In most of the northern hemisphere, the middle of June is perfect pool weather. It’s hot, but not suffocatingly hot like it can be in July, August, and September. Also, it’s close enough to the end of winter that everyone is still excited about getting out into the sun.

Today’s theme is thus Tik Tok girls posing next to pools. But more on that later…

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Sprots News

In a little less than 4 hours, we will have the Brisbane Lions taking on the Fremantle Dockers from their home stadium of The Gabba in beautiful and sunny Queensland. The game will be shown live and in colour on Fox Sports 2 in the United States starting at 8:30 PM Pacific.

It will be followed at 11:30 PM Pacific time by Carlton Blues v Melbourne Demons live and in colour on TSN4.

Of course, every game is available on the Watch AFL app that comes with your International Member status, if you have become a member of an AFL club. You can also get the Watch AFL separately. It’s relatively inexpensive considering you get every single AFL game, replays, and Fox Footy programming direct from Australia.

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Without further ado, here are this week’s dirty dirty Tik Tok girls. Enjoy:

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And now, the next episode of our new feature!

As I mentioned before, I’ve decided that I must take up the mantle that tWBS ran with and help to make this world a better place. I will do this in the one way he couldn’t: By introducing you to good music!

My aim each week will be to showcase a tune or band from the 80s (the best decade EVAR!) that not many people know about or have heard of. In this way, hopefully these artists will find new audiences and the old audiences can reminisce about what they were doing in the 80s.

Today’s band could be considered as one of the original One-Hit Wonders. However, there was more to them, as you’ll discover shortly.

They were from Birmingham and released their first album in 1983. I was still in middle school then and I was fully embracing the new wave sounds coming from the UK. The first (and only) song of theirs that was played on the radio (KROQ here in LA and a handful of stations around North America that played new wave back then) was “The Politics of Dancing”.

The band, of course, was Re-Flex:

The Politics of Dancing was the only song that got massive airplay in the US. However, the band’s debut album, also called The Politics of Dancing, was full of danceable new wave songs much like their top hit. Amongst them was “Hurt”:

And “Keep In Touch”:

The band enjoyed worldwide success with the single for “The Politics of Dancing” and good success in the UK for the album. They followed up this success with a second album titled “Humanication”.

Unfortunately, the band’s American record company, EMI, thought the album was “too political” and refused to release it. One of those “political songs” on that album was “How Much Longer”. It’s funny and ironic how the lyrics from 1986 are very appropriate for today’s times:

The party on the left is the party on the right
If there ain’t no choice, then there ain’t no fight
The pride of the west is the shame of the east
There’s too much ego and not enough to eat
They read between the words, they read between the lines
They see everything, but they can’t see that they’re blind
You talk about this and they talk about that
But talk is talk and facts are facts

Sit down, sit up, it’s your situation
What we want is participation
Sit down, sit up, it’s your situation
What we need is participation

Get behind me
Come on, get behind me

How much longer must we wait
For you to realize
We have got to put things straight
‘Cause we’re running out of time

The leaders of the world should hide their heads in shame
From cabinet to cabaret, it’s the price of fame
There’s pollution in the air, pollution in our minds
But what we all want is to get some piece of mind
We’re stuck to our TVs, we’re glued to our seats
We like to watch the news ’cause we’re addict for repeats
So put your money where your mouth is put your fingers in the sockets
Wipe that smile off your face and take your hands out your pockets

Sit down, sit up, it’s your situation
What we want is participation
Sit down, sit up, it’s your situation
What we need is participation

Get behind me
Come on, get, get, get behind me

How much longer must we wait
For you to realize
We have got to put things straight
‘Cause we’re running out of time

How much longer must we wait
For you to realize
We have got to put things straight
‘Cause we’re running out of time

It don’t matter
No, it don’t matter to me
But if no one cares then I despair
We will drown in our apathy
Say what you will
And say what you like
But the question is who will stand
Stand and take the blame

How much longer must we wait
For you to realize
We have got to put things straight
‘Cause we’re running out of time

How much longer must we wait
For you to realize
We have got to put things straight
‘Cause we’re running out of time

How much longer must we wait
For you to realize
We have got to put things straight
‘Cause we’re running out of time

How much longer must we wait
For you to realize
We have got to put things straight
‘Cause we’re running out of time

Incidentally, Sting sang backup vocals on that song. Re-Flex left EMI shortly after the Humanication fiasco. They recorded enough songs for a third album, “Jamming The Broadcast”, but could not get a release deal. They stopped recording but never officially broke up.

In 2010, the band was able to release a box set with all of their recordings. However, in 2012, one of the original band’s members passed away and any plans for future projects were shelved.

Re-Flex had one massive song but they were more than just that one song.

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That’s all for this week, folks! Be good to each other and try to maintain the social distancing so that cases/deaths don’t spike and the easing of regulations doesn’t stop. See you next week!