Wednesday, November 16, 2011

the ethel merman disco album and other bad ideas



I would love to have been in the meeting of record company execs who decided this was the next big thing. Really, disco? Surely more than one career was ruined by this dreadful decision!

Not that I blame them. I've certainly made my share of Ethel Merman Disco blunders in my life. Like posting that scene from "The King of Queens" on Facebook. Does anyone but me covet an encore viewing of Kevin James' "Man Breast Theater"?  And those klunky red leather tennies I bought ten years ago (had to have 'em!) - what in God's name was I thinking? Let's not forget my once awesome CD collection. Looking back at past purchases proves I once had the worst taste in music of anyone on the planet. Case in point: Terence Trent D'Arby's breakout CD featuring the single "Wishing Well." Still available in my collection if anyone wants to borrow it. All of the above, great ideas at the time but in hindsight really need to be filed in the "what was I thinking?" bin.

It gets worse. I've been guilty of making similar errors in judgement in my romantic relationships. Humor walks a fine line between out and out hilarious and cuts-like-a-knife. In one case in particular I chose an incredibly funny guy who, as it turned out, specialized in the latter. And I've always admired the outdoorsy type who appreciates nature as I do, but whenever I set my sights on this kind of guy, it seemed his love of animals, forest, ocean, and pretty much anything other than me took precedence. Doh!

All bad? Nah. I look back at each calamity and ask myself: "Horrible? Yes!" "Would I ever go back? No chance." But I had good - and quite reasonable - reasons for embracing them at the time. Not only that, but each choice pretty much speaks to the core of who I am. By denouncing any of them I'd be declaring those portions of my life invalid, and I'm not gonna do that. There will always be love in my heart for Kevin James, dammit, and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

Back to the Merman blunder of 30 years ago ...  The album really doesn't seem that bad in a kitschy, "I Love the 80s" sort of way. Still getting lots of hits on youtube ... That says something, right?

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