43. Sparks - Kimono My House

In 7th grade (circa 1975) We had a bus driver that just might have been the prototype for Otto. Long haired, constantly red-eyed and completely ignorant of everything that was going on in the back of the bus. The smoking, cursing, fighting, dry humping, drug dealing, seat kicking, hair pulling, name calling, lunch stealing, money grubbing, and fighting that went on from one end of town to the other seemed to never fall on Otto's radar.

I sat in the middle of the bus, far enough away from the back to not be bothered by the noise and far enough away from the front to not be called a nerd.

Otto had a cassette player that he brought on the bus. James Duncan, 8th grade Electronics Freak, also had a portable radio. Each day would bring a duel. James tuned his radio in to 99x. Every morning he'd be blasting songs like Seasons in the Sun and Billy Don't Be a Hero and Otto would be blasting things like Lou Reed and David Bowie and every time James would turn up his radio to try to drown out Otto's music, Otto would stop the bus, turn around, call James a faggot (had way different connotations back then) and then put in his tape that played nothing but Spark's Kimono My House, especially the song This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us, over and over again. I'd lean forward in my seat and concentrate on the weirdness and the awesomeness that was Sparks hard enough so that Hall and Oates or whatever the hell was playing on Duncan's radio would fade from my head.

And that's pretty much how I spent my one year on a school bus. Getting a contact high, being introduced the wonders of Sparks and learning how to drown out the crap music for the good stuff. Thanks, Otto.

Favorite song: This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us
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