I was in Tanzania. I was drunk. It had been a long night out, and my friend Paul and I were on our way home. We had just finished playing our favorite game, "Try To Confuse The Shit Out Of The Cab Driver By Using Rudimentary Swahili To Say Ridiculous Things" and we had a pretty good time of it (I was trying to explain the plot of The Empire Strikes Back from the point of view of Darth Vader [I think it went pretty well]).
The driver had the radio turned up. That usually consists of "Bongo Flava", local Tanzanian jams, which sort of sounds like a cruel version of Sean Paul karaoke. But then, it happened. Out of nowhere, the sound of the 1980's invaded the car. I felt like the most salient moments of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Risky Business all wrapped up into five wonderful minutes. I memorized as many of the lyrics as I could, wrote them down, and searched for them the next time I was around the internet. From there, my relationship with Nu Shooz was born.
I don't know much about Nu Shooz. Apparently they're a husband-wife pair (that never works out), and they actually managed to make it through 3 albums before someone in charge finally figured out they were hopeless. They have one video for a song that sounds like Paula Abdul covering the theme from ToeJam and Earl. But that doesn't take anything away from the glory of "Lost Your Number". It really is an entire decade rolled up into 5 minutes of music, completely summarizing everything there is to love and hate about the 80s. And with this song, I bet you'll find yourself a bit more on the loving side.
Nu Shooz - Lost Your Number
Listen to the lyrics. Let them take you away. She lost his number. How can she call him? I honestly have no idea. There was no Facebook. I'm not even sure she had a cell phone. Its tragic. But so wonderful. I mean the first line references a pay phone, could you ask for more?
So just let that 80s vibe wash over you, and then go add it to your dance mix.
Hat Tip: Stephen the cab driver
