Tag: 1978

Thursday’s Theme Music

I have another Seger offering. As I was checking out the sunset last night — not too red, not too many particulates in the sky — I remembered other sunsets in other places, not so much exact moments but the sense of time. Foremost was being in California, watching sunsets in Half Moon Bay. Too much thule fog kept most of our sunsets from being spectacular.

Even so, infrequently one would slip through. Occasionally, we’d encountered the perfect triad of temperature, sunset, and ocean experience to elevate it to something wonderful that I could draw on for the rest of my life.

That’s where I was last night. Out of that sense of remembrance came Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band with “Hollywood Nights” (1978). That song captures a sense of fundamental change. After such an experience, nothing is seen as the same again.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Some rhyming lyrics popped into my head this morning.

She’s been a bad girl, she’s like a chemical
Though you try to stop it, she’s like a narcotic
You wanna torture her, you wanna talk to her
All the things you bought for her, could not get a temperature

h/t to Genius.com

The rest of the song swam in, leaving me dancing around the kitchen as coffee was brewed. I thought, that’s a faux peppy song suitable for these days. I think that because so many want to pretend that everything is normal, especially the telly people setting up broadcast schedules, the sports people who want to pursue their championships, and the POTUS. “Everything is fine, look at the stock market.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. west coast is on fire and Hurricane Sally is beating down Alabama and other southern states. Unemployment is at an ugly number, food prices are rising, and food insecurity is spreading. On top of these disasters, we have the cherry on top that is the COVID-19 pandemic. What’s the death number in the U.S.? Two hundred thousand? Whatever, time for some football! Woo-hoo.

So, here is “Pump It Up” by Elvis Costello, another 1978 memory.

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Thursday’s Theme Music

I’m just offering my coffee* song as today’s theme music. There’s just one line repeated with variations in the song which applies, but it’s so well delivered and apropos.

Oh, can’t get enough
I can’t get enough
I can’t get enough

Here’s the 1978 KISS song, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”.

* NOTE: Besides coffee, this song has been employed for wine, beer, pie, and sleep. I’ve also sung it to my cats when they’ve been on me purring away. I sang it once to my wife, too, but she said, “Get off me,” so I’m not counting that.

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Drifted outside last night, called by needs for a break, a change, a morsel of hope that tomorrow might be a little different.

Same as it ever was outside, in the style in which nature seems the same but isn’t. This summer is less relentless about the weather, but we’re looking at 105 degrees F today and 108 on Sunday. Night relief won’t come with lows plunging only into the mid seventies.

I was testing the air for signs of these forecasts. Was comfortable at eleven PM, 76, with a mild breeze. The cats hung with me, peering at sounds I didn’t hear, watching action that I didn’t see. No cars or people disturbed the moment, so I started thinking of the Patti Smith song, “Because the Night” (1978).

Everyone thinks the night belongs to them. My cats thought the night was theirs. I’m sure our town’s cougars and bears believe the night belongs to them, and the raccoons and skunks have made their claims. Look at the stars, though; does the night belong to them?

Everyone’s grasp on the night is as strong and lasting as a quantum wind.

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Saturday’s Theme Music

My dreams returned last night. I awoke feeling fantastic. The air was clear and cool, and my energy was flowing like a river during the spring melt off. The perfect song for this moment, I decided, was a kick back in feeling, style, and spirit. For that, I summoned “Old Time Rock and Roll” and Bob Seger from 1978.

This ’83 live version brings it all home. Give it a listen.

 

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Thursday’s Theme Music

I dreamed a black man in black clothes came by and fixed my arm. He was upbeat about it all.

Thinking that over, I opened my eyes and checked the time: 6:01. Not needing to get up and wanting more sleep, I told myself, I’ll just close my eyes for a moment.

My mind answered, “I close my eyes, only for a moment, then the moment’s gone.” Then the rest of the classic rock tune, “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas (1978), swelled in my head.

It’s a good choice as theme music goes. We’re battling over rights, equality, facts and science, trying to preserve our lives, planets, and society while coping with COVID, all to a cacophony of bullshit from the WH. Sometimes I feel like we’re warring nests of ants. Then, looking at the stars, I remember that we’re stardust, born on a cosmic wind.

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Friday’s Theme Music

Weather – hot. Summer: hot. City: hot.

Three entertaining songs about the heat, city, and summer. It’s like a tradition for me to ply ’em in my head as the city heat addresses my body.

Billy Idol, “Hot in the City“, 1982.

“Hot Child in the City“, Nick Gilder, 1978.

And “Summer in the City” ,1966, The Lovin’ Spoonful.

Enjoy the heat. That is all.

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Hearing stories from around town…horror stories. It’s one thing to not respect the CDC and WHO guidance about wearing masks and social distancing, to not credit the countries, cities, and states who did this (and here, I shout out to New Zealand) and managed to keep infections and deaths down. It’s quite another matter for people (who claim to be for freedom, don’t you know) who aren’t wearing masks to attack others.

Yeah, attack them. We’ve heard about the shootings and the stabbings. Locally, there are people without masks going around coughing on those with masks and verbally abusing them.

Yeah, this is Trump’s America, a sorry state where bullying undermines intelligence, where childishness and immaturity is applauded as protest.

To close the loop, then, I was thinking about understanding, which lead to a song riff and remembered lyrics, and then the song, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding”. I’m more familiar with the Elvis Costello cover, so I went with it as your Sunday theme music offering. Like the dash of humor at the start. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

“Geez, look at the friggin’ numbers, rising and rising, when will it end?”

“My god, did you read the news?”

“Look at those people! None of them wearing a mask, or gloves, and they’re not six feet apart!”

Such responses to things led to today’s song. Blasting out of 1978 right into today, it’s Chic with “Le Freak”. You can sing along with the refrain, “Ahhh, freak out!”

 

Yeah, read, think, talk, wonder, watch, and freak out. Perfect for today. Music, with a slice of humor and nostalgia.

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Back with an old Kinks favorite. It popped into my head as I saw myself in the mirror as I began shaving.

Hello you, hello me, hello people we used to be
Isn’t it strange, we never change
We’ve been through it all yet we’re still the same
And I know it’s a miracle, we still go, and for all we know
We might still have a way to go

h/t to Genius.com

This 1978 song was about the changes the Kinks were going through so far as lineup, but tells in parallel about a man influenced by their music. Each, in a way, is going through a rock and roll fantasy, from coping with being musicians making the music, to fans listening to the music and taking solace.

In writing, we always talk about how characters change. Yet, how many times have we experienced people in our lives and realized that they haven’t changed, and probably never will?

As we’re going through this global pandemic, I wonder what changes are being wrought, and how many will last? We already see that some people aren’t changing, and won’t change.

We might still have a way to go before we know.

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