Sausalito Summernight

"Sausalito Summernight" is the title of a 1981 U.S. Top 40 hit by Nederpop band Diesel. It was fourth of four singles issued from the band's 1980 debut album Watts in a Tank, the final three of which became chart hits. It was the greatest hit from the LP (U.S. #25). The track became a #1 hit in Canada. It was also their only charting single there. Overview The song was written in 1979 by Diesel members Mark Boon and Rob Vunderink at Boon's parental home in the Hague: (Rob Vunderink quote:) "I came up with the riff, [Boon] added some chords, and then I came up with the melody", the song's tune being completed in roughly an hour's time. The lyrics were written the following day by Boon who in 1962 at age 11 had moved to Los Angeles, California, and had lived in California until 1967, and had also sojourned in California prior to joining Diesel in 1978. Boon would later recall that he had spent time in Sausalito the summer before writing the song. An ironic car ode, the lyrics of "Sausalito Summernight" focus on a couple driving a "Rambler" north from Los Angeles to San Francisco who take a break in Sausalito, four miles from San Francisco (and in fact to its north).