So, I just had to Teixeir one of the aweseomest parts of my visit to Tonya's Iowa homestead this past week. Like, she's the one who got me listening to the retro American Top 40 countdowns, so I was way psyched that we'd get to listen to it together on Sunday (which, of course we plotted our itinerary around the countdown. You think I'm kidding - just ask Ken why he had to run into the movie theater to buy our Dark Knight Rises tickets while Tonya and I sat in the car and waited for the last five minutes of said countdown). I was all, "Oh, I bet it's going to be an early 80s year, since the week before was 1986," but nay, it was 1988, a year which I've actually never heard. For serious.
Anyway, first off, there was the incredible moment when the American Top 40 extra comes on, which is a song that didn't make the countdown, but the programmers give a good amount of credence for one reason or another. 1988's? Oh, just "Love Bites," a song Tonya and I would sing whenever the Yankees did something terrible, like lose the 2003 World Series or something. We did not think the cheesy music gods could gift us with something better, but we were so wrong. Because the No. 1 song that week in July of 1988? Was Richard Marx's "Hold On to the Nights." Which if anyone's still reading this blog that was reading in 2005, you'll remember this. He's sort of like our shared spirit animal. We freaked the hell out, right there in Tonya's minivan.
Yesssssss.
Also of note was the way awesome daily retro countdown from Tonya's local radio station. Monday's was the songs of July 1984, and again, we plotted our day around it. This is serious business, y'all. Tonya has kids now. Planning stuff like this is challenging, and the reward was correctly guessing that the No. 1 song would be "When Doves Cry." Whilst in the middle of an outlet mall and deciding to take a lunch break in the van.
We also watched Lionel Richie's TV special from April, in which he partnered with country singers to do some of his greatest hits. It was way, way awesome to snark on everything from the "arrow" stage, to Nicole Richie's blaséness with it all, to Big and Rich's hats. All while spritzed with Yankees perfume, to bring the Yanks out of their West Coast funk. It worked. It was fantastic.
Yes, that's really all it takes for me to have a most excellent vacation.
