Mon May 22, 2006 7:56 am
Pardon me in advance for the length of the piece-it's really just a trifle, and a bit of a wander down an aging punk's memory lane.
In high school and before college, I was still dabbling in this and that, picking up on bands I to this day like (say, ABBA, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles) and trying out some other music that frankly makes me wonder what I was thinking (I'll just drop Men at Work here and slink away in shame).
This was the mid-80s, so at that time, we're talkin' Wham!, Robert Palmer, Human League, the horrific Van Halen, and Nushooz hitting the charts! And just to drive home the state of the public at that time, Eddie Murphy had a hit single around then called "Party All The Time", and this is perhaps as poor a song as has ever been spun (and I'm counting Run, Joey, Run! and Energy Crisis '74 [by Dickie Goodman]).
A trip to Europe (with a group of high-school kids) had me meet a young woman named Nicci (well, two years younger than I, anyway-I'll spare her the embarassment of printing her last name!) who started me down the path of non-mainstream music.
So on this trip this fair-skinned, black-haired darling hit me with Public Image Limited (which led me to the Sex Pistols, Ramones, and punk-my first great love), Bauhaus (which gave me Joy Division and Love and Rockets), and Dead Can Dance (ipso facto Cocteau Twins). Yes, she did dress in black all the time. For giving me this music, I am ever grateful, Nicci!
Anyway, this newfound interest in non-mainstream music led me to take an interest in my college radio station (KUCI 88.9 in Irvine, if anyone cares), and I really wanted an on-air gig. In order to become more familiar with the scene, I hit up Peer Records (yes, LPs) for some alternative artists like about-to-hit-it-big REM.
As you may have guessed (and if you haven't drifted off into some peaceful daydream yet), The Pogues and their latest record IISFFGWG came home with me (and is still in my collection).
I was back in the dorm room (after a few beers and a toke or two with my Aussie suitemate) and I dropped that disc on the platter, plugged in the headphones, and listened to the finest record I had ever heard in my young life. I danced, laughed, and cried as I listened.
Sorry again for the length, and thanks for indulging me. This memory is one I hope to always remember.
Allow not nature more than nature needs, man's life is cheap as beast's.