In-Flight Safety, The TVD First Date

“I am sitting at home as I write this. In my childhood bedroom. I am digging through closets and finding hard evidence that these memories are real. Here we go…”

“Something primal happened when I first heard that song. It was something to do with the older skater kids in the neighborhood—some even went on to go pro. We followed them around like puppies. Their ’80s decks, oversized neon wheels, their quarter pipes, their ninja paraphernalia. We worshipped them.

The song was catchy as hell but the video terrifying. We sang along like tiny rockers: “We’re not gonna take it, no we ain’t gonna take it, we’re not gonna take it any more!” I had no idea what I was not going ‘to take’ but I love, love, loved that song. I begged my mom to buy the single. We went to the record store at the mall and bought the 45 on vinyl. I played that A-side over and over on one of those huge cabinet record players—the ones that every family had in their basement.

Growing up in Moncton my mom had a wealth of 45s. She favoured radio hits, and songs from popular films. She would sing melodies to the record store clerks because she could never remember lyrics. I treasured that collection. I still have them in a shoebox.

There were also a few 50s singles for good measure (Everly Brothers), and the odd ’70s rocker—I am looking at you Zeppelin. But I obsessed over Axel F, Banarama, Peter Cetera’s Karate Kid song, the ’80s Stevie Wonder, and then one day sitting on the carpet at a friend’s house someone put on “Push it” by Salt n Pepa. Shit got real. I immediately loved that song so much. I got the vinyl single that Christmas and the future was written. We danced in the basement like freaks to those synths and drum machines. We graffiti’d my parents’ walls. Seriously, we’d eventually graffiti the entire basement until my parents simply gave up.

That synth melody was king in that basement until Billy Corgan and Kurt Cobain came around and reminded us why we loved the guitar.”
—John Mullane