music

Welcome to a new interactive reading experience. This column comes with its own background music! Click ‘play’ to begin.

POP GOES THE WORLD  By Jenny Ortuoste for Manila Standard-Today,  13 May 2010, Thursday

election theme song

“I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign…” ‘The Sign’, Ace of Base (1994)

The recent elections showed with startling clarity how Filipinos choose their leaders. In the United States, which has a two-party system, people side with one or the other based on the principles each embodies. The Republican Party is seen as traditional, conservative, religious; the Democratic Party, liberal, progressive, secular. Their action plans and policies are in line with these characteristics.

In the Philippines, political parties are merely groups of politicos with the same agendas, not necessarily platforms, loosely cohering because of mutual need and perceived or contrived advantage. That is why jumping ship is done as expediency dictates. Since parties do not stand for a particular set of principles, neither then are voters used to electing leaders based on these criteria, but rather on personalities.

Our elections are, like American Idol, a popularity contest.

Logically, we should select leaders based on what they stand for, what they’ll fight against. Are they pro or anti the Reproductive Health Bill? Divorce? Secularization of the state? How shall they resolve corruption in government? The entrenchment of familial political dynasties? Obtaining justice for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre?

According to one of my professors at the University of the Philippines, an expert on political communication, it’s the masa (masses) vote that is crucial, via their sheer numbers. “There’s no such thing as a ‘middle-class’ vote,” she said. It is the masses that campaign managers woo with their eye-candy ads, celeb endorsements, and earworm jingles. Given that, did we vote based on how candidates will deal with issues?

Our elections were, like cars on weekdays, color-coded.

“I saw the sign…Life is demanding, without understanding…”

In semiotics, signs and symbols are codes that, when interpreted, may connote or convey a certain meaning in a particular context and culture. The French semiotician Roland Barthes further postulated various levels of meaning. For example, on a primary level, a label with a picture of a bottle of wine means ‘wine’. On a secondary level, ‘wine’ may connote ideas such as ‘health’, ‘luxury’, ‘fine dining’.

A young Roland Barthes. In his later years, he probably would have analyzed the signs in this photo – what do the robe and mustache signify?  Why was the shelf of books used as the backdrop?

During these past elections, more so than at any other time except during the 1986 snap elections, we have seen how the candidates were defined by their media machines and tagged with sometimes essentially meaningless ‘motherhood statement’ taglines to effect maximum audience recall.

These ideas as portrayed in ads were then further abstracted by voters into concepts until the realities of the candidates’ personalities dissolved. These were replaced by symbols stemming from people’s understanding of the how the candidates were portrayed in their own ads, and what roles these candidates may play in government and in their individual lives.

“I saw the sign…No one’s gonna drag you up to get into the light where you belong…”

In 1986, Corazon Aquino symbolized reform, change, and the overthrow of the dark and oppressive Marcos regime. Though her qualifications were assailed – “Just a housewife” – in the end it was the virtues that people perceived she stood for – “heroism, courage, martyrdom for Inang Bayan” – that carried her to victory in the polls and impelled the People Power movement.

In similar fashion, Noynoy Aquino as a person was reduced to a concept: “The only son of hero parents who will continue their struggle”. We don’t know that he will actually do this, but for many of us this is what he represents. Manny Villar was “The man once poor who will lift us out of poverty and give us houses while swimming through seas of garbage.”

Noynoy Aquino and his mother, the late president Corazon Aquino.

These ideas were further abstracted to symbols and colors. As mnemonics for easy recall, it was a good idea. But the tactic further distanced the person from the sign that connoted him. Aquino was yellow and the “L” sign; Villar, the orange check; Gilbert Teodoro, green. People asked each other, “Who are you voting for? Yellow or orange?” The idea of voting for the principles and platforms of people was mislaid along the way. Tossed, perhaps, into those seas of garbage.

Manny Villar, orange shirt, ‘check’ gesture, tagline…check.

Artifacts also became signs. One strongly identified with the Aquino-Roxas camp was the Collezione Philippine map shirt. I wore such a dress weeks ago – black with a yellow map – but not for political reasons. I simply thought it comfortable. A friend said, “So you’re for Noynoy!” I may or may not have been. But it struck me that my friend assumed whom I was backing in the polls by extracting meaning from the sign he took my dress to be.

Aquino wearing Collezione shirt with yellow Philippine map embroidered logo, fingers flashing ‘L’ (Laban – fight). If the shirt were longer and reached to his knees, you’d have my dress.

With the election results in, one Aquino supporter exclaimed, “Our country is now yellow!” A clueless listener might think this means our land is awash in urine. (True, if you consider those pink MMDA roadside urinals.) But to those aware of the context of the remark, it merely indicates that our new president belongs to the political team symbolized by that color.

Pink MMDA urinal. It has nothing to do really with the column. I just thought you might want to see what one looks like.

In this particular social exercise, signs and symbols played a highly significant part in fixing in voters’ minds characteristics ascribed to the candidates, whether or not these characteristics were actually possessed by that individual. Full spin is deployed in ad campaigns, that’s granted – they say what they want you to know. Yet there were deep levels of abstraction here that further obscured reality.

In the future, seek to discern the symbology and peel off the conceptual layers, from apparent to hidden, until you get to the true meaning at the core. Then you will know if you voted for a color, or for leaders with platforms and principles.

“It opened up my mind, I saw the sign!”   ***

(Photos from all over the Net, collected over time. My apologies for not being able to give individual photo credits.)

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Here’s my first piece for a cultural studies column appearing every Thursday beginning 29 April 2010 on the Opinion Page of the Manila Standard-Today. Thank you to MST Opinion Editor Ms. Adelle Chua for giving me this chance, for believing in me.

POP GOES THE WORLD By Jenny Ortuoste for Manila Standard-Today,  29 April 2010, Thursday

Here Lies Myth

Natalie Merchant. Tori Amos. Cyndi Lauper. Kate Pierson of B-52s fame. Our very own Charmaine Clamor. These and other artists have lent their voices to a unique project- “Here Lies Love”, a two-CD rock opera on the life of Imelda Marcos.

Cover

The genius behind this ground-breaking work is himself one of a kind – David Byrne. He was prime mover of the ’80s new wave band Talking Heads; composer of the main theme from the film “The Last Emperor”, in which wailing violin evokes the haunted soul of a China long vanished; and, with ex-Roxy Music producer Brian Eno, creator of the singular album “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”, a blend of electronic and gospel.

David Byrne (Net)

In collaboration with deejay and big beat musician Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim of the electronic dance hit “Weapon of Choice”), Byrne expresses in 22 songs his own take on the mythos of Imelda.

Fatboy Slim (Net)

The narrative of Imelda was evolved by her and those around her, conflated by succeeding events, until she became a creature bigger than life and entered world awareness. In one of his blog posts, Byrne tells of his visit to the Philippines in December 2005. He hoped “to catch and absorb some whiff of the Philippine ethos, sensibility, and awareness, by osmosis and conversation.”

In visits to Malacañang, Ilocos, and Leyte, he sees paintings of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos depicted as “the ur-couple of the Philippines…the strong man and the beautiful woman”; Imelda as a “nurturing goddess”. Byrne is no naïve worshipper at the altar; he is aware of how much of her image was a deliberate manipulation. A chapel in Tacloban dedicated to the Santo Niño is “really, a shrine dedicated to herself,” he observes.

In a recent interview in Financial Times, Byrne relates his fascination in Imelda grew from reading that she “loved going to clubs like Studio 54 and had a floor of her New York townhouse turned into a disco.” Here was a person of power who created her “own little bubble world…I wanted to delve into what makes this person tick, what drives them, how they can be in such deep denial about some of the things they’ve done.”

The album follows Imelda from her girlhood until she fled the country during the People Power revolution, juxtaposed with the life of her yaya Estrella Cumpas. The 3,000 pairs of shoes are not mentioned. Six music videos are part of the project, using news and archival footage of a young and dazzling Imelda in her butterfly-sleeved ternos descending from airplanes, smiling graciously, charming world leaders.

The album is a treasure box of gems. Much of the lyrics are taken from Imelda’s own words. In “The Rose of Tacloban”, Martha Wainwright asks “what lies beyond tomorrow…?” Cyndi Lauper’s breathy vocals delight in “Eleven Days”. Charmaine Clamor is smokey in “Walk Like a Woman”, Kate Pierson’s distinctive voice engages in “The Whole Man”.  Disco, funk, and electronic dance energize; crank the volume high enough, you forget the subject and become immersed in the music.

Singer and songwriter Binky Lampano says “Here Lies Love” can’t be compared to Byrne’s other works. “Musically we are dealing here with other elements altogether. There are no ‘Talking Heads’ components. As a work, it’s a worthy project. The man went out of his way to come to our country to do his homework.”

As a historical artifact, the album is a keepsake. Advertising executive Leigh Reyes bought the digital edition as soon as it was released. An admirer of Byrne’s work, she says it is “strange to watch (footage of) a fuzzy black-and-white Marcos with a pensive dance track”.

And Byrne’s choice of Imelda as a subject? “She’s a global character,” says Lampano. “It’s not like Byrne went out of his way to look for her. She’s part of the world’s common currency as half of the ‘Conjugal Disco-tatorship’”.

Love her or hate her, Imelda and all that she is part of world culture. In the same way Filipinos have taken Western pop music and made it our own, with, for instance, insurgents in Mindanao call two opposing forces “The Monkees” and “The Beatles”, the world picks and chooses from our narratives to inform creative expression.

Thereby is mythos -  story – continually created, added on to, until boundaries blur, and art becomes a commonality. Here, indeed, in the music and the inspiration, lies love.

*****

The column title is that of an ’80s hit song by Men Without Hats. Lyrics go like this: “Johnny played guitar, Jenny played bass/ Name of the band is ‘The Human Race’/Everybody, tell me, have you heard?/ Pop goes the world.” and so on for more stanzas, where Jenny plays keyboard and Johnny drums, they have kids, they get into movies, they get their pictures in the magazines,  and so on.

In other words, Johnny and Jenny live a life within media, producing content for media, which is distributed to the world. The song’s narrative fits smack into what I want to explore in this column – culture, as created by artists, musicians, and other content providers, selected and filtered by the news media through agenda-setting processes, and distributed through a channel with global reach – the Internet.

Culture, as seen through the lenses of postmodernity and social constructionism, in many instances can no longer be strictly defined as “high” or “low” – the boundaries are blurred, and the Internet has the effect of making the homogenizing process much faster – in fact, so fast that we see it taking place before our very eyes. Via semiotics, we also see how incidents, people, places, etc. may become symbols or signs for concepts that already exist in the different national cultures, or may be appropriated to give meaning to new concepts that have entered consciousness through media consumption.

Yet this does not mean that culture around the world will become one bland mass, like a bowl of oatmeal. Each country’s unique cultural vision will still inform the content produced in that milieu, or provide inspiration to artists from elsewhere. It is the appreciation of the varied types of content that contribute to the creation of a global culture through media.

In this column I will look at what’s trending in world news, perform textual and content analyses as appropriate,  deconstruct concepts, and give insights into why this subject matter is relevant or irrelevant to Filipinos. In other words, the column deals with cultural studies informed by a multi-disciplinary viewpoint (anthropology, sociology, communication, media studies, psychology, etc.). It’s a social scientist’s way of bringing awareness of how global culture is becoming Filipino culture as well as vice versa (as in the way Imelda Marcos and Manny Pacquiao are now part of the world mythos).

Pop Goes the World – everything in the world will be popular eventually. ***

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As we walked into the first floor of Powerplant Mall we were serenaded by cool jazz music. It didn’t sound tinny or canned. We followed the source of the sound; peering over the glass dividers to the basement floor, we saw a four-piece band.

They played impeccably, effortlessly, reminding me why Filipino musicians are in demand all over the world, in lounges and bars, on cruise ships and stages, entertaining people with their talent .

After their set, I clapped. The saxophonist heard me, looked up, and smiled.

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Jockeys rocked the house last December 30 during the annual Christmas party of the New Philippine Jockeys’ Association held at the Philippine Racing Club Social Hall, Makati City, with singing, dancing, and feasting for riders and their families and guests.

What people know of horseracing jockeys is, in general, only what they see on cable television’s Karera Channel. Short muscular men dressed in colorful eye-popping silks swing a leg atop thoroughbreds taller than themselves and ride them at top speed around an elliptical track. Their faces are barely discernible under their helmets and the straps criss-crossing their cheeks. You get to know them by their eyes and their smiles.

A race at Santa Ana Park (2006).

Theirs is a physically demanding and very stressful job. So every once in a while, to ease the pressure, they like to do karaoke, dance, drink light beer from cans, and wear weird clothing.

Hey, don’t we all?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RknYYdmmpzM

The “Singing Jockey” Budoy Novera croons an ’80s hit while Noriel Cannaoay rocks a kilt and Jeff Zarate gets with it. Pasaway, dudes.

An average Filipino party consists of several traditional elements. There will always be food – the ever-present rice and ulam – meat, fish, seafood, and vegetable dishes. There will always be drink – the host serves beer, usually San Miguel Light in cans and/or Pale Pilsen in bottles; he may also supply liquor such as brandy or rum, while guests may bring bottles too. There will always be entertainment, usually song and dance numbers and/or karaoke.

Corporate or group/organization parties during the holidays will also have prize raffles and speeches by management or special guests and officers of the organization.

Junior members of the group are expected to entertain the senior members with some sort of presentation.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kf_Wk6i5Z0

The San Lazaro Leisure Park, Cavite-based apprentice jockeys of the Philippine Jockeys Academy dance to an old pop tune, clad in matching shirts. Let’s hope they are more coordinated on top of horses than they are on a dance floor.

The holiday season is always a time to let off steam. Jocks know how to party hearty. They rock on and off the track. Woot! *rock horns*

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This year’s Christmas was cause for celebration, yet many fans mourned upon learning that one of showbiz’s most enduring performers, Miss Eartha Kitt, died on that day at 81 of colon cancer.

Born in poverty in South Carolina, she was the daughter of a white father, a cotton farmer, and a black-Cherokee mother. As a mixed-race child during the first few decades of the century, she endured racism, neglect, and rejection.

For a while she attended the New York School of Performing Arts, but dropped out to take various odd jobs. In the mid-40s, she auditioned for the Katharine Dunham dance troupe and earned a place, performing in the Broadway production “Bal Negre” as one of the San Souci singers.

Orson Welles once called Eartha “The most exciting woman in the world.” She spent much of her life single. She married Bill McDonald in 1960 but divorced him after the birth of their daughter Kitt.

Her experiences with the troupe led to other opportunities in dance, singing, and acting.

As “Catwoman” from 1967-68 in the “Batman” television series, replacing Julie Newmar, she filled out the prescribed catsuit with her svelte 35-23-35 (inches) figure, making her one of the sexiest villains to purr her way around the small screen.

Eartha as “Catwoman” in the “Batman” episode “Dressed to Kill”

She traveled the world and learned to perform in more than ten languages. She performed exclusively overseas after her anti-Vietnam War activism led to her investigation by the FBI and the CIA.

Upon returning to the US, she was cast in many Broadway roles. In 2000, she was tapped to be the voice of the villainess “Yzma” in Disney’s cartoon “The Emperor’s New Groove”, bringing her more fans from the younger generation.

She was also a published author who wrote three autobiographies and, in 2001, Rejuvenate, a guide to staying physically fit.

In her six-decade career, she was still performing well into her late 70s, and maintained the curvaceous figure that made her famous.

Her life was a celebration of beauty, joy, and art. While she wasn’t always happy, she made the most of what she had to carve out her own niche in the world that no one else can fill. There are many lessons to be learned from her life – of strength, perseverance, and endurance. She makes our list as a certified Gogirl, an icon of feminism, grace, and style.

The incomparable Eartha Kitt.

17 January 1927 – 25 December 2008.

Personal footnote:

Eartha’s deep back bends remind me of the ones which made our very own Pilita Corrales, “Asia’s Queen of Song”, famous as a performer.

Eartha…

Eartha’s images from various points in her career (from all over the ‘Net).

…and Pilita.

Pilita on a concert program from 1973 (wolfgangsvault.com)

My father, who was a fascinating raconteur, often told a story of taking me with him to work one day at the ABS-CBN broadcast network studio where he was a newscaster and we ran into Pilita. I must have been all of four years old. Upon seeing her, my dad said, I immediately went into a backbend, holding an imaginary microphone to my lips. The good-natured Cebuana songstress laughed.

I don’t know if this story is true. This was told, after all, by the man who assured me in all seriousness that on days when the sun is shining at the same time it’s raining, somewhere in the world it’s a gorilla’s birthday. Go figure.

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The Philippines, according to Wikipedia, is said to observe the longest Christmas season in the world.

This is true. Malls put up Christmas trees and play carols as early as September. Homes are festooned with lights in November. I was aghast to learn that a cousin in the US bought her tree only a week ago; I had ours up and flashing by November 3, right after hundas or the local Dia del Muerte observances.

By the first week of December, restaurants and bars are fully booked for the seemingly endless rounds of parties. For the average employed Filipino adult, there are at least two that one can count on being invited to – the office party and the barkada get-together. The entire month is one big party, and everyone’s invited!

Work and office planning is hardly done around this time – “Magpa-Pasko na (Christmas is coming), you should’ve done that in October or November,” is something heard frequently. Most activities are postponed. “After Christmas na ‘yan, ha.” Work slows. Shopping speeds up. Stores are full of people, pockets bulging with their thirteenth-month pay and bonuses, eager to spend it all on gifts for family and friends. Employers nod indulgently as employees take two-hour lunches and return laden with shopping bags. They themselves leave early for corporate holiday affairs, golf tournaments in Baguio, and out-of-the-country vacations.

With pressure easing  on all sides, a sense of relaxation pervades. This makes the holidays a perfect time for renewing friendships. Last Friday, I met up with one of my best friends, Adelle Chua, opinion editor of Manila Standard-Today, where I am a horseracing columnist. We see each other perhaps three to four times a  year. We eat, catch up on the latest, eat, share feminist philosophies, eat. We did all our eating at the Racks’ in El Pueblo (Ortigas), where the succulent and tender sweet baby back ribs and side dishes keep us coming back for more.

After dinner, we went for dessert and coffee next door, to San Francisco Coffee Co. Die-hard Starbucks habitues, we were thinking of walking to the one at Emerald Avenue. But SFCC had an interesting sign – “Free WiFi.” We swung the glass doors open and walked in.

Not that we were able to try out the wi-fi. A delicious smell of syrup and coffee wafted us into our seats. Comfortably ensconced with coffee in mugs and an oatmeal bar in front of us, we chatted the night away. We must have covered a dozen topics, ranging from parents and parenting, DNA testing, and religion to fountain pens, the effects of aging on interpersonal relationships, and inner-spring mattresses.

Adelle and I are both writers. Bound by our common love of language, we deplored the declining standards of grammar, spelling, and technical proficiency. We drowned our sorrows over the fall of belles lettres in large mugs of our favorite brew.

I love San Francisco Coffee’s Raspberry Mocha. The best talaga, ever!

This is a nice, quiet place with very good coffee and pleasant, accommodating baristas who let us stay a little past closing and said not a word, letting us leave when we were ready. I wish they had more branches around the city.

After Adelle and I exchanged goodbyes and promises to meet again soon, I trekked to Metrowalk for another reunion – this time with batchmates from the Ateneo de Manila University Regis MBA program. The invitation came from Atty. Natus Rodriguez, Atty. Noel de Leon, and Major Edmar de la Torre. How could I say no to two lawyers and a cop?

The venue was Aruba, a trendy bar-cum-dance club part-owned by Natus. It’s a terrific place that plays ’80s music, both live and canned.  The crowd is upscale. Meaning they can headbang and respect personal space at the same time.

Natus ordered our party of ten his favorite drink. I forget what it’s called, but it’s served in shot glasses. A brown fluid lurks at the bottom while a milky liquid floats on top. Then it’s set on fire. Straws are handed round, the drink is sucked up, everyone applauds. It goes straight to your brain.

This time around, there isn’t much conversation, what with the loud music, dancing, and flaming drinks. Yet just seeing each other there was enough. Communication was achieved, the message being, “I cared enough to invite you/ I cared enough to come. We’re still friends.” We whisper into each other’s ears, catch up a bit, exchange phone numbers, find out how we can help each other.

But don’t wait until the holidays to refresh your relationships with your friends. Just like a plant, friendships can wither and die if not fed often with communication. Stay in touch. Make that your New Year’s resolution.

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Sweet-voiced soprano diva Mariah Carey sang this way back in 1996, but this song will never grow old. It’s one of those timeless melodies that will always resonate in your heart. Its lyrics will always mean something to someone, somewhere.

Click on this link to view the video.

“Always Be My Baby”

Mariah Carey (1996 Sony BMG Music Entertainment)
You (repeat)
(Do do doop)
(Do do doop do doop da dum)
(Do do doop dum)
(Do do doop do doop da dum)

We were as one babe
For a moment in time
And it seemed everlasting
That you would always be mine
Now you want to be free
So I’m letting you fly
Cause I know in my heart babe
Our love will never die
Noooohoh!

You’ll always be a part of me
I’m part of you indefinitely
Boy don’t you know you can’t escape me
Ooh darling ’cause you’ll always be my baby
And we’ll linger on
Time can’t erase a feeling this strong
No way you’re never gonna shake me
Ooh darling ’cause you’ll always be my baby
(Does not repeat it only says it once)
(Do do doop)
(Do do doop do doop da dum)
(Do do doop dum)
(Do do doop do doop da dum)

I ain’t gonna cry no
And I won’t beg you to stay
If you’re determined to leave boy
I will not stand in your way
But inevitably, you’ll be back again
Cause ya know in your heart babe
Our love will never end nooooh ooohh

You’ll always be a part of me
I’m part of you indefinitely
Boy don’t you know you can’t escape me
Ooh darling ’cause you’ll always be my baby
And we’ll linger on
Time can’t erase a feeling this strong
No way you’re never gonna shake me
Ooh darlin’ cause you’ll always be my baby

I know that you’ll be back boy
When your days and your nights get a little bit colder oooohhh
I know that you’ll be right back, babe
Ooooh! baby believe me it’s only a matter of time
Of time!

You’ll always be apart of me (oooohhhh)
I’m part of you indefinitely (oooohhhh)
Boy don’t you know you can’t escape me (ooooohhhhhh)
Ooh darlin’ ’cause you’ll always be my baby
And we’ll linger on (and we will linger on)
Time can’t erase a feeling this strong (ohhhh)
No way you’re never gonna shake me (oh baby)
Ooh darlin’ ’cause you’ll always be my baby

You’ll always be apart of me (yeah yeah oooohhhh)
I’m part of you indefinitely (oooohhhh)
Boy don’t you know you can’t escape me (ooooohhhhhh)
Ooh darlin’ cause you’ll always be my baby (no nooo )
And we’ll linger on (you and I will always be)
Time can’t erase a feeling this strong
No way you’re never gonna shake me (you & I)
Ooh darlin’ cause you’ll always be my baby (you & I)
(You & I)
(You & I)
(You & I will always be!)

(Do do doop)
(Do do doop do doop da dum)
(Do do doop dum)
(Do do doop do doop da dum)

You and I will always be
No way you’re never gonna shake me
No way you’re never gonna shake me
You and I will always be…

taste more:

This is one of the best R&B songs I’ve ever heard. It was included in a CD called “Light and Easy” ballads that I was either given or had bought, I don’t recall which, perhaps four years ago. I had never heard this song or of the artist – Ephraim Lewis – before.

(Image here.)

Lately I’ve been putting on the album every night as I write articles for a horseracing magazine to be released next month. As I listen to this smooth, smokey, silky voice, the knots in my muscles loosen gradually, I take deeper breaths, and words start to rise from deep inside, flowing from my fingertips onto the keyboard to appear upon the screen coherently arranged, almost effortlessly.

It was only tonight that I thought to search for a music video and find out more about the artist.  He died young, after having cut only one album. Many say he could have been a superstar; but with this just one song, he lives forever.

For me, a song is always both the words and the music. The lyrics are a hauntingly perfect match to the melody. Yes, I have drowned in someone’s eyes. Haven’t we all?

[youtube tEQp6KkmegU]

DROWNING IN YOUR EYES (1992)

Ephraim Lewis

Feel the ground it’s slipping away
Like a sigh that greets the close of day
Feel the water’s welcoming arms
Embrace me in their quiet calm
I can’t hear what you say anymore
Just the sound of trees on the ocean floor
Irresistibly drawn from the shore

Chorus
I’m drowning in your eyes
I’m floating out to sea
Helpless on the restless tide
That flows between you and me

Moving slowly as if in a dream
The colours change from blue to green
All around me reflections of you
In forests deep I’m passing through
In the swell of the storm we’re as one
We’re dancing in the morning sun
Could it be that we’ve only just begun

Chorus

Lying here beside you
I try to reach you but you’re so far…

Chorus

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The B-52s, that “garage band from Athens, GA” created its own unimitatable twist on the New Wave era when it burst upon the music scene in 1978 with their first single, “Rock Lobster”. They blended New Wave, dance, surf music, and unique guitar stylings to set the standard for party band music.

The group was formed in 1976 by sprechgesang (spoken-song) vocalist Fred Schneider along with the operatically-trained Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, drummer Keith Strickland, and guitarist Ricky Wilson (Cindy’s older brother).

(Image from here.)

Ricky Wilson died in 1985 due to AIDS-related causes, but the rest of the band still rocks on, and in March 2008 released its first album for the 21st century, “Funplex”.

I was an angst-ridden but optimistic teenager in the ’80s, and it was this band’s music that kept me rockin’ and rollin’. Their sometimes unintelligible and incomprehensible lyrics (much like Lewis Carroll’s poems in “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass”) described pretty much how I felt most of the time.

Here’s a compilation of my absolute favorite B-52s songs. Bless Youtube for archiving these very rare music videos.

Private Idaho (1980)

An iconic dance tune that rocked the angry and rebellious youth of the world – and kept them in the dance halls and off the streets, where they could have hurt themselves.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7t7cGwN7_0

Give Me Back My Man (1980)

“I’ll give you fish/ I’ll give you candy/ I’ll give youuu…/ Everything I have in my hand…/ Give me, give me back my man…” I mean, who else could have come up with lyrics this surreal yet somehow absurdly profound.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-qpGKi2Bsc

Mesopotamia (1982)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELGEZm4Trgc

Legal Tender (1983)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQvGplgXmNE

Roam (1989)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWEfmCvu8R8

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