Build Me Up Buttercup

Why do you build me up
Buttercup, baby, just to let me down
And mess me around
And then worst of all
You never call, baby
When you say you will
But I love you still

The version which most of us know is actually a Torch remake of a 60's classic originally sung by The Foundations. And I remember the song being repeatedly played during PCC's Foundation Day in the early 80's - 1984 to be exact, if I remember it correctly. Yes, that song has become so distinct in my mind's aural memories that I actually identify it to mark my very own musical awakening.

Memories of the usual Foundation Day funfare are triggered by just hearing this particular song. Kids chasing around the campus as the DJ in the Dedication Booth announces that all marshals catch everyone wearing white rubber shoes. That "random" handcuffing with that particular CBCian you've been eyeing since you saw her coming out terrified from the Horror Booth. Or simply enjoying the rides which usually occupied PCC's softball field (yes, PCC used to have one, remember?).

I need you
More than anyone, darling
You know that I have from the start
So build me up
Buttercup, don't break my heart

Who doesn't know this song? Anyone from our generation who doesn't recognize this particular song will be cursed to suffer in eighties' hell wearing blue-polo-over-yellow-t-shirt-matched-with-faded-baston-jeans-and-mismatch-colored-US-Master-shoes.

Build me up, buttercup. The lyrics are simply unmistakable. The melody, frantically infectious. The beat, relaxingly bubbly.

I'll be over at ten
You told me time and again
But you're late
I wait around and then

For those who know my musical tastes can say that my range can be eclectic at the very least. From eighties' new wave to nineties' disco, from RNB to hiphop and dancehall, from vocal house to the dark and hard house, from techno to hypnotic trance, from slow to alternative rock, from standards to jazz, and from classical to world music. I love music, in most of its forms.

But eighties' music holds a special place in my heart. I can usually name a track's title and artist just based on its first 3 notes or intro drumbeats. My wife usually gets impressed with this geeky talent I display when driving home on Friday nights, listening to 89.9 Magic Madness playing music coming from our era.

I walk to the door
I can't take anymore
It's not you
You let me down again

No other era in music, in my opinion, shows so much character as eighties music. The Beatles may be the single most prominent band of all times, with hits that still live on to this day. But apart from them, the musical character of their era wasn't as diverse (yet identifiable) as when compared to the eighties bands of London, for example. From the sound of the synthesizers to the distinct timber of bands' vocalists voices, one can identify eighties music from those of the other eras. And even as the artists, who became that generation's music icons, are somehow responsible for the horrible fashion trend that invaded the eighties, it even added up to the distinctive character of the personalities from that period.

Baby, baby,
Try to find
A little time
And I'll make you mine
I'll be home
I'll be beside the phone
Waiting for you

I am an eighties kid. I may have already cut short the bangs that notoriously hindered our vision way back then. And I may have already retired from the ritualistic chasing-of-the-girls tradition. But I still sing out to the lyrics of most of the music we all fell in love with. So, everybody now…

So, why do you build me up, buttercup…