Los Telefonistas

Artist: Los Telefonistas

LP: Cancion de un Estudiante Enamorado / Cuando Quieras Regresar

Song: "Jesse de Teran"

[ listen ]

You're the winner! You're the viewer of my 1,000th blog post! When I was looking at the cover of this 1981 record by Los Telefonistas earlier today, I noticed the different ways that the two estudiantes enamorados were holding their libros. It reminded me of an incident at the end of one particular summer many years ago, when I was about to enter junior high school. My mom noticed I was holding my schoolbooks in my arms folded across my chest, and she warned me that I was carrying them like a girl.

She instructed me that the way boys carried their textbooks was to hold them against their side at the hip, cradled in one of their hands.

I was grateful, since I certainly didn't want to make my Wilson Junior High School debut carrying my books like a girl! I wanted to carry them like a boy! I hadn't really thought about that little bit of parental advice over the years until today, but I have to say that it seems pretty damn messed up that there are actually gender-specific ways of carrying textbooks! I'm starting Spanish classes at North Seattle Community College next week, and not only will I finally find out what a "Telefonista" is, but I'm also going to make a point of carrying my schoolbooks like a girl.

 

[ Los Telefonistas ]

Raf Ravenscroft

Artist: Raf Ravenscroft

LP: 7" single

Song: "Maxine"

[ listen ]

Here's a sad song from saxophone player Raf Ravenscroft about a man searching in vain for his lost love—a woman by the decidedly non-musical name of "Maxine," who evidently ran off with one of the Zale brothers. Due to the quantity and placement of cords connected to the handset in the picture above, it would seem that the artist had never closely examined the workings of a telephone before. But a quick web search hints that the nonsensical sleeve for the 1985 "Maxine" single was likely designed according to Ravenscroft's explicit instruction, and is just another manifestation of his fetish for the spiraling, glistening glossiness of rubbery red phone cords.