Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
On Tuesday someone offered me a link of Mardi Gras beads. It was a temptation I could not resist. After all, it was Fat Tuesday and placing those beads around my head brought my memory back to a blurry and cloudy Tuesday morning, stumblin thru the dirty New Orleans streets 25 years ago.
This week’s Idelic Hour has absolutely nothing to do with New Orleans or the amazing pageantry of Mardi Gras. Instead, the playlist was inspired by a Mojo compilation CD of New Order covers that had found its way onto the floor of my car.
I popped in the disc and cruised my Prius. A warm winter’s day, listening, and appreciating Barney Sumner’s lyrics via different ears. The drive made me yearn for early period New Order and the carefree days of LA in the mid ’80s. I got stuck on “Temptation” and this week’s Idelic Hour muse was born.
Much like most Sunday afternoons, I dug through crates until I made a musical connection. Funny, as I think about it, I don’t often feel lead by temptation?
I kept thinking of the 25 year old “Mardi Gras me,” trying to explain to the patient police officer why I wouldn’t be tempted to stab someone in the crowd with the pocket knife. He just nodded saying, “Son, either you or this knife is spending Mardi Gras weekend in jail.”
Ok, maybe you just had to have been there?