Good Tunes: York, 'O.T.B. (On the Beach)'

Has it really been 25 years since this song was released? Has it? How could that be?! It seems like yesterday…

York’s “O.T.B. (On the Beach)” was an obsession of mine in the spring of 2000. Sampled from Chris Rea’s subdued yacht-rock song of the same name, I first heard it in May or June that year and it became the perfect soundtrack for the warm weather, spring fever, and excitement for the upcoming summer.

Though I probably scoured the internet for the artist and title (I’m unsure if Radio 1 posted track lists back then) and likely downloaded it from Napster, I mostly recall hearing it on Judge Jules’s Radio 1 shows. It became my mission not to miss a minute of both (one on Friday and another on Saturday) so I could hear it. I vividly remember one sunny, warm Friday afternoon in City High’s Newslab, sitting at a computer at what we called the “sports island” (the cluster of four computers that the sports editors used in the lab’s middle room), headphones on, RealPlayer streaming Radio 1, the school clock hitting 3 p.m., and wondering if and when Jules would play it. To my amazement and glee, he opened his show with it!

It made my day, and this good tune never fails to takes me back to that moment in time … 25 years ago (yikes!).