08/29/2008
Driving me to politick ... I'm not running for president am I?
With the possible exception of blogger John "Lost in the '80s" Hughes, I like to think of myself as the ultimate new wave geek of the blogosphere. (If there's a post-1989 tune on my iPod I haven't heard it!!) As such, I felt it was my duty to share, or in the case of some of you die-hard 1982 MTV queens, remind you of the song "President Am I," the early '80s video hit by the L.A. duo Slow Children that suddenly feels very timely. While not technically a political song, the plaintive lyrics of Pal Shazar and menacing keyboards of Andrew Chinich seem to perfectly capture the experience of campaigning under the watchful eye of the 24-hour news media and public at large. Shazar went on to an interesting solo career -- which you can learn more about on her official site here --and still performs regularly in New York City. There's lots of fun Slow Children stuff here.
(BTW: Please e-mail me here if you'd like MP3s of the band's catalog. None of it was ever issued on compact disc, but I transferred it myself and Pal approves of my sharing it. In fact, I even made a copy for her!)
Posted 1:54 PM EST by Kenneth Walsh | Permalink
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My favorite song during senior year of high school was "Spring in Fialta." I loved Slow Children.
Posted by: Harvey | Aug 29, 2008 3:08:30 PM
New Wave Geeks Unite! Let me see...The photos on the cover of "Slow Children's" 1982 self-titled release of which "President I Am" is on are done by Robert Mapplethorpe. Lets not forget that Stephen Hague is featured on bass and synthesizers, the Stephen Hague who helmed records for New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Produced by Hague and the very talented Jules Shear who penned the hits "All Through the Night" for Cyndi Lauper and "If She Knew What She Wants" for the Bangles.
Posted by: Jocko | Aug 29, 2008 3:32:54 PM
Many thanks for the shoutout! Folks can check out even more Lost In The '80s (plus '70s & '90s!) every Tuesday and Thursday at Popdose.com!
Posted by: John | Aug 29, 2008 3:48:58 PM
OMG! I spent an entire nite two months ago trying to download Spring In Fialta and President Am I!
Thanks for the heads up on POPDOSE.COM! I'm linking it to my blog!
Posted by: thevegasstyleguy | Aug 31, 2008 1:14:23 AM
I love this song. I reviewed their debut album (was it their only?) in 198[inaudible mumbling] for my college paper. I totally dug it, and I was even thinking of getting out my guitar and figuring out the chords. In fact, I'm here because I was searching to make sure I had the lyrics right, because it was going to be my FB status message.
Leslie F. Miller is "not running for president, am I? But it could be innocent restraint."
Posted by: Leslie F. Miller | Oct 17, 2009 5:47:08 PM