Memories of the Past

You know how sometimes, when you hear a song, it just brings back loads and loads of memories?

Well, it happened to me today, when I was driving in the car, and Mony Mony by Billy Idol came on.  Of course, being the closet Mambo Junkie that I am, I started singing along.  I also included the rude parts in between. heh.

Of course, this brought me back to the days that I used to party in Hard Rock Cafe.  From the times that I was still carrying a green IC to the times when I carried a crew pass.  I spent most of my off days (or nights) in that one particular place.  I was practically a frequent flyer there. haha.

I used to remember that whenever the party was nearing the time when everyone was almost in delirium, you would see the service staff start bringing chairs to the stage, you would definitely know which song was going to come up next.  Now, the next part, would always leave you wondering the next morning why the hell you even attempted to do such a thing, which was to headbang throughout the whole song.  For anyone who has ever tried to do it, you would know what I am talking about.  It was a sure fire way of getting a stiff neck for the next few days.

But we never did care, because the next week, when we were all partying like madmen/women, we would do the same thing all over again, and go home with the same bloody stiff neck.

Well, there you go, I just wanted to share this memory with you all and hopefully stir up some ole memories from the past for you.

In the meantime, here are some fun facts about the song…..

1. “Mony Mony” was first released in 1968 by Tommy James and The Shondells.
2. It became a bit hit for Billy Idol in 1987.
3. Here’s a true story about the title of a song from an interview with Tommy James in a 1995 interview for Hitch magazine…”True story: I had the track done before I had a title. I wanted something catchy like “Sloopy” or “Bony Maroney,” but everything sounded so stupid. So Ritchie Cordell and I were writing it in New York City, and we were about to throw in the towel when I went out onto the terrace, looked up and saw the Mutual of New York building (which has its initials illuminated in red at its top). I said, “That’s gotta be it! Ritchie, come here, you’ve gotta see this!” It’s almost as if God Himself had said, “Here’s the title.” I’ve always thought that if I had looked the other way, it might have been called “Hotel Taft”.
4. Although it does not have any obscene lyrics, the song is often banned because of the chant that became notorious after a live version was released on one of Billy’s albums “Vital Idol” in 1987 and it topped the US charts.
5. Weird Al Yankovic recorded a parody of the Billy Idol version titled “Alimony” and it is about a recently divorced man complaining about his ex wife taking away everything he owns in alimony payments.

So there you have it!  Some “interesting” facts about the song.