A friend of mine was once afflicted with what he called The Seger Curse. That is, whatever store he'd walk into, any store of any kind, would always be playing some Bob Seger song or other. Whether it was the by-the-numbers rock star posing of Katmandu or the sleepy-time introspection of Night Moves--or worse, the faux-sensitive, let's-fuck-because-what-else-have-we-got-to-do treacly-creepy ballad We've Got Tonight--the tedious ubiquity of the hirsute Detroit legend came to represent everything stale and unimaginative about radio programming: You could play any song in the world, and you actually choose to play Against The Wind?
The curse was eventually passed to me, though in a somewhat milder form (although if I ever hear Old Time Rock & Roll again I may turn violent), then...it was over. Whoever programs the piped-in music for retail establishments and classic rock stations suddenly decided that was enough Seger for a lifetime, and the world was a better place.
Briefly. While seemingly dormant, The Curse was in fact mutating, and turned into a Night Ranger Curse. Which is to say, the radio at work now plays Sister Christian at every conceivable opportunity.
Kind of cute, for awhile. To the extent that I think of it at all, I associate the song with the Rahad Jackson sequence from P.T. Anderson's Boogie Nights. Specifically, I think of this:
And hey, who doesn't want to be reminded of one of their favorite movies during a long, tedious work day?
But they keep playing the damned thing. And it doesn't even matter what station is on. Our resident surly Boston sports fan tunes the radio to the local AM sports station, and in between incredibly convulted analogies and half-baked theories, there is commercial time. Specifically, a commercial for an upcoming concert from...Night Ranger. And seriously, what the hell other song are they going to play during this commercial? For a supposedly rockin' band--as they reminded us with the helpfully titled You Can Still Rock In America--these guys will always be known for this wimpy power ballad, and not much else.
And I, apparently, will have to listen to the damned thing pretty much every day. Or at least until I get a new musical curse. Right now, I'm starting to miss bob Seger.
