__2004-02-04 @ 1:24 a.m._______
Ok, Let me start off by saying that this list is not a "greatest albums of all time" list, or a "greatest albums of my time" list. It is simply a list that tracks, chronologically, the 50 albums that influenced my life to a great degree. For better or for worse, the albums on this list reflect a relative importance to me and my love for music.
Here is the first installment. The first 25 will have stories behind them. The last 25 will just be a supplemental list to the first 25.
1. Michael Jackson-Thriller
For many my age, including myself, this is “where it all began.” My parents bought me the double album LP and then they loved it so much, they purchased the 8-track (which was their format preference at the time). I remember being in the basement at age 7, alone, dancing myself into a dizzy, sweaty mess, sometimes hitting the ground so hard that the record would skip. I don’t remember having a specific idea of what it was I was imagining or where I was pretending to be (I think its worth noting here that I grew up as an only child and by that sheer fact I tended to create make believe scenarios very often- it wasn’t odd to hear the crowd cheering in the hallway or the basement or the living room as some made up character circled the bases or ripped into a guitar solo), but I remember the energy and pure excitement I was feeling. “Want to be Starting Something,” was the fucking zenith of dancing hysteria for me. My parents would have guests over on a Friday or Saturday night, and wherever they were I wasn’t, because I was listening to this fucking record. Later on, my parents would come down to the basement or up to the living room to see what I was doing (they were probably getting loaded or close to it), ready to put me to bed, and they would put on this song or “Beat It,” to watch me go nuts and get a laugh. That Christmas, I asked Santa to get me a copy of Thriller on cassette. My parents had just gotten a cassette player for the basement, and they never used the one in the car.
2. Quiet Riot- C’mon Feel the Noise
This was my introduction to hair metal rock n roll and I fell in love at first sight. I’m not ashamed to admit it now. I had this in the format of a 45 first, so that’s how it makes the list. I remember ruining this fucking record. I was still 7 years old and wouldn’t let it leave my sight. I think I was in love with these guys…at the time, they were the definition of “cool.” I brought it to kindergarten (yes, it reads correctly) as my fucking show and tell item! Everyone commented on the lead singer’s checkered tight pants. I decided that I wanted pants like that of my own and proposed a threat to my poor mother that I would run away from home if she didn’t buy me ones just like it (I later pulled this same shit when I was the only one in third grade to have glue and not paste- I went through a very cute, yet bratty period, ok). Of course, I forgot about it all a couple of weeks later. I still carried that 45 around with me until it literally started to crack in half. I was so pissed, I asked for the 8-track for my birthday. We ordered it through Columbia House.
3. Culture Club- Colour by Numbers
Here’s the reason this album makes it onto my list- My mother loved Boy George and listened to this album constantly. I have vivid memories of her lying in the sun, tanning on Saturday early to late afternoons, listening to this album while I played basketball, ran around the yard, and caused general chaos. She would always tell me that she loved his voice and didn’t care whether or not she could tell if he was a boy or a girl. I didn’t understand it all and frankly, didn’t care at the time. I wonder now if she understood the lyrics, cared about it, or even understood what the hell this guy was up to.
4. Duran Duran- Arena
This was the first tape that was ever copied for me. I remember being so in love with Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys,” that I refused to stop dancing around while singing it during a visit to my grandparent’s house. Probably annoyed to all fucking hell, my cousin Jamie told me that she would copy the whole tape if I would promise to watch it record and make sure it didn’t get eaten up in the process. I sat there intently, waiting for the whole tape to record successfully. I think the thing about Duran Duran that I loved so much was how they always seemed to be involved in some sort of exotic adventure. And as a kid, wherever they were, whether it be running through a jungle and seeing tigers, on a boat with some crazy mermaidish beautiful woman, or in some assortment of cages with people running around painted up like zebras, it always seemed extremely cool.
5. Def Leppard- Hysteria
This is the first band I obsessed over. Pyromania was cool (and barely missed this list), but everything seemed to come to a head with this album. Gosh, there are so many ways I could accurately explain the depth of my love for this record. Let’s just go with this one. In the summer of 1988, I had a regular babysitter who would come over and basically watch me everyday until 4pm. So as you can imagine, we spent a lot time together. Seeing there was a huge age difference (she was moderately hot, but in high school), we obviously didn’t have all that much in common- except our love of Def Leppard. This simple fact created my huge crush on her. I would listen to these songs like “Love Bites,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Love and Affection,” and the title track, and picture her (in a nonsexual way of course- I was 10 ok!) laughing and smiling and saying cute things to me. And because of Def Leppard, this all seemed so possible. And so when she started her senior year that fall, and didn’t baby sit me anymore, I wanted to send her off with a gift. With my saved nickels and quarters, I bought her a Def Leppard bandana and gave it to her (I seriously thought about keeping it, believe me). The next year she was back as the babysitter for the summer, but she could only do it one day a week, so her stint only lasted a month into the summer. She showed me her senior year yearbook. There was a picture of her standing by her locker, with the Def Leppard Hysteria bandana clearly hanging on the inside of the door.
6. U2- The Joshua Tree
I remember thinking in my deranged 80s-hard-rock-rules-childhood brain, that U2 were a bunch of pussies. They would always be on MTV (which I worshiped at the time- the golden era), would win all of these stupid grammys and awards, and had stage names I didn’t understand. Plus, I hated Bono’s slicked-back-in-a-pony-tail hair. He just seemed like a scary stranger who liked to sing all wussy-like. And while they grew on my young mind over time, it wasn’t until I was in 4th grade and had my first official girlfriend that I found U2. Jessica Jarguise broke up with me in a note she passed behind her by dropping it on the ground and sliding it across the floor (I later copied this tactic- not the breaking up in a note part, but the sliding with the foot part- hey it seemed to get the job done). We dated for 2 weeks, and in 4th grade, that was like 2 years. After school that day, I thought the thing to do was sit around and sulk- this is what you do when someone breaks up with you, right? Late that night, I snuck out of my bedroom and went down to the basement to watch MTV just a little more (a relatively common activity at this age). U2’s video for “With or Without You,” came on and I cried. For some reason, I made some kind of connection between my parents struggle through their separation and my insignificant 2 week relationship with Jessica. U2 snuggled themselves inside of that connection somehow, and I’ve loved them ever since.
7. Guns n Roses- Appetite for Destruction
Well, this album solidifies what rock and roll meant and, in part, still means to me today. This album introduced the attitude of the rock star, the lifestyle if you will. Cussing had a secret spot in my pre-adolescent/adolescent heart I guess. It embodied the feeling of rebellion- and Guns n Roses’ Appetite did everything to bring it out. My dad made me a non-functional wooden guitar for me shaped and modeled after Slash. I was Slash for 1988’s Halloween. With this guitar, a couple of brooms, a mop, and a pair of rulers, my friends Matt Bletcher, Wes Davey, and I would play pretend stadium concerts in my living room as Guns n Fuckin Roses. While we would sometimes choose other albums or bands to perform as, GNFNR was always the best. Plus we got to cuss our asses off. I think my desire to learn how to play guitar started here.
8. NWA- Straight Out of Compton
Rap music. I didn’t really understand the plight of the black man in Compton, nor did I really understand the reasons for making such music, but those dirty mouths and funky beats made playing video games, skateboarding, and wearing headphones the greatest experience ever for a bored 11 year old white kid in a small Midwestern town. The best part about NWA was the horrible influence I’m sure it had on so many of kids just like me who thought they were hip and getting a multicultural experience from such an album. “Easy E is fucking cool, man…see, I get him. I like black people.” Its pretty pathetic looking back at it but I can’t help the fact that I spent an inordinate amount of time listening to and memorizing the words from this incredible (either way you look at it) album. Luckily, I enjoyed the music and sense of humor and didn’t want to be a gangster when I grew up. For years that followed (until about 1996 or 97), I claimed that this was the best rap album of all-time.
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