With the 10th anniversary of "The Developers" happening this year (right now, in fact!), I wanted to address a sensitive issue regarding Rick Astley.
I didn't invent the rickroll, at least, not directly.
In 1998, for some reason, a former coworker, Stephen Beard, and I occasionally sung Astley's famous hit, "Never Gonna Give You Up," printed out the lyrics and used song phrases during regular discussions. I don't remember why, exactly, except that we were either enamored with the hit or constantly drugged by our employer. We even discussed Rick's lesser-known songs, which is probably a surprise to the rest of the universe that Rick even had other songs.
Fast-forward to 2002, when I started writing the book. Rick and the song never strayed too far from my mind, so I included a bit in the second chapter about the song. The book came out in 2005, and rickrolling started as a thing in 2007. Coincidence?
I rickrolled my wedding in 2010 (there's video evidence somewhere), and while I don't sing "Never Gonna Give You Up" every day like I used to, it still comes back around on occasion. I can't give up the song completely, never!
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