A great little portrait of us at Matt and Bex's wedding, 2008.
Part two takes us from the those late college years to today. When I was composing this list, the words from Rod Stewart's You're In My Heart (Final Acclaim) played in my head: "you're a rhapsody, a comedy, you're a symphony and a play. You're every love song ever written but honey what do you see in me?"
Well, I'll tell ya.
Dude on Dope, Groove Spoon: another one of those bar scene mainstays, they opened the Valentine Pauly Shore show with their groovy rock/funk/punk set. They quickly became a band we wanted to see: we partied with the horn section at their CD release party, road tripped to Grand Rapids for a show at Raggs to Riches, waited around at a boring frat party for them to show up. After the VP, we thought for sure this band would make it big as funkier B-52s, but they only released a lone CD before calling it quits. An internet search just revealed a couple websites with pictures, videos, songs, and tour dates. Looks likes someone's 'bout to flip flop her age, as 42 is the new 24, and I'm off in a cloud holding hands with a tangent.
If I Had A $1,000,000, Barenaked Ladies: Once upon a time BNL was an unknown band on high rotation on LAV Underground and we were flat ass broke. It was 1994, I had just moved to Grand Rapids, it was the end of January and while we didn't break up, things were dicey because we couldn't see each other as much as we wanted since Dave was still in school. Looking for a way to make him smile and say we'd get through the crap, I got him the CD Gordon, this song serving as my valentine to him, "if I had a million dollars, I would buy you some art, a Picasso or a Garfunkel!"
Kiss from a Rose, Seal: Engaged to be married, and looking for a memorable song to dance to for our first dance. From the above list, all were significant, yet none were suitable - I can't even imagine what my grandmother would have said if we started married life jamming to Ministry. But we both liked Seal, and this song was new, romantic and fit the criteria as a rocker without the "lite" stigma the likes of Whitney, Mariah, Celine. The song won many awards, including song of the year, record of the year, and best male performance at the Grammys. Some 16+ years later, it's awesomeness endures.
Whoomp! There It Is, Tag Team: we spent the night in Midland after Thanksgiving, before the UM v. OSU football game. Friday night in Midland, nothing to do. We see there's a band with a catchy name playing the bar at the Holiday Inn and we head in for drinks and entertainment.
Boy, were we entertained.
This act was part ABBA, part SNL comedy sketch. The band consisted of two white married couples (the ABBA part), performing the day's top hits with a keyboard, tambourine and two vocalists (the SNL sketch part, a dead ringer for Will Ferrell's Marty Culp, middle school music teacher). Their treatment of standard lite rock was borderline passable, but they failed magestically when, in an effort to excite the crowd and get them up and dancing, they launched into a well-rehearsed and properly pronounced version of this hip-hop classic, announcing, then singing it as "Whoops! There it Is!"
It was wretched, on an epic level. So of course Dave and his roommate Mike head up to the bandstand to request some more songs way out of their comfort level and tell them how terrific they are.
Bittersweet Symphony, The Verve; Mmmbop, Hanson; and Spice Up Your Life, The Spice Girls: The third wave of the British Invasion was taking over American airwaves, so what else would a couple music fans do but return the favor and invade them? We had hotel reservations for the first and last night of our honeymoon and a car. For the rest, we bought a road atlas, put the radio on BBC1, and let our whim carry us across the countryside.
The most notable songs on the radio during our stay were these three, and they took us to the supermarket in Brighton where we bought gooseberries and shrimp flavoured crisps. Storming castle remains in Aberswyth. Exploring the Woolies in Porthmadog. Singing Ferry Cross the Mersey in Liverpool. Discovering the corner store/post office where my penpal Sacha would drop off and pick up letters from me, the postmaster knowing who I was by sight when I walked in the door in Huddersfield, York. Sleeping in a real castle in Lincolnshire. Imitating the Minister of Silly Walks while eating ice cream at Hyde Park. Eating a poor imitation of American food in Picadilly Circus. Almost hitting Anna Kournikova leaving Wimbeldon at, well, Wimbeldon. Dave bought Urban Hymns at the Virgin Store, one of our prized honeymoon souvenirs.
Tom Sawyer, Rush: my ringtone for Dave for 5+ years. His favorite band and their most memorable hit. The fuzzy guitar riff opening always makes me smile.
Smack My Bitch Up, Prodigy: his long time ringtone for me, hilarious as I'm neither a bitch nor has he ever smacked me up. Last time he raised his voice at me was in 1994, when I was driving the wrong way down a one-way street. He shouted, I cried and I think it freaked him out enough that he has never yelled at me again.
Can You Dig It? box set: Dave can be rebellious, especially when it comes to the so-called "Hallmark Holidays." Early on, he gritted his teeth through Sweetest Day and Valentine's Day for the sake of courtship, even though he found both holidays incredibly stupid. "I love you always, not just those two days," he'd grouse while stiffly offering me cards, candy, flowers and CDs. I understood his disdain, but at the same time, was pleased to score the U2 Zooropa and Sonic Youth Dirty albums as tokens of love.
One of his few eager concessions to the holiday occured in 2002. Every winter I get on a musical kick, and it was time for Philly soul. I fell in love with the groovy 8-track packaging of this particular box set and wanted to hear it. The set was extremely expensive, so I put it back on the shelf because while I wanted it, I didn't need it.
At the same time, I was engrossed in the show Trading Spaces, and had makeover fever. We decided one weekend to rip the fading wallpaper off the walls of our huge kitchen, only to be blinded by the glare of the east-facing white, white walls. This meant most of our free time was devoted to redoing the kitchen. So one day before VD, paint in my hair and dabbing trim on the wall while tiptoeing across the desk, he presented me with the box set as a gift.
We put the set in the CD changer and listened to it over and over as we remade first the kitchen, then the bathroom, and finally the dining room.
Gasolina, Daddy Yankee; Bubbly, Collie Caillat; There's a Party in My Tummy, Yo Gabba Gabba: this is in homage to the family that has grown around us. A host family for a local professional team, our first player was a sweetheart named Pedro from Puerto Rico, and he turned us on to reggaetone. Gasolina was the song they would play when he would come up to bat. Bubbly is for Philo, our French exchange student daughter who was full of sweetness, rebellion, and independence. Whenever I picked her up from cross country practice or took her to a meet, she and her best friend Karlie would skip thorugh my ipod to play and sing this at the top of their lungs, reminding me how amazing 17 years old can be. Party in My Tummy is linked to both Philo and our son Will, who loves YGG and the sweet little green monster who wants carrots and green beans to do the electric slide through his digestive track.
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