Music of the Day, 11 July 2025
that's the way i like it, baby
Our early summer here in New Mexico hasn’t been as hot as previous years, for which I’ve been grateful. This week the temperatures have steadily climbed, with daily highs in our neighborhood reaching the 100s Fahrenheit the past couple of days. It is technically also monsoon season, but it’s unusual for us to see those storms this early, so I think we’ll have to tolerate the heat as best we can.
As I was making potato salad before the heat set in, my thoughts wandered back to my childhood and how we’d try to handle the lack of air conditioning in our small home. As much as possible, all windows were kept fully open to catch any passing breeze. We had just one box fan, which was moved as needed to accommodate our parents’ wants—which meant it was never in our bedroom windows.
Summer was the only time I was happy about needing to go to the basement. The cooler air and chilly concrete floor made it easy to ignore the mildewy smell, the hulking furnace,1 and all the cobwebs. And with the thought of that basement, one of my favorite hair metal songs started playing on the radio station in my mind.
“Talk Dirty to Me” was the second single from Poison’s 1986 debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In, which became a triple-platinum success. I probably didn’t see the video until a couple of years later and almost certainly courtesy of my headbanging brother. But I heard loads of Poison songs on the radio and enjoyed nearly every one.
Watching almost any Poison video reminds me how much their concerts upped the ante regarding visual effects back then. It always looks like a chaotic good time; I didn’t realize how chaotic the band had been until I finished grad school and could immerse myself back into music more fully.
By this time, I was well past trying to keep up with all members of every band I liked, so my impressions were limited to what I heard and what I saw. I’m not sure who gets credit for most of their music,2 but I deeply and pretty equally appreciated Poison’s rockers and ballads. Whether the latter were written from his heart or not, Bret Michaels’ delivery made me feel like he was sharing some of his soul in each song.
Also, being an androgynous person, I liked that all the band members (Bobby Dall on bass; C.C. DeVille on guitar; and Rikki Rockett on drums) glammed their look up, and seemed comfortable and confident in it. In addition to the hair, makeup and femme-coded jewelry were typical—and as this video shows, Michaels wore halter tops and other feminine clothing styles. I don’t know if Poison was the first band to do this, but they did it well and surely helped a lot of people be more comfortable with and accepting of their genuine selves.
I was surprised to discover that Poison is still active in its classic lineup; their last tour was in 2022. Never having been a real fan, I don’t think I’d see them live these days, but I’m tempted to explore their discography more deeply … some day. Much as I adore their hits, I’m more interested in newer and different music these days. But it’s been fun listening to this banger (pun intended) on repeat.
it was ancient and enormous and made weird sounds when it was running
apparently that’s a pretty thorny thicket; check out the song’s Wiki page for the details