I can't stop listening to this song.

Kinda don't wanna stop, either. Feeling oddly into the 80s lately. MAN, that's some good pop. Interestingly, I'd never even heard of The (English) Beat until...well, until I heard Phish cover "Mirror in the Bathroom." (Yes, there are several of you rolling your eyes now. Jerks.)

The irony is that when I was most deeply into Phish--multiple shows on every tour, regardless of season or financial wherewithal--I'd sternly avow that pop music interested me not at all. If it wasn't a forty minute long "Runaway Jim" or a four song second set, it wouldn't hold my interest. I was hardly listening to any studio-produced music at all, save for albums like Herbie Hancock's "Headhunters." But then...I dunno. I still listen to Phish et al. all the time (fair warning: I give it about a 13% chance that I'll serendipitously decide to quit my job this summer and go back out on tour). And really, if you ask the crew at CapoPenn they'll probably tell you that my go-to music these days is hip-hop.

But somewhere in the last few years, I started really getting into straight-forward pop music again. If it's any kind of illumination, my first three albums (on cassette!) were "Thriller," "Piano Man," and "Born in the U.S.A." I remember spending Saturday mornings in my bedroom in West Virginia doing whatever homework third-graders do and listening to Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown. What were the songs like? Man..."I Think We're Alone Now?" "Dancing on the Ceiling?" "Electric Avenue?" Yeah...definitely "Electric Avenue."



That's some funky stuff right there. Somewhere along the line though, I stopped listening to the radio. I mean, we all did, right? The only--and I mean the ONLY--reason I turn on terrestrial radio anymore is for NPR. (Quick caveat--it used to be, when I came back to visit Delaware or Philly after moving away that the first thing I'd do when I got in a car was turn on KYW1060. It was more about nostalgia than about being informed. Who's ever actually felt MORE informed for listening to KYW?) Don't get me wrong. I'm always listening to something, though I'm most likely to be listening to a podcast. Life without an ipod is no longer a life I want to lead.

So anyway. Kinda needlessly rambling. The POINT...is that "Save It For Later" is an old song I've only recently gotten to know. So you should take a few minutes out of your Friday afternoon and bump it a little. Maybe follow it up with this one, just for kicks: