Chapter 3: Origin Stories

10/13/2014

Day 13: I mentioned back on Day 1 that my original love of music came about due to my sister Dawn and the records (and they were vinyl) that she brought back with her from college during what was most likely the summers of 1986 and 1987. With this capter, I would like to explore some of these early influences on my own music library from Dawn, and also other people who would become my close friends. Since today is Monday, I thought that everyone could use a pick-me-up by way of Mr. Paul Simon. The epic 1986 album Graceland was another one of my favorites records to have Dawn spin during those summer days at Mom and Dad's house. "You Can Call Me Al" is just pure joy. What else can you ask for? Horn sections, funky African influences, and I video with Chevy Chase? If this song doesn't make you want to get up and dance a little, or at least smile, well... I think you need to check your pulse.

10/14/2014

Day 14: Another band that saw heavy rotation in those summer days of the late 80s was Phil Collins-fronted Genesis. As I remember, Dawn had a collection of 3-4 different album's of theirs that we cycled through. Perhaps their most well known album of the era (before Phil went solo) was 1986's Invisible Touch, and for today's selection I decided to go with the song that I feel has aged the best with the years, "Land of Confusion." The strange, strange video is certainly not kind to President Reagan, but all politics aside, I think that everyone can appreciate the refrain, "Well, this is the world we live in; And these are the hands we're given; Use them and let's start trying; To make it a place worth living in."

10/15/2014

Day 15: Speaking of Genesis, quick trivia question: who was the band Genesis' original lead singer? The answer to that question may relate to today's song.  1986 obviously produced a lot of great albums, and perhaps the best of all may have been Peter Gabriel's "So." From top to bottom pretty much every track is an iconic single. For today's selection, let's go with "Big Time." Everything really was bigger in the 1980s, and here Gabriel captures that grandious feeling, yet still finds a way to poke fun at it (and himself, in a way) at the same time.  Plus, there's claymation in the video. Nice.

10/16/2014

Day 16: U2 was another band that my sister Dawn first introduced to me. During those summers of the late 80s, I believe we first started with 1983's War, but in 1987 along came a little album called The Joshua Tree.  This album also saw heavy rotation during our epic battles of Risk, Clue, Scotland Yard, and Stratego. Much like some other albums that I mentioned this week, there are a multitude of now legendary songs that I could choose to highlight from this album, but I decided to pick a bit of a Hidden Gem with "In God's Country."  I guess you could say that growing up in rural Ingham county where you knew all of your neighbors and the local church was your extended family was essentially "In God's Country." Perhaps that is why this track sticks out as I think back to those days.  Perhaps it is just because I have simply heard it less that some of the other songs on this album so it seems more fresh. Perhaps it's just because it's a good song. Sometimes that's enough. 

10/17/2014

Day 17: Ok, so let me get this straight. There is a song out there that starts with a sample from an old Star Trek episode (I, Mudd), there are lyrics about telepathy, and then another sample of Mr. Spock saying "Pure Energy" AND David Copperfield would use the song in his televised magic shows (for obvious reasons) AND it has a cool electronic beat. Yeah, I think the 13-year old verion of Paul is totally in.  I spent much of this week talking about the influence that my sister Dawn had on my music collection.  But, I think that I first caught wind of today's act Information Society through my sister Jenni and her record collection.  I have always had a bit of a weakness for bands that fall on more of the electronic part of the spectrum, and I think it all traces back to this song. So, get up and dance to a little "Pure Energy." (You know you want to)

10/18/2014

Day 18: I don’t remember the exact time of year or occasion or whether the money came from my allowance or from a relative for my birthday or Christmas. But, I do remember that the first time I ever bought a tape of my own with my own money, it was R.E.M.'s 1988 classic Green. (I am also pretty sure it was at a KMart.) R.E.M.'s career was really picking up steam up this point. Their previous album Document got a certain amount of airplay, but a certain song called "Stand" from this album is what really seemed to put R.E.M. on the map for good. Looking back now, I certainly don't feel that this was the group's strongest album by any stretch, but it was my first. Thus, it will always hold a special place in my heart.  For today's selection, it only seems appropriate to pick the opening track, "Pop Song 89" again as a kind of Hidden Gem pick.  The "scandalous" video (including 3 topless women) was apparently banned by MTV (even after editing). But, I somehow wound up with a unedited VHS copy that I managed to make my own "edited" copy of for my friend Leo as a prank. It almost seems quaint now since it was actually difficult (impossible?) to find the edited version on YouTube. So instead, you get 3 minutes of the album cover. It is a family show after all.

10/19/2014

Day 19: It turns out that R.E.M. wasn't the only band that was making records in the late 80s from the college town of Athens, GA. I am not sure exactly how I first got acquainted with the B-52s, but I seem to remember discovering the album Cosmic Thing sometime during the 8th grade.   Little did I know at the time that Cosmic Thing was actually a reunion album of sorts, and that the band's heyday was actually a decade earlier. No matter, though, as the B-52's quirky and light hearted style was a nice contrast to some of the other items in my burgeoning music collection.  Today's selection, "Love Shack" is just a classic. Every time I go to a wedding, I am secretly waiting until this song comes on (and you know it will). Say it with me everyone, "Tinnnn Roof... Rusted."

10/20/2014

Day 20: I have already brought up R.E.M. as being one of my favorite bands of all time. Right around 8th grade was the time that I started branching out and being influenced in a musical way by people who did not live in my house. Over the next few years I developed what in my mind was my "Top 4" bands, and my introduction to those other 3 bands I can clearly give credit to a group of people who would become my close friends: Alvan, Bob, and especially Leo. If I remember correctly, I essentially met they guys through Larry Thompson's band class. In other words, music brought us together and music then made us friends. One of those key Top 4 bands that Leo introduced to me was the post-glam rock icons The Cure.  Though formed in the late 70s, The Cure had just releases their best-of album "Starring at the Sea" right around the time I that was getting to know my new friends, and it was  a nice introduction the band's first decade of delicious gloomy rock. For today's selection, I will go with the Cure first single, "Boys Don't Cry" It was already 10 years old when I first heard it, but I think that it still strikes a chord today.

10/21/2014

Day 21: Commercial radio in the late 80s and early 90s was… well let's be honest here. It was pretty terrible. Fortunately, there were a couple of places on the dial back then where decent music could be found and one of my favorites was MSU's own 88.9 FM The Impact (which is still going strong today). It was a great place to find new music back in the day. One evening, I was listening and heard today's selection for the first time. I never did hear the name of singer or track, so the next day at school I asked Leo, and he said, "it was probably Morrissey's 'Everyday is like Sunday'. I will let you borrow my tape." He did, and I was hooked. Morrissey went on to become the 3rd entry in my Top 4. I never liked country music, but Morrissey was able to capture that cathartic melancholy feeling (similar to the role that country music plays for many people) like no one before and no one since. He is in a category by himself, and this nearly perfect song is one of the reasons why.  Come Armageddon, come indeed.

10/22/2014

Day 22: I am also reasonably sure that in that same original conversation with Leo, he probably also said, "oh, and Morrissey used to be in a band called the Smiths, you would probably like them too."  And thus another set of tapes was exchanged. This was pretty common among my group of friends back then, we would borrow a tape for a few days and then give it back. Sometime in that period there might have also been the use of a very important piece of technology back then: the dual cassette recorder. Now, even back then, I had certain rules for myself. If I liked a tape enough, I would eventually buy it. But sometimes it takes a while to really decide if you like something enough to invest in it. I can't feel too sorry for the recording industry (back then at least) as pretty much every bootlegged copy I ever made I later purchased on tape, CD, or off iTunes. In anything, the dual cassette recorder made then MORE cash off me, as it exposed me to a wider array of music than I would otherwise have listened to. But, anyway, I digress. Today's selection from the Smiths (which I lump in with Morrissey as a part of the Top 4) "Panic" is off the fabulous 1987 album Louder Than Bombs, and it shows that The Smiths weren't always just about gloom and doom. At least this song about mass hysteria and hanging DJs sure sounds happy... hmmmm...

10/23/2014

Day 23: The final members of the Top 4 once again stretches that occasional itch that I have for music with an more electronic feel to it.  That final member is Depeche Mode. Back in the early 90s, I didn't just get new music tips from my sister, my friends, or the Impact, I was would occasionally watch videos. Ah, music videos. It really is a lost art form in my opinion. But growing up in the country with no cable, it was really, really hard to get music videos. Until one day when I found that if you pointed the aerial antennae is just the right direction, I could pick up channel 9 out of Windows Canada. Somehow I figured out that they would air some kind of music video program, and had the VCR set for it. Most of the time it was questionable Top 40 stuff, but one day I caught the video for today's song, "Enjoy the Silence". In the video, lead singer Dave Gahan is wandering the English (I assume) countryside dressed a king carrying a lawn chair. The song was cool. The video was perhaps coolers. Again, I was hooked. Fortunately, I wasn't long before I discovered that there was this other way in which I could see video. Good videos, even though it would be years before cable TV reached the Fanson household. But that, my friends, is another story.

So today I would like to close out this Chapter on Paul's musical Origin Story. Tomorrow we start a new chapter where we learn that it is, in fact, possible to walk backwards into the future. Stay tuned.