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12.29.2004 - One of the nice benefits to running OGC Theatre in all of its
ramshackle, infrequently updated glory arrives every three months: I
receive a gift certificate from Amazon for the monies the site's earned
during the previous quarter. I.e., every time someone clicks on one of my
Amazon links and buys something, I score a tiny cut of the proceeds. In total, it usually
doesn't add up to much - between 20 and 30 dollars - but it's nice all the
same. Very nice in that I can then turn around and, in my indecisive
deliberations, go back and forth on what to get with it. Such was the case
with the $32 I earned for the third quarter of '04. There was much I
wanted (there's always much), and honing in on one or two choices took so
long Diane was beginning to wonder if I'd ever make a choice.
I decided, finally, to go with the
DVD - it's a movie she had fond So, all that's a hint for this: my Album of the Month is . It wasn't the official soundtrack, which was way-laid in '83 due to a licensing mix-up. (If anyone has the original on vinyl, as a few - as always - slipped out, get this: it's worth $150, easy.) Anyway, this "soundtrack" was put together in the mid-'90s - an homage, if you will, to a movie that personifies the early '80s as well as any other. Better than any other, almost. Among the gems: the Plimsouls' hit-that-should-of-been "Million Miles Away"; Josie Cotton's incredibly funky and funny (and Go-Go's-like) "Johnny Are You Queer" and almost-as-catchy "He Could Be the One" and "School Is In"; and, yes, Modern English's "I Melt with You." Another real treat this month has been a TV series we missed the first-time around, but are catching up with on DVD: . You may say it's staked us as fans. Seasons , , and have been a load of fun; we're expecting the same from , and , too.
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memories of and one that, while I'd never seen it, I thought I'd like.
And, indeed, I did. It's not a great movie by any means - but it is fun
with a capital F. It ably captures the flavor of the early '80s while
relaying the basic plot that anchors many a teen flick: a girl (Deborah
Foreman) falls for a guy (Nicholas Cage) from the wrong side of the
tracks. It also features a rollicking soundtrack - the most notable song
is Modern English's incredibly catchy "I Melt with You." (I saw them in
1983 when they opened for Roxy Music). Also featured: the Plimsouls, Josie
Cotton and the Flirts. As much fun as the movie itself are the DVD bonus
features. Nicholas Cage, in all of his Elvis-like glory, sits down with
the film's director, Martha Coolidge, for a fascinating conversation; and
there's a way-cool documentary that hones in on the tubular soundtrack,
with the various performers (few of whom went onto be a major act)
discussing their histories. The singer from Modern English, for example,
recalls how Modern English was playing to, at most, 200 mostly indifferent
club-going folks a night in England when "I Melt with You" - thanks in
large measure to MTV - became a major hit over here. They flew into
Florida for their first
gig
(dressed for cold weather, no less) and in short order played to a crowd
of 10,000 screaming fans who knew all of the words to their songs. Okay,
he's probably exaggerating a might with that - what other songs could the
fans have known? I was 18 in '83 ... the only Modern English song anyone
knew was "I Melt with You." Which, I might add, is as addictive as it ever
was.