The Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad Dreams of Thom Macke’s “Lonely Weekends”

Thom Macke – Lonely Weekends

I’ve meant to write a post on this 45 for the past two months.  Perhaps, I’ve been putting it off, because I know there’s a long story, full of record nerdery, to tell about how it came into my possession.  As with everyone else, whatever plans I had for 2020 were dashed back in March when the world turned.  But if you’re addicted to vinyl, you find ways to feed the addiction. Without going out and digging for records, I’m reduced to periodic moments of “digital digging,” on Ebay, Discogs and the wider Internets.  That’s how I came across this song, though I can’t remember exactly how the search began.  At some point though I ended up on CratesLA’s youtube channel and landed on this song, the perfect anthem for the year that is 2020.  

I’d never heard of Thom Macke or the Omega label from Philly, but the production and sentiment on this one just floored me.  As is often the case when I hear something online that I dig, I’ll first see if there any copies for sale on Ebay & Discogs.  A few other 45s from Macke showed up, but there wasn’t even a listing for this particular release. However, when I returned back to youtube for a re-listen, I was also shocked to discover that CratesLA were selling the record.  That immediate rush of finding an amazing song you’d never heard before, was then being raised to new heights when you realize you might be able to own it, was unceremoniously crushed upon seeing that the auction had ended roughly a month and a half before I had stumbled upon the song. 

I am, for better and worse, a stubborn fella, so I decided to place my hopes in a search on Google.  Much to my complete and total amazement, venerable UK record dealer John Manship had also posted a youtube video of the exact same song, but this one was only from a few weeks prior.  With bated breath, I checked the Manship website and unbelievably the 45 was there, and at the utterly affordable price (considering there’s not even a discogs listing for this one) of £50.  I quickly deposited it in my cart, along with another 45 I’ve already posted here, Doris & Kelley’s “You Don’t Have To Worry,” and proceeded to do a happy dance in my apartment.  That’s when things took a turn yet again. 

First, I noticed that after a notice that the 45s were shipped, I then also noticed a refund.  Given the amount, corresponding to the Macke 45 plus shipping, I feared the worst, that someone else had snatched up this 45 just before I had.  The truth was something I hadn’t considered…the 45 was lost.  As is sometimes the case with massive collections, the 45 had been misfiled somewhere and thus I thought that might be the end of my quest to get this record…Until, for whatever reason, I decided to send another e-mail a month later with my birthday approaching, and got the very good news indeed that John hadn’t given up the quest, and had found the 45 literally just the day before.  All previous arrangements with cost and shipping were honored and the 45 was on it’s way to me, arriving well before my birthday which allowed me to include this gem in my 45 45s 45th birthday mix.

And what a mysterious gem this is.  As I mentioned earlier, there was no listing for the record online.  The songwriter, Phelma T. Washington, didn’t seem to have any other credits.  The person apparently responsible for it’s sound, F. Fioravanti, didn’t raise any bells with me (I’m guessing this is Franke Fioravanti, who did some production for West End, but one can’t really be sure until you’re sure).  Even if there hadn’t been a once in a century pandemic going on that had confined most of us to our homes for most of the year, I still would have thought this was a boss gem of a tune.  But finding these lyrics in 2020? It’s just too perfect.

Monday through Friday is just a routine,
Everything at home,
Quiet and serene,
No problem finding things to do,
And not much time to think of you,
But then comes Saturday and my work is all done,
I have nothing to do but think of when we were one,
And how it be the weekend,
With togetherness in mind,
But that was long ago when my love was blind.

My Saturdays are lonely,
But Sundays just as bad,
Another weekend day and I’m feeling sad,
My Saturdays are lonely,
But Sundays just as bad,
Another weekend day which was reserved for our love made.

I awakened one Monday morning and found myself alone,
You had split while I was sleeping and never returned to our home,
Now all I have left is a busy routine with lonely weekends and sad dreams.

I awakened one Monday morning and found myself alone,
You had split while I was sleeping and never returned home,
Now all I have left is,
A busy routine with,
Lonely weekends and sad, sad, sad, sad dreams.

Monday through Friday is just routine,
Everything at home is quiet and serene.

But then comes the weekend,
My Saturday’s are bad,
My weekend is all lonely and sad,
And all I have left is a busy routine,
With lonely weekends and sad dreams,
Lonely weekends and sad dreams,
Lonely weekends and sad dreams…

I might feel this even more in the present moment, months removed from when I discovered it, as I’ve gotten back into my usual weekly routine of teaching.  Thankfully, weekends for me haven’t turned out quite as sad or lonely as they were for Macke, as I’ve made some amazing new connections as well as strengthened bonds with old and dear friends.  I hope the same is the case for whoever is reading this and for everyone involved in the making of this 45. 

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