I Went To School With Who???

Centerfold by J. Geils Band

Released in September of 1981, the song made it to #1 on the US charts and was a huge hit for the band. They had been radio darlings back in the late 1970's but this song blew the door right off its hinges for their career and helped to make the album that the song came from, Freeze Frame, a #1 hit as well. The song deals with a guy learning that the girl he knew from school has become a centerfold model and now she's the object of everyone's desire and not just his.

The video had plenty to offer the MTV crowd. Lots of models acting like the school girls from the lyrics and dancing around in their underwear. But lets not forget a few of the moments that made this video a classic. The drummer doing a drum roll in a drum filled with milk. All the girls doing cartwheels across the hall as lead singer, Peter Wolf, runs through them. And of course, all the skimpy night gowns (sorry, I'm back to being 15 again).

But the song also reminds me of some actual people I knew. I went to high school with a centerfold model and a porn star. Traci Lords was in my English class 2 years in a row. Of course her name wasn't Traci in our school. She was Nora. This is a picture of her below.

Looks like your average 1980's high school girl. But this is what her "professional" photos looked like...

BTW this photo was not easy to find as most "professional" photos of Traci from this era are either non existent or are simply illegal.....and I can not comment on her performance in any of her films as those would also be non-existent or illegal (she's verrrryy good). As Traci Lords she made dozens of porn films and continued to go to high school. She sat next to me one year and never knew what the homework had been so I was often helping her. When it was discovered that she was underage while making all those films, lots of people got in trouble and all of the films and pictures she made immediately became Child Pornography and were pulled from sale (the picture above is NOT illegal 'cause she's not nude......just putting that out there for legal reasons...just in case). By the 1990's Traci had become a legitimate actress and a DJ and is a much happier person (I read that somewhere).

The centerfold model was a girl named Brandy but she was a year younger than me. Here's a picture of her from her magazine cover.

Brandy was of legal age when she started her modeling career, so no legal trouble here. I didn't know her other than seeing her in the halls but one of my brothers insists that he dated her. I don't remember that. Brandy became the 1992 Penthouse Pet of the Year and is now an actress and model.

Now, to be clear, I never "got with" either of the two girls (its a question I ALWAYS get asked. Seriously? I'm not that cool) but in the years since I graduated, this song has always made the memory of these two girls come to mind.

Please enjoy.