Saturday 22 November 2014

What songs remind you of ... your last year of high school?

So the year is 1992, I am in my final year of high school at Doonside High School in Sydney's west. The school was a bit rough, so was the area I grew up in, Blacktown. I was a public school kid. I'm actually real proud of where I grew up, it helped make me the strong, independent man I am today. Sure, it wasn't perfect, as a kid who was obviously going to be gay, I got my fair share of bullying. Kids can be cruel, but it's inspired me to write a whole bunch of stuff - so there's a positive. Plus, I did have some great friends, yeah, I'm looking at you Vera Munro Smith.

Part of the idea of this blog, and the initial show, "Internal Jukebox" was that songs are memories, and how music can take you back to a special time in your life. So here's the first proper blog looking back on a time of my life through music. This one, my final year of high school. I'd love you to join in the conversation and tell me what song reminds you of your last year of school.

Erotica - Madonna
It's always a certainty that Madonna reminds me of periods of my life. She is my constant, but no more than in the later years of High School. By the time this album came out I was hook, line and sinker. I had been waiting for this album, impatiently. So the day it came out, I took a day off school and my Mum and I went into Sydney, I got the album, a limited edition disc in a frame from the Virgin Mega Store on Pitt St and some Madonna memorabilia that was put away for Christmas (Santa gave me the Sex Book that year). What a great song this is, I even named a beloved cat after Madonna's alter ego in this song, Dita. The dirty beat and lyrics are a perfect match in the classic Madonna track!

Stay - Shakepear's Sister
This was my favourite non-Madonna song of 1992. Their first album was great with "You're History" and "Run Silent, Run Deep", but this was their best song. I first discovered it late on a Sunday evening when I would listen in bed to the UK Top Ten on the radio. It was where I found a lot of my favourite tracks, sitting in the dark, blaring the songs from my headphones. Then I saw the film clip, wow. A battle for the soul of some random hot shirtless dude, and former Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey playing some evil angel of death, I was captivated.

Ordinary Angels - Frente!
Seeing this band again this year was so amazing! In year 12, I LOVED Frente! So did my best friend Vera. "Accidentally Kelly Street" was a great one, but this was their best. I remember hearing it for the first time on a Saturday morning just before a school excursion (yes, on a Saturday). We were off to the Sydney Theatre Company to see a play. I went to the train station raving about this song. Then for my birthday party that year, Vera bought me the Clunk EP and gave it to me at my party at Sizzler Restaurant, those were the days!


The Best Things In Life Are Free - Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross
This is still a song I listen to all the time, one of Janet's best. It came from a time when movie soundtrack songs were massive, often bigger than the film itself, More people would remember this song more than the film it came from, "Mo Money", in fact the whole soundtrack is pretty awesome. I often quote the line from the movie used in the film clip, "Nothing in America is free", "Love is". Great dance/pop track, this one used to get me up dancing.

Take It From Me - Girlfriend
This one is a bit more embarrassing, but hey, this song did go to number 1, and I loved it. I remember having some local pride, cause lead single Robyn Loau was a Blacktown girl (my Dad used to deliver her mail!). I loved this very catchy girl group song, I think I still know every lyric. This is also funny because I remember some idiot from my school telling everyone he was dating one of the girls. No one believed him. But check out the clip, daggy, but soooo good!

That was only 5 songs, I could list so many more, cause 1992 was an awesome year for music. Snap's "Rhythm is a Dancer" reminds me of my first night club experiences, "End of The Road" by Boyz II Men was a favourite to sing with, and Kylie's "Finer Feelings" had me having all the feels that year.

So tell me, what song reminds you of your last year of high school? Tell me in the comments section below!

1 comment:

  1. Ahhhhhhhhh....Waynesky! Those were the days! We did some crazy things. And we have some ridiculous stories. It didnt matter what life's paths you took, you were a friend (and still are). I love that you remember those little details! We had some some similar tastes - like Frente (Angie!) and Shakespeares Sister, The Falling Joys and The Clouds, Wa Wa Nee (and of course earlier on - Bros!). But at the same time we had some very different tastes and, probably crucially, very different tastes in men! :) I was starting to go down the heavy metal and alternative music paths - Guns n' Roses, Poison, Metallica, Motley Crue, while also (more influencially) getting into The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, Nirvana, Def FX, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Prodigy, The Googoomops ... and the goth scene....

    I wish I could do this more justice. Put some photos in, etc. Maybe over the xmas holidays. Ive also been meaning to scan more of those old photos and share them with you.

    Some of my fav songs from 1992 (in no order): Stay, Shakespear's Sister; ORDINARY ANGELS (CLUNK EP) FRENTE; Friday I'm In Love, The Cure; To Be With You, Mr. Big; November Rain, Guns N' Roses; Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana; Too Funky, George Michael; Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Guns N' Roses; Ebeneezer Goode, The Shamen; Something Good, Utah Saints; Everybody In The Place, Prodigy; Far gone and out, Jesus and Mary Chain.

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