The other day I was inspired to dig out my old tape of They Might Be Giants‘ Lincoln. I recorded it way back in 1988 at the Hamilton College radio station, WHCL. From vinyl. (Music piracy was a lot harder and less rewarding back in those days.) Despite the occasional pop and hiss, the album is great, in my opinion better than their follow-up album, the far more popular Flood. The music is more diverse, and the lyrics are a mixture of nonsense, humor, and creepy psychological insight. After all this time, I’m thinking of buying it on CD.
In the process of looking for Lincoln, I noticed another album I used to love but haven’t listened to in years: Boylan Heights, by The Connells. I remembered this album as a very sincere, melodic and rather sober piece of work. I’ve had a rough few days emotionally, and it fit my mood perfectly, so I put it on this evening and was impressed with it all over again. (A side note: I realized while looking at the track listing online that I changed the order when I recorded from Eric’s CD. Why? I really can’t remember.)
This all made me think about the musical treasures of yesteryear, those albums I bought in high school or college and pull out every once in a while to listen to despite their inferior formats (vinyl or cassette; I’m just barely too young to own any 8-track tapes — whew!). This entry is an ode to those old war horses:
Big Country — The Crossing & The Seer
The Cure — Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Depeche Mode — Black Celebration
Michael Penn — March
Pink Floyd — The Dark Side of the Moon & The Wall
The Posies — Dear 23
Prince — 1999 & Purple Rain
The Sugarcubes — Life’s Too Good
Tears for Fears — The Hurting
That Petrol Emotion — Babble & Chemicrazy
So many of these have been remastered and reissued that I might have to go on a CD-buying binge. In the mean time, I lift my mason jar of beer to you, old faves!
