Swing Out Sister "Waiting Game"

Band members rarely agree on one thing but, in the case of Swing Out Sister, the trio all agreed they hated the band's name. Taken from the title of a 1945 Arthur Treacher film, Swing Out, Sister, the band narrowly missed out on the Top 5 of the Adult Contemporary Chart this week in 1989 with "Waiting Game".

Swing Out Sister - "Twilight World"

Once a week, my coworker Kevin and I usually grab lunch at the AON building in Chicago.  Their cafeteria-style cafe includes piped in Adult Contemporary music and usually features a gem or two that catches us off guard.  One particular song played last week that neither of us could identify.  Thanks to his trusty Shazam! app, we discovered "Twilight World" by Swing Out Sister.  Kevin's take on the song: it sounds like an off-key Laura Braningan song.

Swing Out Sister - "Am I The Same Girl?"

I've noticed with my grandmother that there are only two time frames in her life: before my grandpa died and after my grandpa died.  Every story somehow references whether or not my grandpa was alive or not.  In my case, my parents divorce happened in 1992 and ever since life seemed to fit in two compartments: before and after their divorce.  After the divorce, my mother started dating which was awkward for both my brother and me.  My brother kept his emotions bottled up for months before finally exploding sometime around Easter Sunday 1993.  As for me, (for better or for worse) I also tucked my emotions beneath layers and layers of feigned indifference.  It took me years (let's be real: decades) to see just how much their failed marriage affected my views on commitment and marriage.  (Side note: I don't blame them for this--I simply point to it as why I am hard-wired the way that I am.)  What does all of this have to do with Swing Out Sister?  Well, post-divorce when my mom started dating the guy who wasn't my dad, we learned that he played in the Bugle Choir in high school.  Whenever "Am I The Same Girl" played on the radio, my mom used to laugh thinking of her new beau playing this song.  Welcome to the craziness that happens in my brain...

Swing Out Sister - "Breakout"

Here's a song that you've probably heard a time or two in your life and wondered, "Who sang that?".  The catchy tune is called "Breakout" from the British act Swing Out Sister.  The #1 song from 1987 is the band's signature song...even if you have no idea who Swing Out Sister is.