Cut from the Loverboy mold of rocking gently and non-offensively (which sounds like an insult, I realize, but isnÁ¢€â„¢t really), Niagra Falls, CanadaÁ¢€â„¢s Honeymoon Suite (get it? GET IT?!?) got their big break when their self-produced single Á¢€Å“New Girl NowÁ¢€ won a radio contest, attracting the attention of Warner Brothers Records in 1984.
Á¢€Å“New Girl NowÁ¢€ is a nearly perfect slice of 1984, from the shiny synth chords laid over a pristine guitar crunch, to the low-budget video featuring our hero, The Lead Singer, trying his best to dump his girlfriend who bears more than a passing resemblance to Imogene Coca. The fact that heÁ¢€â„¢d want to ditch this chick is understandable, given her propensity to call him at all hours and throw bricks thru his window, but why then is his New Girl Now Á¢€Å“a lot like youÁ¢€? Some guys never learnÁ¢€¦or they just crave psycho strangestrange.
This song was another of my secret guilty pleasures back then, the 45 tucked away between my Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen albums, lest I lose my punker cred. Back then, my friends and I would listen to it in an ironic fashion, mockingly air guitar-ing along to the solo and pumping our fists at the Á¢€Å“SHEÁ¢€â„¢S JUSSS LAHK YOO!Á¢€ part at the end. Today, I love it unabashedly and without shame. I mean, 3:37Á¢€¦intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus to end. Perfect.
Honeymoon Suite went on to have a slightly bigger hit two years later with a single called Á¢€Å“Feel It AgainÁ¢€, but that DIY AOR feeling was gone. The band had quite a few hits up north, but limped along in the States. TheyÁ¢€â„¢re still together, apparently, releasing a new album in 2002.
But for now, itÁ¢€â„¢s 2005, Friday night, June, summertime, hot summer nightÁ¢€¦storm clouds in the air Á¢€” get in the car, roll down the windows, and blast this tonight. YouÁ¢€â„¢ll thank me Monday.
Download “New Girl Now”.
Purchase Honeymoon Suite’s debut.
Á¢€New Girl NowÁ¢€ peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984.
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