A plea to the Metro athletic department
by Zach Brooks
The Metropolitan
I have to confess that I've never been to a Metro sporting event (or a CU sporting event for that matter). In fact, I have never been to any sporting event where I was not with either my family or various friends' families.
If I were so inclined, I could probably show a statistically significant inverse correlation between love of sports and love of music.
I am a nerd and I can live with that.
However, that does not mean that I have any disdain for the athletics department. The jocks on this campus are not exactly the jocks from "Revenge of the Nerds." In fact, at this point I'm happy the Metro athletic department still exists.
With the recent slew of state budget cuts, its head was on the cutting block. Luckily, the Roadrunners prevailed (at least until next year) and can continue to kick ass in whatever the hell division they're in. It was not only a victory for the teams and fans, but a victory-albeit a small one-for higher education in these troubled times.
Before I digress into politics, I should return to what's important: music. As I was saying, I've never been to a Metro sporting event, but I think I can safely assume that the song "Roadrunner" by The Modern Lovers is not being blasted from those hollow-sounding gym speakers. The reason is that most non-nerds do not know who The Modern Lovers are (remember that correlation).
A quick history: They were around in Boston in the mid-1970s. After the demise of the original lineup (which, unfortunately, did not last as long as the name) the keyboard player joined the Talking Heads and the drummer founded The Cars. The singer/life-blood, Jonathan Richman, records for a small, loyal, very new English fan base to this day. He was also the guy who got shot at the end of "There's Something About Mary."
Strangely, The Modern Lovers were friends with Gram Parsons. The Strokes kind of sound like them.
Of course, for you non-nerds, none of this is important. What is important is they have a song called "Roadrunner," which has the chantable, easily-comprehensible lyrics: "Roadrunner, Roadrunner! Goin' a thousand miles an hour!"
Sure, it's about driving around listening to oldies, but "Welcome to the Jungle" is about drugs and they always play that at sporting events.
So, hey, Metro athletic department, Jonathan Richman needs a new pair of shoes. Just do it. Head on down to Wax Trax and pick it up. It may be under "M," it may be under "R," but it's still in print on their ingenious, self-titled first album and various best-of compilations. Why play "We Will Rock You" and all the other standards when there's such a perfect song you can take for your own?
"Got your radio on? Oh yeah. That's right."
|
