Paul Young - Every Time You Go away
I always considered my family a singing family. I grew up thinking this was normal... breaking into song in the car, at the dinner table, whenever a song came on that we know. My mom encouraged it, when I think most others might have been annoyed. Until high school, I always had trouble hearing the actual lyrics. Many times I'd just make up what sounded good.
I spent many summers at a cottage in the Wisconsin Northwoods. We would pack up the wooden sided Oldsmobile diesel station wagon and spend weekends or even weeks at a time up north. At the age of 5 this was bliss. I brought clothes and some He-Man guys and I was set. He-Man got to fight Skeletor in all sorts of new places up there... on the dock, on a tree stump - sky was the limit.
The closest town that had good shopping was about 45 minutes away in a town called Rhinelander. I vividly remember hearing Paul Young's "Every Time You Go Away" while sitting in the station wagon going up the driveway. The end of the driveway went uphill a bit, where in the fall I could pick blackberries. When the song came on, we started singing, this was a song I could not decipher lyrics. My lyrics became singing, "You Take a Piece of meat with you."
To me, that was like "packing a lunch." The real words are "take a piece of ME with you." At the age of five, I'm not sure I would have understood that... sounds in a food perspective slightly cannibalistic! But the lyrics, to my mother, prompted a serious "birds and the bees for five year olds" pep talk. I seem to remember her talking about how fast I was growing up and how I would "someday meet a girl from up north yada yada."
Once we got to the store, I picked out some shoes that looked like a car from the side and bottom profile. I remember these shoes being expensive, and I could wear the tread off shoes in two weeks. My parents and siblings were always in awe of the sight of how fast I could wear out a pair of shoes. So from talking about growing up to picking out car-looking shoes, I still had a lot of growing up to do. My mom would be right about fourteen years later, I'd go on to meet a girl in college from WAY up north in Wisconsin, and ended up being the person I dated pretty much throughout college. Moms are always right, or they at least know what's going on.
Whenever I hear Every Time You Go Away... I think about putting meat in a ziplock bag, and riding in that station wagon up north with my car shoes on.
This blog will chronicle my life around the music that was playing during past experiences.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
1985: Music defined by radio and siblings
105.7 WAPL - The Rockin Apple
I grew up with nothing around my house but cornfields. This area of the boondocks was called Darboy USA, a "suburb" of the city of Appleton. Appleton was a city of 66,000 at the time. One thing I could see from my yard was the radio antenna for 105.7 WAPL, The Rockin' Apple. "The best classic rock, the best new rock." When you are a child, you see this long radio antenna with flashing red lights. Being on the gullible side, I didn't have a frame of reference for size... it could have been an antenna or a tower! I had just assumed that EVERY song on the radio was being played LIVE inside that tower somewhere, hence the flashing lights - that's where the bands play! I don't know if I imagined the radio antenna was like a big elevator shaft, with rooms to perform going all the way up or what.
For example, if "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith was playing on the radio, I assumed Aerosmith was in town playing it live inside that radio antenna. It's funny because I don't remember anyone ever telling me this... it was just one of those early creative theories I had as a five year old that couldn't be further from the truth.
As I grew up, 105.7 WAPL wasn't as cool as I thought it was. It was just the coolest available. My gripe is this... they played a TON of Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Beatles, Grateful Dead and The Eagles constantly. Nothing against these bands, but I grew an distaste to them over time. Tommy and Mike even helped coin a saying "if Bruce is 'the Boss,' then I QUIT." Haha.
Nowadays, the only one I can really stomach of the bands I mentioned above is the Rolling Stones and some Springsteen. This overplaying of music was the first sign that radio stations can RUIN good bands for you. In these days of the mid 80's, they wouldn't play "heavy" music, even if it was popular. They wouldn't play Metallica during the day. If you called in to request it, they wouldn't even take that as a request until after 10:00pm. It was considered way too heavy for daytime airplay. The heaviest you could get during the day was probably Hendrix. Thank God for Jimi. To their credit, they played a lot of other good stuff too. This is where my musical tastes started to develop.
I was just really lucky to have an older sister and two older brothers. Being the youngest came with all sorts of perks. I wasn't "up to me" to seek and find what was cool. I was able to soak up what my siblings liked and usually that's what I liked to. I had my own identity since all kids a certain age like certain things... like He-Man and Star Wars and such. But when I was little, my older brothers had a rock cover band when they were in HighSchool. It was called Defiance.
Defiance
Their shows were often really elaborate with lots of speakers, pro sound, and stage lights... just crazy. They practiced in my basement and my mom & dad would buy Darboy Fried Chicken (not to be confused with KFC) and they'd stay for dinner. My dad helped out with a Keyboard, PA and other essential equipment... and supported them with funds to get started. The next thing you know they are playing bars all over... even opened for Ratt and Lita Ford at Green Bay's Brown Country Arena! My oldest Brother Tommy wielded this white Gibson Explorer, while Mike did lead vocals and played keyboards. That's the music.. how about the dress? We are talking about leather pants, bandanas, 80's sunglasses... the works. They covered all sorts of Bon Jovi, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Rush, Loverboy, Prince, etc. A great party band indeed.
Their guitar player was this kid named Michael Boyle from Appleton. I looked up to Michael Boyle quite a bit... all of them really. But I always wanted to play the guitar. He was a flashy player... had really puffy hair, and my brothers would jokingly call him Buckwheat after the Little Rascals. So that's what Tommy and Mike called him all the time. After HS, Defiance fizzled out... and I wouldn't see Boyle again for about ten or so years. So let's fast forward to 1994. He was working at my favorite guitar store when I was a teenager, Henri's Music in Appleton. I recognized him and said "Buckwheat!" You should have seen the look on his face. Saying that meant I was old school, but I looked too young to know him from that time. I'm Tommy & Mike Bongers' little brother. Being known as one of my "siblings' little brother" was usually a good thing, so it never bothered me one bit.
I grew up with nothing around my house but cornfields. This area of the boondocks was called Darboy USA, a "suburb" of the city of Appleton. Appleton was a city of 66,000 at the time. One thing I could see from my yard was the radio antenna for 105.7 WAPL, The Rockin' Apple. "The best classic rock, the best new rock." When you are a child, you see this long radio antenna with flashing red lights. Being on the gullible side, I didn't have a frame of reference for size... it could have been an antenna or a tower! I had just assumed that EVERY song on the radio was being played LIVE inside that tower somewhere, hence the flashing lights - that's where the bands play! I don't know if I imagined the radio antenna was like a big elevator shaft, with rooms to perform going all the way up or what.
For example, if "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith was playing on the radio, I assumed Aerosmith was in town playing it live inside that radio antenna. It's funny because I don't remember anyone ever telling me this... it was just one of those early creative theories I had as a five year old that couldn't be further from the truth.
As I grew up, 105.7 WAPL wasn't as cool as I thought it was. It was just the coolest available. My gripe is this... they played a TON of Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Beatles, Grateful Dead and The Eagles constantly. Nothing against these bands, but I grew an distaste to them over time. Tommy and Mike even helped coin a saying "if Bruce is 'the Boss,' then I QUIT." Haha.
Nowadays, the only one I can really stomach of the bands I mentioned above is the Rolling Stones and some Springsteen. This overplaying of music was the first sign that radio stations can RUIN good bands for you. In these days of the mid 80's, they wouldn't play "heavy" music, even if it was popular. They wouldn't play Metallica during the day. If you called in to request it, they wouldn't even take that as a request until after 10:00pm. It was considered way too heavy for daytime airplay. The heaviest you could get during the day was probably Hendrix. Thank God for Jimi. To their credit, they played a lot of other good stuff too. This is where my musical tastes started to develop.
I was just really lucky to have an older sister and two older brothers. Being the youngest came with all sorts of perks. I wasn't "up to me" to seek and find what was cool. I was able to soak up what my siblings liked and usually that's what I liked to. I had my own identity since all kids a certain age like certain things... like He-Man and Star Wars and such. But when I was little, my older brothers had a rock cover band when they were in HighSchool. It was called Defiance.
Defiance
Their shows were often really elaborate with lots of speakers, pro sound, and stage lights... just crazy. They practiced in my basement and my mom & dad would buy Darboy Fried Chicken (not to be confused with KFC) and they'd stay for dinner. My dad helped out with a Keyboard, PA and other essential equipment... and supported them with funds to get started. The next thing you know they are playing bars all over... even opened for Ratt and Lita Ford at Green Bay's Brown Country Arena! My oldest Brother Tommy wielded this white Gibson Explorer, while Mike did lead vocals and played keyboards. That's the music.. how about the dress? We are talking about leather pants, bandanas, 80's sunglasses... the works. They covered all sorts of Bon Jovi, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Rush, Loverboy, Prince, etc. A great party band indeed.
Their guitar player was this kid named Michael Boyle from Appleton. I looked up to Michael Boyle quite a bit... all of them really. But I always wanted to play the guitar. He was a flashy player... had really puffy hair, and my brothers would jokingly call him Buckwheat after the Little Rascals. So that's what Tommy and Mike called him all the time. After HS, Defiance fizzled out... and I wouldn't see Boyle again for about ten or so years. So let's fast forward to 1994. He was working at my favorite guitar store when I was a teenager, Henri's Music in Appleton. I recognized him and said "Buckwheat!" You should have seen the look on his face. Saying that meant I was old school, but I looked too young to know him from that time. I'm Tommy & Mike Bongers' little brother. Being known as one of my "siblings' little brother" was usually a good thing, so it never bothered me one bit.
Friday, September 9, 2011
1985: Money For Nothing... first "band" & my first sleep over
Dire Straits was a cassette my dad had in his truck. On our way up north, my grandpa, dad, and I would play both sides the entire two hour ride. I was too little to see over the hood, so I sat on this big fluffy pillow in between my grandpa and my dad. We wore Dire Straits tape out... his tape player in the truck might have eaten it, but I like to think we wore it out. Instead of simply replacing it, we mailed it to my brother Tommy when he went to college in Daytona to see if he could fix it. After highschool, Tommy went to American Motorcycle Institute (AMI) to get a certified Harley Mechanic degree.
I went to Holy Angels, which was a catholic school in Darboy Wisconsin. It was called Darboy USA, because Darboy (unincorporated) didn't show up on a Wisconsin state map. Ironically, it did show up on a map of the entire United States. Darboy was sort of an "in between" area in the midst of many cities. It's very near Appleton, Kimberly, Comined Locks, Kaukauna and Menasha. So other than "the boon docks," it was always hard to describe exactly where I went to school. Most people had never heard of it... unless of course they were an adult.
I don't remember if it was pre-school or kindergarten, but my first two friends in Holy Angels were Eric and Nick. Nick was somehow related to me through his mom and my grandma... so I was his fourth cousin or something. Eric's grandparents owned the "Dairyland's Best" local dairy: Lamers Dairy, which made the best milk (especially chocolate milk) around.
My first ever sleep over was at Nick's house. Eric and I went over there with our sleeping bags. We were read a story by Nick's cousin Sara I think... who would end up being a summer park leader in coming years. Other than that I remember Nick had the biggest toy rooms I'd ever seen. It was like an empty bedroom just FULL of toys. I couldn't believe it.
The next morning, we went outside on his porch. Eric and Nick had a couple toys that made noise... I think one of them was a He-Man vehicle that rattled when it moved. They started "practicing" between each other. I asked "what are you guys doing?" They said they were practicing their song. They had a band. All excited, I wanted to be in the band. They responded "you probably don't know the song we do." So they started playing it... and it was Money For Nothing by Dire Straits! I was through the roof at that point. "I know that song! Can I be in the band?" Between all three of us, none of us knew the entire song. We were pretty much just singing the chorus and making noise with toys. The band didn't even have a name. But for those 5 minutes... we were the coolest band ever.
Money For Nothing had an awesome video too. Lots of animation, seemed like it was made with kids in mind. I do remember the words a little differently. The current radio version is edited! There was a politically incorrect line in the song about "that little faggot, he's a millionaire." In the early to mid-80's, it was very common in our town for teens to make fun of somebody by calling them a faggot or queer. Today however, that's not the case. The song on the radio and video has been edited and the offensive language removed.
The next morning, we went to this two-story Burger King on College Avenue in Appleton to get kids meals. The "kid's cup" was a He-Man cup with a comic printed around the outside. I still have it.
Eric lived much closer to me. I remember he was over and we were outside on my swingset. We were talking about best friends and who they were. I had never really thought about "best" friend much, but I said a little too quickly that Nick was my best friend. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because we were related in some small way, or that we had the same name, maybe cause of his room full of toys... who knows? I knew right away that it was the wrong answer. Who was I on my swingset with? Eric said his best friend was ME. The right answer. And I thought that was the coolest thing anyone ever said to me. I'm not sure if he remembers this, but my answer to the "best friend" question was one of the first things I ever said that I totally regretted and never verbally took back. As time progressed, thankfully, it was as if I had never said that.
We were not the 3 amigos forever. Nick would end up going to a different grade school. In fact, that sleep over I think was the only time I really hung out with Nick outside of school. Eric, on the other hand, would stay my best friend. We both went to the same school until 1998 when we left for different colleges. In time, Eric would end up being the first phone number I memorized, the first kid's house I ever biked to, and the only kid I ever biked to school with. I can guarantee you'll see Eric's name throughout my autobiography. Good friends, especially ones you can say you've had since 1985, are pretty rare.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Women that rock II - Lita Ford
Lita Ford - Dancin' on the Edge
British born Lita Ford staked her claim in glam rock with her looks and guitar shredding capabilities. Not only could Lita rock vocally, her guitar playing skills were advanced to put it lightly. Many critics claimed she had a male lead guitarist, but this chick could wail!
My brothers would have much more input than me on this artist. Their paths have crossed in the past. In Green Bay WI, the big arena was called the Brown County Arena. That's where all the big bands play. Ratt and Lita Ford were going to play there, and their opening act couldn't make it. So word came to the manager of Defiance (my brothers' band). They were offered to open up. Tommy, in a stroke of bad luck was sick. The band was told if they could do the gig, all they'd have to bring is their guitars. They said yes and headed up to Green Bay, which was about a 20 minute drive.
Defiance had their own dressing room, with their name on a star on the door. When they got there, the entire band got giddy jumping up and down like a bunch of little girls. They got to meet Lita Ford, who both acted and appeared to be on drugs. For the show, Michael Boyle got to plug his guitar into what was described to me as "a wall of Marshall amps."
Stories like this didn't happen that much when I was a teenager, or in college for that matter. The 80's was just sort of cool because things like this happened. With the internet the way it is, and cell phones able to reach anyone, the way Defiance was offered a gig seemed a lot more pure that how it would go down these days. Modern technology like cell phones and computers make it easier to expose a band to the public, but bigger bands will also have an easier time finding lots of acts to play... making the chances of your phone ringing a rarity.
Lita Ford and (previously mentioned)Pat Benatar are only two of the female acts in rock. There are lots of others including Vixen, Heart, The Bangles, Joan Jett, and more! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. More to come. LONG live the women of rock!
British born Lita Ford staked her claim in glam rock with her looks and guitar shredding capabilities. Not only could Lita rock vocally, her guitar playing skills were advanced to put it lightly. Many critics claimed she had a male lead guitarist, but this chick could wail!
My brothers would have much more input than me on this artist. Their paths have crossed in the past. In Green Bay WI, the big arena was called the Brown County Arena. That's where all the big bands play. Ratt and Lita Ford were going to play there, and their opening act couldn't make it. So word came to the manager of Defiance (my brothers' band). They were offered to open up. Tommy, in a stroke of bad luck was sick. The band was told if they could do the gig, all they'd have to bring is their guitars. They said yes and headed up to Green Bay, which was about a 20 minute drive.
Defiance had their own dressing room, with their name on a star on the door. When they got there, the entire band got giddy jumping up and down like a bunch of little girls. They got to meet Lita Ford, who both acted and appeared to be on drugs. For the show, Michael Boyle got to plug his guitar into what was described to me as "a wall of Marshall amps."
Stories like this didn't happen that much when I was a teenager, or in college for that matter. The 80's was just sort of cool because things like this happened. With the internet the way it is, and cell phones able to reach anyone, the way Defiance was offered a gig seemed a lot more pure that how it would go down these days. Modern technology like cell phones and computers make it easier to expose a band to the public, but bigger bands will also have an easier time finding lots of acts to play... making the chances of your phone ringing a rarity.
Lita Ford and (previously mentioned)Pat Benatar are only two of the female acts in rock. There are lots of others including Vixen, Heart, The Bangles, Joan Jett, and more! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. More to come. LONG live the women of rock!
Friday, July 22, 2011
1984: Women can rock too... Part 1 - Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar - We Belong
Can chicks be heavy metal? Pat Benatar was a unique performer. It sounded like she would do well on Broadway and on a rock stage. She didn't quite look metal. I couldn't put my finger on it. She just looked too pure and not "dingy" enough to rock that hard. Can rock be classy? Pat rocked it, and made it work.
Although this post sits around 1984 in my storyline, she had hits way before this that weren't noted. Benatar claimed multiple Grammy awards including "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance" of 1982. Although many of her songs were epic, she had some dark songs as well. "Hell is For Children" is a song that you wouldn't have guessed is performed by Pat Benatar. While Hit Me With Your Best Shot is probably her most popular, I'm not making that the most notable here. This is MY story. I never heard Hell Is For Children on the radio, but I came to find out the song was about child abuse in America. It all makes sense now.
Pat Benatar had some killer songs, and aside from when it was popular, her music would show up again in highschool. My friend Jenny St.A(censored) was a huge fan of Pat Benatar during highschool ('94-'98). I really came to appreciate it then. It was also rare for teen girls in the 90's to like things from the 80's, so she got bonus credit for that. Jenny was in choir and a talented singer. Her and her friend Dana used to come over and practice their songs through my brothers' big mic/PA system and play my brother's keyboard that I managed to borrow for a bunch of years. Fun times.
When I was living in Milwaukee in 2005 I was in a band that played a medly of her best tunes. The band name was called StereoType. The lead guitarist was married to the female vocalist. I sang all of the male songs and she sang all of the female led songs. It worked out really cool, and we played local bars and such. Of course, these stories are years detached from the album's release... but again I'm too young to have a legitimate story here.
The story comes full circle. I am currently a HUGE fan of VH1's PopUp Video... They give all sorts of facts about the band, song, and video production... and some wise cracks. Here's Shadows of the Night... one of Benatar's biggest songs... the video has a WWII Rosie the Riveter theme.
Can chicks be heavy metal? Pat Benatar was a unique performer. It sounded like she would do well on Broadway and on a rock stage. She didn't quite look metal. I couldn't put my finger on it. She just looked too pure and not "dingy" enough to rock that hard. Can rock be classy? Pat rocked it, and made it work.
Although this post sits around 1984 in my storyline, she had hits way before this that weren't noted. Benatar claimed multiple Grammy awards including "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance" of 1982. Although many of her songs were epic, she had some dark songs as well. "Hell is For Children" is a song that you wouldn't have guessed is performed by Pat Benatar. While Hit Me With Your Best Shot is probably her most popular, I'm not making that the most notable here. This is MY story. I never heard Hell Is For Children on the radio, but I came to find out the song was about child abuse in America. It all makes sense now.
Pat Benatar had some killer songs, and aside from when it was popular, her music would show up again in highschool. My friend Jenny St.A(censored) was a huge fan of Pat Benatar during highschool ('94-'98). I really came to appreciate it then. It was also rare for teen girls in the 90's to like things from the 80's, so she got bonus credit for that. Jenny was in choir and a talented singer. Her and her friend Dana used to come over and practice their songs through my brothers' big mic/PA system and play my brother's keyboard that I managed to borrow for a bunch of years. Fun times.
When I was living in Milwaukee in 2005 I was in a band that played a medly of her best tunes. The band name was called StereoType. The lead guitarist was married to the female vocalist. I sang all of the male songs and she sang all of the female led songs. It worked out really cool, and we played local bars and such. Of course, these stories are years detached from the album's release... but again I'm too young to have a legitimate story here.
The story comes full circle. I am currently a HUGE fan of VH1's PopUp Video... They give all sorts of facts about the band, song, and video production... and some wise cracks. Here's Shadows of the Night... one of Benatar's biggest songs... the video has a WWII Rosie the Riveter theme.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Prince - Purple Rain
MORE PRANKS
Another antagonizing joke my brothers took from the movie was to drive away a little bit when someone riding along is trying to open the car door to get in. Prince did this to a girl with his motorcycle, and it was pretty funny. Unrelated to Prince, my brothers would beep the horn if you walked across the front of the car. I've gotten people with that joke, and it startles the living crap out of people. :)
IS PRINCE WEIRD?
Prince seemed like a weirdo, but he fit right in with other rockers like Kiss, Nugent, or Van Halen where they all put on some sort of "act." It's hard to explain unless you lived through it. The 80's seemed to be very accepting of musical artists that were "unique." In contrast, the 90's that followed were more about fitting specific mold. Prince was the embodiment of purple from then on. Guys and purple? Prince made it work. This was WAY before all the Prince drama. This was back when Prince was THE MAN. Women wanted to be with him and in effect guys wanted to BE him.
MOTORCYCLES
Despite Prince's superstar persona, there was only one thing about him that could have been cooler. Growing up, I noticed Prince drove a Kawasaki motorcycle. I grew up in a Harley family, and it seemed wrong that a big rock star would be on anything BUT a Harley. Kawasaki had this commercial with a theme song "Kawasaki - Let the good times roll" and my brothers (in Weird Al fashion) effectively changed the words to "Kawasaki makes the junkyards grow."
Prince is probably one of the most underrated guitarists of all time. The guy shreds. And according to Charlie Murphy (Eddie Murphy's brother) he's pretty good as basketball too. : )
In the mid-2000's, Eddie Murphy's brother was an actor/comedian on the Comedy Central's Chappelle Show. There was a really funny skit series they did called Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories... or something like that. Charlie Murphy would tell all these crazy stories about being in Eddie Murphy's entourage, and the friends / situations he got into. They were hilarious... almost too crazy to be true. But when you consider the people in these stories, they're probably not embellished at all. One of the funniest ones was his story about Prince.
Friday, July 1, 2011
1984: The Cars!
The Cars - Heartbeat City
THE BAND
Where do I start with the Cars? Where they progressive?rock?punk?pop? They sort of looked like the Ramone's got facial transplants... but their songs crossed conventional boundaries. They had a hook that gets stuck in your head. When people say the 80's sucked, you can play them virtually ANY song from the Cars and tell them that they are full of bloody rubbish.
THE ALBUM
Almost every song on Heartbeat City was a hit. Hello Again was the opening track. Track 3, (uh-oh it's) Magic, was probably one of their biggest hits. Do want a ballad? Look no further than Drive. The lyrics "who's gonna drive ya home tonight?" just sticks in your head. Why Can't I have you isn't the best song on the album, but the music video is a total 80's music film cliche. So what did the Cars look like playing live? Does Miami Vice or Don Johnson mean anything to you? Haha... check out this live footage of Heartbeat City.
VIDEOS
The Cars videos were awesome! Where would VH1 be without videos by the Cars!? Their videos are the epitome of "classic." Very entertaining. What's really sad is that we'll probably never see new videos like this again.RADIO
The takes me back to pop radio. 101.1 WIXX was the pop station in the greater Green Bay area. Remember when pop radio played rock? They played the Cars! The Cars could not only be found on the radio, but also up north!Buzz's Bar played The Cars on the JukeBox. Usually a staple of country and older stuff; I first noticed Buzz's was playing newer stuff too when I heard the Cars. Buzz's bar was our main hang-out up north. It had glass bottles of Coke! The pinball machine cost only a dime and it was some sort of bowling pinpall game. The foosball table only cost a quarter. My brother Mike was, is, and always will be the Foosball king. Think I'm kidding? Challenge him!
Fast Forward to September 25th,1996: Lori Sprangers' 17 birthday Party.
The closest person that lived to me (that was my age) was Lori Sprangers. In Darboy terms, that means across the cornfield. Although we didn't officially meet until high school, we became part of the same click. Where we didn't see each other that much was with her involvement in band, and my involvement in football. One thing I remember about being friends with Lori was that her locker was a in specific hallway of the school that was only for band kids. Although "band" had their own click, I stopped by her locker to chat, but it was usually met with some weird looks from band kids. HA. Although she was gifted violinist & choir singer, I believe Lori served as band leader senior year.
For Lori's 17th birthday, she was having a party. They had just re-zoned all the cornfields for houses. I think duplexes were starting to go in. So when my street used to be 45mph, they lowered it to 35 and then 25mph! This made me furious, but I was constantly aware of this little water pump house that a police car was usually perched taking radar.
On this particular occasion, I noticed the cop car on the way to Lori's party. The cop started to follow me. I knew I wasn't speeding, so I wasn't nervous. Once I parked my car on the side of the road, the cop parked behind me and put his lights on! I couldn't believe it. I rolled down my window and asked "why did you pull me over?" He said "stay in the car." He proceed to walk up to the house and knock on the door. I think maybe he thought he was busting a high school beer party. Little did he know everyone in my particular group were pretty much squares until after graduation. Lori's parents answered the door. Sent him packing. I asked "can I get out of my car now?" He responded "no, park your car on the driveway or on the lawn, all these cars on the side of the road are unsafe." Whatever.
Lori's parents had a bunch of vinyl. Going through them, we saw a few Cars albums. I vividly remember jamming out to some Cars at Lori's birthday party and telling everyone about how the cop followed me to the house for no reason whatsoever.
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