Grad Bash For HS Seniors: Flo Rida, Smashing Pumpkins, The Manhattans

"CLUB CAN'T HANDLE ME TONIGHT"   FLO RIDA
Chaperoning Grad Bash comes with a lot of perks!   Free food and drink all night, express pass to skip the 2 hour wait times for rides like Universal's Hulk rollercoaster, seeing live acts like Kelly Clarkson, Akon, Yellowcard, and Flo Rida and paying nothing all night!    In 2010, I saw Flo Rida chanting his famous megahit "apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur, in the ayer!"   This song I chose here is a favorite for that instant feel-good beat!

"DISARM"    SMASHING PUMPKINS

The first Billy Corgan song that hooked me into loving this band.   "Disarm" sounded dangerous with it's hook, "the killer in me is the killer in you" but it was a love song at heart with lines about disarming someone with a flash of your  smile.   Billy Corgan's vocals and bald head are unmistakeable but he's also a brilliant and underrated guitarist.  Smashing Pumpkins left a great legacy on alternative rock in the 90's.

"KISS AND SAY GOODBYE"   MANHATTANS

"This has got to be the saddest day of my life", the intro to this classic Philly soul ballad always blew me away.  The Manhattans TALK for the first minute about the break-up song they're about to sing.   It's timeless, unforgetabble, and as smooth as R&B has ever been.   "Shining Star" was their other #1 and gives further evidence that the 70's was the golden era of true soul music.