What Has Happened to Friday Night?

When I was in my twenties, Friday nights were the best. My theme song was ‘Shake It Baby’ by Terence Boylan. (Google it.) Yeah, yeah, I know…it’s from like 1976. And yes, I was in my twenties in the 90’s not the 70’s. But the song is on the “Fastimes Soundtrack” and if you listen to the words it’s more than relevant.  

“…Shake it baby, shake it all you can tonight, break ’em, break ’em baby break ’em all you can tonight. It won’t last forever, so do it for worse or for better, give the boys something to dream on later…”

I mean really, does that sum it up or what? I loved to listen to this song as I was gettting ready–teasing my big blonde hair, carefully doing my sexy eye make-up, wrestling on my tight black pants (always black pants). Yes, we had other more current “pumpers” that we’d blast before heading out into the night–‘The Immigrant Song’ by Led Zeppelin (I know, it wasn’t exactly current then either, but it’s a great party song and totally reminded us of our college days, pre-funcing at SAE). Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ‘Sin’ by Nine Inch Nails were other frequent choices that helped get us in the mood. And whenever I was going out on the town with my “boy bestie,” EZ, we’d always belt out ‘I Need a Lover Who Won’t Drive Me Crazy’ because really we found most people to be totally annoying and not nearly as fun as we were. 

Friday nights were full of anticipation and the unknown. We’d start out at some dive bar in the city and eventually walk for blocks and blocks to go dancing. Giant platform shoes and painted on pants didn’t hold us back. We were young and free and nothing phased us. When we’d finally get to our favorite night club we’d dance our asses off for hours. I preferred to dance alone in a sort of cage, because up-there I could really get into it and go wild. I didn’t have to worry about making eye contact with some boy who surely couldn’t keep up with my killer moves. We’d work off the free jello shots and multiple vodka crans we’d downed earlier by shakin’ our money makers well into the wee hours of the night. When the club finally closed, it’d officially be morning, and we’d head to the all-night breakfast joint that catered to our fellow creatures of the night.

Somehow, we’d make it to one of our homes and crash until the afternoon. We’d bum around all day, watching movies and hanging out, until we had to get ready. After all, it was now Saturday night, time to do it all again.

Ahhhh, to be young… Oops, it’s after 8:30, time to get the kids to bed. Maybe we’ll get really crazy and watch a movie On Demand? Or maybe we’ll just drink some wine, listen to ‘Shake It Baby’ and remember what it was like to be young… Or maybe we’ll just go to sleep?

*I totally forgot about this cartoon that a graphic artist made for me after spending a night on the town with us. Look closely and you’ll see what a typical Friday night looked like back in the day!