Entry One Hundred Twenty-Three.
Friday, 2010.04.30, 10:15 AM CST.
The prom, Violator, "Twin Peaks," and more.
Current Mood:  Thoughtful.  Current scent:  None.

Well, here we are, right at the end of April.  It’s hard to believe that the month is already almost gone… and that the year is almost a third of the way over.

It’s a beautiful Friday morning, and I have the day off work.  When I say “beautiful,” I mean to say that the skies are rather dark and somewhat greyish.  Not quite “November grey,” but close.

Lately, I have been doing an awful lot of DJ-related activities, but mainly “behind the scenes” stuff. I’ve managed to wedge out some time every few days to do a significant amount of mixing practice, I’ve invested in a LOT more rare old remixes for my arsenal (mostly on vinyl, of course), and I’ve gotten some preliminary graphic work done to promote multiple events that I want to host and DJ this year.

As I figured it would be, April was a very nostalgic month. I meant to post a bit more often, but unfortunately, I got really busy with work and my family, and in my spare time I just didn’t get around to it.

In the past, in my Journal Entries, I posted about April 1990 numerous times. In my last Entry, I posted about the first Duohouse Pilgrimage party, which took place on Saturday, April 14th, 1990.

The first Pilgrimage was followed, the next weekend, by three major events. These three events have already been documented in Journal Entry 46 and, to a much greater extent, Journal Entry 16.

On Friday, April 20th, I took my at-that-time girlfriend (about a year later, my ho-bag ex-girlfriend) to my senior prom. Instead of going over the same details I've already covered in Entry 16, here are a few extra tidbits.  Some of the main songs I remember hearing at the prom were Madonna's "Vogue," MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" (which my girlfriend loved, and for which I eventually acquired a special affection as well), and Depeche Mode's "People Are People," which was a great song, but it was from way back in 1984.

Some of you may wonder why the DJ didn't play "Personal Jesus" or "Enjoy the Silence" for a Depeche Mode song.  After all, "Personal Jesus" had been released the prior September and had become one of the biggest club tracks of the era.  "Enjoy the Silence" had been released over two months before the prom, and was already a big hit as well.  So, why wouldn't the DJ play either of those?

Well, here's the explanation:  The DJ was from the K107 road crew.  Our school had paid a good chunk of money to get some loser (most likely just a road flunky - he wasn't a known radio personality) to come out and DJ with the great K107 name attached.  So, we got a lot of "pop" music, but very little music that was really considered good dance music.  Tracks we could hear at the Beat Club or on KTOW were largely, um, "unavailable."

So, when I requested Depeche Mode, the DJ we got didn't even seem to know "Enjoy the Silence," and when I asked for "Personal Jesus," he either didn't have it or claimed that he "wasn't allowed" to play it (which would have been bullcrap, because I'd played it with absolutely no problem at our homecoming).  But, he said, he did have one song by them that he thought was called... um... "Person To Person?"

That's how we got "People Are People."

(As a general rule, one should never hire mobile DJs that are sent out to officially "represent" any specific radio station.  I've never seen a radio "road crew" that didn't suck in one way or another, and you rarely end up getting one of the DJs that you hear on the radio.)

The next day - Saturday, April 21st - I DJed my first Oklahoma City event.  It was my first gig without Kevin, and so I was very apprehensive, but things turned out okay.  There are more details about it in Journal Entry 16, but I have lately remembered a few more.  The gentleman who was kind enough to help us set up was named Andy Thum (pronounced "toom"), and he was an awfully nice guy.

As I mentioned in Journal Entry 16, Dave (my DJ mentor who had helped me land this gig) went with me to Sound Warehouse.  He pointed out Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison," and I really can't remember clearly whether I bought it or not.  In that Journal Entry, I mentioned that I had seen Electribe 101's "Tell Me When the Fever Ended" there, but I now remember that I also saw the 12" single for Die Warzau's "Strike To the Body" for the first time there. YES!

I still don't clearly remember which songs I picked up.  I really want to think that I picked up the Bell Biv Devoe and Die Warzau 12"s, then I picked up the Electribe 101 record later. I was only to buy two, and I don't like to think that I defied Dave's sage advice regarding BBD...  but I also tended to lean more towards electronic artists.

In any case, please see Journal Entry 16 for the rest of the story, including my bittersweet memories about the Lambada (you know, the forbidden dance)...

Then, the next day - Sunday, April 22nd - I did a magic show for my friend Roger's little brother's birthday party.  I went home later and, exhausted, watched some sort of Earth Day-related programming while I trudged my way through some weekend homework.

It's odd how time tends to mold one's impressions of times gone by. For the most part, I hated, hated, HATED high school - but I loved the prom.  It was one of the few points at which I felt like I actually "fit in."

I have two more things to add.  It is incredibly hard to beleive that Depeche Mode released Violator over 20 years ago - March 19th, 1990!  It was one of the most influential albums of our time (insofar as electronic/club/dance music was concerned), and easily the most popular album of their career.

In addition... It blows my mind that David Lynch's groundbreaking TV series, "Twin Peaks," was on the air 20 years ago.  To this day, "Twin Peaks" is my favourite series of all time.  In fact, I think a number of my quirks and mannerisms were directly influenced by Kyle MacLachlan's portrayal of Special Agent Dale Cooper.

You know what sounds really good right about now?  A slice of cherry pie and some damn fine coffee.

More later.

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