Ratt - Back For More

I have not posted anything on here in so long I could have given birth and gotten pregnant again. Which I haven't.  


The other day I was reminded of Ratt and started perusing their videos online.  Then it hit me like I was fourteen again!  "You're In Love" was a song of reference for me and my very first major boyfriend.  (He was almost like a Major Award!  Ok, bad Christmas Story reference).  


It was the summer of 1984.  I met him at a bowling alley that I was forbidden to set foot in.  So I set two feet in there.  I forgot to get his phone number and spent the next month obsessing and calling random numbers in his town to find him.  In August 1984, we ran into each other again and I wrote his phone number on my hand.  In blue eyeliner.  Which smeared all over my face because it was summer.  


We learned all those beautiful "firsts" together and eventually had our first daughter together.  No matter that I was 17 and he, 18.  But during this summer, Ratt was really hot.  And I think I may have had an ex-boyfriend (minor of course) who was looking to connect with me...hence, "You turn him away, you tell him you're mine..."


And the bonus Motley Crue cameo in the video.  How terribly exciting!


Ah, the sweet memory of cigarettes, obsession and harmless 80's hair metal.  

Eve 6 - Inside Out

I had one of the shortest but more memorable moments to come out of a night out at the club with this particular song.

My friend and I had just gotten to the club…and having no shame, we got there too early. The band playing had just started on one of the very first songs. A warm up that no one who would be there until 1am would hear except us.

We got our plastic cup filled with whatever alcohol seemed appropriate to get our buzz on and went to the dance floor. Lengthening our No Shame list would be that we also loved putting our cups on the stage and dancing in the front near the band. It wasn’t so much to be near the band and be sweat upon by someone not famous, but more the convenience of being able to put our drink down for a dance, along with our purses if we were feeling Extra Stupid. And not that I would know, but you could lose an extra $200 that way.

The band played Eve 6, “Inside Out”. When the song came on, there happened to be a dude nearby. And usually, you gravitate toward the opposite sex for a friendly or fondling dance. Since he was in another small group of No Shame Early Arrivals, we instantly started dancing together and singing the words in each other’s faces with drama and smiles.

This guy wasn’t particularly handsome or in shape. In fact, he had a little extra weight on him and reminded me of maybe an Italian chef. Near the very last line of the song we sang, “Now I’m through, Now I’m through…With….YOU!” with extra zeal and facial expression. The song ended and we laughed and hugged.

We never exchanged names, numbers or spit. I don’t remember seeing him again that night or ever. It was friendly and fun and without expectation or overtures.

I flipped through a book by Marianne Williamson today and read a line about how a moment of deep love means more than decades of domestic living without it. It wasn’t love, but it applies here. This guy and I had our soap opera songfest for a mere few minutes and it was one of the most brief and fun moments that I ever shared with a stranger.

Or maybe something that feels so good and free is indeed a moment of love.

That's The Way (I Like It)

I was torn with what to choose for my very first song pick for this blog! There are so many, and therefore should be so many posts down the line. Fun to think that today's favorite song will ripen in the memory/emo banks in a year or so. It takes years sometimes to realize what a song brings forth!

I thought back to my very first favorite song ever. I remember it as 1976, being about six years old. Back when maybe other kids now would be exposed to Kidz Bop, silly Barney songs about cleaning up or Hannah Montana. According to Wikipedia, That's the Way (I Like It) by KC and the Sunshine band, came out in 1975. Okay so I'm not far off.

I don't have a specific memory for this one other than loving the song and being in 1st grade and having a crush on a boy named Reggie. Back then, the rules of having a boyfriend usually entailed who waited at the classroom door to kiss you goodbye when your bus number was called over the speaker. And that was Reggie. Until one day, he kissed a girl named Laura goodbye when her bus number was called.

But it was first grade and if every break up could be so easy, I couldn't differentiate the highs from the lows.

The video here is not from the 70s but just a few years ago. I had to use this one to show that Ka-Blam DAMN! KC still rocks! Look at the crazy energy...the boyish face and the crowd, just eating it up...dancing like no one rages or ages. I dare you to click and not feel like moving (and I don't mean out of the room!)