Too Legit 2 Quit - MC Hammer
Rapping along in Dunph's basement and playing Super Batter Up. At this point in my life (3rd grade I believe) if I had to memorize a bible verse for Sunday School, it was the greatest tragedy since finding out Santa wasn't real. Yet I had absolutely no problems spending an hour poring over the cd booklet, trying to memorize the tricky part of the second verse of Too Legit 2 Quit. In my mind it is impossible for a celebrity to reach the level of coolness now that Hammer had for me in like 1992. Impossible. I would like to think that Hammer and Deion Sanders are the Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin of our generation.
Like A Prayer - Madonna
One of the Sunday nights when Lane was bartending at the Hub and all 20 or 25 occupants of the bar were our friends, so we fired up the jukebox, turned on the microphone, and had our own karoake night. Nothing like screaming "Just like a prayer! I'll take you there!" at the top of your lungs with 20 of your closest friends. Really an indescribable feeling.
Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas
This song came on at like 4 am during a road trip when I was the only one awake in the car, and just caught me at a very reflective time.
SexyBack - Justin Timberlake
During one of the Boston trips, T. Nels had this ringtone set as his alarm clock on his phone, so we would set the alarm for like an hour early, and jam out in our sleeping spots at Nikki's (the couch and the windowsill) hungover as shit, for 30 seconds at a time and then go back to sleep for another glorious 5 minute stretch.
Celebration - Kool & the Gang
I get a twofer out of this song: One of the memories is from the Devils Lake tourney, the night Noles, Dunph, Lane, Timmy B and I got plastered and effectively ruined the Dynasty. I remember this song coming on the radio at the hunting shack and all of us going absolutely bananas. I've got a pretty sweet picture of us dancing too, and as soon as I quit being lazy and scan it in to my computer, you better believe it's going up.
The other story is also from freshman year of college. Lane and I played a co-op season in March Madness for Playstation, and took our team to the Sweet 16, where we barely escaped with a hard-fought come-from-behind win, and we celebrated by boozing for awhile afterwards. That night at about 4 a.m., back in my own dorm room, I get a call from Lane and his roommate Logan. 'Celebration' is blaring loud enough through the phone to wake up St. Aubyn in the bottom bunk. Lane and Logan have decided to continue the 'team party' throughout the night and into the next morning, and we decide it should result in the suspension of our best player, X. Mullen. Of course, we lose our next game, and the obvious question is why we 'suspended' our only good shooter because of infractions from a ficticious party for a fucking video game that no one cares about but us and Logan (who would tell us to wait to start our game until he got back from class so he could watch.)
Believe it or not (and I probably wouldn't after hearing that story) but I was actually dating somebody at this point in my life, a time where stupid shit like this was commonly called "Tuesday." Sometimes I wonder about my friends and I, and that if we didn't happen to grow up with each other, we wouldn't have any friends at all...but then I just open another beer, unpause my game of NBA Jam and try not to worry about it. Celllllllllebrate good times, c'mon!
I Swear - All-4-One
Being in 5th grade, calling XL93 and dedicating this song to girls, in hopes that they would be smitten and 'date' you. By 'date' I mean stand next to you in the 4-square line.
Speaking of this song, here's how rare it is that ADawg buys new cds: If you go to his place, right now, today, and open up his cd case, I'd bet all the money in my checking account that his All-4-One cd is still on the first or second page, along with some Guns 'n Roses, and maybe even the Lion King soundtrack.
Mambo #5 - Lou Vega /Oh What A Night - Four Seasons
A couple of karaoke songs we performed in Texas last March. Apparently we did a bang-up job; as we were trying to pay our tab and leave for another bar, the entire place started chanting our 'stage name' and the MC made us do an encore before we left, which turned out to be the Cheers theme song. If you've never heard an entire bar chant "Jim Hammen & the Family Band! Jim Hammen & the Family Band!" then you haven't lived.
Apache - Sugarhill Gang / Jump On It - Sir Mix A Lot / Apache - Tommy Seebach Band
Just because this song is awesome. Every version of it. I listen to this song and I'm instantly in a good mood. I want this song playing at my funeral. And when I watch the greatest music video of all time, well....words can't even describe how awesome it is.
Dear Tommy Seebach,
I love your goofy "I'm playing a triple stack keyboard!!!" smile; your "You better believe I've got an 11-inch penis" moustache; that you shot this video in the open pasture right behind the trailer park you probably live in, and pretty much everything about you.
Yours always,
Jim Hammen
MmmBop - Hanson
Reminds me of the flood, which by and large sucked, but somehow has become sort of a nostalgic time in my life. No idea why, and also no idea why this song in particular became the flood anthem for me. Maybe it's beause I beat off to a Taylor Hanson poster a bunch of times before I found out he was a boy?
Whoomp! There It Is - Tag Team
St. Aubyn and I have karokeeeeeed this song all over the country, most recently at Weisser's wedding, to rave reviews. Oh, there wasn't supposed to be karaoke at Weisser's wedding? That was just the microphone for speeches that was left turned on while the dance was going? Our bad.
The most memorable performance was in Indianapolis one spring break, when St. Aubyn (who had already entered Frank the Tank mode about 6 beers ago) insists we do this particular song, despite the fact that the bar was about 60% black people. So we got out and get our Tag Team on, and as we're walking off the stage, a group of about 5 or 6 black guys approach us. I taste my heart in my throat. It tastes like red bull-vodka. Out of nowhere, they grab St. Aubyn and I and put us in the middle of a huge group hug, and tell us it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. Later that night we find out that someone had been shot in that bar just a couple weeks ago. Probably some white kids in polo shirts that didn't perform 'Whoomp! There It Is' at the high standard that we did.
Superfreak - Rick James
Middle-school line dancing. It's fannnnnnntastic!
"Forward, 2, 3, clap. Back, 2, 3, clap. Forward, clap. Back, clap. Forward, clap, toe, clap, kick, pivot. Right, 2, 3, clap. Left, 2, 3, clap. Hahahahaaaa....I'm Rick James, bitch."
