Category Archives: Music

3. The Boy with the Moon and Star on his Head

Music, Song Blog,

I wasn’t much into music until around my junior year of high school. Before that I mostly listened to show tunes. In tenth grade our English teacher asked us to share the name of our favorite popular musician and favorite song. As my turn to share neared, I fretted – not having a clue who to name, and not wanting to admit I didn’t listen to popular music enough to have a favorite. When the student ahead of me named her favorite musician, I decided I’d borrow my best friend, Cindy‘s, favorite musician – I even knew the name of the album and her favorite song on it, since she’d mentioned it a number of times and perhaps had even played it for me when I visited her house.

“I like Cat Stevens,” I blurted out, feeling my face turn red. “I like The Boy with the Moon and Star on his Head from Catch Bull at Four.” The teacher nodded and went on to the next student while I sat, embarrassed at my lie, knowing that the whole room of sophomores knew I’d been dishonest.

That moment stuck with me for about two decades until I eventually purchased a used copy of Catch Bull at Four at a record shop and listened to it. I could see why Cindy liked it, especially The Boy with the Moon and Star on his Head. By then had seen Harold and Maude and proclaimed it my Favorite Movie of All Time, so I was familiar with Cat Stevens’ raspy voice and consistently upbeat lyrics.

Also by then, Cat Stevens had converted to Islam and become Yusuf Islam. By then he’d reportedly said he’d support the assassination of Salman Rushdie. So my late re-introduction to this musician was tinged with controversy.

In retrospect, I’d actually heard other songs by Cat Stevens, after the English class discussion and before I saw Harold and Maude, but never bothered to find out who the singer was. I feel somehow that I missed an opportunity to like a musician before he was hated and distrusted by much of the country.

2. The Twist & Let’s Twist Again

Music, Song Blog

The first song I remember liking enough to do something about was The Twist, sung by Chubby Checker. The song seemed to be everywhere when I was in kindergarten and first grade.

Ray Raynor showed us how to twist on the Ray Raynor Show, telling his audience to pretend they were toweling off after a bath. He demonstrated by holding a bath towel in his hands with the middle part behind the small of his back, then quickly pulling on either side of the towel as if he was drying his lower back.

When my kindergarten teacher played the song on the record player in her classroom, I was all set and knew exactly what to do, thanks to Ray Raynor. I held my fists out as if I had a towel by the corners and wiggled my butt and closed my eyes, dancing away. When I opened them, the song was over and Ms Freeman was standing near me trying hard not to laugh.

When I got a little older, I still liked the song and was pleased to see that my parents had a version of it. I’d put it on our HiFi and wiggle my butt and pretend to towel off, just as Ray Raynor told me to.

Come on everybody clap your hands
Now you’re looking good
I’m gonna sing my song and you won’t take long
We gotta do the twist and it goes like this

Come on let’s twist again like we did last summer
Yea, let’s twist again like we did last year
Do you remember when things were really hummin’
Yea, let’s twist again, twistin’ time is here

Though I’m not a dancer, just thinking about that song makes my hips begin to move back and forth and occasionally when I towel off after a shower I think about Ray Raynor and Chubby Checker and I want to Twist Again, like I did last summer…

(Ok, the shower image is a little disturbing.)

1. She is So Funqular

Music, Song Blog,

In 1980 or thereabouts a song that played on the radio a lot caught my attention. I may or may not have known the musician – Peter Gabriel – at the time, but the song was catchy and I’d sing along with the chorus:

She is So Funqular
She is So Funqular
She is So Funqular

My boyfriend said funqular was a French word, but didn’t know what it meant. I imagined it meant sexy in a cool way or something. We were happy in our ignorance, and sang along with the lyrics – none of which made any sense, but that was fine with us.

At some point we purchased the album and realized we were wrong about the lyrics in the chorus, but it took me a while to realize exactly what the song was about. I’d even been to a Jeux San Frontiers heat on one of my visits to England in the 1970’s and had a bright yellow “It’s a Knockout” poster among my souvenirs of that trip.

I must have carefully read the lyrics, or perhaps took the poster out of storage, or maybe just saw the video, but it finally occurred to me what the song was about. I remember putting the poster up in the basement and smiling every time I saw it or heard the song played on the radio or on our stereo. It wasn’t until later that I learned that it was Kate Bush singing the chorus.

To this day, when I hear that song, I smile, and sing along with the chorus:

She is So Funqular
She is So Funqular
She is So Funqular