be afraid, be very afraid as the true origins of Old Skool Month can only now be revealed!

okay, as we all know, my brain works in mysterious ways, sometimes being influenced in ways that only become clear after some time and reflection. and what a reflection!

so, last monday, i'm minding my own business, tooling down Southport on my way home, when what to my surprise should i hear wafting out of Hi Ricky's pan-asian panoply but "Last Christmas", Wham!'s signature Christmas dirge. Disturbingly, I found myself signing along (is it 80's anglophilia or long waits in the dentist's waiting room that explains this? probably the anglophilia. the dentist only explains why i know the lyrics to "Horse With No Name") and even yearning to savor their greatest hits masterpiece The Final (released in this country without the hits and titled Music From the Edge of Heaven. Where is this Heaven of which they speak? Belinda postulated it was a place on Earth, but clearly it's where pop music careers go to die, only to be replaced by sanctimonious, self-important "art". are you receiving me, Justin?)

But wait there's more. Tuesday rolls around as it does and while whipping up a batch of my world-famous curry (if you haven't tried it, you simply must and if you have, well, i'm sure you're jealous right about...now), i discover that i'm missing a key ingredient, which Chris volunteers to acquire in a White Hen mission of mercy. Only upon his return, did we learn of the strains of "Father Figure" overheard in the margarine aisle. "I will be your preacher, teacher, Everything you have is mine". if you're not shuddering about now, you should be.

But then, Wednesday at lunch, there was more Wham!, some "Careless Whisper"ing. i know, i know. say it isn't so! but it wasn't until much later that i put 8 and 12 and 42 together and uncovered the true source of my craving for all things 20th Century. Hadn't the man with two first names released an unfortunately-titled and poorly-received album "Songs From the 20th Century"? Could it be that all that george had somehow prayed on my knack for useless musical trivia, making unconscious connections, affecting my cultural desires in the conscious realm?