Ah, Valentine's Day. Day of kitsch, day of sentimentality, day of trash. It may be named after two saints, but nowadays it's a Hallmark "holiday" - an excuse to sell cards, candy and flowers to ardent (or guilt-ridden) lovers, a time for the lonely to feel even worse.
Valentine's Day is even more important for schoolchildren, as an early lesson in status-seeking, social humiliation, and bitter disappointment. Other holidays seem trivial in comparison: Easter, which teaches children the essential skill of painting eggs; Hanukkah, when Jewish kids learn to lie to their Christian friends about getting "eight presents;" Labor Day, a mysterious Monday off work with distant origins shrouded in myth.
Mostly, though, Valentine's Day is big business, and specifically the big business of bad taste. For every lady coming home to a nice bunch of roses, ten others are getting garish heart-shaped boxes of awful "chocolate." For every couple having a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant with white tablecloths, ten others are buying each other cheap, stuffed animals plastered with purple and pink mylar. So who better to spend the day with than the King of Kitsch, the Champion of Trash, the Baron of Bad Taste himself - John Waters?
OK, maybe we can't actually personally hang with the man. But the new CD A Date With John Waters could be the next best thing. The legendary indie filmmaker (and unlikely Broadway mogul) has compiled a set of favorite love songs, cock-eyed Waters style. It all makes a nutty kind of sense. The CD starts with the vaguely threatening teen-infidelity tale "Tonight You Belong To Me" by Patience and Prudence. It also covers sexually ambiguous (and not-so-ambiguous) territory with Josie Cotton's timeless novelty tune "Johnny Are You Queer?" and Elton Motello's delightfully dirty punk-rock classic "Jet Boy Jet Girl" with its unforgettable line, "I'm gonna make you be a girl."
Article comments
1 - Bill Sherman
Not sure I accept the characterization of Ray Charles' "Night Time" as "syrupy" (wouldn't argue with its usage on Dino's cut) - especially with that down-and-dirty female vocal in the middle - but I definitely agree that this disc is the one to make your personal soundtrack for V-Day . . .
2 - Jon Sobel
You're right, Bill, that was a bit of a stretch.
I liked your review also.
3 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites.
4 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article was selected as an Editor's Pick this week.
5 - Henlen
Thanks for your sharing!!
I think you're right,Bill,I would not like this holiday, just because I am a lonely person.