BENNETT MEDIA: My life is as good as an ABBA song

12.18.2020

My life is as good as an ABBA song

I am just as deeply involved with music, as I am with film, my very significant other, and a whole slew of other things. And I'm just as picky about my taste. I have a lot of filters when it comes to art and people. In extremely rare cases, something will strike my pineal gland just right, and become an obsession. And if you somehow managed to slip light through my cracks, and leave your forever mark, you can absolutely bet that there's a story with it.

Like the rest of you, I initially grew up on my parents' musical choices. And living with a single teen mom in the 80s meant that disco sucked and Van Halen was the Second Coming. I still know all those songs by heart, and get chills with Def Leppard. Summer means hair bands, and sweaty windows down, even if my own body is trying to reject that notion.

Then came my own boombox, radio, giant headphones, and CD player. This was a gift after my mom freaked out and had a small nervous breakdown with how many times I played "The Sign" by Ace of Base. I began a Columbia House subscription - I'd pay a small fortune to pick any music I wanted, and have it delivered right to my house. Unfortunately by now it was 1993, and music had become the wiener dog of the art form. Spare a few exceptions that I would not become aware of until much later in life.

Lest we forget the all-too-important and super-influential friends and boyfriends. If you had cool ones with really good taste, they would give you a mixtape. Either to help you out, and let you in the inner circle of artistic orgasm, or to tell you they loved you or wanted to fuck you, through the words of other peoples' art. Most often the latter. Or you could go with your social circle to a live venue. As an adolescent right of passage and public share of body odor. Unless that invitation never came to you, and you didn't go to your first concert until you were 18. And it was Weezer, 7 years too late.

But there was always music in Cinema. And a movie can be good or bad and have an amazing soundtrack. Remember Roger Avery's use of "Without You" in The Rules of Attraction? Not only was my job at Blockbuster fueling my affair with film, it was giving me my proper introduction to music. And suddenly having my own personal computer, and Bear Share, I could find the song I heard in the movie, and then download it, illegally, for free. I would listen to it a thousand times. And if I was lucky, I would find a record, by the same artist, in the local junk shop, thus birthing the band fever.

Here are the first ten movies I thought of, where the stars aligned, and everything came to fruition.

- Babes

Muriel's Wedding - ABBA