I spent the early part of last week in California. I had a job near Santa Cruz and I went to a baseball game with a couple of friends in San Francisco. That’s reason enough to post songs about the place.

The Avalanches “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” (Dionne Warwick)
I flew into San Jose. This version of this song was running through my head as we landed. That’s the soundtrack of my life.

Oingo Boingo “California Girls” (Beach Boys)
Danny Elfman’s been doing movie soundtracks so long it’s hard to remember that he started out doing stuff like this.

Ska Daddyz “Hotel California” (The Eagles)
Update: Alert reader Tom tells me that this is not Reel Big Fish. He seems to know a lot more about RBF than I do so I’ll take his word for it.

Two people have now written in to say it’s the Ska Daddyz, so that’s what I’m going with.

This song works so much better as a full-on ska number.

Lisa Ono “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” (Tony Bennett)
For some reason I just don’t think “samba” when I think of San Francisco.

Hi-Standard “California Dreaming” (The Mamas And The Papas)
Update: Alert reader Mark tells me that this song is performed by Hi-Standard, not Pennywise. Just one more bit of bogus information from the World Wide Interweb.

It’s a pretty frantic dream.