Driver's Seat

I've always loved Sniff 'n' the Tears' Driver's Seat.  It is, in my mind, a staunch member of the pantheon of one hit wonders. The 1979 song and video are fairly raw, reflecting the pre- (but on the cusp of-) MTV days of video. When this song was first released, I think it was originally classified as AOR (album-oriented rock) rather than rock or pop in the U.S., but did sell fairly well, peaking at #15 on the U.S. singles charts.

I was thinking about this as I was driving to work Friday night.

Well, not specifically this song, but driving songs in general. Prior to being married, I think my current life situation would have been puzzling to a younger me. Now, I've never been much of a "party animal", but when I was younger, Friday nights were for fun (or, if not "fun", then a least hanging out with my friends). Back then, we typically ended up in one of three places: a 50's bar (in the 80's, the 50's were big with us), a fern bar (well, it was an upscale dance club with videos and ferns and disco), or my basement.

And actually, the last locale was not too shabby a hangout for college students. At that time, I lived with my Dad in a bungalow in Chicago. According to zillow.com, this house was built in 1919! I was unaware that it was that old. My Dad built me a very nice, cozy room in the basement of that house- probably 12'x8' (~3.6M x 2.4M). It was cozy- perfect for two college students. My best friend Mark and I would spend hours talking and writing and playing games there.

I was driving to work Friday night, and could not get the Bluetooth to work, so I switched to FM. I'm not sure why, but Friday nights seem to bring out the best in radio programming and play lists. I flipped through a few stations before settling on one which was playing Bruce Springsteen's classic "Thunder Road", the opening track to Bruce's huge "Born To Run" album. I'm quite honestly not a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, but it was Friday night, and this song was perfect- even if I was going to work.

Flash forward to Saturday morning: I'm done with work, and it's time to put some miles on the car (it's still in the break-in period).The Bluetooth connection has decided to work, and so I leave the plant with REO Speedwagon's Nine Lives album playing. This is another 1979 release, and I had to pay close attention to the Subaru's instrumentation to stay within the break-in parameters.

Less than 400 miles (~640KM) to go on the break-in period.

As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.