Romance ain’t dead. It’s just taken on a different form. Here’s some nice Valentine’s Day candy that says it all. 🙂
Ray Rayner passed away yesterday. For those of you who didn’t grow up in Chicago, Ray was the guy who hosted a kid’s morning show on WGN-Channel 9 that *everybody* (including adults) watched. It was a great free-form show where he introduced cartoons, gave the weather and sports highlights, traffic and school closing info, and a lot of other goofy stuff. A show like this would never be aired today– nobody in the corporate TV world would have the patience for it. Here is a link to an article about Ray on WGN’s web site.
The thing about Ray is that he never took himself seriously. You got the feeling he genuinely enjoyed what he was doing, and when he’d mess up on the air he’d just laugh and keep going. He always talked to his crew while he was on the air, too. The closest thing that compares would be radio shows like Steve Dahl’s or Howard Stern’s (without the filth, of course :-). One of his ongoing bits was that he’d wear these jumpsuits with notes stuck to it. At an appropriate point in the show, he would pull one of the “notes” off his suit and read what was coming up next. (“Looks like we’ve got Bugs Bunny next.”)
And I’m sure he’s trying to glue some sequined ribbon to a paper plate somewhere in the sky right now.
Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year to all you Monkeys out there.
Today’s lyric comes to us courtesy of The Pretenders. I was in a discussion about romantic songs and this one came to mind– another long-forgotten song that just kinda jumped out of the back of my brain. It’s got an interesting middle-eastern feel to it, so light the candles and burn the incense on this one (I think those are Hare Krishna chants at the end). This is from the 1986 “Get Closer” album.
So I started off with something cynical and ended with something nice. How about that?
—

Tradition of Love
Don’t you go away
C’mon get close to me
The hassles of the day
Have made a real mess of me
The moon is in the sky
And the stars are out tonight
They shimmer in the pools of your eyes
In the moonlight
You’re so nice to touch
Lovely to look at
Touch, touch
In the tradition of love
Hear the summer breeze
All the nighttime’s listening
Your eyes are sparkling now
And their oceans glistening
Sail upon a sea
Of love filling the room
Lilacs seem to be
Everywhere with their perfume
Love, love
Love, love
Love, love
You can in a breath
Blow the storm clouds out the sky
A hurricane retreats
In the blinking of your eye
A flame within my heart
Is ignited by your voice
C’mon baby now
Let’s make love our final choice
Ooh you’re nice to touch
Lovely to look at
Touch, touch
In the tradition of love
Love, love
Love, love
Love, love
Shri gouranga
Jaya gouranga
Gour gour gouranga
Nam
Gour gour gouranga
Nam