under the moonlight, the serious moonlight (interlude)

[originally posted on myspace on July 26. 2007]

I was watching old videos last night (I love the Tube Network) and memories came rushing back.

Earliest (sorta) music-related memories:

First video ever saw (I believe both on HBO):

One for Culture Club, possibly "Karma Chameleon." My mom loved Boy George's voice on the radio, and this video was the first time we both saw him. She was in shock. I was amused.I more vividly remember David Bowie's "Let Dance." Maybe because it had dancing, maybe I thought he was cute. I saw it last night (after years of not seeing it) and ohmigod the shoes in the video: sort of pointy (though not as extreme pointy as I like) red shoes. Maybe that's where the shoe thing comes from.

My first official concert:

The Jackson 5 Victory Reunion tour. I just remember that the entire family (plus one friend per kid) went and I brought a Cabbage Patch doll with me. And I think the group came in via a helicopter.

The concert I wanted to go to:

Madonna, possibly the Like A Virgin tour. I was not allowed to go (too young), but my best friend at the time and I tried to win many times through the local radio station. No luck. Beastie Boys were the opening act. Too funny.

My earliest crushes:

George Michael (I was so upset when Wham! broke up) and Prince (I really wanted to grow up and be an actress so I could star in a movie with him – ala Purple Rain, which I was not allowed to see).

Song-related thoughts:

I remember being in a Showbiz Pizza (I think, it was the earlier version of Chuck E Cheese) and we were in the dining room, having pizza, listening to the animatronic animals singing. They performed "867-5309 (Jenny)" by Tommy Tutone (in retrospect, what the hell were those family friendly animals singing that for, but in the 1980s, no one heard lyrics apparently). I loved the song at the time (and had no concept of what it was about) because it had my name in it. At the time, I remember pointing out to my mom that, although it had my name in it, it had the wrong telephone number (as if I was the only Jen in the world, little did I know).

I also remember hearing Rick Springfield's "Jesse's Girl" on the radio (constantly). I liked it but didn't get it. To me, at the time, Jesse was a girl's name and girls couldn't have girlfriends (I was a naïve youth). Then later, I discovered Uncle Jesse on Full House and it all made sense.

Finally, my earliest muck raking:

I used to print a newsletter/pre-zine called the JB Report for my pen pals and friends. For some reason, I hated everything my best friend liked (the movie Dirty Dancing and Paula Abdul). One feature of my newsletter was a sort of gossip column (though I didn't know it at the time). I would just reprint news from my mom's magazines. And any time I found something negative about Paula, I would write about it. This same friend later liked Bon Jovi (this was fifth grade, maybe) and I distinctly remember knocking her for her crush on John Bon Jovi because he looked like a girl (the hair, the earrings)…this was just a few years before my glam period.