#tiltuesday

> AIMEE MANN “THAT’S JUST WHAT YOU ARE”

You may know this awkwardly endearing singer-songwriter from her work on the magnificent Magnolia soundtrack. If you’re an ‘80s kid, you definitely remember the soaring “Voices Carry,” her only top ten hit with former band ‘Til Tuesday. I became a big fan of her music thanks to this track, released in 1995. Full disclosure -- it first appeared on the Melrose Place soundtrack, and you know I was all about that shit as a 16-year-old fagling in training. 

But let’s talk about this video for a minute. It reminds me of something that Ben Stiller’s misguided character in Reality Bites would produce. The stylist must have turned up with all the quintessential ‘90s outfits, from the mismatched over-sized flannel & plaid to the torn, sheer sweater over the bikini top (surely from dELiA*s). And what about the stop-motion filming and the superimposed face in the sky? Aimee’s record label obviously had creative control over this, and she just looks uncomfortable, bless her. At least it provides a kitschy bit of nostalgia, albeit cringe-worthy.

Weekday mornings at Family Video were always a bit too quiet. Robin was in school until about three and Keith was only working on the weekends now so it was just Steve all by himself on the early shift. Their busy hours also didn't start until about three o'clock when most people were starting to get out of school or work so much of his time in the mornings was spent rewinding all their video returns and then returning them back to their respective shelves. There was always a lot of reorganizing to do as well since people liked to move shit around while they were browsing.

Steve couldn't complain too much though. This job was leagues better than scooping ice cream for $3 an hour in a ridiculous sailor outfit. Plus he got more dates working here so it was a win.

After rewinding all of yesterday's returns, Steve grabs a stack of tapes off the counter and starts loading them onto the cart to be taken back to the shelves. As he's loading them up, he hears the little ding of the front door bell go off. Setting those tapes down, he leaves the cart to greet the customer.