Though I was, poolside, a closeted fan of the Tongan family synth-pop of the Jets, it was taboo for a fifth-grade male to enjoy the same group kids still watching the Disney Channel dug. A vivid memory from that year, besides Ms. Orange, was the x-tian girl whose parents would only allow her to listen to the Jets and Billy Joel. (?) She was a crazed Jets fan, knew all their names, joined the fan club, constantly wore the official neon-green Jets fan club sweatshirt. It was like brother DUG obsessed with only Huey Lewis and the News for a good 12 months.
She’d line-up her tapes on the desk every morning before class – who could forget Magic with the hits “Cross My Broken Heart,” “Rock It to You,” and “Make it Real,” or The Jets S/T LP featuring my poolside selection of the week, “Crush on You” ?? Those would be sandwiched by her holy grail bookends, The Stranger and An Innocent Man. Escaping renditions of “Uptown Girl” were futile. But the Jets – full of hits. And now I find they came from Minnesota – which may explain the sugary Jam and Lewis-esque funk of these tracks. There were eight of them, so this dance-pop had to be dense. It’s only a matter of time before the blog-housers start to pilfer everything teen-pop from Mandy Moore’s “Candy” on back.
This edition was meant for Starpoint, and their curiously wonderful Object of My Desire, if just for the roller-skate lcd popcorn synth that kicks it off. Strangely, the only version I could find is their one and only appearance on Soul Train – unable to embed. FAIL.
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