The Billionaires debut, Really Real Forever, came out last week on the Too Soon label and it’s a wonderful pop-infused summertime album with really sweet boy/girl harmonies. There’s a lot of nostalgic lyrics and music – check out “Eighties Movies” with it’s ELO-style keyboards – and I thought to myself, “Here’s a band that I bet would do a great job writing a ‘Soundtrack of My Life’ feature.”
Download: Eighties Movies (The Billionaires)
Download: End of Summer Song (The Billionaires)Â
Just a few hours after I pitched the idea, Laura Jordan (vocals/keyboards) sent back a story about why hearing Blind Melon‘s “No Rain” reminds her of being a teenager with a crush. (What is it about Blind Melon posts this weekend? Merely a coincidence, I promise!):
“I think I was fifteen when Blind Melon put out that record with ‘No Rain’ on it – or maybe they had already but that’s when I first remember it.
I was living in a small town called Ancaster with my grandfather, about an hour outside of Toronto … there was a bonfire in a field that night, it was probably a Friday and all the girls got together at a fiery red-head girl called Sandra’s house cause we could smoke in her garage.
Sandra and my birthdays are two days apart, I’ll never forget that … every few years we manage to call each other up around that time. But in those days we would get drunk before going to an actual party to drink more – the pre-drink and getting ready was key and in retrospect probably the most fun. We only drank Labatt’s Blue or way-too-sweet pink wine … was it called Vincent and Gallo? And smoked Player’s filters.
I had a crush on a boy and he was going to be there. I remember putting on what I would have thought was a sexy top but then it’s Canada so of course you have to wear a big-ass coat and he probably never saw the top cause the party was outside and in the dark.
I remember that walk through the fields, we had done it many times before but I remember this one because of “No Rain”. Because when we got to the party I probably talked to everyone except my crush. That feeling is amazing, when you know someone is there and they know you’re there and you’ve somehow established you like each other without speaking and now you don’t look or talk to each other … brilliant. When that song came on it was like … instant. You felt part of something instantly, you felt buzzed, you danced with your arms outstretched and your face to the sky. It was magic. Ha, I haven’t changed much. But that night I got my kiss about ten feet away from the fire behind a bush and whoever’s Jeep the music was coming from played ‘No Rain’ again and again cause no one could get enough of that fucking song.”
