A Little 80's Magic

Last night I met up with an old friend I hadn't seen since my High School days.  She brought along two of her three sons and we grabbed some dinner at Baja Fresh in midtown Atlanta.  Afterwards we wandered around reminiscing about our teenage days in the 80's.  Then, as a kind of soundtrack to our conversation, I heard "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News wafting from somewhere nearby.  This brought up the movie "Back to the Future" which was the defining movie of that time period and the origin of this song.  

I loved the music of Huey Lewis in my early High School years and I had their "Sports" album on cassette as well as the Back to the Future soundtrack on vinyl.  I did a report on his song "Bad is Bad" in my freshman English class and made some quip about Huey Lewis being over 40, but still able to rock out.  The teacher was an uptight mid-lifer and she took offense at my attempt at humor.  She also could not seem to grasp the concept of using the slang term "Bad" as a positive descriptor and then turning it on its head again as was done in the song.  In retrospect, she may very well have been feigning ignorance and being intentionally obtuse.  Truth be told, I don't think she liked me very much or my style.

After saying goodbye to my friend and her sons I went back to my hotel room and subsequently learned that the music festival going on near where we were walking had actually featured Huey Lewis and the News that very night.  It had sounded much too tight to be live and so I had not put two and two together.  What are the odds that the quintessential song of our High School days would be playing live nearby as we walked and talked?  A cool coincidence to be sure.