i fell for john summer of 2003. way back then, message boards was the thing. you talked about your day to day life. complained about movies. discovered new music. and i mean i knew who he was cause who didn’t know of “your body is a wonderland” but we weren’t that acquainted. it’s like in high school where you know who that person is but you never had any classes together.
but “clarity” was in heavy rotation and i dove right on in to Heavier Things as soon as i could. oh man. we were fast friends. and he was coming to town with my new friends Adam & 4 other guys also known as “Maroon 5”. so i needed to do some research and get Room for Squares. it was good, kinda poppy, whereas HT was more mellow. then i needed more, so john gave me a live disc of a new project he was working on called Try! from the John Mayer Trio. and it was fantastic. classic john. some bluesy blues. some face melting guitar riffs. we were basically going to get married after Try! and Contiuum. WHEW! you close your eyes when you sing to that cd.
and then something happened. whatever connection we had was suddenly broken. and i’m like “wtf is Battle Studies”. but every relationship can’t be all good all the time. then there were the news stories. jennifer aniston. taylor swift. wtf. you’re not supposed to be in the news about anything else than the face you make when you play guitar. i bought a shirt with your name on it! you’re better than that.
but he wasn’t.
and just to see if things could ever go back, i bought Born and Raised. but i just can’t get all the way through it without heavy sighs of a love that once was.
news is that john is back in the studio. am i going to buy whatever he puts out next? yes. you don’t just give up on love like that. but do i have hope we’ll be back to where we were after Try!? i…i just don’t know.
on the other hand let me tell you about me and thicke. i met thicke back when he had hippie hair and looked like this.
crazy enough, it was also 2003 and MTV2 was all videos all the time (i mean remember how i found Nikka Costa?!) and there was this hippie riding through traffic on a bike singing sweet sweet songs. so i scoured the racks of Best Buy (remember when they sold music? on disc?) and bought A Beautiful World.
it was beautiful! who knew Jason Seaver’s son had soul?! and thicke was off making music for other folks (see: Give It To You by NKOTB’s Jordan Knight. in fact, here’s the video! ) and doing his own thing and it was ok cause the message boards would let me know when he did his own stuff again.
and in 2006 i see some info about thicke going by ROBIN and hooking up with pharrell in the studio. ok that’s fine. i love The Neptunes. I like N.E.R.D. it’s ok he cut his hair. they’re calling the cd “the evolution of robin thicke”. i get it. he wants mass appeal. i can’t keep him to myself for ever.
and the cd was good. less hippie. no songs about not having money and not wanting to work. more songs about making sweet sweet love. people like to hear that on the radio. it’s ok. oh you re-did shooter with..lil wayne? you should have discussed that with me beforehand but whatever.
then some other cd came out. and we just kinda stopped talking. sure i downloaded it but did i burn a cd to put in the car? no. did i care that all these r&b people were acting like i was crazy for NOT listening to ROBIN? did i buy that other other cd? NO! do i care you’re on a TV show and that other talent search show? NO! i don’t even know you any more ROBIN.
but then i saw a radio shack commercial. FRICKIN RADIO SHACK. and it made my shoulders move in a way they haven’t in a while. and i look up and who but ROBIN is on tv. JAMMING?!
and then the video comes out. and it’s pharrell. hey p! and TI?! HELLO!
AND NOW WE’RE IN LOVE AGAIN.
HEY HEY HEY!
#neverforget
do you have an on again, off again love affair with any singers or other celebs? am i the only one who talks about celebrities like this? no way, this is the internet.
I love John Mayer. Since RFS and the EP that came before it. " Comfortable" is probably one of my all-time favorites. But I don't like Born and Raised at all. And any post that references Jordan Knight is a win in my book. I loved that song!
I just read this post like it was new again and had all the same feelings. At least I'm consistent. I wonder if Spotify has Give it To You?
I reaaaaaaaaaalllly liked Evolution…Thicke, but past that…I was like "come on Robin!!!" Sex Therapy…the song was cool, but I dont even know if I ever listened to the rest of the CD completely. And I really wish John & Maroon would just come back and play the exact sets they played when you, me and Bibi went to the concert all those years ago. lol.
Ok, you struck a nerve. I love all the groups you referenced, and I miss the classics they put out when they were “hungry”. I was trying to think of an artist that I fell out of love with, and it has to be Erykah Badu. She’s had some hits and misses in my book. Nothing will ever reach the level of Baduizm. And on a side note, I sooooo loved Arrested Development, but they couldn’t handle the fame and broke up. The only thing I could salvage was Dionne Farris’ two songs, one of which became famous from being on the Love Jones soundtrack. Ah, the good ol’ days!
NKOTB….my first loves. They will always have my heart!