Huey Lewis & The News "Do You Believe In Love"

Do you know what "100th Monkey Effect" is?

Here's the short version:

Scientists observed Monkeys in the wild.  They noticed that a few monkeys were washing their sweet potatoes.  And each day, they noticed that a few more monkeys were also washing their sweet potatoes before eating them.  This seemed to follow a normal pattern of simple observation and repetition.  However, at a certain point---when over 100 monkeys were now washing their sweet potatoes, an incredible phenomenon happened.  The following day, ALL the monkeys---thousands of them---were washing their sweet potatoes.

Their collective knowledge had reached a critical mass, and spread to the entire population via unknown means.

The 100th Monkey Effect explains how ideas flow into the stream of the collective unconscious to reach us all.

Of course, the 100th Monkey Effect story seems to be a complete hoax.  Having no real basis in scientific fact, it has been widely debunked.

And yet, I find it to be the most reasonable explanation for the awkward moment that occurred during an 8th grade sleepover.

I can't remember who's birthday it was, but I remember that 4 or 5 of my best friends were sleeping over someone's house for a birthday.  This was 1982, the when MTV was still brand new.

Bands that no one had ever heard of, were suddenly becoming hugely popular, on the basis of silly little film clips that aired round the clock on the channel.

My friends and I were excited about pretty much any fun band with a fun video, especially if the video featured a good looking woman---hey, we were teenage boys, you'd expect no less.

Quarterflash, Aldo Nova, Adam Ant, The Tubes, Wall Of Voodoo, we didn't discriminate.

But something weird happens when you turn from a pre-teen to a teen.

"We should go see Huey Lewis!" I enthused to the group of friends.

(The stage direction here should read:  Blank, slightly disdainful stares.)

I thought it was a great idea.  And I didn't understand what part of my statement seemed confusing to my friends.

"He's playing at Hampton Beach Casino next week!"

There was another long moment of silence.

The someone simply said, "Uh.  No . . ." and the other guys laughed weakly.  And the subject was changed.

Now I know these guys liked that Huey Lewis video.  I'd watched it with some of them before.  My God, it showed a woman in a bed!  And clearly the band was sleeping over.  Sexy!

But somewhere between being a pre-Teen and a Teen, Cool happens.

Cool doesn't become part of every kid's consciousness at the same time.  Some kids become Cool later than others.  And frankly, some kids never learn that they should wash their sweet potatoes.

I don't believe my group of friends ever had discussed it, but somehow a critical mass of them had arrived at the notion that Huey Lewis was not cool.

And unbeknownst to me, I had not yet stepped into the stream of Cool, leading me to an icy silence.

It's awkward, when you are the 101st monkey.


Hear the song on Youtube.