For my daughter Nica and the Class of 2017!
Veronica- Wreckless Eric Big Smash
High School Never Ends- Bowling For Soup The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Try Again- Rock City Nothing Can Hurt Me: Original Soundtrack
Babe- Jack Green Humanesque
Another Boy- The Boyfriends Lost Treasures
Like I Do- Sugar Stems Can't Wait
Out Of My Head- 20/20 Look Out!
Rockstar- Librarians The Pathetic Aesthetic
^High School Nights- Dave Edmunds High School Nights
I Didn't Mean That- Someloves Something Or Other
Only At Night- The Fastbacks ...And His Orchestra
Revolution of the Mind- The dB's Revolution of the Mind
Ecstasy- The Paley Brothers Ecstasy
Put You In Exile- Jo Broadbery & The Standouts Jo Broadbery and The Standouts
*High School- Hanoi Rocks Two Steps From The Move
*High School- Superchick Last One Picked
*High School- Little Murders Stop Plus Singles 1978-1986
*High School- The Brat Attitudes EP
*High School- Nerf Herder My E.P.
Mad at the World- The Probers Mad At The World
Trampoline- Greenberry Woods Rapple Dapple
If You Can't See My Mirrors- The New Pornographers Together
Chicago And Miss Jovan's Land-O-Mat- The Loud Family Yellow Pills Vol 4
All Night Long- Starz Violation
The Young Idea- Squire Big Smashes
>High School- MC5 Back In The U.S.A.
All That Stuff- The Windbreakers Time Machine (1982-2002)
Neptune Ave. (Ortho Hi Rise)- Sammy Tales Of Great Neck Glory
My Lifes A Jigsaw- Purple Hearts My Life's A Jigsaw 7"
Rock 'N' Roll High School- The Ramones Road To Ruin
Teenage Dirtbag- Wheatus Wheatus
^Power Pop Peak: #91 Billboard Hot 100 4/20/85
*SacroSet: High School Songs
>Power Pop Prototype: 1970
I was a shy kid growing up and the social aspects of school were always a challenge. Bullies could see this a mile away so I was often an easy target for their douche baggery. In most cases I could stay out of their way by walking to and from classes by a different route. When I was in high school I had my tormentor's class schedule memorized as well as my own yet that didn't stop him from randomly shoving me up against some lockers or punching me whenever he could. He even pointed a home made, and according to him loaded, zip gun at my head one day while I was standing at my locker. Good times. My wife Jaime asked me why I never told an adult, but that's the thing about bullying- it shames the victim, not the perpetrator. Back then teachers ascribed it to "boys will be boys" and some male teachers seemed to get a perverse kick out of it. As for my family, just the thought of my father finding out (I couldn't imagine ever telling him), well that is a nightmare that even now makes me feel like throwing up. Anyway, it's no wonder that to this day I have an Eminem-level hatred of bullies.
I was rarely physically abused by the jocks in my high school, though their verbal abuse could be pretty devastating. Not that being called "F***in' Devo" (damn you "Whip It," damn you to hell) was in itself especially harsh but when delivered in front of a bevy of hot jock girlfriends it definitely stung. This could go two ways, either the girlfriends would laugh along or they would make a big show of sticking up for me while still laughing at my expense, which was somehow even worse. In any case, I grew to be as wary of the jocks as I was of the other bullies. To be fair, I should point out that my use of "jock" in this case refers almost exclusively to our school's football players- loud, aggressive, beer swilling- you know the type. These
The REAL Deltas |
The Omegas |
The jocks (I refuse to call them "Deltas") all hung around together and walked down the center of the hallway so the rest of us had to get out of the way. Like the Omegas pictured above they had letterman jackets, green with the big white D on the front, that made them easier to spot and get out of the way. The D on those letterman jackets was for Duxbury of course, but, in a tidy piece of alliteration, it also stood for Dragons, our team mascot. By junior year I had finally managed to come
Current Duxbury Dragons mascot (In the 80's it had more of an Olde English look but this is all I could find) |
Sonoma Valley High School mascot (at least it's facing a different direction than Duxbury's) |
One thing is sure- the high school years are a rich time in our lives and, good or bad, a time we'll never forget. Whole years in the late 80's are a blur but high school memories are as vivid now as they were back then. It's also funny how many of the social constructs and rules established in high school never seem to go away. Like the Bowling For Soup song I played tonight says: "High School Never Ends:"
Four years you think for sure
That’s all you’ve got to endure
All the total dicks
All the stuck up chicks
So superficial, so immature
Then when you graduate
You take a look around and you say HEY WAIT
This is the same as where I just came from
I thought it was over
(Aw that’s just great)
The whole damn world is just as obsessed
With who‘s the best dressed and who‘s having sex,
Who‘s got the money, who gets the honeys,
Who‘s kinda cute and who‘s just a mess
And you still don’t have the right look
And you don’t have the right friends
Nothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trends
High school never ends
Check out the popular kids
You’ll never guess what Jessica did
How did Mary Kate lose all that weight
And Katie had a baby so I guess Tom’s straight
And the only thing that matters
Is climbing up that social ladder
Still care about your hair and the car you drive
Doesn’t matter if you’re sixteen or thirty-five
Reese Witherspoon,
She’s the prom queen
Bill Gates,
Captain of the chess team
Jack Black, the clown
Brad Pitt, the quarterback
I’ve seen it all before
I want my money back
The whole damn world is just as obsessed
With who’s the best dressed and who’s having sex,
Who’s in the clubs and who’s on the drugs,
Who’s throwing up before they digest
And you still don’t have the right look
And you don’t have the right friends
And you’re still listen to the same sh*t you did back then
High school never ends
High school never ends
The whole damn world is just as obsessed
With who‘s the best dressed and who‘s having sex,
Who‘s got the money, who gets the honeys,
Who‘s kinda cute and who‘s just a mess
And I still don’t have the right look
And I still have the same three friends
And I’m pretty much the same as I was back then
High school never ends
High school never ends
High school never ends
Here we go again
In the past I've jokingly said "if you loved high school you flamed out early" but that's just jealousy talking. Jaime loved high school- she was a cheerleader, in marching band, drama, etc. and has a group of four high school girlfriends who still meet up in some sunny locale every couple of years. (They called themselves the "Rowdy Mothers" back then- how sweet is that?) Sounds like a lot of fun hearing her talk about those years. When I was searching for images of Duxbury and Sonoma Dragons I was struck by the similarities: tons of teenagers dressed in green smiling and having a good time doing something they love. DHS isn't the Death Star any more than SVHS is Naboo- it's only my perceptions that make them seem that way. I had a tough time in high school- it would have been nice to feel safer and less fearful- but it helped make me the person I am today. I'm sure Nica will face her share of challenges but like they say, it's how you respond to adversity that shows what kind of person you are or will become. Best of luck to the Class of 2017 and GO DRAGONS! (both kinds).
Download links for tonight's show are below (if the download "sticks" just pause and un-pause)
Hour 1
Hour 2
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