COCKTAIL, PLEASE

About 15 years ago, as I laid in bed practically hallucinating from a horrible flu/fever watching what seemed like the most magical infomercial ever, I decided I needed the Mob Hits CD Volume 1.... And 2. I think I had just written a paper on "Good Fellas" and must have been in the mafia mode (or just craving pizza), and just had to have it. (Plus it was free shipping and handling, and I think they were offering a snow globe too. It was a deal. Trust). I probably listened to it once or twice and that was that... It got buried with my Edie Brickell and Toad of the Wet Sprocket never to be seen again...

That is, until my Dean Martin and Louis Prima loving TODDLER came in to the picture...

It's kind of a long story, but in a nutshell, the Mob Hits CD is now one of Baby-Ko's most beloved soundtracks. Specifically, Mambo Italiano, Volare, and Oh Marie are his faves. What's even funnier is that his random taste in music spans beyond Luis Prima and Dean Martin- He's also obsessed OBSESSED with the Beach Boys. Apparently, his sweet babysitter A, likes to listen to K-Earth 101 and they play a lot of "oldies" and Kokomo came on once or twice (so sad that Kokomo is an oldie!) and Baby-Ko responded to it, so she made him a CD. Long story short, he now asks for Kokomo pretty much every time we get in the car.

Well, one day, amidst a horrifying tantrum, in an attempt to get him to calm down, I suggested I put on Kokomo. I turned on the computer, logged in to YouTube and voila, the Beach Boys saved the day....

"Amuma, amaica, ooh I anna take'a... bemuma bahama.. c'uh on pitty mama.." He sang sweetly.

Beach boys. Who knew?

It wasn't until days later that I actually LOOKED at the video of Kokomo that Baby-Ko had been watching and realized it was the official song/video from the movie "Cocktail." First of all, does anyone remember this video? There are chicks in total 80's big bangs/ high wasted bikinis dancing and scenes of Elizabeth Shue and Tom Cruise making out. Second, where the eff did John Stamos come from? He's the weird/ spazzy drummer in the video in a terrible pink tank top. WTF?!

To top it off, my brilliant little man realized that if Kokomo exists on the "puter" then so must his other go-to's. "I want Mambo Ta-wee-ano, Mommy!" Somehow, when the videos for Mambo Italiano came on, Baby-Ko knew (because he pointed and said "dat one") that he wanted the Dean Martin video.

At first, I felt bad for letting my barely 2 year old son watch these videos, but then as he asked for Volare again (which is just a slide show of pictures of Italy with the song playing over), I wondered how bad could it be...? I mean, let's face it, reading or drawing is probably a better activity, but if my son likes the sounds of afternoon delight, cocktails and moonlit nights, can I fault him?

In the meantime, I'm trying to work in the new Michael Buble single into the arsenal too. That one takes place at a grocery store. Believe me, I could come up with something educational and instructive for that one if I needed to... Look! Bananas, Melons....