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the songs are mesmerizing, and sound like they were recorded over 30 years ago. the kids call it vaporwave, i call it dead mall music, and it has a strange calming effect on me. the next time i drive down to 1984, i’ll have the perfect playlist. artists will include:
general translator
saint pepsi
M4
… and if it gets foggy between kansas city and springfield, i might actually go back in time.

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again– i love you mom.

the internet introduced me to a few people this week. one of them was howard, an obscure 80′s music fan from massachusetts. he was trying to remember a song from the early days of MTV, but he didn’t know the artist or any of the lyrics. the only thing he could remember was the music video, and it had “a man walking through an apartment past singing mannequin heads.” i posted a link to a weird little little song, and asked “is this it?” that song is mostly made up of mannequins, shaving, and pete townshend NOT playing a guitar. that was it.

the threat of icy weather didn’t stop motel mancini last friday night. we played like it was sunny enough to go swimming– but we stayed dressed for winter. the following songs were recorded: i want jesus to walk with me which went right into clay’s rendition of jesus’ gonna be here. it had to be you featured the two part harmony that chris and i have been singing since the late 80′s. clay took the lead again on jockey full of bourbon while i made bullwhip sounds.

we tuned our guitars, learned some new songs, and we’re finally ready to open motel mancini back up this friday at homer’s coffeehouse @ 7:30! the last time we built up anticipation before playing it was with a countdown that started 10 weeks before the show– this time we cannibalized old letterman commercial bumpers (those images that you see before and after a commercial). here are some other ones that went up on facebook and instagram last week:

one of our friends from virginia posted this pic recently. i added the arrows. i’m pretty sure the green arrow is pointing to the head that is trying to emerge from inside. i can tell it’s the head because of the frown and the eye. that little tomato man must be really broad shouldered because i think the white arrow is pointing to one of his biceps.

found this polaroid across the street from our house a few days ago. jenny & i were out for a walk & noticed it lying on the ground. a polaroid is a portal into the past. it used to be the fastest way you could capture a moment. a few seconds after a click, flash, and a high pitched buzz… you held a picture in your hand. handwritten on the back reads: diamond rings cultured pearls & necklace 9/82. the owner was probably recording it for insurance purposes.

what does it take to play in a band called motel mancini? it takes the oddity of david bowie, the raw power of iggy pop, and the wild side of lou reed– at least that’s what i’m telling folks. chris, clay, and i will play your favorite tunes friday, january 18 @ homer’s coffeehouse starting at 7:30.

jenny celebrated her new year’s eve birthday with very little fanfare this year. normally we go to the gibson’s house & watch dick clark’s new year’s rockin’ eve on their TV. this year the gibson family actually went to new york city to see it for real. we stayed home, and had a quiet evening. and that was just fine.

sara, andrew, jane, and mary lynn threw caution to the wind, and sat precariously on a ledge that was part of a 1930′s work project. it’s in the walter woods conservation area just a few miles from mom & jim’s house. this is the same building pictured in the post holiday downshift post.