Saturday 9

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS (1999)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about a cheating boyfriend. Unlike most songs, where the lover deceives by seeing another, this one squanders his girl's financial resources. She sings that he's ruined her credit. Do you know your credit score? Yes. I check it every month. It's a good (though far from fool proof) way to see if your identity or account info have been stolen.

2) How often do you pay your bills? Do you handle them as they come in, or do you pay weekly, bi-weekly or monthly? Or are you lucky enough to have someone else handle your bills? Every Wednesday, if I can. I get paid on the 15th and the last day of the month, so some bills have to wait more than a week for payday to arrive.

3) Destiny's Child had a hit with "Bills, Bills, Bills." This girl group got their start in Houston, TX. During the recent, bruising storm, lead singer Beyonce sent food, money and water to her home state. Have you spent much time in the Lone Star State? I toured the Dallas area with my client's sales rep to get a better idea of their business in the region. It was early in my career, and it felt very sophisticated ... flying out, taking the sales rep to lunch and paying with my expense account (!), swimming in the motel pool before I turned in for the night. In retrospect, I smile because the rep and I ate at Chili's and it was such a modest motel. I bet it was one of the cheapest expense reports the accounting team ever received! But it's still a fond memory.

4) Beyonce is the breakout star of the group and went on to have a highly successful solo career. Can you think of another star who began his/her career as the member of a group? The supreme Miss Ross. With the passing of Mary Wilson earlier this year, Diana Ross is the last of the original Supremes who blasted onto the charts in 1964.

 

Florence, Mary and Diana

 

5) "Bills, Bills, Bills" was performed a cappella by the kids on Glee. That Fox show ran for six seasons. Were you a fan? I never saw it. But I have friends who were rabid fans.

 

6) In 1999, when this song was on the charts, SpongeBob SquarePants premiered. The show remains popular among the younger set. Have you ever seen it? Oh, this makes me wistful. My nephew was obsessed and Patrick the Starfish was his favorite. Now in his junior year of college, I'm very proud of my nephew and the young man he's become. But I miss the little boy who parroted Patrick's dumb jokes.

 

via GIPHY

7) SpongeBob has become an industry, spawning movies, a Broadway musical, video games and both coloring and comic books. Once considered children's amusements, today coloring and comic books enjoy a following among adults. Have you recently enjoyed coloring or reading a comic book? Nope.

8) Also in 1999, Walmart expanded to the United Kingdom. Do you shop at Walmart? No. I went there a couple times years ago and found it depressing. Shoppers weren't watching their kids and the people who worked there seemed positively wretched, like they wished they could be anywhere else. During the pandemic, though, walmart.com has really come through. Love it! And my cat Reynaldo loves their boxes.

9) Random question -- We've all met people who aren't exactly as they present themselves. Are you good at spotting a phony? I admit I have been fooled.