Hey Ricky!

For some reason, I woke up with this song stuck on the brain...

It was in this morning's dream for some reason.  It's been redone by a whole bunch of people, but it seems the Skyliners were the first.

I was thinking about trying this song myself... but then another song came creeping in.  It was an old song by Weird Al Yankovic.  I hadn't heard it in many years until this morning, when I found it on YouTube.

"Hey Ricky" was one of Weird Al's first hits...  I give him credit for being very creative with the lyrics. I'm not sure it would have occurred to me to connect I Love Lucy with "Mickey".

Since Weird Al was born in the 50s, he no doubt used to watch I Love Lucy.  He probably saw it when it originally aired on prime time television.  In the early 80s, he turned the show into the subject of his parody song, "Ricky", which was inspired by the original hit, "Mickey", by Toni Basil.  Toni Basil's hit was a staple on MTV and HBO's Video Jukebox, so the video for that is etched on the brain.

It doesn't get much more 80s than this...

I always have something stuck on the brain.  My head is like a radio that never shuts off.  It usually plays what are now considered "oldies".  

I'm kind of giving some thought to playing around with some music today.  Hopefully, it'll rain.  That makes making music easier, mainly because people don't tend to linger outside when the rain is falling.  I feel less self-conscious.  Also, rain puts me in a moody frame of mind that lends itself to making music over writing blog posts.  

I wish I could remember what this morning's dream was about... but I do know it had a soundtrack.

Men Without Hats...

The 80s were full of acts that could be considered one or two hit wonders.  One such band was Men Without Hats, a Canadian new wave band from Montreal.  Back in 1983, they had a big hit called "The Safety Dance".

Love this jaunty medieval inspired video...

This was a band that loved its synthesizers.  Listen to "The Safety Dance" and you quickly pick up on this band's intricate keyboarding.  I was a fan of "The Safety Dance", but they kind of dropped off the radar for a few years.  Then in 1987, they came out with "Pop Goes The World".

I didn't like this one as much as I liked "The Safety Dance"...

"Pop Goes The World" has the distinction of being a song I did an aerobic dance routine to when I was in the 10th grade.  I did not choose this song.  It was chosen by a couple of the geekier girls in my P.E. class who were in my group...  Oh wait... actually, I wasn't in the group who did an aerobic routine to this.  I was in the one that used Janet Jackson's "Control".  Needless to say, that was a real hoot.  My group was a bit more racially diverse than the one that did aerobics to "Men Without Hats".  Aw shit... I don't remember.  It seems to me we did a routine to this...  maybe it was 9th grade.  Guess my memory is starting to fail.

All I remember of our aerobics routine was the beginning, which began with some unfortunate Solid Gold-esque dance moves...  I never claimed to be light on my feet.

I don't remember Men Without Hats having any other major hits, though I do remember "Pop Goes The World" being used in ads.  "The Safety Dance" was made into a parody by Weird Al Yankovic.

I actually own this album...  My ex best friend and I used to listen to the cassette all the time.  It remains a treasured memory...

Much to my surprise, according to Wikipedia, Men Without Hats is still around...  Damn, I miss the 80s.