viva la butt rock

for the past couple weeks, i've been listening to a new radio station (well, not new, but new to me since i just discovered that this place actually has a decent rock station) that plays a lot of what my brother calls "butt rock." this is the 80's and early 90's hair bands that i used to listen to in junior high.

now, as much as i resisted listening to this music ever since i discovered grunge when i was 13, now...it's like i'm going through the phase all over again. of course, these bands don't seem as cool now, and i can most definitely recognize the cheesiness in their lyrics and images, but i know all the words to all the songs. this was my music from the period of my life when i was just starting to define my musical tastes. rock. this was when i first starting buying my own cassettes instead of listening to my older brothers' music.

take guns 'n' roses, for example. i listened to them incessantly when i was in...say, the 5th grade. i was a tiny nerdy little girl jamming out to Welcome to Jungle on the school bus. i was still wearing glittery pink shirts with unicorns or some shit on it, pink minnie mouse glasses (with bifocals), neon pink scrunchies in my hair, and *shuddering with disgust* a fanny pack. the female equivalent to Napoleon Dynamite? maybe. but i was ROCK inside, maaaan. i would sit alone in the back of the school bus, listening to my walkman, quietly mouthing, "Welcome to the jungle, feel my, my, my serpentine, I, I wanna hear you scream."

my favorite band in 6th grade was Poison. i say this now, a little ashamed, sure, but at the same time, as i type this, i'm downloading Nuthin But a Good Time. i can still watch their music videos and act them out. i don't, but i can. it takes me back to the good old days, where i was ignorant to the fact that men shouldn't wear makeup and smell like Aqua Net. back when i didn't know that C.C.'s voice sounded like a gremlin taking a shit. i had a VHS tape of their videos and i watched it til i wore it out. this was before i had MTV. that didn't come til later, til i was 13 and being introduced to the wonder that was Nirvana.

there were a slew of these bands that i couldn't get enough of, like Whitesnake, White Lion, Slaughter, Warrant, Firehouse, Skid Row, Scorpions (i actually never stopped listening to them), Motley Crue, Ratt, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Extreme, Nelson, Mr. Big, the list could go on for miles. i'm not saying this is my favorite genre of music now, far from it. it's just stuff i can sing along with and giggle to myself, remembering how idiotic and brilliant the whole scene was. remembering my transition from from little girl to rock bitch. from pink glitter sweaters to black band t-shirts. from purple pants to ripped jeans.

from little nerd to... um... bigger nerd.