a different cruising era. The covers of the cassette albums would feature a certain car from that era. A Chevy Bel-Air was on the cover of ''Volume VI'' album which featured the classics, "

Blue Moon A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: the third of four full moons in a season. The phrase in modern usage has nothing to do with the actual color of the Moon, although a visually blue Moon (the Moon a ...

" by The Marcels,

Runaround Sue "Runaround Sue" is a rock and roll song (in a modified doo-wop style), originally a US No. 1 Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 hit (No. 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B chart) for the singer Dion DiMucci, Dion during 1961, after he split with th ...

by Dion, Yakety Yak by The Coasters and "

Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" (sometimes rendered "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On") is a song written by Dave "Curlee" Williams and sometimes also credited to James Faye "Roy" Hall. The song was first recorded by Big Maybelle, though the best-k ...

" by The Killer. The cover of ''Volume IV'' featured a Ford Mustang. The songs on the album were "

Mr. Tambourine Man "Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released as the first track of the acoustic side of his March 1965 album '' Bringing It All Back Home''. The song's popularity led to Dylan recording it live many times, and it has been includ ...

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

, " Chain Of Fools" by "

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

" and "

Monday Monday ''Monday Monday'' is an ITV, UTV comedy drama. It stars Fay Ripley, Jenny Agutter, Neil Stuke, Holly Aird, Morven Christie, Tom Ellis, and Miranda Hart. It is set in the head office of a supermarket that has fallen on hard times and had to r ...

" by

The Mamas and the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of A ...

. Songs of a later era than the previous two were featured on ''Volume V''. A Corvette was featured on the cover. The songs included "

Listen To The Music "Listen to the Music" is a song recorded by the Doobie Brothers on their second album ''Toulouse Street''. The song was the Doobie Brothers' first big hit in 1972. It was written by Tom Johnston. Song Writer Tom Johnston described the motivatio ...

" by

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

, " Could It Be I'm Falling In Love by The Spinners, and "

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified pla ...

" by Wham!. In 1990, it was announced in the May 21 issue of '' U.S. Oil Week'' that Shell was again launching its promotion of the cassettes to begin just before the 4th of July holidays with certain tapes being featured in lots of 3. Later that year in September, Shell petrol stations in

L.A. Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

were selling the tapes for $1.99 along with an 8 gallon fill-up of petrol.

Example

An example of seventies hits and eighties hits can be found on ''Cruisin' Classics Vol. V''. This compilation album included "Listen To The Music" by The Doobie Brothers, " It's So Easy" by

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

, "

Ventura Highway "Ventura Highway" is a 1972 song by the band America from their album ''Homecoming'', written by Dewey Bunnell. Background Dewey Bunnell, the song's vocalist and writer, has said that the lyric "alligator lizards in the air" in the song is a r ...

" by

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" by The Spinners, "

Can't Fight This Feeling "Can't Fight This Feeling" is a power ballad performed by the American rock band REO Speedwagon. The song first appeared on the 1984 album '' Wheels Are Turnin. The single reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and held the to ...

" by

REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The ...

, " The Heat Is On" by Glenn Frey, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!, "

Kiss on My List "Kiss on My List" is a song by the American duo Hall & Oates. It was written by Daryl Hall and Janna Allen, and produced by Hall and John Oates. It was the third single release from their ninth studio album, '' Voices'' (1980), and became thei ...

" by Hall & Oates, " September" by Earth, Wind & Fire, and "

Footloose Footloose may refer to: * ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film ** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack) ** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins * ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film ** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...

" by Kenny Loggins.

Note

Musician

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American mu ...

was surprised one day to find a song of his had ended up on what he described as "some schlocky cassette called ''Cruisin' Classics''. This was surprising to him as he recounted in his book ''Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music'', he thought that they, meaning

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

members, had the right to approve what went on to compilation albums. He had come across this compilation album in 1989. A song by

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

was also on it. The song was licensed to the cassette's company by

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

. This wasn't supposed to occur and caused great annoyance. There is a typo on one compilation. The Four Seasons are mistakenly given as "The Four Seasons (Spring)", with the printer obviously having mistaken the name for the classical piece.

Releases (selective)

Discog
Cruisin' Classics, Shell - Promotional series.
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References

{{reflist 1990s compilation albums