Writer's Block: One Hit Wonder Day
So, today's writer's block question caught my eye, and I started toying with the idea of answering these semi-regularly, just to get back into actually posting content to LJ.
I decided to base my choices on the (admittedly broad) 1980s and 1990s lists of one hit wonders on Wikipedia, and pick 5(ish) that jumped out at me and triggered clear memories/associations.
Mickey (Toni Basil)
Towards the end of senior year at WPI, there was an 80s dance, and Alison and I put together some very special costumes. She was Madonna, complete with fingerless gloves, black lace dress, and silver-painted cones over her chest. I was Toni Basil from the Mickey video... a cheerleader. Even though the dance encouraged costumes, there were few people who actually dressed up, so we stood out. When Mickey started playing though, everyone in the room started cheering for me to dance. Good times!
For my birthday that year, Alison had bought tickets to an 80s dinner cruise, so we dressed up in our costumes. Unfortunately - it was the lamest 80s cruise ever - they barely played any 80s music, and needless to say, we were the only ones dressed up in ridiculous costumes. I ended up throwing away the homemade cheerleader sweater in a trash can (I was wearing a t-shirt underneath) and Alison ended up chucking her boob-cones and gloves.
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Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
This one brought back a random memory - Frank and I were driving in his minivan, down 495 I think (this was probably 5 years ago). We had the radio off, and for some reason, we decided to spontaneously sing Tainted Love completely a capella. I'm not sure why... but it was, um, special. And by special I mean very, very broken.
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Rump Shaker (Wreckx-N-Effect)
Back in 5th grade, I was completely uncool. Like, big thick plastic-framed glasses, plaid stirrup pants, buck teeth, teacher's pet uncool. To fit in with my complete dorkiness, I hadn't yet discovered pop radio, and instead listened to the same soft rock station that my parents listened to.
We were on a field trip to... somewhere, and the cool kids on the back of the bus started singing Rump Shaker. One of them noticed that I wasn't singing along and asked me, derision dripping from her voice, whether I even knew the song. I believe I turned some ungodly shade of red and tried to stutter my way out of answering the question. Smooth! At least it turned out to be the push I needed to try and discover what current music was (even if I didn't like a lot of it).
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Brick (Ben Folds Five) and All for You (Sister Hazel)
Both of these fall under the same category for me. I enjoyed them when I heard them on the radio in '97-'98, but it wasn't until much later (2004-2005ish) that I became a big fan of both artists. Looking back, I wonder why I never pursued listening to them in their heyday... but I guess in high school, I had limited funds, and liking one song from an album wasn't enough to get me to drop $15 on a CD. It breaks my heart that both have been relegated to the 90s one-hit-wonders archives.
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Tubthumper (Chumbawamba)
This is loaded with both good and "Um, WTF" memories. The good (similar to Brick and All for You) is that after years of just enjoying Tubthumper as a silly song on its own (I even had a CD with like 6 different remix/covers back in 10th grade), Mark made me listen to some of Chumbawamba's other songs, and I ended up loving them. Tubthumper actually is the exception, not the rule for Chumbawamba - most of their music has a much deeper message, mostly political, and often very clever.
And the "Um, WTF" memory... the night of WPI 2005 graduation, Mark and I decided it would be a good idea to use Tubthumper as a drinking song. You know... "He takes a whiskey drink, he takes a vodka drink, he takes a lager drink, he takes a cider drink." I made it through 1.75 rounds, Mark made it through 2 rounds - in probably an hour and a half. That is the only night where I have ever been actively ashamed and embarrassed at my behavior... when I found out about it the next day. I wasn't sick or hungover... I just couldn't remember parts of the night. It was a bad, bad idea.
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That was a fun little trip down memory lane. I'm definitely going to try and answer more of these writer's block questions, especially since my life right now isn't exciting enough at all to write about, but I feel the need to try and be interesting in some way.
I decided to base my choices on the (admittedly broad) 1980s and 1990s lists of one hit wonders on Wikipedia, and pick 5(ish) that jumped out at me and triggered clear memories/associations.
Mickey (Toni Basil)
Towards the end of senior year at WPI, there was an 80s dance, and Alison and I put together some very special costumes. She was Madonna, complete with fingerless gloves, black lace dress, and silver-painted cones over her chest. I was Toni Basil from the Mickey video... a cheerleader. Even though the dance encouraged costumes, there were few people who actually dressed up, so we stood out. When Mickey started playing though, everyone in the room started cheering for me to dance. Good times!
For my birthday that year, Alison had bought tickets to an 80s dinner cruise, so we dressed up in our costumes. Unfortunately - it was the lamest 80s cruise ever - they barely played any 80s music, and needless to say, we were the only ones dressed up in ridiculous costumes. I ended up throwing away the homemade cheerleader sweater in a trash can (I was wearing a t-shirt underneath) and Alison ended up chucking her boob-cones and gloves.
--------
Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
This one brought back a random memory - Frank and I were driving in his minivan, down 495 I think (this was probably 5 years ago). We had the radio off, and for some reason, we decided to spontaneously sing Tainted Love completely a capella. I'm not sure why... but it was, um, special. And by special I mean very, very broken.
--------
Rump Shaker (Wreckx-N-Effect)
Back in 5th grade, I was completely uncool. Like, big thick plastic-framed glasses, plaid stirrup pants, buck teeth, teacher's pet uncool. To fit in with my complete dorkiness, I hadn't yet discovered pop radio, and instead listened to the same soft rock station that my parents listened to.
We were on a field trip to... somewhere, and the cool kids on the back of the bus started singing Rump Shaker. One of them noticed that I wasn't singing along and asked me, derision dripping from her voice, whether I even knew the song. I believe I turned some ungodly shade of red and tried to stutter my way out of answering the question. Smooth! At least it turned out to be the push I needed to try and discover what current music was (even if I didn't like a lot of it).
--------
Brick (Ben Folds Five) and All for You (Sister Hazel)
Both of these fall under the same category for me. I enjoyed them when I heard them on the radio in '97-'98, but it wasn't until much later (2004-2005ish) that I became a big fan of both artists. Looking back, I wonder why I never pursued listening to them in their heyday... but I guess in high school, I had limited funds, and liking one song from an album wasn't enough to get me to drop $15 on a CD. It breaks my heart that both have been relegated to the 90s one-hit-wonders archives.
--------
Tubthumper (Chumbawamba)
This is loaded with both good and "Um, WTF" memories. The good (similar to Brick and All for You) is that after years of just enjoying Tubthumper as a silly song on its own (I even had a CD with like 6 different remix/covers back in 10th grade), Mark made me listen to some of Chumbawamba's other songs, and I ended up loving them. Tubthumper actually is the exception, not the rule for Chumbawamba - most of their music has a much deeper message, mostly political, and often very clever.
And the "Um, WTF" memory... the night of WPI 2005 graduation, Mark and I decided it would be a good idea to use Tubthumper as a drinking song. You know... "He takes a whiskey drink, he takes a vodka drink, he takes a lager drink, he takes a cider drink." I made it through 1.75 rounds, Mark made it through 2 rounds - in probably an hour and a half. That is the only night where I have ever been actively ashamed and embarrassed at my behavior... when I found out about it the next day. I wasn't sick or hungover... I just couldn't remember parts of the night. It was a bad, bad idea.
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That was a fun little trip down memory lane. I'm definitely going to try and answer more of these writer's block questions, especially since my life right now isn't exciting enough at all to write about, but I feel the need to try and be interesting in some way.