TGIF Forever
Loners,
When Tegan and I were in elementary school, TGIF was a big deal. "Thank God It's Friday" was a lineup of TV shows that aired in a two-hour block. Our favourites were Full House and Home Improvement. But just watching them wasn't enough for us. We set up our boom boxes in front of the TV to record the shows' audio onto cassette tapes. We’d listen to those tapes at night while falling asleep. We aimed to hit pause during the commercials, but inevitably, we'd forget, which meant enduring a week of listening to ads.
Having a stereo in my room meant I was also tuned into AM radio, the weekly countdown, and Calgary Flames hockey games, in addition to our TGIF audio recordings. This ritual has evolved over the decades, and rarely does a night go by without me listening to some kind of podcast or playlist before falling asleep. It's become a significant part of my tour routine, both on the bus and in hotels—a way to comfort myself when I'm alone or surrounded by people but craving the intimacy of a conversation or story that only I can hear.
Last week on tour in Colorado, we had short commutes between shows and opted for a minivan, with Adam, our drummer, driving and shuttling us between gigs. I miss the early days of touring when we’d all take turns in the shotgun position, thumbing through heavy books filled with CDs, DJing for hundreds of miles. It was nostalgic to drive together after dark and listen together as a band to one of my favourite new podcasts, Search Engine.
PJ Voigt has a familiar voice, perfect for radio, and his new show is smart and wide-ranging. The episodes I played for my fellow travelers were a two-part series on Berlin and the legendary Berghain club. Enjoy!
Sara
I loved those shows. Other faves were The Golden Girls, The Facts of Life, Mr. Bean, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Daria, etc.
Part of my routine when going to shows or before falling asleep is listening to your banters or live deep cuts. It has to be ridiculously hilarious or sad. I’m either laughing on a plane, bus, or train or dozed off in my own little headspace and there is something really comforting about that for me.
Where were you guys, when I was a child, to tell me I could use my boombox for recording more than music off FM Radio and the weird songs I’d make up? I didn’t get my own VCR - a gift from my parents - til college so I could record Buffy when it changed to Tuesdays and I had a night class. 😅
Sometimes you have to take it back to the old days.
EDIT: I forgot to wax nostalgic for 90’s TGIF. We watched Full House even though it was more my two sister’s vibe after a while. I did watch a couple of later seasons of Home Improvement - no idea why. Of all “my era” of TGIF, my fav was Step By Step.