I remember skipping school in Grade 11...
As far as I can remember, this is the only year in school that I skipped classes, 1981/82. I blame it on our Math teacher...he was horrible. Still, kids, don't skip school!
(There, I got the required Public Service Announcement out of the way)
My friends and I would go down to Ming's, the local Chinese restaurant. If one of us had enough money, we'd order a big, fat egg roll and drench it in plum sauce. Otherwise we'd just hang out in the pinball room. My favorite game was Gorgar. If you started racking up a high score, the big red demon would speak to you!! "Gorgar getting angry!" and if you were playing really well, you heard "Gorgar hate you!!" When the ball inevitably went down for the last time, it was "Gorgar beat you!". Awesome...
I would occasionally save a quarter for the jukebox. I think most of the music was Led Zeppelin or April Wine, but my favorite song to play was "Rock Lobster" by the B-52's. You have to understand that due to my sequestered upbringing, I had no knowledge of bands, none. All I knew was, that song made everybody else in the place angry, and it made me want to dance. That's all I knew. I played it whenever I could.
Do you think as much as I enjoyed making Gorgar curse me, I also enjoyed making my friends curse me? "Who put on this crappy song?", or "I hate this, it isn't even MUSIC!" they'd yell. Is that why I liked it? Have I allowed other people's opinions to shape me in some reverse way? That's almost a disturbing thought--me, who has practically based my identity on not caring what people think about me, doing exactly the opposite of the status quo. If I truly didn't care what people thought about me, I wouldn't care if what I did impressed them OR bothered them. I'd be indifferent, unaware...neutral.
I think I'm more indifferent now than I used to be. But I'm only human...
22 comments:
Hmmm....I wonder, did Gorgar take grammar lessons from the Hulk?
As much as we like to think that other people's notions and ideas of us have no influence over who we become that would be almost impossible to pull off. Our environment is too strong a factor to shut out, especially because we all have feelings on some level. Don't we?
So who hated Rock Lobster? Was it your "friends" (lose those friends right away) or the Chinese guy who ran the restaurant? I can see him now shouting for you kids to put Led Zepplin back on.
Of the options presented here, I prefer the therory that you liked the B-52s better than old heavy Seventies worn-outness. It was a new time and you were a new person. And you felt like dancing. If I'd been your friend I would have said, "That was great! Now put on "The Tide Is High" again! Let's dance!"
My "friends" hated it. The Chinese guy who ran the restaurant...I don't remember ever seeing his face. That side room with the pinball machines and the jukebox was our turf, I guess.
I truly like the B-52's, which I figured out years later when I was able to actually listen to more of their music than just the edited jukebox 45....but I also actually like Led Zeppelin. Hmmmm....But I think I like the B-52's better.
Now lets watch the blog-wars begin! Hah!!!
I can't even begin to describe how much I hated the B-52's music, but I was never a big Led Zep fan either. I tended to polarize around the Billy Idol, INXS, The Clash, and for mindless entertainment.....Wendy O Williams and her Pyromaniac Plasmatics.
About that era: I remember hearing Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders on the radio and thinking:????!!!! That sounds like rock 'n roll! Is it possible the hard stuff isn't dead? It was like a premonition of New Wave, which I didn't know about yet except for news articles about punks in London. I went out and bought The Pretenders - probably the first rock LP I'd purchased since the Beatles split up. And I loved every moment of it right down to the marching Space Invaders. It was my introduction to the New Wave era - the last time I really paid attention to rock music.
Heheh...just thinking of the intellectual hippie "People are attracted to that, but there's a good chance you don't care." Kind of ties in to what you were saying about being influenced by those around you...I admit, I have a tendancy to be one who does the opposite of friends around me. I'm better than I used to be for that, though...no matter how you cut it, friends and family influence you.
Billy Idol(he was so cool with that bleach blond spikey doo), Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Van Halen and Genesis and so on... I wasn't oe of the real cool kids that knew every song and the name of them all but I did like to listen to it all. MY boyfriend in grade 9 bought me my first Def Leppard album and I was hooked on them from then on...the scary thing is that my kids are listening to a ll of that stuff now and think it is the coolest. I sure didn't think my parents music was cool!
I have this memory of seeing this guy do "the worm" once to 'Freebird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd that was being played by a dj.
Anyways.
now for my vote (sure... I didn't vote in for any Federal offices in the last US election -though i did vote for State- but I vote in the Led Zeppelin/B-52s vote...) :
This really isn't a fair "election" as Zeppelin and the B-52s don't even share the same genre... but...
Song for song, I have to say that I like Led Zeppelin better than the B-52s. B-52s have songs that I like, but Led Zeppelin has more.
"Tin roof, rusted!" That's my vote!
My word verification is "bngedoom" which concurs. : )
During the 80's, the slobs I ran with worshipped AC/DC and that sort of tripe. I was odd, I used to listen to Gary Neuman, Queen, Zep, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath. I also listen to (rural delta) Blues... Muddy Waters,Robert Johnson,Bukka White to name a few. I even enjoyed the Carpenters and Pink Floyd. Buckets of "electric sixties".
But since we're talking about eighties bands, My favorite would be a toss up between Bon Jovi and Def Leopard. I think I'll get a few "retro" posters of the guys and slap them up in our room. Ohhhh boy,Loverboy, I forgot Loverboy!
You are just trying to make me lose my temper.
AND IT'S WORKING!!! This house is a Bon Jovi, Def Leppard free-zone, AND YOU KNOW IT!!!! If other people want to listen to that rot, I bear them no ill will, but they can't do it in my house.
My foot has come DOWN!
Hey, I thought you said Bon Jovi can't sing!!! (actually, Have A Nice Day is a really good CD. Loud, headbanging, even rude!!! :P)
Hey, I have some good B.J. on my MP3. When she's least expecting it... on with the headphones and up with the volume!!!!! MUHAHAH- *ahem*
Andrea
No Bon Jovi? Aww... that's too bad. But since you won't bear Bon Jovi people any ill will, I won't bear you, a non Bon Jovi person, ill will.
But have you heard the song 'Who Said You Can't Go Home?'? That's a good one.
Shari
Ewkay, I really like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard. Hate the B-52s (Love Shack gives me nightmares to this day...)
Howzabout Bobby McFerrin, Don't Worry Be Happy? Nightmares there too.
Kutless is really good too, their new album (Hearts of the Innocent)is about their best ever!! But Slipknot is really evil. Take a teen's advice, don't listen to it
It reminds me of when I chose songs at random from the jukebox at the mexican pool hall...
the first time i did great and the other pool players cheered...
the 2nd time we all (including myself) couldn't wait for the song to end.
--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
Paula, if you hate Bon Jovi or love to mock them this should make your day.
They actually seem to be good sports during this thrashing :) Now Heather Locklear needs a sense of humor.
OK, truly a hilarious thrashing!!
But for my younger readers, you may want to give that link a miss, it's pretty close to R-rated and I don't want your moms to all come looking for me so they can kick my gluteous maximus.
Whoops. Sorry Paula, I didn't realize what was surrounding the clip. I was too busy laughing at Triumph taking down the Bon Jovi-ites.
what's wrong with Bon Jovi?!?!? He can sing!!! (sorta)
I wasn't exposed to much music as a kid. My first 'band' tape was The Nylons. Fred Penner was another favourite. But yeah, see not a band...
Mmmm eggrolls.
Hey Paula... I L O V E the B-52s... My friends used to go bowling in Livingston and put "Rock Lobster" on a video jukebox... It has such great memories for me.
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