Auld Lang Sinusitus or Post Mortem Nasal Drip

Hey y'all.
So, it's the day before New Year's Eve during this weird No Man's Land week after Christmas; and yes, a certain melancholy has set in, as I'm sure it does for many at this time of year.  For me, it's gone beyond that due to OCD.  This blog is going to be a tad or more on the dark side; but you know we can't all be Merry and Bright every second, right?  How many seconds is that, according to that song from Rent?  Let's check it out...oh wait...it's minutes...

So, it's my understanding that the fellah who composed this lovely song dropped dead the day before his show opened.  I've been obsessing about dropping dead lately (I told you this was going to be dark--but let's keep it "light" too! (...Carol Anne...go into the light...! (No, wait, don't Carol Anne!).  We all think about dying, every now and again; but I've got the concept on a MegaLoop in my head.  It's out of my control. And I'm not gonna lie, it's a little out of control. It's part of the O.C.D Variety Pack which I've come to learn is a thing.  But before I get into that, let's stay positive with this:
So, some meme came across my eyeballs the other day.  Something to the effect that if you look up what song was Number 1 on the charts when you turned 10 years old it will tell you what 2026 is going to hold for you.  Let's try it, shall we?  I turned 10 on December 19th, 1975.  What could it be?  Or should we ask: What Could It Have Been? 
"That's the Way (I Like It)" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band.
Huh.  Not what I was expecting at all...

You know, I've heard this song a million times but I've never really assessed the lyrics very closely.  Let me do that and we'll all meet back here at your convenience!

​A NOTE:
So, I am going back over some of the blogs--in particular, the ones that HAL 9000 shows me people seem to be "repeat viewing"--and fixing the fubarred visual material.  You know, at my own pace.  For example, this blog I wrote in 2022 about Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Here's a link!
www.christopherfreidy.com/blog/fck-kfc-or-entry-1-in-the-fast-food-notations

Moving right along...
So, here are the lyrics to "That's the Way...":

Now, that is A LOT of "do, do, dos" and "uh-huhs"!  Here are the two verses:

All lyrics printed without permission 

So, not a whole heck of a lot to analyze and what there is couldn't be more on the nose.  It's about a guy who gets turned on by his, well, we can't say "lady."  We can assume it.  But it's ambiguous.  "Babe" could be anyone.  Remember the Babe perfume commercials?

God she really was gorgeous...that's Margaux Hemmingway.  Gone to soon.  But I regress...and digress.  And just how does one end up in a pond on an inner-tube in formal wear?  And how exactly did they pour that champagne for themselves?
So, what can "That's the Way (I Like It)" possibly predict about my upcoming year?  Hopefully (and this is what I'm going with) that 2026 will be a good year for me personally and have things happen in it that are pleasant for me and I'll like it, because liking something is the way (I like it).  Yeah, that's my take and I'm takin' into the New Year! And Maybe K.C. was singing about a guy.  He never got married to a woman and he's now 74 years old.  I wonder what the deal is...I mean, it's his business; but I still wonder.  
When I first looked into the song thing, I looked up what was topping the charts on the day of my birth, which was December 19, 1965.  It's a close call between two songs; on of which is a favorite.  Let's check it out!

Now, if "That's the Way (I Like It)" was rather bereft of meaning, I think one could argue that "Turn! Turn! Turn!" is the polar opposite; sort of summing up human experience over the course of three or so minutes.  And talk about an earworm! (That's the way too!).  The one that is more precise is something way more obscure (this is the one that was actually Number 1); an obscure song called "Over and Over" by the Dave Clark Five:

Did he just say that everybody at the party was dead?  Yeah. He did.  And I'm sorry, but in lieu of the UTTER REPETITIVENESS of OCD; I'm gonna pass on the over and over and over again...thank you.  I'm stickin' with The Byrds!
You see, you simply can't make this stuff up.  When I took a break from writing this I turned on ABC's ROCKIN' NEW YEAR'S EVE, which used to be DICK CLARK'S ROCKIN' NEW YEARS EVE and was basically the only thing to watch on TV on New Year's Eve, back in the day (hold that thought).  So, Ryan Seacrest is now the host of ROCKIN' NEW YEAR'S but he hasn't welded his name to it, which is cool.  I like Ryan.  Based on his interactions with contestants on Wheel of Fortune, he seems like a genuinely nice and kind person.  He did, however, keep dangling Diana Ross like a carrot.  He kept saying she was going to be singing like she was next; but then she wasn't.  She didn't come on until eleven.  So, I started channel switching between ABC and CNN's New Year's Eve with Anderson and Andy.  And when I tune that in, Anderson Cooper was by himself, in full "serious journalist" mode, talking about...death.  Like, seriously and at length with personal anecdotes.  I was wondering why, when it segued into the IN MEMORIAM segment. Oh, right. Of course. But still...he was being so--I won't say grim--but serious about loss through death, it was kind of startling.  It's not something one generally waxes deep about; particularly during the "let's get wasted and forget about everything" frivolity of New Year's Eve.  And I have to say, I felt like he was speaking directly to me, particularly when he was talking about his experience on New Year's Eve of 1977.  He spoke of watching the Times Square festivities on TV; which means, pretty certainly, he was watching Dick Clark.  As I was. And I felt a connection because I can recall watching these shows as a kid and having a sort of precocious sense of--and I won't say dread--but a kind of inexorable melancholy...
And here it is, I think, without the actual NYC remotes from Dick.  And guess who was all over that thing?  Oh...could it be...K.C. and the Sunshine Band?  Ya think?

And of course, Diane Keaton was in the Memoriam clip, singing a song from the early 60's(!) and I was going to write about Diane here.  But before I get to that.  You might be wondering what the OCD Variety Pack is.  Well, I'm gonna tell ya!

1/04/26: I'm back after some year end distractions.  But before I get back to OCD and the Elizabeth Kubler Ross stuff (which I will do in a second blog); I wanted to start the year off on a fun and hopeful note!  So every year I take note of the first song I hear and use it as a predictor of what's to come.  Now, it has to be the first song I hear in the car.  I usually go out and do this purposefully.  But this year I forgot all about it until I turned on the ignition and heard the opening musical notes of "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston (more on that later); but I quickly snapped that off, because the song MUST be a random one from the radio.  So I switched over to good old FM and found myself listening to the opening strains of "If You Leave" by OMD. I smiled, for as you know, I more or less wrote a reboot of Pretty In Pink last year; so THE UNIVERSE was at least acknowledging this!  

But isn't it interesting that both songs are about "leaving."  Now, if that doesn't tie into the EKR stuff, then I don't know what would.  Some insights:
Thelma Houston's version of "Don't Leave Me This Way" was sort of the de facto theme song from Looking for Mr. Goodbar.

Really great movie (can't watch the ending though...).  Here's Thelma:

Interestingly too; a version of this song by The Communards has become an LGBTQ+ anthem, apparently. News to me!

You may recall that the lead singer, Jimmy Somerville, had fronted the band Bronski Beat prior to The Communards and a hit with the song "Smalltown Boy" which to me, would make a lot more sense for a LGBTQ+ anthem:

That song was huge in the gay clubs when I was first coming out.  Sad Song + Good Beat = Good times!
I guess we should also check out the first version of "Don't Leave Me This Way"  

That's Harold Melvin and & The Blue Notes.  And dig that video!  Back when people really knew how to have fun (if that was filmed today, half the people would be looking at phones or watching what was happening via their phones...good times...NOT!).
Screens, screens, screens!
You know, I grew up looking at screens.  Television screens.  A lot of them.  A lot of the time.  But the thing was, you couldn't put the TV in your pocket if you went outside to play.  Or out to a club.  Or out anywhere.  If you went somewhere, you couldn't lean on it.  You were forced to interact with other humans.  Now, we're being forced to interact with Artificial Humans, and a lot of them aren't even computer programs!  Hmmmm...who could be the most Artificial Non-A/I Human (ANAIH (TM/COPYRIGHT/PAT.PEND/ALL RIGHTS RESERVED).  I think I'd have to nominate Karoline Leavitt.  She even has the appearance of a robot.  She's like a Stepford Wife but one who was willing nay, cheerfully, transformed into a Patriarchal Mouthpiece.  Hey, Andy Cohen...how about a new show: The Real Stepford Wives of Washington?  You know those gals would sign up in a maga-minute!  And wouldn't you love to seem them take on that pussy!

And after this next seriousish blog...I promise I will finish that effing Xmas story!
MWAH
SWAK
XOXOXOXOX
Chrissy Baby

CFR   2/04/26