Ahhh...a lazy Saturday. A brisk walk on a windy afternoon, a few thumb-throughs of the new Vanity Fair, Esquire and The New Yorker, and oh, a few hundred scrolls through some iTunes playlists.
For some reason, I decided to concentrate on the music of my impressionable years: the `80s. In small town Arkansas, the hair metal bands seemed to reign, yet save for some AC/DC, I never took to the stuff. I was a sucker for the artists that never made it to the Arkansas airwaves: early R.E.M., Squeeze, Split Enz, Making Movies-era Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe, etc., etc.
Some of this stuff has been, of late, regulated to the back of my mind. Programming a radio station tends to do that, I suppose. Shuffling through all of the new music sent my way, and appreciating the stuff that stands out, keeps the themes of my youth on the shelf. Yet, today, it all came back as I downloaded vintage Squeeze, Split Enz, Morrissey, Electronic, Pete Townsend, Joe Jackson...even some Flock of Seagulls. Sure, some of it emotionally overwrought, but then at 15, wasn't that the point?
"Different for Girls" -- Joe Jackson, "Space Age Love Song" -- A Flock of Seagulls, "Romeo & Juliet" -- Dire Straits, "Suedehead" -- Morrissey, "I Got You" -- Split Enz, "Always Better with You" -- Paul Carrack, "Sitting Still" -- R.E.M., "Goodbye Girl" -- Squeeze...sigh...all good stuff...
More to come...
For some reason, I decided to concentrate on the music of my impressionable years: the `80s. In small town Arkansas, the hair metal bands seemed to reign, yet save for some AC/DC, I never took to the stuff. I was a sucker for the artists that never made it to the Arkansas airwaves: early R.E.M., Squeeze, Split Enz, Making Movies-era Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe, etc., etc.
Some of this stuff has been, of late, regulated to the back of my mind. Programming a radio station tends to do that, I suppose. Shuffling through all of the new music sent my way, and appreciating the stuff that stands out, keeps the themes of my youth on the shelf. Yet, today, it all came back as I downloaded vintage Squeeze, Split Enz, Morrissey, Electronic, Pete Townsend, Joe Jackson...even some Flock of Seagulls. Sure, some of it emotionally overwrought, but then at 15, wasn't that the point?
"Different for Girls" -- Joe Jackson, "Space Age Love Song" -- A Flock of Seagulls, "Romeo & Juliet" -- Dire Straits, "Suedehead" -- Morrissey, "I Got You" -- Split Enz, "Always Better with You" -- Paul Carrack, "Sitting Still" -- R.E.M., "Goodbye Girl" -- Squeeze...sigh...all good stuff...
More to come...
