10 monster hits you’ll hear at the Indiana State Fair
To sing along with big hits of the past five decades, the 2015 Indiana State Fair is the place to be.
From the Turtles performing “Happy Together” at the Free Stage to Meghan Trainor performing “All About That Bass” at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, this year’s fair boasts chart-toppers with cross-generational appeal. The Village People will revive the disco era at the Free Stage, while modern country star Jake Owen is a Coliseum headliner.
Attendees will be able to buy beer, wine and spirits at Coliseum concerts, a new policy that arrives one year after an Indiana Beer and Wine Exhibition debuted at the fair’s Grand Hall and marked the end of a 67-year ban on alcohol sales at the fair. Alcohol will not be sold at the Free Stage.
In another policy change, fair admission is not included with the purchase of a Coliseum concert ticket. Attendees need to buy fair tickets at the gate for $12 each or in advance for $8 each.
Here are 10 smash hits you’ll hear from the original artists:
“Closer to Fine” by Indigo Girls
The performance: Indigo Girls headline the Free Stage on Aug. 7. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. show is included with a fair ticket, available for $12 or $8 if purchased in advance.
The song: “Closer to Fine” ranks among the more philosophical songs to climb Billboard magazine’s charts (reaching No. 26 for modern rock tracks in 1989 and No. 52 on the Hot 100). “There’s more than one answer to these questions pointing me in a crooked line,” sang Emily Saliers and Amy Ray. “It worked with college kids tired of exams and walking down the halls of academia just screaming the words,” Saliers said of the song in a 1994 interview that appeared in The Indianapolis Star. The song also worked with “The Office” character Andy Bernard, who sang “Closer to Fine” in 2006 episode “Diwali.”
“Jungle Love” by Morris Day & the Time
The performance: Morris Day & the Time headline the Free Stage on Aug. 8. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. show is included with a fair ticket, available for $12 or $8 if purchased in advance.
The song: “Jungle Love” reached No. 20 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1984 and apparently influenced Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars when they made “Uptown Funk” 30 years later. Written by Prince, Morris Day and Time guitarist Jesse Johnson, “Jungle Love” took its pursuit of seduction to extremes (sample lyric: “I want to take you to my cage, lock you up and hide the key”). In addition to performing the song in 2001 film “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” Day and his bandmates played Georgia Street’s Super Bowl Village in 2012.
“All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor
The performance: Trainor headlines Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Aug. 11. Admission to the 7 p.m. show is $46 to $56. Visit Ticketmaster.com.
The song: “All About That Bass” could have been a hit for Beyonce Knowles or Adele, but those stars declined to record the song written by Meghan Trainor and producer Kevin Kadish. More than 950 million YouTube views and 11 million sales later, “Bass” is Trainor’s signature smash. The Massachusetts native made good on her promise to bring “booty back” as the song knocked Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” from Billboard’s No. 1 last September.
“Happy Together” by the Turtles
The performance: The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie headline the Free Stage on Aug. 12. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. show is included with a fair ticket, available for $12 or $8 if purchased in advance.
The song: “Happy Together” displaced the Beatles’ “Penny Lane” from Billboard’s No. 1 in 1967. With its minor-key structure contrasting optimistic lyrics, “Happy Together” has been heard in movies ranging from “Making Mr. Right” (1987) to this summer’s “Minions.” “Happy Together” also serves as the title for an annual ’60s revue tour organized by Turtles vocalists Flo (Mark Volman) and Eddie (Howard Kaylan). At the Free Stage, Volman and Kaylan will be joined by the Association, Mark Lindsay, the Grass Roots, the Buckinghams and the Cowsills.
“Barefoot Blue Jean Night” by Jake Owen
The performance: Owen headlines Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Aug. 14. Admission to the 8 p.m. show is $45 to $55. Visit Ticketmaster.com.
The song: “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” became Jake Owen’s first No. 1 on Billboard’s country singles chart in 2011, and the song reached No. 21 on the all-genre Hot 100. Written by Dylan Altman, Eric Paslay and Terry Sawchuk, “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” conjures a time when adolescents pledge they’re “never gonna grow up, never gonna slow down.” The song’s party-themed video, made at Tennessee’s Center Hill Lake, features Owen’s wife, Lacey Buchanan.
“O.P.P.” by Naughty by Nature
The performance: Naughty by Nature will perform as part of the “93.9 the Beat Summer Jam” at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Aug. 15. Admission to the 7 p.m. show is $29.93 to $99.93. Visit Ticketmaster.com.
The song: “O.P.P.” rocketed to No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 1991, when the anti-monogamy anthem appealed to male and female listeners. “You keep your mouth shut and it won’t get back to her or him,” rapped Naughty by Nature’s Anthony “Treach” Criss. While the song’s title is explained as “Other People’s Property,” Treach also outlines more risque words to fit the abbreviation. The song samples the Jackson 5’s “ABC” and a drum break from Melvin Bliss’s “Synthetic Substitution.”
“Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People
The performance: The Village People headline the Free Stage on Aug. 17. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. show is included with a fair ticket, available for $12 or $8 if purchased in advance.
The song: “Y.M.C.A.” was a No. 2 hit in 1978, long before the song became an audience-participation favorite at sporting events. Village People vocalist Victor Willis (who dressed as a police officer) co-wrote the disco tune that extols Young Men’s Christian Association sites as places to “get yourself clean” and “have a good meal.” The Village People gathered in front of New York leather bar Ramrod in the “Y.M.C.A.” video, conveying the song’s gay subtext. “You can hang out with all the boys,” sang Willis, who left the group in the early 1980s.
“Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” by Big & Rich
The performance: Big & Rich headline the Free Stage on Aug. 18. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. show is included with a fair ticket, available for $12 or $8 if purchased in advance.
The song: “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” reached No. 11 on Billboard’s country chart in 2004, bolstering the “Muzik Mafia” collective that included Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson. Built on swagger, “Save a Horse” had “Big” Kenny Alphin and John Rich combining forces to sing, “I’m the only John Wayne left in this city.” Seymour, Ind., native Fred Gill appeared in the song’s video and provided a Hoosier connection to the Muzik Mafia. Known as jovial sidekick “Two Foot Fred,” Gill was born with diastrophic dysplasia and is actually 3 feet 2 inches tall.
“Get Down Tonight” by KC & the Sunshine Band
The performance: KC & the Sunshine Band headline the Free Stage on Aug. 20. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. show is included with a fair ticket, available for $12 or $8 if purchased in advance.
The song: “Get Down Tonight” boogied its way to No. 1 in 1975, becoming the first of five KC & the Sunshine Band songs to top Billboard’s Hot 100. Group leader Harry Wayne Casey doesn’t downplay his success. “We changed the sound of music like Elvis changed to rock ’n’ roll and the Beatles changed in the ’60s,” Casey told The Star in 1994. “We did it in the ’70s. And what we did in the ’70s is still reflected in today’s music. Big time.” “Get Down Tonight” is heard in films ranging from “Sid and Nancy” to “Forrest Gump.”
“Send Me On My Way” by Rusted Root
The performance: Rusted Root headlines the Free Stage on Aug. 22. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. show is included with a fair ticket, available for $12 or $8 if purchased in advance.
The song: “Send Me On My Way” only reached No. 72 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 1995 but maintains a presence in pop culture thanks to ad campaigns (Enterprise Rent-A-Car) and movies (“Matilda,” “Ice Age”). The upbeat and exotic “Send Me On My Way” is the only song on this list to feature gibberish, “mamadasaymamabedyom,” within its lyrics. But it’s the second to feature a penny-whistle solo (joining “Closer to Fine”).
Listen to these 10 songs on a Spotify playlist.
Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.