Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah…

I stood in a crowded bar this past weekend watching a parade of young, popular bands taking their turns onstage, playing only a few songs each, most of them originals.   Even with my earplugs in the noise level coming from the stage was intermittently so loud that it actually hurt.

I was there because my friend’s band was playing.   He’s part of a large clique of some of the nicest musicians I’ve ever met.   There’s just this whole community of these cool 20-somethings & it seems like every single one of them is in a band.   He, & others of this group, regularly invite me to their gigs but this was the first one I had made it to in a long time.   This is partially because I don’t like to go out to crowded places, & partially because I’m not really into this kind of music.   I’m not even sure what to classify it as.   When I asked, I was told “Rock.”

Hm.

The Kinks: Destroyer

This all started with Twitter. A macrobiotics enthusiast was suggesting that the meat industry had influenced society to stop saying “Swine Flu” & instead use “the very abstract” name H1N1. And in my head I could hear the clipped guitar & someone singing “‘Cuz there’s a red, under my bed…” I wonder if there is scientific evidence to show the effects of not eating enough meat on human mental health.

But I can turn anything into a musical experience. I jumped on YouTube & found this rather intriguing live performance.

Wouldn’t It Be Good

Thank God for VH-1′s penchant for airing countdown shows from different eras.  They always have these 5 part shows like The 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs or The 100 Greatest Hair Metal Songs that remind you of songs that get lost in your head.

I remember being drawn to this song because the video was so cutting edge at the time.  Real top notch 80′s video technology, up there with Take On Me by A-Ha and Money For Nothing by Dire Straits.  After it landed on VH-1′s 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders list, I took the time to re-examine the song.  It’s just a potent cocktail of homesickness and hope, shaken over that wonderful 80′s sound (saxophone solo,bitches!).  And to me, the video still holds up.  Here’s Wouldn’t It Be Good by Nik Kershaw.

Kim Wilde

Kim Wilde is still beautiful. This is because she never moves her face except to blink or sing.

Still one of the amazing songs of the 80s, expressions aside.

Move out!

The Comfort of Strangers

When I was 17 I thought I was losing my mind.   So I took off to California, where I was homeless & quickly penniless & really ridiculously cold.   I slept on Huntington Beach.   I’d fantasized about finding a perch on some frigid coastline, nameless, faceless, & detail-less.   I just wanted to not think so hard, until I died or something.

Space Age Love Song

I’ve been doing a lot of 80′s projects for people, compiling a lot of mix CD’s (which is odd for me, considering that back then I was making mix TAPES), so my mind is stuck in the era.  I completely forgot about this song, until I was watching one of my favorite shows on TV, Psych.  The show’s writers are known for throwing in 80′s Pop Culture references throughout the show.  It was featured in the episode about a Roller Derby heist, in case you were curious.  Anyway, without further ado…  Space Age Love Song by A Flock Of Seagulls.

On The Turning Away

I know it’s sad, but I never really appreciated David Gilmour until this song.

This is a from the latter part of Pink Floyd’s reign, after Roger Waters had already left, & David Gilmour sings vocals & plays the wandering but certainly soulfully rocking guitar solo.   “Learning To Fly,” which is from the same album, has always been my favorite Pink Floyd song, but “On The Turning Away” is probably the song that just pops into my head at random moments.

Winter Wonderland.

Parties.

Oh, Nostalgia.