Here's a little known Kerry fact for you: I discovered one of my still-favorite bands, The Lemonheads, by way of the now defunct Sassy magazine. Loved that magazine, but that's another post for another day.
I've been doing a lot of searching for visual inspiration for the ScrapFest! print materials, but one cannot have visual inspiration without musical inspiration, and this evening I turned to the Lemonheads for said inspiration. Here are a couple of my favorites from Evan Dando and company.
My all-time fave, "Confetti." Love love love this song.
The wonderful "Into Your Arms."
And "It's About Time." This song has great lyrics like "patience is like bread I say, I ran out of that yesterday."
I've been in a funky mood and would like to have a do-over for this week, please.
This mood brought me to my Counting Crows playlist and the song "Good Time," which is one of my favorites (my Adam, guitar, and banjo — shut up). This song is for real. Love the lyric, "it's no easier for you some days/You wish you could tell him it'll be ok/but you feel a little shy these days/cause everybody goes away." And of course the best part of the song is the refrain over the last minute of the song, "I really love the red haired girls, I'm just another boy from Texas."
Y'all know I love my Counting Crows. I needed a little "St. Robinson and His Cadillac Dream" this morning, and not just because my name is in the song. It's one of my favorites, lyrics are fun and love the mandolin and how Adam does my favorite line of the song. I'm sure you can guess it, it's not hard.
This post has been a long time coming. I've finally found LOTS of decent quality videos that allow embedding. So, the 80's Sunday Rewind is jam packed full for you today. Yippee.
The Pet Shop Boys have been one of my favorite bands since 1986. Please was one of the first albums I bought, then Disco, Actually, Introspective, Behaviour, and the other one-word albums that followed. It's always been interesting to me to grow up with a band. There are several bands I feel that way about, Pet Shop Boys being one of them, one that I've been a fan of since their first album. And being been a fan for so long, I couldn't tell you what it is exactly that hooked me. I loved the synth pop then, the almost spoken word style of singing Neil Tennant is now known for, the full sound of their songs, thoughtful lyrics — there are so many things to love about PSB.
I thought I'd give you my favorite of their 80's tunes as well as two 80's leftovers from '90 and '91, one of which is "Being Boring," which I can't say enough good things about. I love a literary song. "Being Boring" references Zelda Fitzgerald and her quote, “…she covered her face with powder and paint because she didn’t need
it and she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring. She
was conscious that the things she did were the things she had always
wanted to do.” Love that. PSB said the song is about the ideals you have when you're young and about growing up, and the lyrics reflect that. My favorite lines have always been:
Now I sit with different faces In rented rooms and foreign places All the people I was kissing Some are here and some are missing In the nineteen-nineties I never dreamt that I would get to be The creature that I always meant to be But I thought in spite of dreams Youd be sitting somewhere here with me
That's good stuff.
First up is the first PSB single, "West Eng Girls," then "Love Comes Quickly," followed by the capitalist theme song "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)." One of the greats, Dusty Springfield joins PSB on "What Have I Done To Deserve This," then our 80's leftovers, "Being Boring" and "Jealousy" round out the videos today. "Jealousy" is wonderfully orchestral and the vid features a fabulous fight scene at the end — such a good video from that era. So, enjoy my Pet Shop Boys today, it's good times.
It's been one of those days. You know what I mean. I know you do. Shall I expound on my day? Okay.
Let's back up a moment. It's really a carry over from yesterday when the air conditioning was out (it's 90+ degrees here on the Northshore in South Louisiana even thought the calendar says it's October). It was hot. I am not a fan of heat. Like at all. Our a/c man is fantastic and the house started to cool around bedtime (not my bedtime, the children's bedtime), so I was in a much better mood last night.
I went to bed around one. Couldn't shake the static in my brain, of course. Woke up at 5 with a migraine, took some Judy Garland trailmix and tried to go back to bed 'til 6:15, otherwise known as "time to make the doughnuts" as I say every morning when I turn off the iPhone alarm and wake the kids to get ready for the bus. No, I've never made doughnuts.
After I got the kids off, my migraine and I went back to bed. If you've never had a migraine, let me illustrate the feeling: my senses were so heightened that I could smell colors and that made sense. At 9:45 I woke up and made coffee, took a shower, put on another pair of pjs, and sat down to the Macbook Pro for the ENTIRE day. I've been working on a friend's website for about a week and this morning I decided to publish it to the web so I could work out glitches and upload mp3s and all.
Unfortunately, the interwebs hates me.
I deleted the old site, uploaded the new one, but it wasn't there. The error message on the site said something to the effect of "error blah blah blah, this page does not exist on here, fool. Contact the webmaster." This made me laugh until I choked on my coffee and yelled "this shit is bananas," which became the phrase of the day. The webmaster is an idiot. I'd fire her if it were my site.
So, I called my good friend, Frugal Beth to tell her the story because I knew she'd laugh and she asks her professional webdesigner hubs what to do and we got it worked out. Something about publishing to some file blah blah blah awesome. Site was up, buggy, but up. More issues arose, the kids came home crazy, and my friend tells me he bought the new Photoshop Elements 8. Now, I bought PSE 6 a few months ago. This kind of thing makes me crazy. I hopped on apple.com and sho nuff, 8 is out. This shit is bananas.
After putting myself in timeout for a few minutes after telling the kids to stop asking for cookies for the brazillionth time, I returned to the kitchen to see they had eaten the entire bag of Chips Ahoy. I put myself in timeout again to avoid the screaming boiling up from within, then sent the kids upstairs, sat down to the computer again and continued day-o-web frustration.
And then I pondered dinner for at least ten seconds before putting a frozen pizza in the oven (because that's all I could muster up tonight). After calling the hubs' aunt and cousins to ask them to babysit next weekend, I realized I never took the pizza out. I burned the pizza. Nothing like extra crispy blackened pepperoni.
This was not my day.
After burning the pizza, I chatted with my friend while making at least a dozen blog banners for his blog, then finally got the right size. It was bananas. The first one was 20 times too big, then too small — it was like when I try on clothes. Typepad said it was supposed to be so many pixels, wrong. Whatev, they're smokin' crack. I again recited my phrase of the day.
It was about that time that I remembered I forgot to eat dinner, made myself some cereal, and watched Private Practice while trying to upload the mp3s. Two will not work. They must have gotten the memo that the interwebs hates me. It was at this moment that I went to You Tube for some Gwen Stefani. I'm not a fan of the Gwen, but this mix of "Hollaback Girl" with Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" is the bomb, yo. After — no lie — playing this video 7 times, it's been a much better evening. And come on, this shit is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s. Sing along with me.
So, I've been watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and he's been talking about Yacht Rock for a week.
If you're not familiar with Yacht Rock, here's part of the Wikipedia entry:
"Yacht rock" is a name[6][7] for the popular soft rock that peaked between the years of 1975 and 1984. Significant "yacht rockers" include Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross,Goldstar and Toto. In the musical sense, yacht rock refers to the highly polished brand of soft rock that emanated from Southern California during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In part, the term relates to the stereotype of the yuppieyacht owner, enjoying cocaine
and smooth music while out for a sail. Additionally, since sailing was
a popular leisure activity in Southern California, many "yacht rockers"
made nautical references in their lyrics, videos, and album artwork,
particularly the anthemic track "Sailing" by Christopher Cross. Yacht Rock music is commonly described as, "A little bit better than elevator music!"
Genius name for the genre. Love it.
Have I ever told y'all how much my hubs LOVES Christopher Cross? I know I've discussed the hubs' "taste in music" on the blog before, but really, y'all have no idea. His iPod on shuffle goes like this: Christopher Cross, Willie Nelson, Journey, Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss, Phil Collins, Barry Manilow, The Judds, Toto, Michael Buble, lots of Abba and COMPLETELY random '80s songs. On the rare occasion when we're together in a car long enough, after a max of three songs on shuffle, I will yell "JUST SHOOT ME IN THE DAMN FACE!" I'm SO not kidding. On the Orange Beach trip, I put my earbuds in after Willie Nelson's version of "Always on my Mind" was followed by "Never Gonna Give You Up" and I yelled "JUST SHOOT ME IN THE DAMN FACE ALREADY!" Oh yes, I did. For real. I'm a great road trip companion — ask any of my friends, but not with the hubs.
So, this Tunes Tuesday is for the hubs, who will be getting a captain's hat, sunglasses, and an ascot for Christmas so he can jam in proper attire to his Yacht Rock music. He's not getting the yacht.
It's a gray day here in southeast Louisiana and you know what that means. That's right, post-punk 80's to get me going this morning. Today it's New Order.
The following is part of the Wikipedia entry on New Order:
New Order combined post-punk and electronic dance, and became one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the 1980s.[2]
Though New Order's early years were shadowed by the legacy of Joy
Division, their immersion in the New York City club scene of the early
1980s introduced them to dance music. The band's 1983 hit "Blue Monday" saw them fully embrace dance music and synthesized instruments, and is the best-selling 12-inch single of all time.[3] New Order were the flagship band for Factory Records,
and their minimalist album sleeves and non-image reflected the label's
aesthetic of doing whatever the relevant parties wanted to do,
including an aversion to including singles as album tracks. The band
has often been acclaimed by fans, critics and other musicians as a
highly influential force in the alternative rock and dance music scenes over the past 25 years.
New Order were on hiatus between 1993 and 1998, during which time
the members participated in various side-projects. The band reconvened
in 1998, and in 2001 released Get Ready, their first album in eight years. In 2005, Phil Cunningham (guitars, synthesizers) replaced Gilbert, who had left the group due to family commitments.
So, there ya go — that's New Order in a nutshell. They pretty much ruled.
New Order also produced some of the most innovative music videos of the era. You did know there would be videos, didn't you?
And from my favorite movie evah, Pretty in Pink, it's "Shell Shock" and "Thieves Like Us." Love love love these two songs. "Shell Shock" is a great bitter break-up song. You'll remember "Thieves Like Us" as the instrumental in the montage in which Molly Ringwald's character is sewing her prom dress (the 80's montage from which all other montages are judged). Pure 80's goodness, people. Enjoy.
Can we just talk for a minute? I've taken cough medicine and started this post. I am medicated and motivated, people. I am wired. But enough about me, let's move on to the me in my head.
Do you watch the Project Runway? Huh? Do ya? Well, ya should. Here's the rub: Michael Kors and Nina Garcia have been missing for weeks and I have missed the bitchy, sarcastic, snarky, bitchy, hysterical, ridiculous, bitchy judging styles of Michael Kors. He's like my fairy godfather of bitchy comments and I've missed him. He's like me, only male and gay — judgmental, with sarcasm and you know he says things out of love, like moi. He's like me, only orange.
The Kors and I have been BFFs in my mind since season one of PR. Here are his best quotes from the six previous seasons. Keep in mind — these quotes are about outfits, that's what makes The Kors hilarious.
It's a little like a woman going out to eat ribs.
It looks like toilet paper caught in a wind storm.
It's a little mother of the bride.
I thought it looked farty.
She looks like a paper brioche.
You're a mess just standing there.
If you didn't do that jacket in fleece I would have been like give me a Xanax, I'm asleep.
Nina Garcia: You went from a wedding to a funeral. Michael Kors: …Or a French maid at a funeral.
It's a little Shirley McClaine when she played a hooker with a heart of gold.
She needed a feather duster.
That was so Paris hooker 50's.
I think she looked like $29.99 prom.
AND my top 4 fave quotes:
Next thing you know, it's big button earrings and you're on 'The Facts of Life.'
Scarlett O'Hara ripped drapes down and made a couture dress…this, she ripped the sheets off the bed and ran out the door.
She looks like Barefoot Appalachain Lil' Abner Barbie.
I feel like a pope at a sex club.
Don't we all just feel like a pope at a sex club sometimes? That's what I like to call 1992-97. I'm telling you, I was/am the goody two shoes Adam Ant sang about.
Well, honeys, he's back. Here's the preview. And yes, he says "teal charmeuse disco pumpkin" which is now what I want to be for Halloween. Has anything more festive ever been said? Teal charmeuse disco pumpkin? Shut up.
The Eurythmics have been on my list of bands for the 80's Sunday Rewind for a while (yes, I have an actual list in one of my various notebooks) and I decided this was the Sunday to feature their videos after my rain post from Wednesday.
You see, it is simply this: the Eurythmics were the 80's. I'll explain. When the Eurythmics released their first U.S. #1 hit, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" in 1984, they were as synth-pop as you get.
So, the Eurythmics pretty much cemented themselves as a synth-pop band with those songs and "Here Comes the Rain Again," then they went a reinvented their sound with 1985's Be Yourself Tonight and were straight up rock and roll with an awesome R&B sound. Crazy, right? Yeah, but it worked. The big hit off that album was "Would I Lie to You," which happens to be my favorite Eurythmics song (and convinced me that I needed to be a back-up singer).
The Eurythmics made a few more albums together before their hiatus and ventures into solo work. It's only fitting that they closed out the decade with their last album (pre-reunion), 1989's We Too Are One, which gave us a glimpse of what to expect from Dave Stewart, Annie Lennox's partner in the band, who is pretty amazing. For more on Stewart, go read my friend Will's blog for some Dave Stewart edumacation. I'll leave you with "Baby's Gonna Cry," in which we hear Stewart sing (imagine that) and look like a cool rock star — shut up, that red suit is awesome.
It's raining here and flooding in Georgia, a state I love. It's raining everywhere. I've been in a crappy mood all week and I blame it on the rain. You know what that means. Yep, time for an 80's raindance party! Put on your gold lame raincoat and get your groove on, baby.
Let's let the original kings of lip synching kick it off.
That's right. Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you. That rain can't be good for the instruments they weren't actually using.
And this is the song that's been in my head all week.
Is it just me or does Dave Stewart look like a creepy stalker in the video? That's right, I said it — creepy stalker.
Prince would kick my ass if I didn't include him in the dance party and the last thing I need is Prince on my case. It's a slow jam, you know, 'cause Prince likes it that way. And if you want to send out any long-distance dedications, now is the time.
I think we can all agree we need to break up the melancholy mood with a little up-tempo number. And I think we all know what that means — the dragtastic "It's Raining Men."
So, that's the rain post. Stay tuned for the "Here Comes The Sun" post , that is, if the sun ever comes out for more than half the day.
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