Months ago I was walking in a park. A band composed of three teenage boys was playing a song that I recognized. I recognized it as “What I Like About You” by the Kinks.
After a minute or two it came to me that I had recognized wrongly. The song sounds like the Kinks, but it’s not. It was recorded in a later era, by a band in the Eighties.
My next thought was that I had heard “What I Like About You” by the Replacements.
But again I was wrong; I realized that it was not by the Replacements, although they are considered an iconic Eighties alternative band. I felt duly embarrassed by my error.
As I walked along, I continued to ponder.
Was it the Refreshments?
No, the Refreshments did the King of the Hill theme song, and that song about giving your ID card to the border guard.
Was it the Rembrandts?
I spent the rest of the day thinking, but I couldn’t remember who sang “What I Like About You”. Not remembering bothered me. I’ve been hearing the song for most of my life, and I used to know who the band was, and I’m a music snob, so I should know these things. Finally, late at night, I gave up on trying to figure it out, and checked the internet.
It wasn’t the Replacements, or the Refreshments, or the Rembrandts . . . it was the Romantics.
But perhaps you can understand my confusion.
