Woo boy, how to define a playlist for being creative. Again, another stream of consciousness to connect music to thoughts.
Eurythmics, There Must Be an Angel - this one is for Jennifer Callaghan, and her cooking inspiration. I remember a story Dave Stewart told of Annie Lennox's prowess in the kitchen in the early days of the band, when there wasn't much in the cupboard. "She could create a feast with a bag of flour and a bit of lard." Plus, she sings like a songbird. Bonus points for the dude in the video who is sporting John Deacon's unicorn costume from the Queen video for It's a Hard Life. Because it's been a while since I've said something about John Deacon.
Spread Your Wings, Queen - Oh, let's just go there then. John Deacon's song writing for the band Queen, if it's not about how much he loves his wife, is about the everyman wanting to break free of whatever is stopping him from his dreams, even if they are self inflicted. I see that struggle in creativity as well, the desire to spread your wings and dream big. Sammy boy, who'd you think you are?
Two of Us, The Beatles - One of the joys of listening to the Beatles Channel is hearing some of the stories and the creative processes they developed. Paul McCartney said this of their early days, "You'd be invited to play in the clubs, and you'd put together a set list of popular songs. Then the band playing in front of you would play what's on your set and you'd look stupid. Then you'd seek out the American bands, and learn their songs so you'd have something new to play. Then you'd learn the B sides. It was exhausting, and John and I just said, well, why don't we write our own then?" Two of Us, while on their last studio album, was a song they wrote in the early 60s when they were just starting out.
Take Me Home Tonight, Eddie Money and Ronnie Spector - This song is on the list for exactly all the emotions and memories and wormholes that happened while listening in the car on the way home last night. Startling at all that happened in the brain in three minutes. It could be a blog post all on its own. Let me see if I can recapture it...
- Eddie and Ronnie, I can't believe they are both gone.
- I remember seeing Eddie in concert at the Jackson County Fair. All my friends were there. Perfect Saturday night in August. That was fun.
- Theresa! Huge crush on him! Stormed the stage and was arrested. Wonder what she's up to now.
- 1987, music was everything.
- That reminds me of a short story set in that time, a black girl living in Watts, her boom box was everything. She was trying to make a living working at at a call center, while mourning the death of her best friend; story ended with her stealing back the car that was stolen from him, in an attempt to drive to the beach where everything was all right. Bass, no treble. Pushcart Prize. I wonder if the author ever wrote anything else.
- I love short stories.
- Ronnie's "oh, oh, ohhhhhhhs" just gave me shivers.
- Ronnie was married to Phil Spector. Jerk.
- Ugh, Phil Spector and I have the same hair issues.
- I rock it better, though.
- Remembering everyone's hand claps in unison during the chorus. That kind of connection among strangers makes everyone feel like they know each other.
- I need to reread that short story.
- What was his other hit from that time? Shakin'.
The name of the short story was The Box by Susan Straight, a Pushcart Prize XVI winner, 1991. The story is from Aquaboogie: A Novel in Stories. Straight is a professor at University of California Riverside, and writes extensively about relationships between white women and POC (we should do better), and women and daughters.
Daft Punk - I'm a figure skater and love the creative process of telling a story on the ice. The World Championships are currently being held, one month after the Olympics, and two months after the US national championships. Chock and Bates, the American champions, have a program where it is an astronaut falling in love with an alien. It's completely bizarre and awesome.
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