My first night with Barry White
02/26/2011
“Hi. My name is Tara and I’m a Barry White fan.”
(Say it out loud.) “Hi Tara.”
When did I first get my funk on? The year was 1999. The circumstances were unlikely. Paint fumes were involved.
It was a hot summer night in Erie, Pennsylvania. My now-husband and I were living in sin in our circa-1930s brick Cape Cod. We were painting our living room red. Behr paint. A humid breeze was blowing through the screen door. A lone lamp, sans shade, was occupying the hardwood floor. Paint splattered shirts and shorts…a still shiny engagement ring…a boom box on the mantle…Barry White.
Life was simple. Uncluttered. Promising.
“You’re the first, the last, my everything…”
“Can’t get enough of your love, baaaaabe…”
“Oh what a night for dancing…”
A strong believer that life is best expressed in lyrics, I thought, “OH what a night for dancing!” I couldn’t get enough of this soundtrack to my very own movie scene. I was to my paintbrush and Barry White what Demi Moore was to her pottery wheel and the Righteous Brothers. (Okay, it wasn’t that good. Hers was a hot PG-13 moment. There was no dancing that night in my red living room. In fact, we had just quit swing dancing lessons. I was seriously just painting away with my fuzzy roller, loving life, having myself a little moment. You get the idea.)
I eventually wore a ridge in my Barry White CD. iTunes has since saved the day. Hearing a Barry White song still puts me back at that moment when “the rest of my life” lay ahead of me.
And really, what’s not to love about a soulful, baritone, fur-stole-wearing-maestro-of-love-daddy-o who ushered in the disco era?
At least I didn’t say, “Hi. My name is Tara and I’m a Barry Manilow fan.”
No offense Fanilows.
Who’s your Barry White? Spill your guts in the comments section. Meet ya there!
What’s playing in my ear buds?
07/03/2010
Remember Footloose, where the reverend banned rock ‘n’ roll and hell-raising Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon) got the party re-stared and brought the town back to life?
Not that Mayor Oscar B. Goodman (the self-proclaimed “happiest mayor in the universe”) would dare impose such a ban on fabulous Las Vegas, but here’s fair warning. Mayor Goodman, I will be your Ren.
More simply put, I can’t imagine life without music. For running, for driving, for dining, for cleaning, for relaxing, for cuddling, for reading, for doing nothing at all – there’s just no better accompaniment.
The comments you all shared following my post “What’s playing in your ear buds?” suggest you also like to shake your groove thang. With your help and the magic of iTunes, I now have, quite possibly, the best playlist for running ever created.
- Karma Chameleon (Boy George and Culture Club)
- Takin’ it to the Streets (The Doobie Brothers)
- Escape – The Pina Colada Song (Rupert Holmes)
- Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (Boy George and Culture Club)
- Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)
- Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)
- Listen to the Music (The Doobie Brothers)
- Smooth (Santana)
- Hotel California – Live (Eagles)
- Jump (Van Halen)
- I’ll Tumble 4 Ya (Boy George and Culture Club)
- Rock ‘n Roll All Nite (KISS)
- You Shook Me (TNT)
- Good Times (Chic)
- We’re an American Band (Grand Funk Railroad)
It’s okay if you’re laughing that I chose The Pina Colada Song. And yes, I know there are three Boy George songs in this lineup. I don’t care what anyone thinks about my musical choices, and neither should you. Admittedly, I can’t name more than 10 songs recorded in the past 15 years. Lady Gaga? You mean my baby niece who says “ga ga?”
Here’s the morale of the story. Whether choosing music, clothes, a house or a spouse, go ahead and seek input from those you trust. Then listen to your gut and do what feels – or sounds – great to you. It’s guaranteed to be music to your ears. (Sorry, had to go for the easy pun!)
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Never would have come up with this playlist on my own.
What’s playing in your earbuds?
06/19/2010
I have a $15 iTunes card burning a hole in my pocket. This is no ordinary iTunes card. My 15-month old niece gave it to me for my birthday in April (pretty hip for someone who refers to all non-human mammals as “kitty!”). You should also know I refuse to pay for music downloads a.) because I’ve digitized loads of my own tunes b.) because it makes downloading “gifted” music more special than if I just bought every little song that made me tap my toes, and of course c.) because it’s a waste of money.
With that as background, you can imagine my horror when I selected a trusty nickel to rub off the activation code…and two of the oh-so-important activating numbers disappeared with that gray dust. Nooooooo! I spent 20 minutes typing in a variety of alphanumeric combos. No dice. Where’s Rain Man when I need him?
Luckily, a friendly “Apple Advisor” named Melynda came to my rescue and promptly supplied the missing characters after I gave the serial number and a desperate plea for help. (She even closed her e-mail with “Cheers!” and let me know her work hours so I could contact her if necessary. Nice touch.)
So here I sit. A $15 iTunes card ready to be redeemed. A world of musical options. A problem making decisions. (It was hard enough when I had to choose between milk or juice as a toddler. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know too many options stress me out.)
What do you recommend? What songs make you want to run faster, pump the elliptical harder, lift more, sing out loud, smile wide and generally feel great about life? I’m open to all eras and genres. Disco, Motown, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, 80s Fab, Classic Rock, New Age. Bring. It. On!
The comments section is now open for your suggestions. Make it good. Don’t know when the niece is gonna come through with another gift card 
