My first CD purchases were Madonna's eponymous debut, Tina Turner's "Private Dancer," and Herbie Hancock's, "Futureshock." These long-box classics were chosen from the limited selection of the earliest CD releases, as I received my first CD player in 1985. Only major albums from major artists made their way onto this exclusive and expensive format.
To make CDs even less convenient, I couldn't take my music with me. Portable CD players did not exist and I was one of the last of my friends to get a car. Can you believe the Aries K did not have a CD player? Because of this, my music purchases leaned towards vinyl and cassette tapes, and my preferred places to shop were Atlantic Sounds in Daytona Beach (still kicking, but someone needs to design them a better website) and a now-defunct record store in the Daytona Beach Mall (across from the long-defunct AMC 6).
It was in these shops that I started buying stuff that, to me, bucked the ordinary sounds coming from the radio and MTV. Think about how absolute shitty radio music was at that time (apologies to U2, who do not deserve to be on this chart):
1. "Faith".....George Michael
2. "Alone".....Heart
3. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" .....Whitney Houston
4. "C'est la Vie".....Robbie Nevil
5. "Shake You Down".....Gregory Abbott
6. "La Bamba".....Los Lobos
7. "Livin' On A Prayer".....Bon Jovi
8. "Here I Go Again".....Whitesnake
9. "Heaven Is A Place On Earth".....Belinda Carlisle
10. "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life".....Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
11. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now".....Starship
12. "I Think We're Alone Now".....Tiffany
13. "With Or Without You".....U2
14. "At This Moment".....Billy Vera and the Beaters
15. "Keep Your Hands To Yourself".....Georgia Satellites
16. "Heart And Soul".....T'Pau
17. "Open Your Heart".....Madonna
18. "Didn't We Almost Have It All".....Whitney Houston
19. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".....U2
20. "Looking For A New Love".....Jody Watley
21. "Don't Dream It's Over".....Crowded House
22. "Is This Love".....Whitesnake
23. "Shake Your Love".....Debbie Gibson
24. "Shakedown".....Bob Seger
25. "Notorious".....Duran Duran
Are all of these songs terrible? Of course not (dude...."Shake You Down."), but The Kid was heading elsewhere. I spent a good deal of my part-time earnings on great early-alternative stuff (and wine coolers, pot pies, and the Wendy's Super Buffet) like R.E.M.'s "Murmur," Hoodoo Guru's "Mars Needs Guitars," Public Image Limited's "Album/CompactDisk/Cassette," The Smiths "The Queen Is Dead" amongst others. But one album that really rocked my ears, challenged my taste, questioned my sanity, and helped me understand why it was I got pimples and couldn't grow a muscle to save my life was Dinosaur Jr.'s "You're Living All Over Me."
Now, don't get me wrong, this is not my favorite album. I also continued to devour all things Springsteen. Hell, I got stuck with an occasional Baltimora or Glass Tiger album. But it was Dinosaur Jr.'s 2nd album that sounded like the myriad of confusing elements spinning around in my teenage head. Who needed muscles when you could kick ass with a guitar like J. Mascis? J's command of his guitar is so powerful on this album that I am pretty sure on a couple of occasions, the guitar shit itself.
The album is loud without being metal, self-reflective without being pathetic, and it is filled with enough feedback to nourish the guitar hungry. It's impossible to talk about this album and not make it a personal reflection on 1987. A reviewer from Stylus Magazine said it best when describing their sound on "You're Living All Over Me" as a "confused mess: emotionally distangled yet intensely felt, indolent and passive yet capable of incredible fury and volume." Whiney, self-centered, loud. confused, and put together with low-end equipment. Yep, that was The Kid at age 16 and I thank Dinosaur Jr. for somehow assisting in making that seem normal in retrospect.
Dude. That was an amazing experience. You are a genius at getting links. I'm not sure if I enjoyed the Chrysler video, Tom Hanks rapping, or, or, or everything. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteWHEW!!! I was worried for a minute that you were gonna talk shit about "Shake You Down". That would have been a PROBLEM. Especially if you disrespected the part in the chorus where he's all "uh-well-uh-weeellllll". That will always rule. Always.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I just watched that Chrysler video, and DUDE, I would 100% without irony LOVE to have a new 1987 Chrysler / Plymouth Horizon. Look at that thing. It is awesome.
ReplyDeleteOf course they probably all turned to giant wheeled turds by 1989, but still... that car rules.
Robert, you just picked up on my favorite part of "Shake You Down." I was singing that part all morning. I love that.
ReplyDeleteI like how none of us have anything meaningful to say about Dinosaur Jr. It's all about shitty cars and uh...."great" songs. For the record, we are the only 3 people reading my blog. What a shame, this is some informative stuff.
ReplyDeleteThat's because you said all that could be said about Dinosaur Jr. That shit rules.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna go blast "In A Jar" from my 1987 Horizon.
ReplyDelete