When I'm 64
I look back on my life and see both good and bad, but no more, or less than anyone else. As with everyone, there are dreams left unrealized, and hopes that did not pan out, but I’ve had a good life compared to many, and I can’t complain about much. My health is good, I have a job I enjoy with my family, gray in my hair has not appeared in any noticeable fashion, and I bought a house last year. Everything is sailing along nicely. But… what I've noticed recently is time. And that’s a new experience for me. Time used to be nothing more than a marker and a place to hang dates and memories. As the years go by, the markers spread out farther, and what used to seem like yesterday has slipped to decades.
Time has always seemed to be a barrier to me, even more so as a child:
Q: How old are you?
A: 5 and a half… almost 6.
(It’s always that little extra bump in age that makes kids feel older)
or
Q: How much longer until Christmas?
A: About a week.
Response: That’s forever!!!
With kids, time moves at the speed of an old man. When you pass 30-35 you begin to see time pick up the pace like a little kid on a sugar high.
The question I ask myself, especially today, is what happened to the last 20-25 years? It’s all gone so fast. What is truly disturbing to the psyche is that it shows no sign of slowing. If anything, it feels as though it’s speeding up. I’m still a ways from 40, but I’m close enough to start knocking on that door. That’s frightening and comforting at the same time.
What got me started on this thought process to my mortality, and seemingly impending doom, is a site I found with music videos from my youth. (i.e.: when I was 12-21) I can honestly say that I am happy with myself, and would not want to change places with a 21 year old, (God knows I wouldn’t want to be in school again) but the videos reminded me of my age.
So, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to offer some videos from my youth, in an attempt to feel young again, but I know I only look like an old man wearing shorts, black socks, and sandals.
And yes, I owned (and still have) most of these. But I have upgraded to CD from cassette.
Flash vids. Links go directly to the site.
1. Yo! Flock of Seagulls!!
Space Age Love Song: A Flock of Seagulls
2. East and West Berlin
After the Fire: Der Kommissar
3. Yes and ELP members trying to stay relevant.
Asia: Heat of the Moment
4. Big hair hell
Autograph: Turn Up The Radio
5. Journey and Baby members trying to stay relevant.
Bad English: When I See You Smile
6. The real Goths.
Bauhaus: Ziggy Stardust (Kinda sounds like Bowie too)
7. I remember when Ecstasy (X) was a cool drug. I also remember having jaw-lock the next day. Hey! It was a designer drug. We didn't know it was bad.
Book of Love: Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls (Tubular bells from hell)
8. Lounge cool.
Bryan Ferry: Slave to Love
9. Saxy. And I love redheads. Dave Stewart is a nice touch too.
Candy Dulfer: Lily Was Here
10. Nights down in Deep Ellum and Greenville Avenue.
CCCP: American Soviets
11. Austin boy done good. It also helps to have Stevie Ray Vaughan as a friend.
Charlie Sexton: Beats So Lonely
12. Just before he lost it for good. Hair plugs work wonders.
David Lee Roth: Yankee Rose
13. Happy Depesche Mode?
Depesche Mode: Just Can’t Get Enough (Always thought this sounded like Yaz)
14. One hit wonders from hell.
Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Come On Eileen
15. Quite possibly the best music video ever made.
Don Henley: The Boys Of Summer
16. The one song that still stops me in my tracks.
Double: The Captain Of Her Heart
17. Dallas greatness. Although, she always looked like she needed a bath.
Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians: What I Am
18. The first band to take metal and rap, and make it into a viable form. Linkin Park owes a lot to these guys opening the door.
Faith No More: We Care A Lot
19. Heavy Goth.
Fields of the Nephilim: Moonchild
20. Nothing beats Ska music for making really drunken dancing an acceptable art form.
Fishbone: Party at Ground Zero
21. We didn’t know they were gay. Honestly! At least in this version you get a shot of a still attractive Melanie Griffith's ass.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Relax
22. Hair band ballad.
Giuffria: Call To Your Heart
23. 80’s backseat car sex.
Glenn Frey: The One You Love
24. Killed Grunge.
Guns N Roses: Welcome to the Jungle
25. Cruising music. Loved the album cover.
Honeymoon Suite: New Girl Now
26. Makes me drive fast.
Icicle Works: Whisper to a Scream
27. 80’s defined.
INXS: Need You Tonight
28. I had this dream as a child, but usually I was the one in front of the class in my underwear.
J. Geils Band: Centerfold
29. The worst video ever made.
Journey: Separate Ways-Worlds Apart
30. Zeppelin-Lite. What happened to them?
Kingdom Come: Get It On
31. Too much synth, but a great song.
Love and Rockets: So Alive
32. Journey-Lite.
Loverboy: Turn Me Loose
33. Back then, I would have… Now… No thanks.
Madonna: Like A Virgin
34. Suicide anyone?
Megadeath: In My Darkest Hour
35. What? Lars is going to sue me for posting this?
Metallica: Master of Puppets
36. Dale Bossio. Dumb blonde in the flesh.
Missing Persons: Words
37. Definition of 80’s new wave.
Modern English: I Melt With You
38. Ambiguously gay. Is it just me, or did every song he sing sound the same?
Morrisey: Suedehead
39. Eric Martin. More than just the song To Be With You.
Mr. Big: Addicted To That Rush
40. Sweaty, hairy, European pits. Ok, I didn’t have this cassette, but I liked the song.
Nena: 99 Luft Balloons
41. Techno-Ecstasy-Goth.
New Order: Blue Monday
42. Get out your lighters. Now I only see the scene from Boogie Nights when I hear this.
Night Ranger: Sister Christian
43. Killed hair metal. Also killed himself, but that’s a different story.
Nirvana: About A Girl
44. The best voice in music. A 5 octave range isn’t too bad.
Pat Benatar: We Belong
45. Better with Genesis.
Phil Collins: In The Air Tonight
46. Best band ever. Unless you count the Beatles.
Pink Floyd: Another Brick In The Wall
47. Best band without much recognition. Think of The Byrds with a harder beat.
The Plimsouls: A Million Miles Away
48. 16 candles from hell.
The Psychedelic Furs: Heaven
49. Johnny Rotten. The one guy in music I think would kill you if you looked at him the wrong way.
P.I.L: This Is Not A Love Song
50. Still relevant today.
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Higher Ground
51. Thankfully died a quiet death.
REM: The One I Love
52. Dreams of red lipstick.
Robert Palmer: Simply irresistible
53. Mud shark alert.
Robert Plant: Burning Down One Side
54. He fell down without David Gilmour to back him up.. Same can be said about David too. He’s great live, but my first statement rings true if he feels the need to have 10 other musicians on stage with him when in concert.
Roger Waters: Sunset Strip
55. Their last good record was Tattoo You. When was that? 1983?
Rolling Stones: Start Me Up
56. One of the best harsh voices coming out of the most disturbing front-woman in music.
Romeo Void: Never Say Never
57. Who needs Brian Eno?
Roxy Music: More Than This
58. Before Van Halen...
Sammy Hagar: Voice of America
59. Shot at Reunion Arena in Dallas… A 2 in the morning “I’m drunk and I’m going to call my girlfriend” song.
The Scorpions: Still Loving You
60. Priests and cannibals, prehistoric animals, everybody happy as the dead come home.
Shriekback: Nemisis
61. Bueller.. Bueller...
Sique Sique Sputnik: Love Missile F1-11
62. From a 20+ year old movie that’s still viewable today.
Simple Minds: Don’t You Forget About Me
63. Before their time.
The Smithereens: A Girl Like You
64. Tempted is a better song.
Squeeze: Hourglass
65. The best band to see live.
Steely Dan: Babylon Sister
66. Asshole. See here for why.
Steve Perry: Oh Sherry
67. He owned the 80’s.
Sting: Englishman in New York
68. Brought rap to the white kids.
The Sugar Hill Gang: Rappers Delight
69. Could have been a girl singing for all I knew.
Supertramp: It’s Raining Again
70. And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack.
Taking Heads: And She Was
71. Thinking the world would blow up at any second...
Tears For Fears: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
72. Motor City Mad Man.
Ted Nugent: Wango Tango
73. Great song… And I loved the girl in this video. She has the best smile.
Terence Trent D’Arby: Wishing Well
74. I would have preferred Rain In The Summertime, but this will do.
The Alarm: The Stand
75. Ric married a model? There’s hope for me yet.
The Cars: Drive
76. Late night driving music.
The Church: Under The Milky Way
77. Mass appeal punk.
The Clash: London Calling
78. Sonic Temple, Electric, and Love… Three of the best CDs I ever bought.
The Cult: Rain
79. They were Emo before Emo was a word.
The Cure: Boys Don’t Cry
80. She touches herself.
The Divinyls: Science Fiction
81. Life in a Northern Town was better, but this has the same snowy day appeal.
The Dream Academy: Please, Please, Please
82. Ska for white people.
The English Beat: Mirror In The Bathroom
83. Very underrated band. Bad video.
The Fixx: Red Skies
84. I’m happy to say I never bought the tape..
The Flying Lizards: Money
85. Yes, I had this. But they had something.
The Go-Go’s: Head Over Heels
86. A shove it up your ass song.
The Godfathers: Birth School Work Death
87. Darker than Tears for Fears. Same line: The world is going to hell.
The Killing Joke: Love Like Blood
88. Always liked this song.
The Korgis: Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime
89. Martha Davis had a voice perfect for smoke filled rooms.
The Motels: Total Control
90. Goth the way it was meant to be, dark, dirty, and evil.
The Sisters Of Mercy: This Corrosion
91. Psychedelic new wave.
The Stone Roses: Fools Gold
92. Crap pop, but a catchy hook.
The Vapors: Turning Japanese
93. Aimee Mann with the rat-tail. She’s still putting out some good stuff as a solo artist.
Til Tuesday: Voices Carry
94. The worst song ever written.
Trio: Da Da Da
95. Coming up on 20 years for this one and it still sounds great. He wasn’t “The Fly” then.
U2: With Or Without You
96. I’d give money to Africa just to get Cyndi Lauper out of this song.
USA for Africa: We Are The World
97. I bet the Secret Service was all over them when this video came out.
Violent Femmes: Blister in the Sun
98. Tawny Kitaen before she was a drug fiend.
Whitesnake: Is This Love
99. Alison Moyet’s big voice and even bigger pant size.
Yaz, or Yazoo: Don’t Go
100. One more hair band. Somebody is squeezing this guy’s ‘nads pretty hard.
Zebra: Tell Me What You Want
The site these vids are from is here. They have several hundred more, but these are the ones I remember watching. Call it a lame top 100 of my youth, if you will. The site may be down on some of the vid links, but they come back up.
Now I'm off to find my black socks and sandals, and yell at kids to stay off my lawn.
3 Comments:
You know how I know you're gay? (So many choices, so little time.)
Oh, do tell me the error of my ways, you wise one in the Iron Maiden or Judas Priest t-shirt and simulated leather spiked gauntlet arm bands.
I'm all ears.
Easy, easy, don't get your pink panties in a wad!
Never owned an Iron Maiden or Judas Priest t-shirt, although I have to admit that I did own a leather spiked bracelet once. (It was required band attire.)
My comments regarding your possible gayness has to do with your bi-curious song selections.
BTW, how long did it take you to make this last post? I can't believe you listed 100 videos. Must have been a slow day at work.
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