Ssturday 9

Saturday 9: Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (1987)

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

1) In this song, Gracie Slick challenges, "Let them say we're crazy!" Tell us about something you're glad you did, even though your friends or family may have advised you against it. Going on vacation alone. Decades ago – back in the 1990s – a friend and I bought a spa package to the Arlington in Hot Springs. Her little boy (now married!) got sick and she cancelled at the last minute when it was too late for us to get a full refund. I went by myself and had double the hot tub soaks and massages. It was bliss! I began taking solo spa trips every spring for years. I was warned it wasn't safe, that I would be lonely, that it would feel awkward. It never was any of those things. I always came back from these trips rejuvenated by the alone time, and with more focus and insight. 

 

2) Slick is the lead singer of Jefferson Starship. This band got its start in 1965 as Jefferson Airplane but updated their name in 1974. Part of their reasoning was that by the 1970s, airplane travel was commonplace. In 2023, an estimated 820 million Americans flew domestically. When was your most recent flight? When is your next one? My last flight was ORD-LAX and back for the TCM Classic Film Festival last month. My next will be to/from Grand Rapids, Michigan. My niece is adopting a baby who will be born in June. I hope to travel up there some time in the early fall to meet my grand niece.🤞

 
3) Songwriter Albert Hammond said the song was inspired by his divorce. After years of legal wrangling, he was finally free to marry his long-time, long-suffering girlfriend. They're still married today. What is something you waited a long time for? Was it worth the wait? Retirement! As with any major life event, it was disruptive, a little scary and took me a long time to get used to. But yes, I love being able to call my days my own for the first time since I was 17.

 

4) Albert Hammond is perhaps best known as the one-hit wonder who sang, "It Never Rains in Southern California." Is rain expected where you are today? No.

 

5) He co-wrote the song with Diane Warren. In January, she lost her home to the Los Angeles fires. When a friend is confronted by heartache or tragedy, what can you say or do for them? What shouldn't you say or do? I tell them they are in my heart and my prayers. I send cards and emails to reinforce that I am here for them. I do not tell them this (whatever it is) was God's will. I am not presumptuous enough to speak for God! Plus everyone's relationship with God is individual and I respect that. BTW, something Joe Biden often said has helped me through a period of grief: "There will come a day, I promise you, that the memory of your loved one will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye." Wise, sensitive and hopeful words.

6) "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" was the love theme to the romantic fantasy Mannequin. In that movie, a department store mannequin comes to life and falls for a struggling artist. While it was a moderate success at the box office, the gritty Vietnam drama Platoon was a much bigger hit. When you sit down to watch a movie, what genre would you prefer (fantasy, romance, comedy, drama, etc.)? I have a hankering to spend time with the Marx Brothers, so my answer must be comedy. (I love watching Groucho dance. The man cracks me up. And Harpo is so adorable.)

 

 
7) In 1987, when this song was popular, Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Aretha was proud of her Detroit roots. Have you been to Michigan? If yes, where did you go? I've been to Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids to visit various family members. I've never been to Detroit. It might be fun to go up there to see the Tigers play.

 

8) In 1987, the Chevy Corvette made news by adding a low tire pressure light to its dashboard. When you're driving and a yellow warning light comes on, do you handle the issue promptly? Or is it something you'll get to when you get around to it? No car. But I did learn, while I was working for a car care client, that drivers often consider yellow or orange warning lights as "low priority." That attitude, while common, is a good way to do real damage to your vehicle. (Listen to the lady who doesn't drive.)

9) Random question: A magic mirror reflects your appearance five years from today. Would you look at it? I don't know. I lost two close friends in 2024 and wonder how I would feel if I looked into the mirror and didn't see anything. (I know, that's a serious answer to a frivolous question. Sorry to be such a bummer.)