Karen Booth
Ridiculously adorable Kat from the smart and sassy Book Tart blog sent me her RNRHS contribution with the caveat that she’s “so not rock ‘n’ roll”. I was quick to let her know that one previous contributor’s favorite make-out song was Pachelbel’s Canon in D. There are no rules here! If you’re anything like me, you appreciate that the people who didn’t grow up liking the same stuff everyone else did are the most fun to hang out with. So, yeah, Kat, be sure to send me an invite the next time you decide to haul out the Frank LPs.
Kat aka The Queen of Tarts (in my head)
Homeschooled, graduated ’98, Currently: Nanny, Family Assistant, reader, reviewer, blogger, vlogger (now if only those last four paid!)
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: *sigh* ok I adore Karen, (so to the muchness!) but I put off doing this because I am NOT cool *head/desk* I didn’t listen to popular music or the radio much… I’d actually have to google to tell you what was playing during the late 1990s. And I think that defeats the purpose. *snicker* What I DID listen to, and nearly wore them out, was a box set of records my dad brought home from the thrift store.
Yep, records baby! No, it wasn’t THAT long ago, we had CDs. But we also had a record player and the box set was the Readers Digest late 1940s after World War II 10 record set. I about drove my family nuts! I would play and play those. Sooo there was The Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Mel Torme, Rosemary Clooney and Doris Day to name a few.
And a few of the songs that I would sing? Because, yes, I sang along. “Thanks for the Memories”, “The Very Thought of You”, “My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time” by Vera Ellen, and especially…
“I Could Write a Book”… from “Pal Joey”
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: Well, That record set… What else? I had a Judy Garland music box.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: N’sync was popular then right? I didn’t gush over ‘em. That’s only group that’s stuck in my memory though… I now I’m giving in and googling what music artist were big in the late 1990s, I’ll be right back….
1997 Music Chart…Oh! Michael Bolton! ROTFL I remember that hair! Spice Girls *giggle* You couldn’t avoid them. Counting Crows? I’m sure I would know them if I heard a song. Savage Garden… Yep, I remember singing along to that “You’ll be my kiss my fantasy” song… (I couldn’t listen to my records in the car!) Chumbawumba “I Get Knocked Down”… Yeah, that’ll get stuck in your head.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: See?! No cool stories, all my fav music artists are dead or not in concert. Even back then I was a retro baby.
Now, my music taste is a bit more eclectic. I listen to the top 20 channel sometimes. I love Bare Naked Ladies, I adore Pink! But I still really, really still love the 40s and 50s music. Give me a crooner… Oh! So Michael Bublé and Harry Connick Jr. will work for me in a pinch but I prefer the real deal.
I had to check out Duran Duran cause Karen loves them so. I agree! *thud* Yummy! and talented. I grew up in the wrong decade I think.
Thank you ever so to Karen for asking me to be part of the Rock N Roll High School. I’m flattered and so wish I was better at it. Though I stand by my 1945 singers…they aren’t very rock ‘n’ roll.
Give me Frank Sinatra *melt*
Visit Kat at The Book Tart for her spaz-outs (her term!) on various books she’s read or authors she adores all while fashionably dressed in her pin-up attire. Except when she’s in her PJs. But this is virtual, so you can imagine her as a 24-7 rockabilly chick. You can follow Kat on Twitter at @The_Book_Tart or check out her channel on You Tube.
Today is the second installment in what I have decided to dub “Daily Duranie” week on my blog. It has a nice ring to it. Snappy. Right? Amanda of Rhonda and Amanda joins us today, with a few answers that fly in the face of what Rhonda had to say. Okay, it’s only one thing, but I still found it fascinating! That’s one of the truly awesome things about the Daily Duranie blog- Rhonda and Amanda don’t hesitate to disagree with each other and they certainly don’t hesitate to criticize the band when warranted. It’s not about hero worship and hand-holding, it’s about the music and the fans, and that’s the way Rhonda and Amanda like it.
Amanda Pustz
Ottawa Township High School, Ottawa, IL, Class of ’93, Currently: Teacher, Blogger/Writer/Fan Events Coordinator with the Daily Duranie
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: “One” by U2. My friends were all into U2 then and we saw them a couple of times in concert. Thus, when I think of high school, I immediately think of them, which leads to U2. Plus, we wrote a line from the song in the snow with our footprints on the football field that everyone could see from the classroom windows. We liked the message of diversity within unity.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: I still have the t-shirt I got from the first time I saw Duran in August 1993. I had loved Duran for so long that this was a big deal. Despite that, I didn’t think it was the best show. In fact, I told my friend that they should break up because something wasn’t right. As someone who spends a great deal of time with my Duran fandom, I’m surprised that I’m not embarrassed about this but I’m not.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: So many! The hair bands like Motley Crue and Poison were very popular in the early part of my high school career. I hated them. I was still listening to Duran but had also discovered alternative bands, which seemed so much more intelligent. Plus, by that time, I avoided all that was popular.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: My first concert ever: Depeche Mode in 1990. I loved being one of thousands of people all singing together. It truly hooked me for concert going for the rest of my life!
Amanda Pustz is a teacher, writer, and 1/2 of the blogging team at Daily Duranie. Stop by the blog to see what’s up in the world of Duran fandom.
I first met Rhonda Rivera and Amanda Pustz from the Daily Duranie blog on Twitter. This is the magic of social media–connecting with people who share the same interests, geography be damned. Tweeting is all well and good, but luckily I was able to hang out with them in person when they came to see Duran Duran in NC, in August of last year. We had a fabulous pre-show party with tons of other fans, a chance to revel in the anticipation of that night’s show and maybe even look back on the days when we wallpapered our bedroom walls with the band’s posters. It was the perfect example of the community the band inspires, but it takes folks like Rhonda and Amanda to bring us together. Hell, we need somebody to foster some organization. Their devotion to celebrating fandom has turned into much more than a blog as you will read below, in Rhonda’s installment of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.
Rhonda Rivera is a blogger, writer and 1/2 of Rhonda and Amanda, the women who steer the ship at DailyDuranie.com. Amanda will be joining us on January 10th–make sure you stop by.
Chick Lit author Tracie Banister joins us today on RNRHS, bringing a post rife with 80s music, which you know makes me happy. I, like Tracie, have many happy memories of lighting up the gymnasium dance floor to the Go-Go’s, a band that epitomized the 80s and everything girls wanted at that time–to live a life full of funky clothes, vintage convertibles, sunny skies, and frolicking in public fountains. My sophomore year of high school, a cute boy at a record store told me that I looked just like Belinda Carlisle. I think I rode the high of that compliment for months. It wasn’t until later in life that I wondered if that had been 80s-boy code for, “you’re cute, but a little pudgy”.
Tracie Banister
El Toro High School, El Toro, CA & West Carteret High School, Morehead City, NC. Class of ’85, Currently: a Chick Lit writer.
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: Oh, gosh, if I had to pick one song that encapsulates my high school experience, it would probably be “Our Lips are Sealed” by The Go-Go’s. That song played at every slumber party and school dance I can remember. It was such a fun, upbeat, empowering song for girls, and we all loved rocking out to it.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: I was totally obsessed with The Police in high school. Their Synchronicity album was released right about the time I got my driver’s license, so my friends and I would cruise around town listening to the Synchronicity cassette tape on a continuous loop. I had every piece of Synchronicity paraphernalia you can imagine – t-shirts, posters, spiral notebooks, magnets, all emblazoned with that iconic artwork that had the paint splashes of red, yellow, and blue. I wore that Synchronicity t-shirt well into my twenties until it was practically threadbare and even then I couldn’t bear to throw it out! So, that tattered tee was kept in the bottom of my dresser drawer for another decade. It made me feel 16 again every time I saw it!
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Journey . . . SHUDDER I don’t know what it was about Steve Perry’s voice, but it made me want to go postal every time I heard it and there was no getting away from Journey when I was a teenager. That band and their music was everywhere. I want to give a big raspberry to Glee and the musical Rock of Ages for making that annoying song “Don’t Stop Believin’” popular again a few years ago. GROAN
Best show or concert you saw in high school: I was several hours away from the closest arena when I was a teenager, so I didn’t get to attend my first concert (Hall & Oates!) until I reached the ripe old age of 20 (I’d moved to Atlanta at this point.) I made up for lost time in my twenties, going to 10+ concerts a year throughout the decade. I had a friend who worked for a local music producer, so she always got us free tickets, even backstage passes sometimes (I got to meet Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons backstage at a KISS concert!) So, I don’t have a best concert from my high school years, but my best concert of all time was probably INXS (R.I.P. Michael Hutchence)
Best high school make-out song: Well, my classmates would probably say something like “Waiting for a Girl Like You” by Foreigner or “Keep on Loving You” by REO Speedwagon, but I was never really into ballads. My make-out tune of choice would be “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell; I always found that song to be really sexy and hormone-revving (Guess I had a dark side!)
An avid reader and writer, Tracie Banister has been scribbling stories since she was a child, most of them featuring feisty heroines with complicated love lives like her favorite fictional protagonist Scarlett O’Hara. Her debut novel, the Hollywood-themed Blame It on the Fame, was released in January, 2012, and she followed that up with the Miami-set Romantic Comedy, In Need of Therapy. You can find out more about Tracie at traciebanister.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @traciebanister.
I am over-the-moon, please-don’t-yank-me-off-this-cloud, excited to show off the cover for Bring Me Back. I’m thrilled with this cover for many reasons, and not just because it’s beautiful and SO me–it represents this story on many levels and puts the perfect face on a book of which I am undeniably proud. For my readers who are writers, you know how little input authors usually get when it comes to cover design. It’s not much. I am incredibly lucky to have Turquoise Morning Press as my publisher, who carefully listened to me and the case I pled for this image. I couldn’t be any happier with the results. Now to wait for January 20th!
Bring Me Back
Music critic Claire Abby is a single mom dreading her daughter’s departure for college and worried that turning forty will leave her career running on fumes. She’s floored when she lands a Rolling Stone cover story on 80s British rock legend Christopher Penman. She spent her teenage years fantasizing he was her boyfriend.
In person, Christopher is everything Claire feared he’d be—charming, witty and unwilling to address the rumors he’s dodged for a decade. Still, she contains her adolescent fantasies and manages to earn his trust, unearthing the truth and the devastating secret behind it. His blockbuster story is her first priority when she returns home, a nearly impossible task when Christopher starts calling and flirting. She knows she should maintain a professional distance. She knows she should focus on the story. She knows it would be best to simply walk away. But how can she say “no” to the man she could never forget?
“Fast-paced, sexy and altogether irresistible, Bring Me Back is made all the more appealing by Karen Booth’s inside knowledge of the music industry. A flat-out fabulous read!”–Celia Rivenbark, NYT Bestselling author
“In Bring Me Back Karen Booth shifts every girl’s adolescent daydreams into the sharp focus of adulthood, and proves that reality can be even better than fantasy.”–author Margaret Ethridge
Bring Me Back will be published by Turquoise Morning Press, January 20, 2013. It will be available in all e-book formats and trade paperback.
