Saturday, September 19, 2009

Guilty Pleasures Part Fifty-Four -- Nothing Compares to Pumping the Gun in the Vogue Shack Down Now


Hey people, Fearless Maria is back in town. So don't you mess around. And plus, we've got Mr. D!


Good day, everyone. So Maria, what are we looking at today?


Well, you should know, you helped pick the songs out!


True; we just had to set up the narrative a little bit. We've turned the Wayback Machine to the year 1990. And we've found a number of selections for you today.


You betcha! So if you want a sneak peek at the songs, you might be able to figure it out from the title. So where should we begin, Dad?


How about with one of the enduring video images of 1990, the giant face of Sinead O'Connor, singing and emoting with abandon as she updates an old Prince song in a very different way:




Hey, Dad! Was she one of the "Addicted to Love" ladies? She has that black short hair and the white face!


I don't think so. She seems to have a few emotions, including crying at the end. In fact, I'd guess that she would have nothing to do with the "Addicted to Love" people. Especially Robert Palmer.


Oww!!!


What's wrong, Maria?


I'm trying to strike a pose but it hurts because my arm is tangled around my neck and my other arm got caught in my sock so I'm hopping around on one foot!


That's not quite how Madonna planned it, is it?


No, Dad. This is what it look like:




Wow, it looks like they just came out of Vintage Clothes R Us! They are striking a lot of poses, too. I wonder where they shot the video. It looks sort of like a haunted house.


I'm not sure about where they are. What Madonna is doing is combining what was then a current dance music style and some of the images of the late 1940s and 1950s. She was actually very interesting that way.


Well, at least they weren't doing the Strand!


Well, if Madonna stays on the same timetable, she should be getting to the Strand sometime next year, I think.


I hope not, Dad. Anyway, let's take a vacation! Dad, could you load up your Chrysler?


I don't have a Chrysler, Maria.


Aww, but we have to go with the B-52s to the:




Hey, Ben! Guess what? We just found that the B-52s "Love Shack" is at Tomahawk Scout Camp! And I didn't know they had goats and Chryslers as big a whale there! How come you didn't tell us?


I think it's supposed to be a secret, Maria. Just like the Knights of Columbus handshake.


Oh.


Guess we have to move on, then, don't we?


Yes. It seems like a lot of people were dancing in 1990, Dad. Like these Technotronic people:




Hey Dad! You what would make my day. Make my day. Make my day?


I'm almost afraid to ask, but what would make your day, Maria?


If Technotronic would take speech class or something. I had to go to speech class and I'm a lot easier to understand than those ding dongs. "Pump oop the Jeee-aamm?" What's that all about?


Commerce, Maria. Commerce.


Oh yeah, I just thought of something else, too. They should do one of those mash up things with them and Prince. Get it? Raspberry Jam!


That would probably be easier to take and sets up a really good corporate partnership possibility with Smuckers. Good thinking, Maria!


Help! Run for your life!


Why, Maria?


Because Aerosmith just told me that:




So why did Janie get the gun, Dad?


Because it's hard to buy a rocket launcher, Maria.


Couldn't she have used one of these, instead?


Seems like a better idea to me, Maria. But it's time to move on, doncha think?


Yep. Hey check out what's inside the t.v.! It's a World Party!




Dad, you realize they're dumping garbage on these people. If they were any further down now, they'd be in China!


It doesn't seem like a good place to play music to me either, Maria.


But didn't you say that sometimes it feels like people are dumping garbage on you, Dad?


I must have had a bad day at work when I said that.


Well, fortunately for everyone here, we threw this trash out before we started the contest. So it's time to vote, people! Pick your favorite in the comments section. But stay away from rocket launchers on the strand, or you'll be addicted to not having your vote count, baby.


Good advice, Maria. Always good advice.







4 comments:

3john2 said...

Good selections here, it's tough to choose. I'll let you know, however, that a friend of mine played guitar with Cindy Wilson's solo band for a couple of years and he now has two solo albums of his own out (and available on iTunes). His name is Steve Baskin and he has a nice "power pop" groove (one critic's words, anyways). Check him out; I haven't had a chance to listen much to his second album, but the first one is strong and features a very nice and bluesy cover of the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night." We played a song or two from the first album at Ben and the Mall Diva's reception.

3john2 said...

Oh, and I'm a big Bruce Cockburn fan, but the language in the song you linked may not be suitable for Fearless Maria.

Mr. D said...

I thought about the language in the Cockburn song, NW. Then again, the Madonna video has enough innuendo to fill a stadium. This popular culture stuff is problematic no matter what you do....

Marge said...

Maria, now you are choosing songs from back when I was in high school! That's a little frightening, but these are definitely all guilty pleasures for me. Gotta go with the B-52's, but all of these bring back fun memories for me!