“Car Wash” by Rose Royce

We’re bringing back the funk for this blog. So clap your hands, and get ready to get workin’ at the car wash.

Long before any of my cousins and I were allowed to have iPods, we relied on my parents' hand-me-down stereo system for entertainment at the lake.

We had this little house in one of the back coves of Gilbert, South Carolina. My grandmother had designed it herself, wanting to make sure she could cram as many people as possible in it. If there was one thing she loved more than anything, it was getting everyone together.

All the kids were in the “turquoise” room as I had dubbed it. It had two twin beds and a trundle nestled under the window. One of our favorite pastimes on a rainy day or at night after the sun went down, was to jump from one twin bed to the next off of the footboard or in an acrobatic somersault. We would fly across the gap between beds and land in a perfectly timed roll, letting our feet hit the ground with a satisfying thud.

Much to the annoyance of my parents, who could hear us from downstairs.

We always had that old stereo playing upstairs when doing so, and we were very limited in our CD selection. I had found a 70’s Top Funk Hits tucked away in a drawer, so it became synonymous with that clunky Lake Murray stereo. From “Fire” by Ohio Players to “FunkyTown”, we knew every word and nailed every jump.

The favorite, of course, was “Car Wash” because it was also the main song in our favorite movie at the time “Shark Tales.” In between our acrobatic performances, we would put on our best “car wash” dance moves and groove to the beat. So every time I hear that opening clap, Ellie and I laugh at our funk-adelic memories at Lake Murray, though we are far too old and tall to jump across the beds anymore.