The other day I was at work and Detroit Rock City by KISS came on my Ipod. I realized how ridiculous the intro to that song is - it starts with the sounds of somebody starting up a car and hearing I Wanna Rock and Roll all night being played on the radio. Then the actual song starts, which is all about hearing your favorite song on your way to a show and it totally making your night. This is a concept that I can SERIOUSLY get behind, but the fact that they are referring to another song of theirs as the song that is going to make your night, as opposed to the current one you are listening to - anyway, it gets confusing. This really got me thinking about bands with songs that are all about themselves, or referencing their old hits. It feels like when a band comes to a point where they are big enough to reference their own personas, it must all be downhill from there. Of course one of the prime examples I can think of is TONIGHT by New Kids On The Block, and I suppose they were never considered cool in the first place. The first verse of that song reads: "Remember when we said, girl, please don't go, and how I'd be loving you forever, taught you 'bout hangin' tough as long as you got the right stuff, didn't we, girls, ooh, didn't we, girls, aah?"
UMM I GUESS YOU GUYS DID ALL THAT STUFF?? Since they were no longer hanging tough on the streets of Boston, it was time to sing about all the fun they had on their past hits and how COOL touring the world was. It was time to move on to bigger and better things, and Tonight was all about how they were ABOUT to do that. It is the prologue to a crappy book that was never written. Plus, it features midi trumpet.
A large chunk of my adolescence was spent having really detailed and intense talent show fantasies. I think it's half the reason I listened to music - I would either listen to a song and imagine myself performing, OR imagine myself performing a choreographed dance to said song. When "Moonlight Dancing" by Bette Midler came out you better BET I envisioned myself dancing under the MOONLIGHT while my 3rd grade class waited in a line.....at night? For some reason? Once a couple of classmates busted out a dance to Black Cat by Janet Jackson over the lunch hour and I spent the next 2 weeks in my basement trying to choreograph the world's most amazing dance to Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode. To this day I admit that a choreographed dance is often running through my head while I listen to music, but without any specifics or audience love involved. I think the admiration and awe of all my classmates was a big selling point, but each fantasy almost always involved some boy falling in love with me thanks to my beautiful performance. It is clear that I will never live out my talent show performance dreams. The closest I ever got was all the piano recitals I performed in from ages 7-16, but the very last one was spent forgetting half of the music and stumbling around, freaking out, trying to remember the rest of the song, and feeling embarrassed for months. I guess I will never be Agnetha, like I often dreamt.
As you know, there are lots of deluded people on the internet. Anyone who thinks they have talent and TOTALLY DESERVES TO MAKE IT has an outlet to share their creations with the world. Then you also have people who suddenly believe that the entire world needs to hear about their mundane lives. Of course by "the entire world" I mean the 200 people that might watch their "makeup haul" or "fashion show" and then comment on it praising the vlogger for their great style, awesome face or dissing their totally SUCKY TEAL EYESHADOW. Suddenly people need attention and commentary for going about their day to day lives. It's a 24 hour amateur comedy night, karaoke night, and hello kitty diary. And here I am as well, writing some of my deluded thoughts about deludinoids.
I made a trip out to black & read last weekend and found a couple of gems. Lately I've been in the mood for 80's soul/funk and also cannot stop listening to the local rap station. These are some of the records I found:
That store is truly a playground for the sights & the senses (thanks sarah.)
All are excellent so far. I also found a few books from the time life series about THE ENCHANTED WORLD. Ghosts, WIZARDS, witches, magical beasts!? What more could I want? Now that my favorite month is here (GO OCTOBER) I decided I really need to make the most of it. This includes but is not limited to: find some haunted houses that aren't TOO scary, watch lots of horror movies, take fall walks, drink fall drinks, read something scary, make sure I get my Bill S. Preston Esquire costume, etc. It definitely feels like fall now and I'm surprised because I'm not falling into my usual trap, which involves listening to sad playlists and feeling extremely nostalgic. There is certain music that causes that punched-in-the-stomach sensation and I've always enjoyed wallowing in this feeling every fall. As if I'm reliving every moment of my life and other lives every second of every fall day. Maybe instead I'll just go listen to some Sheila E and think about FUTURE TIMES!
And, here is the song that sent me into a rap station frenzy.
I’ve returned from a fabulous weekend bachelorette extravaganza that consisted of lots of cupcakes, dirty pictures, whiskey, and hot tubbin.Even an impromptu photo shoot ala America’s Next Best model!
My sister and I just had a really cheerful conversation about what we would do if the world descended into total chaos -- my parents have their house paid off so I guess I could go live there and grow some radishes and maybe breed some goats for their milk and start lots of fires.
I would like to thank Richard Simmons for making another film that made me cry:
Most exciting news of the day: Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains was released on DVD! HOORAY.
Also, my friend Martin was wonderful enough to burn me a copy of BREAKING GLASS, which I blogged about in a previous blog.
