Vacation

Bubble gum anyone?  Since I am vacation, the song "Vacation" by the Go-Gos came to mind.  A favorite of mine when I was younger, I was shocked to find out that this song dates back to 1982.  Wow.  I was very, very young.  In fact, I hadn't even started playing clarinet yet!  I was still in the single digits and picked up the clarinet about 2 years later (in the last of my single digit years).  That being said, I am surprised about 2 things: (1) the sophistication of the video for the time, and (2) the fact that I was listening to pop music at that age.  I suppose it's not too surprising.  My earliest memories are from around age 4, when I was dancing and singing disco tunes by Donna Summer.  It's true.

Hmm....

When I hear "Vacation" now, I just think about bubble gum for some reason.  "Bubble gum pop" was a term associated with the music of teen stars, who in the 80s would have been Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, etc.  In modern times, the bubble gum crown was held by Brittany Spears (before marriages, children, shaved head, unflattering scandalous photos, and so forth).  So, back to the song.  It has a very upbeat keyboard line, quick tempo, and steady drum beat.  The ladies in the band are busy singing and playing their instruments, and the video gives us a nice image of the group's camaraderie and sense of collective fun.  They are sitting around (one pops a bubble), and I think they decided to break out in song since "back here at home there's nothing to do."  I'm not sure about the popcorn, but the yo-yo was definitely something fun from back in the 80s.  I remember kids going nuts with all kinds of complicated yo-yo tricks.  Ah, the things that kept us entertained...  I remember quite distinctly in this video that the drummer was counting out loud (or at least mouthing numbers), and I thought that was extremely cool. Made me want to be a musician, and I think it influenced my friends as well.  Funny thing is, it looks like she is counting to 5.  Hmm... No matter how many times I see this video, I can't quite distinguish the numbers, but I don't think there should be a five in there...  It's okay.  When I watched this video as a young girl, I really enjoyed the ballerina outfits the most.  Tutus and tiaras, pink leotards and long white gloves... seemed to be a dream back then.  It was obvious, though (even to me as a child) that the water skiing was very fake.  Excellent work by the true water-skiing ladies, and brava to the Go-Gos for inspiring many young girls to become musicians (or ballerinas, or waterskiiers, or...)