More Christmas Tunes...

You know I don't do anything normal...



First time I heard this, they played in like October. I heard it start on the radio and was dumbfounded to hear Christmas music that early.

Then the sound of bombs dropping played...

That is all.

Here's A Good One...

Brought up in Facebook last night was this old '80s hit:



This is one of those songs that is just ripe for bad lyrics. "Rat poison in wine." "Fat women in line." Between Klaus Meine's fractured English, German accent, and rapid-fire singing, it's no wonder this one is frequently misquoted.

So, what's your favorite misquote, either from the Scorps or elsewhere?

That is all.

Guilty Pleasures...

I'm sorry. I freakin' love this tune.



Life is funny as hell, you know that? One minute, you're a carefree college student with not a worry in the world beyond a big test next week and who are you going to find to buy a case of beer for you this weekend. The next minute you've got two kids, a mortgage, and a job staring at a computer screen all day long. Dreams change. No kid ever exclaims "I want to work in sales and marketing". You want to be a doctor, or a football player, or a truck driver, or an astronaut. Then life takes you in whatever direction it's going to take you, and you realize that dreams change.

You dream big, and then life happens. You go to school, you earn a degree, you earn another degree, then you get a job. Just when you think life is done happening, it happens again and then some. I never thought in a million years I'd wind up where I am now, but here I am. It's crazy, it's absolutely nothing like I planned, but I could not be happier if I were twins.

Have a great weekend everyone!

That is all.

Gotta Do It...

Is Friday. Is mandatory.



Why do I suddenly feel the urge to wear parachute pants and Chuck Taylors?

That is all.

From My Earworm to You...

Got this in my head earlier this week. Now, thanks to the power of the internet, now you have it too!



Have a good weekend, folks!

That is all.

Caution: Bad Language Alert

Holy crap. Saw this on Facebook last night and laughed so hard I think I pulled something in my larynx...



Wicked pissah!

That is all.

Some Things Must Be Seen To Be Appreciated

Here's a little something to improve your mood...



Sir Mix-a-Lot and a symphony orchestra. Baby Got Back played on cello and brass. Watching the performance, you can't help but be struck by the professionalism of Sir Mix-a-lot. I don't mean because he gets through the song without a hitch. I mean because of the absolutely rhythm-free dance moves most of the stage talent exhibits...

There's a reason I don't dance, folks...

That is all.

Gettin' Ready for the Weekend...

Big goings-on this weekend. Full report Monday. For now, I'll leave you with a flashback to the '80s...



Yes, I know, technically this is from 1979, but it's pretty much an '80s tune. The B-52s, along with The Cars, Devo, and Talking Heads, were the best-known "New Wave" bands in the '80s, a post-punk response to the disco so prevalent in the '70s. "Rock Lobster" is one of those songs that, no matter how many times I play it for my kids, they can't believe it was a real song...

Happy earworm!

That is all.

Today's Earworm...

Oh yeah. You know THIS was getting played today...



I have fond, if fuzzy, memories of playing this song over and over again. Alcohol was involved. One of the guys in my dorm suite in college had gotten dumped by his girlfriend, as had I at the time, and rather than throw ourselves a pity party, we polished off some Jack Daniels. At one point we had looped this song on a cassette tape and were singing it, very loudly and very badly, out of tune and out of our minds.

Ah, the good ol' days...

Here's one more for today:



Effin' LOVE that tune.

That is all.

Get Your Motor Runnin'...

Blame Michael Z. Williamson for this one. He posted the original call for songs for driving on his Facebook page. I dug up this perennial favorite:



So, what's your favorite driving song?

That is all.

Just For Phred...

In honor of the passing of Fred Phelps, here's another Freddy for your afternoon listening pleasure...



You know, no matter what Freddy Mercury might have done in his private life, the man could sure as hell belt out the tunes...

That is all.

The Trouble With Facebook...

Is that you run the very real risk of falling deep, deep into a time-sink, looking up one thing or another... Last night it was a Dire Straits song. During which I found this:



How come Jesus gets industrial disease?

That is all.

Just For Today...

Something fitting...



Oops, no, wait...

Happy St. Patrick's Day to my Irish friends - Sláinte!

That is all.

Something Like That...

I think today calls for a celebration...



If I had a nickel for every time I've had a drink to this song, I'd have enough money to buy ... a drink.

That is all.

Going Back To The Well...

This is what happens when I go on YouTube looking for a Blues Brothers video...



"Do you have the Miss Piggy?" - Classic!

That is all.

Sad News...

Devo Guitarist Bob Casale Dead At 61

Devo guitarist Bob Casale, who played with the group alongside his brother Gerald from the original incarnation of the groundbreaking Akron new wave band in 1973 all the way through their recent tours, died suddenly on February 17th of heart failure. He was 61.

Man. I distinctly remember listening to Devo in the early 1980s and thinking just how completely different they were. It was an odd time; the '70s disco phase was dying out, and being replaced by bubblegum pop, vague Top 40s, and new wave. Devo, the B52s, Talking Heads - it was different (for the time period).

No, I'm not going to post "Whip It." Instead, here's something full of awful '80s camp and kitsch:



Rest in Peace, Bob; may your flowerpot hat be waiting for you...

That is all.

Friday Afternoon Music...

Let me set the scene. For a pasty nerd growing up in the 1980s, rap music was about as hardcore as you could possibly get - what punk was to the 1970s, essentially. From Run-DMC to the breakout Beastie Boys, it was about as edgy as a kid from the 'burbs could get.

And pair it with thrash metal? HELLS YEAH.



This was one of the songs that I firmly believe was responsible for killing the AC Delco speakers in my Jimmy...

That is all.

Friday Afternoon Wayback...

Let's go back to 1983. Remember then? Some of you might not. This was a huge hit then:



Allegedly written about Marilyn Monroe, "Photograph" was Def Leppard's first big hit, rockin' the days of pastel T-shirts and white linen suits. This song caused me to do some quick mental arithmetic: It came out in 1983, some 18 years before my son was born. That's akin to songs that came out in 1953 for me, two years before Bill Haley and his Comets performed "Rock Around the Clock."

Yeah, I feel old now...

That is all.

Eine Kleine Punkmusik

After that last post and the depressing world view it entails, I find this highly fitting:



Yeah. If I'd known what being a grownup entailed - worrying about bills, your kids, your job, world stability, random strangers, water leaks, etc. - I'd have been in way less of a hurry to grow up...

That is all.

Back to the '80s...

So, at last night's New Media Meetup, the Bourbon Room at the Venetian was playing '80s hits. Hair metal '80s hits. In amongst the various forgettable pseudo hard rock were some decent songs, like "Highway to Hell" and, well, okay, that was it. It did get me to thinking about some good '80s tunes, like this:



I think one of the saddest moments of my life was hearing this song used in a TV ad for Burger King...

That is all.