Saturday Nine: Listen to the Music (1972)

This week's Saturday Nine:

1. The lyrics say, "What the people need is a way to make them smile." What song lifts your spirits and makes you smile every time you hear it? "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus. Also, "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne.
   
   
2. Lead vocalist/composer Tom Johnston reports that he's made a lot in royalties because so many radio stations use this as a jingle. Tell us a jingle that sticks in your head. The one for Marineland. Also the one from Sleep Country Canada.
   
   
3. The Doobie Brothers got their start in San Jose, California. San Jose is the largest city in Northern California, thanks to all the tech companies that have headquarters there. Let's talk about the device you're on right now: are all your applications up to date? Yep, my apps update automatically overnight.
   
   
4. When they were still a local band, the Doobie Brothers had a strong following among bikers. Are you attracted to biker culture? Not particularly, but I mean, if they all looked like Jax from Sons of Anarchy, I'd probably put a lot more thought into it...
   
   
5. This week's song is from Toulouse Street, which is considered their "breakthrough" album. Tell us about a moment in your own life that you consider a "breakthrough." I was at the University of Toronto studying Humanities in 2009 and wondering what the hell I was doing with my life. I had quit my full-time job at a Lancôme counter in The Bay, and went back to school to bide time and to figure out what career path I was going to take. It was honestly the lowest point in my life; I woke up everyday not wanting to do anything, see anyone, or go anywhere. I worked one day a week in the cosmetics department at a Shoppers Drug Mart, and worked maybe one or two shifts a month as a freelancer for Lancôme, but there were some weeks that I was so broke that I could barely afford gas. After a lot of soul-searching, I ultimately decided that makeup is my passion. A year later, I enrolled in makeup school and never looked back.
   
   
6. In 1987, the Doobie Brothers did a benefit performance for Vietnam Veterans at the Hollywood Bowl. Next to the Beatles, it was the fastest-selling ticket in Hollywood Bowl history. Which group do you listen to more often — the Doobies or the Beatles? The Beatles, who I grew up listening to because of my dad's intense love for them. I don't think I've ever consciously made a decision to listen to the Doobie Brothers.
   
   
7. In 1972, when this song was popular, Wranglers were America's best-selling jeans. Are you brand-loyal to one jeans manufacturer? I haven't worn jeans in over seven years, so no. Even when I did wear jeans religiously, I wasn't ever really loyal to a single brand, but I did find that Citizens of Humanity fit me the best so I ended up owning more of that brand than any other.
   
   
8. Grocery stores saw seafood prices fluctuate wildly in 1972 because of a series of confrontations between the United Kingdom and Iceland regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic. (Iceland won.) What was the most recent seafood dish that you enjoyed? I did have some of my friend Ronsee's Singaporean chili crab at NextDoor last night.
   
   
9. Random question: Which of these "top ten" lists would you prefer to be on — the sexiest, the smartest or the richest? The richest. I don't think I'd ever care to be on a sexiest or smartest list, to be honest.