the early years
Ohio and California
My parents were into road trips. And Babs. And Neil Diamond. And I am one of those people who catagorically memorizes lyrics. And I was also desperate for attention so would sing REALLY REALLY LOUD. enough said. Memories was my favorite. Oh the horror.
Summit, New Jersey
I actually still have my wish list from this year. Eventually I will get around to scanning it so others can share. I was in the 4th grade and wanted 1) A-HA cassette tape (and i included a little illustration of a casette just in case my aging parents weren't sure what i wanted) and 2) a boom box. I got both. The boom box was pink (i think) and looked like a transformer. It was totally sweet. I remember going to LA to visit my aunt sometime later and listening to The Hooters (aka Cyndi Lauper's backup band) over and over and over again. I also remember having a hissy fit outside the Pirates of the Carribean ride.
Alpharetta, Georgia
By this time I was full swing into rollerskating and also at the height of my top-40 phase. I liked to couple skate to Tiffany's "I think we're alone now" and skate super fast to Salt-n-Pepa's "Push it". I admit to purchasing a Debbie Gibson tape and going to my first concert, George Michael. Two moves which almost got me disowned by my older brothers. (Seriously, as a side, going to a concert when you are 12 where the singer is belting out ballads about sex and your friend's dad is standing next to you and some drunk girl falls on him is life alteringly.) Thankfully Dirty Dancing came out and I got distracted by oldies long enough for my brothers to retalliate by gifting me U2 and mix tapes to sway me to their side of things. They really went out on a limb by including Dinosaur Jr.'s cover of Just Like Heaven. While I am sure they take a lot of credit for my future improvement in musical tastes, actually the credit should go to a boy I met on the bus who had a shaved head and a punk rock attitude.
Ah, these were the years. Before the internet finding new music was an art form. It involved detective work, bin rummaging, music label connect-the-dots and luck. Mix tapes were the alcohol of my youth. The term "Alternative" DID NOT EXIST. But MTV's 120 minutes did. I was into The Cure, The Smiths, Camper Van Beethoven, The Descendants... I will keep adding to the list because all I did was absorb music and trade with my friends. It was our Pokomon. We were obsessed.
1991-1992
Alpharetta, Georgia
Once in high school the music obsession had not subsided. I had access to people with cars, friends in bands and Atlanta 30 minutes away where I could see live music. There was not much else to do and not being one into sports or extra curriculars I was seeing a lot shows. Thankfully at that time there were a lot of venues that allowed under 18 babies like myself. I added The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Fugazi, The Church, and a lot of terrible punk. (OK, breathe. I did not say I was punk. And many people would say my eclectic tastes prohibited me from being punk. This is a debate in itself. I remember a few times in high school people went ape because I was wearing fishnets with birkenstocks or combat boots with a flowered dress. Like I was a dress code felon or something. I always thought it was stupid and funny. Everybody always running around trying to catagorize everybody else.)
Ok. So you are thinking, "I've heard of all these bands. They are not obscure. I could buy their album in Walmart." That's fair. During the time I am writing about these bands weren't even played on the radio. They are well known now because they were flipping out suburban kids like me. Some of them way before my time. And the rich kids at my high school thought it was cool to pretend to be a redneck, drive a truck and listen to Garth Brooks. So for me they were delightful. Enough said. (for now!)
ah, the memories.
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