Monthly Archives: April 2009

Crimson and Clover, by birthday boy Tommy James, has always been one of my favorite songs. James was the lead singer of the Shondells, who also had a hit with the song “I Think We’re Alone Now” (pre Tiffany). Funny story. When I was living in Hawaii, me and my friends used to always go to the restaurant where my girlfriend waited tables (Durty Jakes) for karaoke night. Me and a buddy of mine would sometimes do a duet of “I Think We’re Alone Now”, complete with us tumbling to ground and doing a Kid ‘n’ Play dance. Well, one night after we performed it, an older gentleman walked up to us and said, “I was in the band that did that song, and I have never seen it performed like that in my life.” The guy had been a member of the Shondells in the early days of the band. I asked him, “Did you do Crimson and Clover?” Sadly, no. He said that he had left the band before Crimson and Clover came out. It was the highlight of my music career until Eve said that “White boy got skills” after I dropped a few bars at an open mic at the 5 Spot about 6 years ago (true story.)

The government is going retro, trying to alert people to the dangers of swine flu in old fashioned PSAs like the one you see above, narrated by the same guy that narrated those films we had to watch in Driver’s Ed class about drinking and driving. “Dottie had a heart condition and she died” is one of my favorite lines ever uttered in a Public Service Announcement. Oh, and remember to get duct tape and plastic to guard against dirty bombs, and a gas mask to protect you from SARS.