Melody Monday - Vol. 5 — Modified Blue

Hi-Five - I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)

You’re 12 years old, it’s Friday night and your older sibling just dropped you off at the local skating rink to meet up with your friends. You brought the new in-line skates you got for your birthday and you can’t wait to put them to the test. The DJ has been spinning sick R&B tracks all night and puts on this throwback you don’t recognize immediately. What do you do?

A) Complain that they haven’t played “It’s All About the Benjamins” by Puff Daddy within the last hour.

B) Take a break and try to look cool with your friends by the snack bar.

C) Jam this funky old school track and speed skate by the mija you’ve been exchanging glances with.

The correct answer is C. She’ll certainly be impressed by your roller blading skills for one, but more importantly she’ll like that you’re a “go with the flow” kind of dude.

Okay maybe I’m embellishing a little here. I don’t remember if I ever heard “I Like The Way” at the skating rink 20+ years ago, but I certainly could have. I spent a lot of time at Car-Vel Skate Center on Bandera Road growing up and we always looked forward to the Friday night hang outs. It’s strange to think of now, that essentially we were allowed to spend hours there with minimal supervision and no way of contacting our parents other than using the office phone for emergencies.

If I recall correctly, for the last hour they’d play freestyle music and the place would turn into somewhat of a prepubescent dance party. The rink would be peppered with kids trying to breakdance or spark that awkward connection they’d been putting off all night. Me? Probably back behind the snack bar playing The Kissing Game with that mija.

Happy Melody Monday!

Special thanks to Napoleon Wicks for selling this album to CD Exchange at some point.