Saturday Nine: That's What Friends Are For (1985)

This week's Saturday Nine:


(Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.)

1. This week's song is performed by an all-star quartet: Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder. You have your choice: which of these four would you most like to see in concert? Elton John. I grew up with his music (my dad played his records all the time when I was little) and still love it to this day.
   
   
2. Dionne Warwick was Whitney Houston's cousin. Name a Whitney Houston song. "I Will Always Love You". Did you know that it's the best-selling single by a woman in history?
   
   
3. Gladys Knight owns a chain of chicken and waffle restaurants around Atlanta. When you have waffles, what do you top them with? (Powdered sugar? Butter? Syrup? Fruit?). First, I gotta note that I rarely have waffles at home. I don't have a waffle-maker, and even if I did, I'd be way too lazy to use it. I do have Eggos from time to time, but I only put butter on it because I don't keep maple syrup (I love it, but rarely have a use for it, so I don't bother buying it). But if it's dinner, I love the Waff Out Loud (soy-marinated grade prime strip steak and deep-fried chicken with ginger maple and spicy berry compote on a homemade waffle) from Inspire. And if it's dessert, then it's gotta be The Fork Awakens waffle (salted butter pecan ice cream, honey roasted pecans, Belgian milk chocolate sauce, and butter caramel sauce) from Caffe Demetre.
   
   
4. Elton John has turned his bad eyesight into a hobby, claiming that over the years he has purchased well over than 200,000 pairs of glasses. Do you wear glasses? If so, how many prescription pairs do you own? Yep, I've needed glasses since I was 10. I currently own two pairs; one from Missoni, and one from Gucci. But I don't wear the Gucci ones often because I am allergic to the metal logos on the arms (they touch my temples and then I get rashes there if I wear my glasses for prolonged periods). I should probably get around to putting a coat of clear nail polish on them or something but I always just wear my Missoni ones and then forget about it.
   
   
5. Stevie Wonder has a scar on his nose from a 1973 car crash. Have you ever been in a car accident? Yes, two small ones, and one big one that completely totalled my car. I think they all happened within a span of a year. After that big one, I didn't drive for well over a year.
   
   
6. Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager were married when they wrote this. Do you know a husband and wife who work together? My friend Ronsee's parents. Well, they both work for the same bank, but I don't know if they're in the same department.
   
   
7. This song celebrates friendship through good times and bad. Tell us about a happy time you recently shared with someone close to you. I got to meet Metric and see them perform at Air Canada Centre with my friend Austin a couple weeks ago, and we had such an amazing time.
   
   
8. Now share a time when you were there for a friend through a tough time. My friend Austin's mom passed away last November, and I couldn't make it to the funeral because of work, but I made sure to go to one of the visitations. I rushed to the funeral home right after work, and even though I only stayed for five minutes, I hugged him the whole time and he kept telling me how much it meant to him that I was there for him, and I know it was genuine.
   
   
9. Random question: When is the last time you were out of breath? Um, today? I was speed-walking and smoking at the same time. Not a good mix, guys.