Color me super excited! I am so pleased to throw my blog in the link-up with The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick for this Friday’s topic – Five Gateway Fandoms.
Now, if you’ve read my blog, you know that I like a looooot of stuff. But, even little Dahlia had her predilections (I love that word) and exquisite tastes. Which of course, were the gateway to even more predilections and super exquisite tastes. So sit back, dear reader, and find out what made me what I am today!
1. Girl Rockers – Joan Jett and Pat Benatar
Back when I was a wee impressionable one, they didn’t have a lot of ladies to identify with. Sure there was Babs and a folk singer or two, but the roof was really raised when Joan Jett and the Blackhearts hit the scene with “I Love Rock and Roll” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”. The heavy, recognizable guitar riff (wielded by a girl!) along with the tough look of black jeans, eyeliner and cool-ass hair…well, you can’t get any better than Joan Jett!
While Pat had a sweeter, smoother voice and her husband and band did most of the heavy musical lifting, “Hell is for Children”, “Promises in the Dark”, and her “breakout hit”, “Love is a Battlefield” had me singing in front of my mirror with a hairbrush and cutting my hair short!
2. The Police
I don’t even know where to start when these fellas. Suffice to say that I’ve seen nearly every movie Sting was in, even if he was simply there like…Dune (all I can say is….whaaaa? about that movie.) I even tracked down a 1983 Playgirl magazine to read his interview and I’m sure there’s a stack of magazine cut outs, Tiger Beats and Rolling Stones with them on the cover. That’s not counting the magazines my friends and I would BEG to order from England because just had to have the latest Police news. Also, purchased Carl Jung’s Synchronicity.
3. Star Wars
1977 in a movie theater that has since long closed. Feet sticking to the floor (of course) I watched the spectacle unfold. I had a remote control R2D2 robot. I was Darth Vader for Halloween. I was a Han Solo girl to the max and even have an autographed picture of Harrison Ford somewhere at my mom’s house. Before les Internets, we sat down and wrote our fave stars letters….and sometimes got and answer. I remember standing in the RAIN to line up to see Return of the Jedi. Wow. When they came along with those….other films…I kinda ignored the whole thing. However, I will sit down and watch Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and to a lesser degree The Return of the Jedi when they are on.
4. Mystery Science Theater 3000
This was what Saturday mornings were all about! Terrible movies with people actually cracking jokes about how terrible they really were. My favorite of ALL TIME? The Pod People. Awfulness at its finest. You can’t beat MST3K.
5. The Chronicles of Narnia
Who hasn’t, after reading these books, gone and knocked on the back of a closet or two? I firmly believe in the “you never know” and that magic can always around the corner. I’ve gone through so many sets of these books…I order a new set every two years, so they’re always a complete set around. My son had picked up an appreciate for Narnia also, and I certainly hope it brings magic into his life.
Some Honorable Mentions
Frank Sinatra – That’s cool music, baby!
Duran Duran
The Sims
The Little House Books
Most of these in this post, I still read and listen to today.