This morning the thermometer outside the window of the Fort Greene Observatory read a frosty 18 Fahrenheit. My hand touched the glass. It was colder than ice. I bundled up for my walk to the train station, but was heartened by the toasty warmth of the sun. The strength of its glow was not a good sign. 2014 had recorded the hottest temperatures since when the USA first charted the weather in the 1870s.
As cold as it was, I felt the approach of summer and thought about girls in tight Hot Pants with their 2-inch inseams and James Brown’s 1971 hit HOT PANTS and the lyrics ‘She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)’. The record hit # 15 on the Billboard charts. No one sings about Hot Pants these days, because none of them ever really seen real Hot Pants.
They were a wonder to behold.
1971.
Hot Pants were everywhere.
