I finally gave in and got a Blip.fm account. I sincerely hate how in that community “Blip” became a verb synonymous with “playing a song”. But then I’m quite guilty of saying I “Foursquared” someplace.
Anyways, it’s been a fantastic evening searching for one 90s song that leads to Wikipedia-ing for more songs and thinking about more songs to, er, Blip.
I never claim to have good taste in music, my lingering backlash to snooty high school classmates who sniffed at pop radio (680 on the AM dial) and exalted in the merits of classic rock. CCR was a particular favourite of theirs for some reason. Meanwhile, the ’90s was when I finally discovered contemporary music–I was listening to classical music and oldies before that–so for better or worse, some of my fond memories include gems like Concrete Blonde’s “Joey”, Acosta Russell’s “Never Change My Mind”, and Sheena Easton’s “What Comes Naturally”, in addition to all the poppest of pop of the time. That includes Madonna, Paula Abdul, New Kids On The Block, and a little known pop group called The Party (with a “backronym” that is this post’s title). I know I have very strange and bad taste in music.
I have the “The Party” cassette, The Party’s debut album, and I listened to it over and over again and got to know the personality of each of the pop songs. They corresponded with the stated personality of the former Mickey Mouse Club Members (mouse-keteers?) who formed the pop band: Albert Fields, Tiffini Hale, Chase Hampton, Deedee Magno, and Damon Pampolina. A black guy, an Italian guy, a redhead, an Asian girl, and a white girl. They were so perfectly selected and each of the ten songs showcased a different singer in a song suited to his/her ability and personality (see below).
Of course, I was very fascinated with Deedee, of Asian descent, because there were no other Asians on the American pop scene at the time. She got her “solo” in Coulda Shoulda Woulda and Walkin’ in the Rain.
Checking the track listing of “The Party” album, brings back a rush of memories. I could only Blip five of the songs and youTube five others. Makes it a good candidate to buy the album MP3s if I could find them….
********
1. That’s Why [yt]: stars Albert, quite a successful song
2. Coulda Shoulda Woulda [yt]: stars Deedee
3. I Found Love [yt]: stars Tiffini, I used to love the steel drum accompaniment!
4. Walkin’ in the Rain [yt]: stars Deedee
5. Sugar is Sweet [yt]: stars Albert and Deedee
6. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend [yt]: stars Chase, I used to swoon to this one, funny dancing!
7. Summer Vacation [yt]: stars Albert and Chase, a high quality video of them dancing at a beach, truly fun!
11. Rodeo [yt]: stars Chase, yT video is just the song and no music video