OK, that Britney perfume stanks. STANKS I tell you. But I ain't mad at her; make your money girl. And just a footnote, if I smell it on any one of you when you're in the club, I will call you out on it. Trust.
Damn I love summertime in the city. The people, the food, the hot sticky weather; it's perfect for a drive in the car. In truth, I don't have a car myself, but I make it a point to rent one now and again just to cruise up and down the streets with the windows down listening to some good music. With that in mind, I bring you this week's column, chock full of music to listen to with the windows down and the breeze in your hair.
Nothing says driving in a car like Aretha Franklin. 'Freeway of Love' made me want to get a job as a Mary Kay sales lady just so I had a pink Cadillac of my own. It took me years to understand she was saying 'Drop the pedal and go...'
Whoo, and speaking of big girls, Chaka Khan with Steve Winwood singing 'Higher Love' can always get my motor running. It's one of those songs that makes the diva in me surface. I came very close to getting a speeding ticket South Downtown on Lake Shore Drive during the bridge of that song. 'Braaaaang me a higher love, woah-ohhh!'
Anything by the Spice Girls, my ultra-pop guilty pleasure group, makes a car ride better. From the slow strains of '2 become 1' to the bright and shiny 'Say You'll Be There,' I'm a Spice-a-holic and I can't help it. Plus, when you're bumping that on Halsted, ALL the menz turn and look at you. To the closet Spice Girls lovers out there, say it with me 'Slam your body down and zigazig ahhhh...'.
But that's all for driving by day. At night the rules change. The grooves have to be sexier and the beats funkier. The night air in Chicago demands good music.
Enigma's 'Sadness' is flawless for the evening. 'In The Waiting Line' by Zero 7 is haunting and dripping with sex. 'Creep' by TLC is a classic driving song. So is 'Didnt'cha Know' by Erykah Badu.
Virtually any Anita Baker album is fantastic after dark in the car, as is any Miles Davis within reach. Drop in a Luther Vandross track, some Nina Simone, a dash of Boney James' saxophonic bliss, and you're nearly ready to park the car and move the party into the back seat.
Finally, one of the best songs for the car is 'Cruisin'' by Smokey Robinson. It's clear and to the point; 'The music is played for love. Cruisin' is made for love, I love it when we're cruisin' together.'
With the windows down in 4/4,
Peter Mavrik
peter@windycitymediagroup.com
