If I had to choose one song that epitomizes the awkward musical shift from 80s synth-pop to 90s grunge, it is “Right Here, Right Now.”

You don’t even have to hear the music, just watch the video. I mean, look at the lead singer’s hat, deftly crowning his sweet mini-mullet. The hat is clearly an 80s look while the mini-mullet would later blossom into full glory just in time for the 90s grunge scene.

The awkward phase affected the music as well as the fashion. Listen to the super-cool synth-horns combined with a totally-respectable guitar riff. The riff screams 90s. The synth-horns? Yeah, not so much.

I find this awkward phase amusing because it perfectly aligned with my prepubescent awkward phase in middle school. I had a mini-mullet myself, I believe, although I’m proud to say that I never wore a hat like that. Instead, my pants were too tight and I clumsily knocked into things all the time.

Think of the late 80s and early 90s as a prepubescent boy: weird and awkward at first only to become a virile, world-changing man-child later.

Okay, maybe I’m not a world-changer. But I’m certainly a man-child…

For more information about me and the guitar lessons that I give in and around Baltimore, visit www.ewguitar.com.