New Wave Stream of Consciousness

[Can't get the minisoundtrack from a faux fashion show I didn't attend in Santa Barbara nine years ago out of my head. Jessica, who participated, had me picture members of S.B.'s ersatz performance art scene parade down a catwalk at Zelo in paper clothes, with the following songs mixed together:]

["Being Boiled" Human League,
"Warm Leatherette" The Normal,
"Let Me In, Let Me Out" Trio,
"Nightclubbing" Iggy Pop,
"Futurist Maifesto" Adam Ant, and
"I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" The Inkspots.]

[She later made me copy of the tape, and now I can't find it! I hope she kept a copy. We listened to it over and over. Before I heard the list, or for many years after, each of the artists and songs listed had or have other resononances for me: "Being Boiled" seemed so weird to me, being used to "Don't You Want Me," as I was. I'd never heard Grace Jones's version of "Warm Leatherette" until I met John many years later, and he and I still disagree on which is superior. Trio, of course, became belatedly famous with their "Da Da Da" in the Volkswagen commercial. Iggy Pop...well, I fell in love later than anyone else with "Lust For Life," but had loved him anyway because he managed to be the other singer to duet with Kate Pierson in 1990 (I still grumble when I remember Michael Stipe disowning "Shiny Happy People" in a later interview. One of the reasons R.E.M. isn't doing so well lately is that they've lost their sense of whimsy, ifyouaskme.) Adam Ant's 1993 show at the Ventura Theatre still ranks as one of the best concerts I've ever been to, and he wasn't even promoting an album. He gave such energy and sexiness, and a condescending wink to Trent Reznor for covering "Physical (You're So)" the year before. And "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire," which as I was growing up simply had been the theme song to Chanel No. 5.]

[If I fall in love with songs and artists way out of order, instead of being the first to know about them when they emerge (watching a bit of High Fidelity last night got me curious again about the Beta Band, after most of you have probably already been there and done that), does that make me a bad music fan?]

[And now, "Can't Get You Out Of My Head," the #1 song in England this week and last, won't get out of my head, because I opened this entry with the phrase. Kylie Minogue replacing the above list, after her own career was supposed to have been way over?]

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