Vasily is a polychaetologist, a worm expert, and a colleague of Leslie's. He is a native of Russia and lives in Vladivostok, across the pond. He visited us for several weeks this month, traveling to Pasadena from Rio de Janeiro Brazil where he spends a good deal of his time.
Vasily told us about a song entitled Pasadena. He described it as being one of the most popular pop tunes in Russia. Neither Leslie nor I had the foggiest idea of what he was talking about.
After his return to Rio he sent an mp3 of the tune with this description:
This is THE MOST popular song in whole Russia, including everfrozen Siberia!!!Of course, English is his second langauge (and Portuguese his third) but I think you can get his point.
Every Russian dreams to come to Pasadena, even has no any idea where it is and what's about this song! But it is so heart and soul taking that became EXTREMELY popular in my country!
Well, I am the happiest Siberian because I managed to get my feet in Pasadena!!!!
Pasadena, as it turns out, is an 80's Europop tune by a Dutch group called Maywood, a kind of girl group, a duet. ABBA without the B's. Here's a video of the song Pasadena. Enjoy.
Maybe Pasadena should consider making this our city song.
Here's the Wikipedia entry for the group Maywood. Not too informative. Here's the Maywood "offical" website. More informative. You can find the lyrics to Pasadena with a couple of clicks.
Mixed Meters has had prior brushes with Europop music.
Read One Goldberg Equals Twelve ABBAs.
Also check out Boogie Woogie Worldwide - scroll down to the part about Cheezy-Euro-Disco and M.A.Numminen.
ADDENDUM: Thanks to one of Mixed Meters' Three Readers, Ben Harper, who sent this link to another unknown-to-me work of Pasadena-eponymous musical art. Enjoy.
5 comments :
Damn you. Now I've got this song stuck in my head.
Thanks Ben. That was so good I had to add it to the main post - with appropriate finder's credit of course.
The Capitan Theater? (It's one of the stills in the video.) It didn't look familiar to me. It isn't a picture of Disney's famous EL Capitan Theater in Hollywood - miles away. A little web search indicates that this Capitan is actually in Pasadena, Texas, a whole different place.
So is it Pasadena CA or Pasadena Texas? but then again Maywood (where my grandmother moved when she first came out to CA to work at Assyrian Uniroyal)
can you ask your wife about the glow worms that show up at the base of Camel's Hump down in the lower Arroyo? The name? such a rare sight
btw: this post is f-u-n-n-y!!!
I suspect the notion of California vs. Texas may have simply eluded the maker of the second video - much as New South Wales and Queensland combine into one non-existant place for the average geo-phobic American. But whoever picked the pictures used more Pasadena California pictures than Pasadena Texas ones. We can take some pride in that. No?
PA: I forwarded your question about glow worms to Leslie who responded thusly:
She needs an entomologist, not a polychaetologist. If she's willing to take pics or pick up a few of the worms I'd be happy to pass them by our entomology department. Anything for one of my husband's three readers!
Personally, I wouldn't pick them up. I'd put them in a baggie or a jar.
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