h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

GRRRR!!!!!


Nearly every morning for weeks as I ride to work I hear about 4 stanzas of Dancing Queen run on endless loop through my brain. Right now, I'm listening to The Propeller Heads as they do battle to kick those stanzas out.

I think I know what it is now... tomorrow I should know for sure.


It's NPR!


At some point between 6:30 am and 7:00 am, they play a Musak version of that song as an intro to some segment. I'm not hearing the original version, it's definitely a Musak version and once I notice the tune in my head I add the words. This, of course, entrenches the tune and nothing but brute force musical replacement can dislodge it. Of course I'm nearly helpless until I get to work and put on a CD.

Tomorrow I'll be listening for it. I know it's gotta be somewhere in the morning program. I'm not sure if it's NPR proper or the local affiliate.

Before I switched to NPR I would get advertising jingles stuck in my head, particularly the local newspapers insipid song.

I'm obviously very susceptible to musicosis during my first hour of waking. I am in a zombie-like trance state at that time.

Getting musicosis just makes me a grumpy zombie when I get to work.

It must be the Houston NPR station that's playing it - I'm usually awake for much of that 30 minutes and I haven't heard any Abba, real or muzak on KUT.

It might be something that's just similar enough to Dancing Queen. With all the ads for Mamma Mia, it wouldn't take much to inflict me.

It's NOT Dancing Queen... I just double checked and it's not Dancing Queen... it's similar... gotta search this one out and eradicate it from my brain.

I'm just astonished at how well Mamma Mia did this weekend. It sold out almost as much as Batman. Okay, it was only in one theatre, and that theatre is a 120-seat screen instead of the two 200-seat screens that Dark Knight was showing on, but it was even selling out the matinees!

Grrr... it WASN'T Dancing Queen... but now it is... it's flip flopping between Dancing Queen and whatever this horrible easy-listening insipid drivel of a song that's been annoying me for weeks is.


My Brain Itches!

Just start humming some Vengaboys - it'll all go away

I put the Propellerheads CD back on.

This is what's been running through my head almost continuously for the past few days:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhspN42Izv8

Now it's this, thanks the to the background music at the restaurant where I just ate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1jwAaGzk4

WOW!... What amazing mullets!


Between the two of those videos, I feel like I'm breaking out in paisley and parachute pants!

The poor quality of YouTube video isn't quite doing the hair justice. They weren't quite mullets, more your average 80s pop star hairdo with added... er, Barnet.

No, they are indeed mullets. They're just mullets with added pompadour flair!

Aaahhh....


I heard this song at lunch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UXtort76gY

How can anyone not love 80s synth pop, new wave and new romantics Even the Thompson Twins made some good pop songs.

We played Supertramp on my request show tonight - pure 80s gold

IN many many ways I'm glad the music of the 80's is broadly in the past... but ther is somethign that is... unmisable about some of it...

Four words:

Peter and Sophie Johnston.

Nuff said.

OK, progress report...


It is indeed the NPR bumper theme that's starting this. Once I leave the house, that tune morphs into this horrible, bland, soft-contemporary, easy listening (why is "easy listening" music so damn hard to listen to?), singer-songwriter, love song drivel.

The words "Dancing Queen" were taking the place of the first line in the lyrics. I still can't identify the song, but I can tell you some of the mashed up lyrics that are accompanying it in my head. These are most assuredly NOT the correct lyrics.


Basically this stanza repeats in my brain for at least an hour after leaving home.

"(Stay/Dance) with me,

Oh, won't you be my partner,

[this line could be a repeat of the first or something like]
Can't you see?

[unknown]
[this line repeats the rhythm of the second line but I have no clue of the words]

[the following two lines are highly suspect but fall into the rhythm of...]
The (lights???) are (falling?),
The (nights???) are (calling?)

(Stay/Dance) with me..."


It then repeats on constant loop.


GAAHHH!!!

I know that song. It's some ghastly 1970s soft rock band... wait a minute.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orleans_%28band%29

That IS it! You rock!

How in the hell did that crap get lodged in my brain?