“Are you gonna kiss me or not? Are we gonna do this or what? (Thompson Square)
Once upon a time on my Facebook page I posted the question “Who gives you or gave you the best kiss ever?” Some talked up their spouses, some recalled first kiss experiences and other encounters as well. I noted my “Greatest kiss” happened when I was 22 and that’s all I said. Oh, what the hell, I’ll share a little more on that happening.
This was back when I was on the air at Elmhurst College’s radio station, WRSE, 88.7 on your FM dial where I had a number of faithful listeners. So, while emceeing a local band’s concert, I met radio fan Vicky. She was a couple years younger than I and we did the requisite “I love your show”, “Well thanks for listening Vicky” type of chat. As we talked about music, I took the opportunity to invite her to an upcoming Genesis concert that I had tickets for and she accepted.
The show was a good one and we had fun that night. Yet when I drove her home, I didn’t attempt a good night kiss. More often than not I would go for the night ending lip lock but this situation didn’t feel right, not yet at least.
Fast forward a couple of Saturday nights. I was hosting my six to 9 pm show. Vicky called me on the request line. She invited me to her house for a small party she was having with friends and her older sister while their parents were out of town. Why not? Right? After getting off the air I came over. We had a few beers and watched some concert on M-TV. It was just a nice easy time with some fellow music fans, no big deal.
After the TV concert, it was late and I was getting ready to put on my coat and leave. It was just Vicky, her older sister and me talking in the kitchen. Then I politely asked her sister if I could have a couple minutes alone with Vicky. Thankfully, big sis quickly obliged and now I was full on ready for a move. By the way, the ‘couple minutes alone’ request is not an easy play to make! It’s like doing the 7-10 split in bowling or trying an onside kick in football and the kicking team recovering the ball. But I made this play flawlessly.
I walked closer to this lovely blonde thanking her for inviting me over as I reached to hold her hand. Vicky was fine with my gesture but noted she wasn’t sure I was romantically interested in her since I didn’t go for a kiss after the Genesis concert. I made some lame ‘Oh, I didn’t want to rush up on things’ excuse and she smiled. With that I went all in to kiss her.
And she was all in too.
Whoa! Wow! And holy s***! That first smooch lasted about a minute and in my young love life I’d never been smacked like that. Just the perfect touch, smell, taste, everything. Electric! To quote Prince in the song “Raspberry Beret”, “I could tell when she kissed me, she knew how to get her kicks.” A snug embrace and a couple more, deep kisses followed and then it was time for me to go.
I drove home that night thinking, “Man, that was special!” I mean my head was spinning and it wasn’t from having too many beers.
So, you’re probably wondering what became of that potential relationship. Not much. Why? My fault. There were a couple more times when Vicky called me asking to get together and I honestly had other plans going on and couldn’t make it to see her.
After the second time turning this lady’s invite down, I felt like a schmuck and figured she’ll probably moved on and thinks I’m a knucklehead. You can either fish or cut the line and I cut the line.
Still, ever since then, I’ve compared any romantic kiss with a woman to the ones Vicky gave me and not one has matched up. There’ve been some close calls but still, not up to what she offered me.
I think my memory of those kitchen kisses could best be summed up by the re-working of the Crystals song “Then He Kissed Me” that Bruce Springsteen sometimes sings in concert.
Here’s Springsteen singing “Then She Kissed Me.”
Next blog- Songs for Secretaries.