01/29/2023

The challenge this week is to select a song that is classified as new wave. I always like to try to find a song that I really like to share and today is no different.

The song “Suicide Blonde” was released in 1990 by Australian band INXS. The blues harmonica intro by Charles Musselwhite in immediately recognizable. It is one of the reasons I like this song so much. The harp intro was not recorded live but came from a sampler program Andrew Farriss was using.

The song was written by band front-man Michael Hutchence and keyboardist Andrew Farriss. The song has nothing at all to do with suicide, but sadly would be the last song Hutchence would perform live before he committed suicide in 1977.

The song is about a woman who “dyes” her hair blonde. The idea for the title of the song came from Hutchence’s then-girlfriend Kylie Minogue. Her movie “The Delinquents” had just premiered and she told Hutchence the color of the blonde wig she wore was referred to as ‘suicide blonde’.

“Suicide Blonde” was the first single released from the band’s album “X”. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Suicide Blonde
Lyrics from Songfacts.com

Don’t you know what you’re doing
You’ve got a death wish

Suicide blonde
Suicide blonde
Suicide blonde
Suicide blonde

Suicide blonde was the color of her hair
Like a cheap distraction for a new affair
She knew it would finish before it began
Wow baby I think you lost the plan

You want to make her suicide blonde
Love devastation, suicide blonde
You want to make her suicide blonde
Love devastation, suicide blonde

She stripped to the beat but her clothes stay on
White light everywhere but you can’t see a thing
Such a squeeze
A mad sad moment
Glory to you
Glory to you
Take me there
Take me there

Got some revelation
Put into your hands
Save you from your misery like rain across the land
Don’t you see the color of deception
Turning your world around again

You want to make her suicide blonde
Love devastation, suicide blonde
You want to make her suicide blonde
Love devastation, suicide blonde

You want to make
You want to make
You want to make her suicide blonde
You want to make
Aww

That’s the story

You want to make her suicide blonde
Love devastation, suicide blonde
You want to make her suicide blonde
Love devastation, suicide blonde

Love devastation
You want to make her suicide blonde
Love devastation, suicide blonde

Song Lyric Sunday is hosted every Sunday by Jim Adams. If you would like to join in the fun, check out his blog for the rules and to take in all the other music posted by other bloggers.

Welcome to day twenty-nine of Just Jot It January for 2023. Today’s word is exercise.

When I saw the prompt, I wondered when I first heard the word exercise. In grade school we always had recess, but not really formal exercise classes.

I thought it might have been on either Romper Room or Captain Kangaroo I first heard the ‘Chicken Fat” song. That could easily be a skewed memory. Regardless, I still hear Robert Preston’s voice singing the “Chicken Fat” song with small children exercising to the song much like the following video. Leave me a comment if you remember this song.

Somewhere in the early sixties, we all became aware of The President’s Council on Physical Fitness. I seem to remember forms that explained all the exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, 50-yard dash, and others.

In later grade school years we always had a field day or two. It was a full day spent outside competing in races, broad jump, relays, etc. They awarded ribbons for first, second, and third place, but back in our day we did not all get ribbons just for participating.

Then somewhere along the way, isometric exercise became a thing. I have vague memories of it somehow being related to the Canadian military, but I don’t trust my memory on this one.

I remember going to the gym with my aunt when I was 13 or so. They had those vibrating exercise belts and the wooden roller bar machines, both of which you can see in the video below.

In high school we had organized Phys-ed classes. In our school we did so many different activities: Gymnastics, tumbling, archery, dance, swimming, basketball, track and field, and straight-up exercise.

I was also in the band and all summer we either practiced (which included duck-walking the football field when we messed up a routine) or competing in parades and competitions all over the east coast.

Meanwhile at home we had a machine similar to the flex-a-lounge you can see here near the bottom of the page. It wasn’t called that but I remember using it frequently. But honestly, most of the time we played flag football or badminton in the front or side yard.

With television and VCR came exercise videos and television programming. Everything from Jane Fonda to Susan Powter to Richard Simmons and Billy Blanks. I did them all!