rahsta

Originally Posted by Mr. Smooth

Having been a homebody for the most part since I returned from the DR a bit over 3 weeks ago, I decided to venture out to downtown Sacramento for a couple of pints and see what a Sunday late afternoon early evening might bring.

I went to one of my favorite bars, The Other Office, in Old Sacramento, a tourist area that has a bit of the Old West flavor. I find that it is closed so I walk a few steps over to the River City Saloon. I find an empty stool about halfway down the bar and order a pint of Newcastle.

I survey the crowd and see that it is mostly groups or couples. No action forthcoming here. No problem...I am headed back to the DR in a month so I will get well. But what I see surprises me. On the tv at mid-bar is the Olympics with the sound off. At either end of the bar is a tv showing music videos. A DeBarge song is playing and quite a few patrons are commenting about it. The dress, the dudes mustache, the dance choreography, etc.

Then, Lionel Ritchie's "Hello" plays. You guys remember....he plays a drama teacher who falls for a blind student in the vid. The bartender, all of 22 or 23, blurts out, "I've never seen this video before". Then a hush falls over the crowd and all eyes are riveted on the tv screens showing the video. As if this is something completely new to them!

The woman next to me, early 20's says to her boyfriend sitting on the other side, "God...these lyrics are soooo cheezy." I lean back and take a second look and realize that I am at least 15 years older than everyone else in the bar!

Michael Jackson's "Beat It", comes on next. Heads nod and feet tap, I hear a murmur from the folks at the bar about how Michael looked so different, as if how he looked at the end of his life was how he had always looked. I was about to let the young couple to my right know that one of the "tough guy" thugs in the video was really one of the premiere dancers on a tv show called "Solid Gold", a music show that counted down the Top 20 songs each week, hosted by Marlyn McCoo, a former singer with the 5th Dimension.

Ah....whats the use I thought. What was Solid Gold they would say. Who was Mary McCoo? Damn dude...how the fuck old are you anyway??

I finished my Newcastle and headed for the door. When the nostagic times and music of my youth become the new discoveries of todays youth, I figure it's best for them to get it on their own terms without the ramblings of some guy at a bar letting them in on some trivia about what they are seeing.

It was a hell of a video though. "Just beat it, beat it, beat it......"

Wesley Snipes was in the Beat It video. He was one of the guys pushing Micheal.