What'sa matta you?

(photo via www.vinyl4u.eu)

So when we were back in Michigan my sister and I had the opportunity to go through some of our old records. ("Opportunity" meaning my Dad said we needed to get our crap out of the basement, even though one tiny box of records pales in comparison to the "Hoarders"-like activity the parents have going on down there.) Remember records? They were before iTunes, CDs and cassette tapes but after 8-tracks. Not only did we have records, we actually had a pretty decent collection of 45s that I didn't remember having. And yes, that makes us really, really old. It's weird that Tate will never know what it was like to listen for hours for his favorite song to come on the radio. Or, to avoid that wait, to go out and buy the single with some generally crappy song by the same artist on the B-side.

Looking through our records I was pretty excited. They must be worth something, right? I had visions of my sister and me cashing in our collection and sending our kids to college until a quick eBay search revealed our "My Sharona" single listed for .99 cents. With no bidders. Oh well.

In addition to "My Sharona" our collection also included Blondie's "The Tide Is High," Eddie Rabbitt's "I Love a Rainy Night," Newcleus' "Jam On It" (even Brad doesn't remember that one; it's listed in Wikipedia as "old school hip hop" and may be the first and last time I was on music's cutting edge), and Joe Dolce's "Shaddup You Face." My sister and I didn't remember the name Joe Dolce, but "Shaddup You Face" brought back a lot of fun memories.

What'sa matta you, hey!
Gotta no respect, whatta you think you do,
Why you looka so sad? It's-a not so bad, it's-a nice-a place,
Ah, shaddap you face!

I did some Googling, and did you know that (as of 2005 when this article was written) "Shaddup You Face" is Australia's highest selling single ever? EVER! What about Olivia Newton John? AC/DC? Air Supply? INXS? Rick Springfield (who Brad reminded me was born in Australia)? Did "Shaddup You Face" seriously trump sales of "Jessie's Girl" at home?

Maybe it was more than just a song. To re-quote a music journalist quoted in the above-mentioned article:

"Shaddap You Face summed up the change in Australia when multiculturalism displaced the derogatory label 'New Australian', when colourful Immigration Minister Al Grassby regularly graced the national stage, and SBS was about to take to the air..."

I'm pretty sure my sister and I were not tapped into any cultural undercurrents in Australia. I'm pretty sure we didn't even know it was an Australian single. Mostly I think we just liked being able to say "Shaddup You Face" to each other over and over without getting in trouble. Hey!