Avenging Annie's Hips Don't Lie

Great name of that Shakira album, "Hips Don't Lie". She is a Latin American singer, with a sultry alto voice and a set of hips that never stop moving. Shakira is very well known for her hips. And, her music sets my hips moving, too. Can't help it. Just the way it is.

Last night I sang again with Rockaroke at the casino. Did just one song, "Brass in Pocket" and it went even better than the last time. But my goodness, my hip bones had a workout. Couldn't stop moving and shaking them. The singer / hostess even commented on it. I sang with a lot of passion last night and my version was exceptionally sultry, at least, that is how it felt on stage.

I didn't try and control my movements. I just let them happen, however they wanted. And my goodness - I think I caused a few hot flashes in a few men! (and maybe a few women, too!) Got a great compliment from a local but well known musician/radio guy and had several people from the crowd come up and say nice things!

I think I've always had hips with a mind of their own. I remember when I was in Junior High School and was selected for District Chorus. While there, I was chosen to sing the lead in "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" with about 5 other kids. We were backed by 100 other choir members, singing "oohs and ahs and shoobie doobie doos" Problem was, I just couldn't STAND THERE LIKE A ZOMBIE and sing. I kept moving! The choir director had to stop the rehearsal and speak to me. He told me to STOP MOVING! I was mortified. I didn't realize it was that noticeable. He told me about 3 times, during the course of the day, to stand still. And I was trying! I think I made it through the performance with only my right leg and arm twitching a bit. It was hard to contain myself.

As I got older and sang more and more, I remember being so conflicted with my innocent nature and my body's momentum. I was once told that I dressed all wrong on stage. I wore a lot of dresses but one of the guys in one of my bands told me that I was NOT a "dress-wearing kind of singer". I remember feeling so embarrassed and insulted. Having a very morally strict upbringing, I thought he meant that I was easy, or a slut or something. It is very tough being a "good girl" and a "girl singer", at the same time. It must be so much easier to be a man.

While on the radio, for a time, I became popular for being "Avenging Annie". I started doing traffic reports on the hard rock station with Steve Slaton, and he and I could read each others minds and had great chemistry.

Avenging Annie was my id. Stuff would just pour out of my mouth that I didn't even know I was thinking. Annie was very much a woman in control of her own destiny. Sexual innuendo peppered my traffic reports. But, so did societal rants and general cleverness. I once did a series of traffic reports using only titles to Beatles songs, when Paul McCartney was appearing in town. It was a lot of fun. I was so popular that people would pack the restaurants and bars where I was making public appearances (for free!) and one time, a guy even followed me into the ladies room. That freaked me out.

Avenging Annie went away for a while but came back between 1997 and 2000 on KZOK, with Gary Crow and finally with Steve Slaton once again. It wasn't quite as much fun because radio had lost a lot of its spark and I had to run down the hall ever 15 minutes to be "Annie", the sweet traffic reporter on the country music station, KMPS. Tony, who was my DJ on that station said it was pretty cool how I switched personalities from sweet and gentle to devilish, in a matter of minutes. It felt a bit insane to me, but also rather normal.

My freakiest moment of Avenging Annie's recognition came in 2000, when my sister, Linda, and I took her VW bus to the Gorge to see Steely Dan's concert. I love Steely Dan. We "camped" in the enormous parking lot, with about 1000 other people. Not camping - more like parking. I mentioned on-air that I would be attending this show with my sister in her VW bus. I didn't think anybody would care. Well, after the show, Linda and I were sitting in lawn chairs shooting the breeze when a sweet boy in his 20's came up to us and said "I'm looking for Avenging Annie" !!!!!! I went pale and couldn't speak. Linda, ever the extrovert, copped to being me. He told her that he had wandered that parking lot for hours, going up to every Volkswagen camper and asking for me. I was floored by that! The two of them had a nice conversation and then I could feel myself getting a bit jealous. Hey! I WAS AVENGING ANNIE, after all. I finally said, "um, actually, you've been talking to my sister, Linda. I'm Annie". I felt like I disappointed him. I am not as dynamic a personality as Linda, who can fill an entire room with her presence.

But, it was a memorable moment. A brief brush with fame.

Being back on the radio, after 8 years, has been a very interesting experience. And now, I'm also singing again, too. Last Wednesday when I sat in with some amazing rock musicians at a club, I was billed as "Avenging Annie", when I went up to sing Moondance. It was so weird. My singing-self and my radio-self have never merged before. I've always kept them separate. Perhaps because I gave up singing, to go on the radio. I had a couple of people come up to me and tell me how much they used to love my traffic reports. How strange. Had my photo taken with one of them.

And, the musicians, who all knew who Avenging Annie was, complimented my performance - and liked my dancing.

How much do you want to bet my hips were moving to the beat?