I know I know. Long time no post. So sue me. I've never gotten the hang of sharing my life with the masses that much, but I'm trying.
But recently I've been to two concerts that threw my love of and admiration for the enduring pop music of the 80s to the forefront of my life again, and I actually have some media to share that some wil enjoy too. Actually came out alright considering I was recording with my still camera.
The early 80s were a pivitol time in my life. I graduated high school in 83, and I started exploring what gay life North Alabama had to offer (not much) in my junior year. Dealing with that and trying to still be a regular highschooler created a bit of angst in my life, and music helped me deal with that immensely.
I think it was my junior year when my sister came home with a yellow colored album by a band call The B-52s. At first I thought it was a joke band. Then I started really listening and realized it was pop genius. I was a fan from then on, and living where I did I got the oportunity to see them live quite a few times. The perfect party band, and the first time I was really struck by a death of someone from AIDS (when Ricky died after the first two albums). They've recently release their first studio album, Funplex, in something like 15-20 years. It's very recommended!
And then there was Yaz. I discovered them all on my own. The first time I heard the beat of Vince's music and the sound of Alison's voice on "Only You" I was hooooooooked. Laying on the carpeted floor of my small bedroom with the headphones on, listening over and over to both the albums and just BECOMING the music. I was so crushed when they broke up. Never seen them live, hell, they never performed live in the US except once in New York in 82 I think it was.
Flash forward 25 years and Vince and Alison think it's time to complete things, for them and for the fans, so they arrange to tour together for the first, and last, world tour of Yaz. David and I were lucky enough to get to see them here in Oakland at the Paramount Theatre. They were incredible. Performing every song from both albums! I think they were geniuely surprised and very pleased by the audience response. I think it was their first stop in the States. Alison was loving the love washing over them. Vince was his usual stotic self but very much enjoying it too.
It was a great pleasure to be sharing both these events with my man David. Being only 10 months apart in age, we have a lot of the same cultural references and we were very much into some of the same type music.
Below are a few clips I got of those tow bands, plus Cyndi Lauper. Cyndi and the B's I caught at the True Colors concert, then a week later was Yaz. I'm still buzzing from both!
The first clip is the B-52s singing a favorite of mine, "Mesopotamia":
Then "Rock Lobster":
From the new album, "Juliet of the Spirits" (love this song!):
And, of course, the very popular, "Love Shack":
Cyndi Lauper has a new album out too, called "Bring Ya to the Brink". I have to say it's very good and I highly recommend it. Very upbeat, catchy music with a message.
The first video of her below is from that new album, called "Rocking Chair":
The first single from that new album is called "Into the Nightlife" and I caught about half of it in the below clip. I wasn't going to record it at all, but she came out into the audience and sang part of it and that's where I started recording:
And then the classic, "I Drove All Night", which she began with a little bit of "Blue Savannah" by Erasure:
Now on to Yaz. I was much more wary about recording while indoors in the dark, but I got a few that turned out OK.
First up is a snippet of "Goodbye 70s":
Next up is David's favorite (or one of his favorite, who can have a favorite from Yaz?), "In My Room". They brought a soft chair with a pillow for Alison to hug as she sang this...LOVE IT:
And one of my favorites, and probably alot of other folks, "Winter Kills":
And first song of the encore, and their first single "Only You"...listen to the crowding singing along to the entire thing!:
All in all, this has definitely been the Summer of Remembering the 80s and I've loved every minute of it.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Friday, April 14, 2006
Grand Bahama Island
David and I took off for a week in late March for Grand Bahama Island. This is the island with Freeport and the Lucaya Port. I had traded a week of my time share for this stay so it was a super cheap week for us in that sense. We just wanted to go somewhere in the Caribbean, and this place, the Ocean Reef Yacht Club, seemed to be the prettiest that was available. Looks are deceiving. I guess I should have known it was going to be an iffy week when we arrived on the island and the power was off for the entire island. Some places, like the airport, had generators, but mostly it was no energy. Stayed that way for about 4 hours.
The suite was fine, very good in fact. But the ground and pool facilities of the resort left a lot to be desired. We didn't spend much time there. We went to a different beach or took a drive to a different part of the island almost each day. The beaches were beautiful, the water was a lovely turquoise color, and the snorkeling was fun. Overall, we had a very relaxing week and we were away from the neverending rain of the Bay Area. The worst part you might ask? Well, everything was quite expensive. As an example, a bag of chips that would cost $3.49 here in SF, cost around $8.49 there. Fresh anything was hard to get and if you got it you paid out the nose for it. The food on the island was sub par..mediocre at best. Everything was either fried or from a can, or both. When we did get some average good fresh food from a Chinese place on the beach, we paid triple what I would have paid for a much better Chinese meal from down the street. We were dying for a fresh salad by the time the week was done!
So here are a few pictures of our week. Hope you enjoy!
The suite was fine, very good in fact. But the ground and pool facilities of the resort left a lot to be desired. We didn't spend much time there. We went to a different beach or took a drive to a different part of the island almost each day. The beaches were beautiful, the water was a lovely turquoise color, and the snorkeling was fun. Overall, we had a very relaxing week and we were away from the neverending rain of the Bay Area. The worst part you might ask? Well, everything was quite expensive. As an example, a bag of chips that would cost $3.49 here in SF, cost around $8.49 there. Fresh anything was hard to get and if you got it you paid out the nose for it. The food on the island was sub par..mediocre at best. Everything was either fried or from a can, or both. When we did get some average good fresh food from a Chinese place on the beach, we paid triple what I would have paid for a much better Chinese meal from down the street. We were dying for a fresh salad by the time the week was done!
So here are a few pictures of our week. Hope you enjoy!
The Little Yellow Sewing Machine
Our rental car for the week. It's not a joke, it's a Kia! Seriously, I'm only 5'9" and when I drove this the drivers seat back was almost touching the front of the back seat. And I got my first experiece driving on the left hand side of the road. Kind of freaky at first, especially needing to remember to look right first instead of left first when you come to an intersection. But I think I did a pretty fair job of it. Thank God the steering wheel was U.S. standard and on the left of the car, otherwise it would have been a little TOO freaky. We did have one heart pounding scare with this thing. On our first trip to the east side of the island, looking for Gold Rock Beach, about 35 miles from Freeport - in other words, the middle of nowhere - we stop and turn the car off to walk out to this stream/beachy area to see if this place was Gold Rock. We determined it wasn't, so we got back in the car and....NOTHING. The engine doesn't turn over at all. Nada. Zip. No juice. Heart pounding. Stay clam. I got out of the car, popped the hood. Bingo! Battery cable off! Whew! You see, the roads we had been traveling on were a bit pot hole filled and it had apparently been already loose, so the bumpy roads did the rest. Boy, that was scary. Cell phones didn't work there!
Beaches & Sun
So the best part about the week were the many different beaches we visited. We only went to one twice, and that was Paradise Cove. Silver Beach, Gold Rock and High Rock were the other beaches we visted. Paid a short visit to Xanadu Beach one afternoon, but didn't stay long. Did have someone offer us pot and/or cocaine there though. Thought that was kind of funny. The following pictures are from our relaxing experiences on the beach. The week started out a bit cloudy and cool, but by Tuesday and especially Wednesday, it was mostly sunny and 75 degrees. The color of the water was amazing and the sand was the pink of the imfamous Bahama beaches.
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