Once Upon a Time When We Were Friends...
I remember the smell of cloves sitting at outdoor cafes on so many warm summer afternoons. We'd talk about the future and had such high hopes...
of course looking back now, we were such dreamers.
But back then there was hope... and that was enough to get us through each day... that, and the music we loved.
We don't talk much now... we've moved on and found dreams in other things... but this collection still reminds me of what might have been...
1. Gold - Spandau Ballet
2. If You Were Here - Thompson Twins
3. See You - Depeche Mode
4. Time (Clock of the Heart) - Culture Club
5. All of my Heart - ABC
6. Too Shy - Kajagoogoo
7. Moving On - The Dream Academy
8. The Ghost in You - The Psychedelic Furs
9. Whistle Down the Wind - Nick Heyward
10. Promises, Promises - Naked Eyes
11. Breaking Us in Two - Joe Jackson
12. Oblivious - Aztec Camera
13. Advice for the Young at Heart - Tears for Fears
14. When Love Breaks Down - Prefab Sprout
15. Digging Your Scene - The Blow Monkeys
16. Message to My Girl - Split Enz
17. Forever Live and Die - OMD
18. Only You - Yaz
19. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye - Soft Cell
The Yesterday Cafe v.2
Flashback...Warm Nights...
I think back to junior high school dances... what a completely awkward time.
The girls danced in circles while the boys played wallflowers and made snide remarks.
And then a slow song would come on...
The more experienced boys would show no fear and head out to the dance floor with the prettiest girls.
The rest of us would wait til the song was nearly over to make our move.
And when she accepted and moved in close, we cursed ourselves for waiting so long...
and prayed the DJ would play another slow one...
1. Forever Young - Alphaville
2. Careless Whisper - Wham
3. True - Spandau Ballet
4. Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
5. No One is to Blame - Howard Jones
6. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
7. Human - Human League
8. Crazy for You - Madonna
9. Mistake No. 3 - Culture Club
10. A Question of Lust - Depeche Mode
11. One More Time - The Cure
12. Save a Prayer - Duran Duran
13. Secret - OMD
14. Woman in Chains - Tears for Fears
15. Eyes Without a Face - Billy Idol
16. Life in a Northern Town - The Dream Academy
17. A Different Corner - George Michael
The Yesterday Cafe v.3
We Walked in Colored Fields...
It all started with a walk…
Late at night, walking towards the pier… just talking… walking was always our constant.
There were days we’d walk for miles … not saying much, but not having to.
Just the breeze and the smell of the ocean…
Things might have been terrible all around us, but the walks were always real…
and were never taken for granted.
1. Dazzle - Siouxsie & the Banshees
2. Here is the House - Depeche Mode
3. Always The Sun - The Stranglers
4. Under the Milky Way - The Church
5. There is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths
6. In Places on the Run - The Dream Academy
7. Dance Away - Roxy Music
8. Joan of Arc - OMD
9. Such a Shame - Talk Talk
10. Reap the Wild Wind - Ultravox
11. The Killing Moon - Echo & The Bunnymen
12. Butterfly on a Wheel - The Mission UK
13. Lament - The Cure
14. Ocean Blue - The Primitives
15. Iceblink Luck - The Cocteau Twins
16. Swamp Thing - The Chameleons
17. Doot Doot - Freur
The Yesterday Cafe v.4
Long Ago One Gorgeous Night...
Breaking up was always the worst…
not so much being the victim… that was out of your hands…
but knowing something was over and trying to find the strength and the courage to approach the subject.
There was no way she would ever understand…
And yet there we were, that night at the beach and I told her the truth…. and she didn’t cry…
she was hurt, but I think she knew…
and I remember she told me there wouldn’t be a next time… and there wasn’t.
1. I'll Fly For You - Spandau Ballet
2. We Let the Stars Go - Prefab Sprout
3. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me - Culture Club
4. Everyday I Write the Book - Elvis Costello
5. My Ever Changing Moods - The Style Council
6. Fantastic Day - Haircut 100
7. Am I The Same Girl - Swing Out Sister
8. You Can't Get What You Want - Joe Jackson
9. It Must Be Love - Madness
10. Hitsville UK - The Clash
11. How Men Are - Aztec Camera
12. I Don't Like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats
13. More Than This - Roxy Music
14. Shattered Dreams - Johnny Hates Jazz
15. Something About You - Level 42
16. Our Lips are Sealed - The Go-Go's
17. Never You Done That - General Public
18. We Close our Eyes - Oingo Boingo
19. Make a Circuit With Me - The Polecats
20. Stand By - Roman Holliday
The Yesterday Cafe v.5
It Happened one Summer...
The summer of 1988 will always stand out…
a friend had just turned 16 and was able to drive us around…
We'd blast the music with the windows down, thinking we were so cool...
There was just such a sense of freedom …
we’d spend nights in Coronado looking to meet girls from out of town…
we rarely did…
but it was the thrill of the hunt… the anticipation of the unknown.
1. Echo Beach - Martha & the Muffins
2. Is That Love - Squeeze
3. Don't Change - INXS
4. Postcards from Paradise - Flesh for Lulu
5. Crash - The Primitives
6. Someone's Calling - Modern English
7. A Million Miles Away - The Plimsouls
8. Jet Fighter - The Three O'Clock
9. E = MC2 - Big Audio Dynamite
10. Whisper to a Scream - The Icicle Works
11. A Sort of Homecoming - U2
12. The Stand - The Alarm
13. In a Big Country - Big Country
14. Talk to Me - The Outfield
15. Suddenly Last Summer - The Motels
16. China - Red Rockers
17. Bring on the Dancing Horses - Echo & The Bunnymen
18. Dream World - Midnight Oil
19. Tell That Girl to Shut Up - Transvision Vamp
20. Blue Highway - Billy Idol
The Yesterday Cafe v.6
We'll Always Be Together...
We met at a party… we talked... and nothing came of it.
I took her picture and carried it around with me for a while. I don’t know why really.
We didn’t have an amazing conversation or anything like that.
I just remember thinking “that’s the kind of girl I’d like to end up with.”
Down the line we met again, and once again there was just something about her.
The way she laughed and smiled… it was infectious… I was hooked.
1. Space Age Love Song - A Flock of Seagulls
2. Together in Electric Dreams - Philip Oakey
3. State of the Nation - Industry
4. Too Pieces - Yaz
5. Fade to Grey - Visage
6. Catch Me I'm Falling - Real Life
7. Loving You, Hating Me - Soft Cell
8. Feels Like Heaven - Fiction Factory
9. I Touch Roses - Book of Love
10. Let Me Go - Heaven 17
11. Madam Butterfly - Malcolm McLaren
12. The Love Parade - The Dream Academy
13. Hideaway - Erasure
14. Messages - OMD
15. It Couldn't Happen here - Pet Shop Boys
16. But Not Tonight - Depeche Mode
17. Renee - Talk Talk
The Yesterday Cafe v.7
She May Fade Away...
First Love… yes I remember it well.
Waking up with a smile on my face…
getting to school early and waiting for her to come walking down the hall.
And she’d arrive and we’d say hello and that would be about it…
maybe a note… a touch of the hand… and then off to class…
and you know what? That was all I needed.
1. Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
2. Overkill - Men At Work
3. Let's Dance - David Bowie
4. Tenderness - General Public
5. Always Something There To Remind Me - Naked Eyes
6. What is Love - Howard Jones
7. Sometimes - Erasure
8. (Keep Feeling) Fascination - Human League
9. Where Did Our Love Go - Soft Cell
10. Mad About You - Belinda Carlisle
11. Time Slips Away - Julie Brown
12. Wouldn't It Be Good - Nik Kershaw
13. You Keep Me Hanging On - Kim Wilde
14. The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
15. Destination Unknown - Missing Persons
16. The Reflex - Duran Duran
17. I'm Your Man - Wham
18. Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone - Glass Tiger
19. Never Ending Story - Limahl
20. Dreaming - OMD
The Yesterday Cafe v.8
The Match that Started My Fire...
My first trip to Melrose Avenue in L.A. had quite an effect…
I was all of 14 and it was back in the 80’s before the area became trendy and gentrified.
I remember walking down the street feeling quite familiar and yet so out of place among the Punks and the Goths that littered the streets…
I was green… I knew the music, but as far as experiences go, I’d never been anywhere.
I learned a lot that day… about the person I was and the person I wanted to become…
1. The Paris Match - The Style Council
2. Walk Out To Winter - Aztec Camera
3. The Light is Always Green - The Housemartins
4. William It Was Really Nothing - The Smiths
5. In Between Days - The Cure
6. Bad Connection - Yaz
7. The Meaning of Love - Depeche Mode
8. Nowhere Girl - B Movie
9. They Don't Know - Tracy Ullman
10. Modern Love - David Bowie
11. Vacation - The Go-Go's
12. Good Times - Hoodoo Gurus
13. I Can See It In Your Eyes - Men At Work
14. Out of Reach - The Primitives
15. Do You Wanna Hold Me - Bow Wow Wow
16. If It Happens Again - UB40
17. I Confess - The English Beat
18. Just Got Lucky - The JoBoxers
19. Don't Try to Stop It - Roman Holliday
20. Come Dancing - The Kinks
21. Love Plus One - Haircut 100
22. The Only Flame in Town - Elvis Costello
The Yesterday Cafe v.9
The Same Sad Souvenirs...
Was it all a waste of time?
The letters... the songs... the hours spent talking on the phone?
The heartache... the tears... that awful feeling in your stomach?
How can someone be the most important person in your life for a time and then be all but forgotten?
How can two people come so close... then become nothing at all?
1. Waterloo - The Dream Academy
2. Souvenir - OMD
3. It Doesn't Matter - Depeche Mode
4. The Sun Always Shines on TV -a-ha
5. Steppin Out - Joe Jackson
6. Round & Round - Spandau Ballet
7. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - The Smiths
8. I Wanna Be Loved - Elvis Costello
9. Lay Your Hands on Me - Thompson Twins
10. Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears
11. Arizona Sky - China Crisis
12. Cry So Easy - Erasure
13. Be Near Me - ABC
14. We Know How it Feels - Bronski Beat
15. Hide and Seek - Howard Jones
16. Being Boring - Pet Shop Boys
17. Moments in Love - Art of Noise
The Yesterday Cafe v.10
We've Got to Make It Last...
The thought of forgetting the past is unsettling...
A friend was recently trying to remind me of a night we spent together and I had no recollection.
It was as if it had never happened.
And then I heard a song and remembered…
It’s as if songs are little time capsules that take you back to a specific moment or person.
Maybe that’s why I still listen to all the old songs…
I don’t necessarily want to remember… I just don’t want to forget.
1. Lifeline - Spandau Ballet
2. Deep and Wide and Tall - Aztec Camera
3. The Promise - When In Rome
4. It's My Life - Talk Talk
5. Leave me To Bleed - Erasure
6. Is There Something I Should Know - Duran Duran
7. Church of the Poison Mind - Culture Club
8. Promised You a Miracle - Simple Minds
9. Don't Talk To Me About Love - Altered Images
10. Love's Taboo - Cube
11. What - Soft Cell
12. Mad World - Tears for Fears
13. Love Less - New Order
14. Proud To Fall - Ian McCulloch
15. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side - The Smiths
16. A Familiar Face - The Ocean Blue
17. The Things You Said - Depeche Mode
18. Shadowtime - Siouxsie and the Banshees
19. Please Please Please... The Dream Academy
20. If You Leave - OMD
