Rate Your Music score: 3.34 out of 5!
These Cincinnati siblings began charting long before I was even born, but they also managed to score several Hot 100 entries during what we call the second generation of lost hits, which we define as late 1991 and later. Some might argue that we should just stop this blog at 1991, but I was already interested in lost hits by then, and if we stop at 1991 now, that would be like if we stopped at 1957 then. It's like how the time someone carved "I am gay" into a table in 6th grade was as close to the mid-1940s as it is to the mid-2020s.
"Contagious" was a substantial hit at Tantrum 95.7, but it was also popular in other contexts. I remember downstairs neighbors frequently blaring the tune loudly. This brings to mind a funny story involving these neighbors.
The buildings where I've lived during my adult life have been a wellspring of stories. One of the most memorable was a kid throwing a brand new toy down the steps and breaking it and the resulting angry lecture. Another is when some loudmouths kept smashing the window in the front door during their many stupid arguments. But the story in this entry involves a dispute between my downstairs neighbors and the people in the apartment next to mine on the second floor. These are not current neighbors, as they all moved out a long time ago.
One day, I heard what sounded like glass breaking in the alley. It was accompanied by a loud thump. Then I heard the man downstairs angrily yelling.
I just thought some little kids were smashing beer bottles in the alley again, but then I heard stern voices talking outside. I ran downstairs to investigate. I saw a police car idling with its lights going. Several patrolmen were out there talking to the neighbors.
It turned out that the neighbors next to me were dropping their trash out their second-story window into the dumpster below - instead of carrying it outside like they were supposed to. They kept missing the dumpster, and glass would shatter on the pavement. The alley was littered with glass, rotting food scraps, and diapers, which caused the people downstairs to call the police.
I mentioned the incident at a family gathering not long after, and I think some relatives said they had similar dealings with an event like this.
This early 2000s episode predated more recent gentrification projects that have done even more to contribute to local mouse infestations. But if anything was contagious, it was the overall stupidity that was enveloping society.
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