Record albums were once the center of my musical life (the same is likely true for many of us ASN regulars). Saving your allowance to hit long-defunct chains and stores (oh, how I miss Tower Records!). Birthdays and holidays—seeing that flat 12-inch square gift wrapped with your name on it and wondering what you were gonna get. (I got a copy of Queen’s Jazz one birthday, but was deemed too young to keep the insert poster, featuring a bunch of nekkid gals on bicycles—check the track list if you don’t know where that came from.) Listening to a new disc, possibly by a new artist, at your friend’s house, and it was so f’ing good that you had to rush out and get your own copy (technically, the Undertones’ Teenage Kicks was an EP, not an LP, but why quibble?).
Anyway, enough jibber-jabber. Time to post a couple of songs, then I may kick in a few later if someone doesn’t beat me to them.
I grew up with Abbey Road and it’s been a favorite album as long as I can remember. I eventually got it from my dad when he got rid of all his vinyl, so I’m still playing the same record that spun on the 1960’s-era stereo while I listened, enraptured, on the shag rug, below the popcorn ceiling. The ending medley of “Golden Slumbers/ Carry That Weight/The End” is simply sublime.
Eventually, cassettes and CD’s and digital files replaced records—in our cabinets and in our phones (if not in our hearts). I first had the Violent Femmes self-titled debut album on cassette, then later on CD. It’s definitely a desert island disc; ten tracks—all killer, no filler. You might think I’d choose “Blister in the Sun” from this album, and while that is indeed a classic, I’m going with the closer, not the opener: “Good Feeling”.
So tonight, if you would, pick a song—any song—from those albums that you spun over and over, or repeatedly clicked the digital ‘Play’ button, and who knows—still might be doing so. And if someone picks a song from from one of your favorite albums, there’s no rule against playing a different cut! (no, really; I checked….)
So drop that quarter in the jukebox, punch the buttons, and share your musical memories!
