Juke box money.

A friend of mine sent this the other day, which made me laugh.

It's impressive that a reference to a 33-year-old song can be so funny and for so many people. I don't know if in 1989 a joke centered on a song from 1956 would have worked as well, but "Love Shack" was a monster hit. It was the B-52's first top-40 hit in the United States, where it reached number 3, and was in the top 5 throughout the Anglosphere. 

"Heartbreak Hotel" was the top song of 1956, by the way, and was certainly well known in 1989, but it doesn't lend itself to this kind of gag. However, one thing it did in 1990 was provide half of "Heartbreaker (At the End of Lonely Street)" for Dread Zeppelin, a reggae band fronted by an Elvis impersonator that did Led Zeppelin covers -- or, in this case, a mashup of "Heartbreaker" and "Heartbreak Hotel." 

So there's that.

Thinking of the B-52's following that Twitter gag and my experience with the Cosmic Crisp apple a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of one of my brushes with greatness in the city. I was in Manhattan with one of my old pals; we met for lunch at a little Mexican place downtown. My friend has the uncanny ability to spot celebrities, which I seldom do -- just in my presence he has seen Jack Klugman and Marshall Crenshaw, and a few others that I can't recall at the moment. On this day as we set to lunch, he gave me one of those "don't-look-now-but" whispers, and sure enough Fred Schneider was in a corner, lunching alone. I only caught a glance, but that hangdog face, like the worst salesman in an Oldsmobile dealership, is instantly recognizable. Also, he looked shorter than I expected, as most celebrities are in real life. 

As much as I like to greet other Freds, especially those with money, we let him alone. The urge was very strong to go over and say something like, "Space junk--laser bombs--ozone holes! Better eat up that quesadilla!" in my best Schneider impersonation. But I respect others' privacy, as does my pal; if Fred had wanted company he wouldn't be eating alone, I figure. 

Anyway, I have nothing much to add except that I have been informed there is a cover band in the UK called Fred Zeppelin. No relation.