The summer of 1987 was all about little changes. I had sold my gigantic Ford Galaxie 500 and gotten into a sporty little Comet. I had my Easter Epiphany and had scaled back on my vices. I wanted to return to a slower, simpler existence. Which is probably why I began to hang out with Pauline and Mary more often. With them it was always about low key simple amusement. Aric and I loved going to the movies with them because there were never any expectations or the need to maintain any kind of posturing. It was simple platonic pressure free fun. I felt kind of like Stacy at the end of Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
I decided to see if I could inject an element of romance into that equation. I called Pauline. I can’t tell you why I called Pauline and not Mary. They are twins. Maybe it was logic driven. Pauline is 5 minutes older. Pauline and I went out on a date. When it comes to actual dates, I never do the traditional dinner or movie. Those venues simply don’t support interaction. You can’t open a dialog during the film and you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.
My dates were always about engaging in some activity, like miniature golf, bowling or going to an art museum or something. Anything that provides the opportunity to discuss what you are seeing or doing. We went bowling and during the course of the evening discovered that friends was were this train stopped. So I eventually called Mary and the stars all lined up. One thing that I had always believed about relationships is that they never stand still. They move forward or they die. I was fine with that. In mid summer, the glacier that would be our romance began to grow and creep ever so slowly forward.
Muscially, I had a big project to do. Scott and I were going to drive to Florida and spend a week in Port St Lucie. Florida is a pretty lengthy drive so decided to make a series of cassettes for the trip. I made a series called Road To No Where – The Finyl Vinyls. It would be the last of the mix tapes that drew from Aric’s and my vinyl albums. The objective was to create a series of cassettes that would take us down to Florida, carry us through the week and bring us back with no repeated songs. I even had to make a handmade database to keep track of all the songs. I was about 2/3 of the way into my calculated duration when it turned out that we’d fly down instead.
I never considered it before but that Florida trip was more or less the end of that chapter of my life. When I got back to Fort Wayne, my attnetion turned to Mary and our glacier.
Yes, 1987 was a summer of changes. Aric met Kris and Mary and I started dating. By the beginning of 1988, we’d move out of The Roach Motel altogether. This would be my last summer with MTV for many years. By the time I would get cable again, MTV wasn’t worth watching.
Bryan Adams – Heaven
Jan Hammer – Miami Vice Theme
Glenn Frey – You Belong To The City
The Honeydrippers – Sea of Love
Duran Duran – A View to a Kill
The Pointer Sisters – Neutron Dance
Corey Hart – Never Surrender
Stevie Nicks – Talk to Me
Arcadia – Election Day
Genesis – Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
John Cougar Mellencamp – Small Town
Some of the songs above would eventually find their way into The Eclectic collection, some may not but I can’t help but miss the 80’s when I hear a string of them together.