A couple of weeks ago, I was overwhelmed with memories of 1984. This was back when MTV actually played music, and competed with VH1 for video supremacy. McDonalds was considered a treat for good behavior. I watched “Dynasty,” “Dallas,” “The Cosby Show,” & “Family Ties,” along with other classics. I sported a jheri-curl, Jordache jeans, Keds (affectionally called “white girl” shoes) a Members Only jacket, multiple pairs of socks, and round coke-bottle glasses. Yellow was my favorite color, but I owned a red Swatch watch and rocked gummy bracelets and twister beads. My whip was a blue ten-speed, and I could double-dutch, hopscotch, and hoola-hoop like a champ. The “big” gift for Christmas that year was a Crayola Caddy. I was at the outer edges of my tomboyishness; breasts were starting to sprout and cause problems. I was a skinny, goofy-looking awkward pre-teen with spectacles and no rhythm, likely busting the hell out of 98 pounds, but a PYT nonetheless. I read so many books that year that I can’t even recall a favorite, but I do remember my favorite song.
“Roxanne, Roxanne” was written by B-Fine of Full Force and performed by UTFO. It played all the time, on just about every radio station. The video ran damn near 24/7. The song spawned at least 15 get-back tracks and changed the landscape of rap as we knew it then. It was the first rap I knew all the words to, and my mother bought me the cassette tape (yeah, I said “tape;" I still have that bad boy) and I wore that damn thing out listening to it every day and night. This was back when you could listen to an album and not have to skip tracks, and every rap album had a slow cut and a song that paid homage to the DJ. The songs were fun and didn’t need to be edited for radio play. There was no profanity or disrespect, and I don’t recall my mother telling me not to listen to UTFO or calling their music garbage. Every last member of UTFO could rap. They were skilled lyricists, and as a word-nerd, I recognized the layers and depth of their delivery and adored them for it. There was an intelligence and a cleverness to their songs that is lacking in today’s dreary music landscape. This can be generalized to rap and hip-hop as a whole; I’m not an o’head for nothing. Music used to be real, but now it’s on life support. I supplemented my trip back down memory lane by watching UTFO videos on YouTube and reminiscing about the time when all I wanted was to marry the group’s DJ. There are moments when I long for the simplicity of those days.
*sigh*
And now I return you to your presently scheduled blog postings.
