(Above: This is not the version of the LP that I own, but I've been looking for one of these for years. It's the promo release.) We're getting to the top of the list of my favorite LPs. The list will become more predictable from this point, but I've got stories for each of them. … Continue reading Ten Albums: Bruce Springsteen, Born To Run (1975)
growing up in the burbs
Ten Albums: The Who, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (1971)
Ordinarily. I wouldn't allow a Greatest Hits compilation on a list like this. This isn't an ordinary LP, though, nor is the story of how it got here. #5. The Who - Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (1971) There were several groups that I'd call myself "late to the party" in discovering. Led Zeppelin was … Continue reading Ten Albums: The Who, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (1971)
Ten Albums: Simon and Garfunkel, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)
(Above: Paul Simon sports the puffy shirt years before Jerry Seinfeld.) Our series of Ten Albums continues today. #6 - Simon and Garfunkel, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966) Right around the time I turned 14 was when I made the second major raid on my parents' abandoned music collection. I've written much about taking … Continue reading Ten Albums: Simon and Garfunkel, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)
Stuck inside of Mobil, or How I Missed Live Aid: Katrina and the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine” (1985)
(Above: Had I seen Live Aid, I would have no doubt seen this image.) I didn't watch Live Aid. Every year around this time - July 13 - someone brings up the anniversary of Live Aid, the benefit concert that took place in London and Philadelphia on that date in 1985. It was a huge … Continue reading Stuck inside of Mobil, or How I Missed Live Aid: Katrina and the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine” (1985)
Songs of sock hops: The Billboard Hot 100: October 6, 1984
(Above: This sort of rain calls for a forecast of drama and commitment.) Another weekend, another opportunity to catch the VJ Big 40 Countdown on Sirius XM's 80s on 8 Channel. This weekend they chose to go back to 1984 - my junior year of high school. It would have been right around Homecoming time … Continue reading Songs of sock hops: The Billboard Hot 100: October 6, 1984
The Day of the Big Gulp: WLS Top 45s, August 1979
(Above: The Brementowne pool. Not pictured: the WLS Magic Bus.) Yesterday's piece on how going back home is impossible got me thinking: What if time travel is possible on a blog? What if we try to preserve the memories in print? (If I can jog enough memories, can they take on a life of their … Continue reading The Day of the Big Gulp: WLS Top 45s, August 1979
Fall, football, and forgetting: U2, “A Sort of Homecoming” (1985)
(Above: My senior picture, Fall 1985. You'd think someone would have said "Do you want a comb?") The past week has been Homecoming Week at my high school. I was at Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park for four years. I haven't been back to it in twenty, or five times as long … Continue reading Fall, football, and forgetting: U2, “A Sort of Homecoming” (1985)
RIP Dave Pell: “I’m an Old Cowhand” (1957)
(Above: The LP jacket for Swingin' In the Old Corral) Word filtered to me that jazz saxophonist Dave Pell passed away in May on 2017 at the age of 92. Dave Pell is not a household name, except perhaps to those who collect the "lounge" music of the 1950s. In the 1990s Capitol released a … Continue reading RIP Dave Pell: “I’m an Old Cowhand” (1957)
A Friday night watching MTV Classic’s “I Want My ’80s”
It's a cold Friday night in Michigan. Spring break at GVSU has technically started, but we're too exhausted to do anything more than plop down on an overstuffed couch and relax. There's nothing on television worth a darn (we had Will and Grace on WeTV, but that ended in favor of Marriage Bootcamp and promos … Continue reading A Friday night watching MTV Classic’s “I Want My ’80s”
Car mixtape review: 60’s Cruising Tape (1986)
(Above: The 1969 Buick Electra I bought for $400 in February of 1986.) In the last post I referred to buying a '69 Buick and driving around listening to mixtapes put together full of Oldies music. I was a constant anachronism in high school: whatever was in, I wanted no part of, instead choosing to … Continue reading Car mixtape review: 60’s Cruising Tape (1986)
45 Ruminations Per Megabyte 