REM

Kickin up the heartrate today after an extended bout of tendinitis:

I came late to REM, but this is the song that brought me there. Once I heard Michael Stipes' swampy baritone layered with horns, the howls, the whines, the groans in all its glory of barely managed chaos and logic, I knew I was hooked. I prepared for an immediate move to Athens, Georgia. As great as the music scene was in Seattle in the late 80s, here we were with a new baby, preparing to move east in one last bird-flip to impending adulthood, er middle age.

Except we only got as far as Bellevue. Oops. But we immersed ourselves in the sounds of Pylon, Love Tractor, B-52s and REM, Flat Duo Jets in an effort to create an Athens of our own. Good times.

Jimmy Somerville and (Mighty Real)

This song prompted an ongoing discussion about dance music and high-pitched voices.

The first video shows Jimmy performing You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) at this summer's Gay Pride fest in London. The interpretation for the hard-of-hearing attendees is not to be missed.

When I first saw the precursor to Sean Penn's Milk (the wonderful Life and Times of Harvey Milk based on the book And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts) this song made me get up and dance along with the entire Castro. There are images from that first film and other clues to the past of singer Jimmy Somerville, one time singer for Bronski Beat in the second video below.

Jimmy Somerville - You make me feel
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Adam and the Ants and Antmusic

Adam and the Ants have always been my stand-by for moving into a higher gear. Like many bands in the 80s they had their opinions of disco, as you can see in this video of one of my favorites, "Antmusic". So unplug the jukebox and do us all a favour...

Fine Young Cannibals and Good Thing

Here' what I'll be warming up to this morning. As Martha would say, "It's a good thing."

Dexy's Midnight Runners and There There My Dear

Today's pick for amping up the workout--the amazing aural adrenaline of Kevin Rowlands and Dexy's Midnight Runners. Hands down my favorite song of the 80s. "There there my dear". Don't ask me who Robin is--fortunately it's not me; some have said the object of his invective is Robin Gibb of the BeeGees. This makes sense because of the anti-disco currents running strong at the time.

Happy Birthday by Altered Images

Im having so much fun with this theme that I'm just gonna ride it for awhile.

I have to have music playing while I work out, and I'm very particular about what gets my heart rate going. Last night this is what sustained my heart rate into the 130s (high for me--maybe not for you!)

I saw Altered Images in a dank basement in inner city Liverpool in 1981. I fell in love instantly with this group that later became New Music Express' "Most Promising/Best Group of 1981." Altered Images and Claire Grogan (here looking particularly adorable) were just two of the many reasons I felt so fortunate to be living in a city that fairly pulsated with music wherever you went. Grogan also starred in "Gregory's Girl" that year--if you haven't seen this Scottish film yet do try to rent it. It's a classic coming of age story.

Here I've included one video from 1981, and below that, the band again live, lured into a comeback after 30 years. This one really holds up--I like to think because Claire is a girl who couldn't help but dance. Neither can I, whenever I hear "Happy Birthday" by Altered Images.



Here's Claire a year ago, introducing the song by asking the audience, "please sing along--it makes it less embarassing!"

Talking Heads and Burning Down the House

These guys got my heartrate over 130 today as they have during many a workout.

Thank you, Talking Heads. You killed in '79 when I saw you at a tiny venue in Eugene and you got me through architecture school, for better or worse...I LOVE this video.

If this doesn't make you dance I don't know what will!

If You Want Me to Stay by Sly and the Family Stone

I just spent two hours at the new Y being extremely self-indulgent: on the elliptical doing cardio for an hour listening to all my fave tunes on my beloved I-pod shuffle whose paint color matches my old Honda (sea green). Then I swam and hot-tubbed for another half hour. All on a glorious autumn day when I should have been outside. Still, the Y pool has humongous two storey windows everywhere you look and it's so empty in the middle of the day I couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky to be there. Running into my dear friends Joyce and Jim was icing on the cake.

I had to do a heavy workout because I'd just stopped by our old house which we rent out as a vacation rental: the garden has been clipped back to the barest nubs and it was a very emotional experience for me. I have faith everything will come back. If Sean sees it he will surely divorce me. The amazing and ultimately most depressing thing about it is how much the neighbors love it. I mean LOVE it!! My gardening skills had become a bit unkempt during the previous year while we rented it out but it's still my pride and joy. Heavy on wild abandon and loaded with grapes, raspberries, plums and 10-foot tall lilies I always thought it was lovely in a Garden of Eden sort of way.

So, to console myself, I headed for the Y and worked out to this--hope you enjoy it!