10 albums. It's the time of year, I guess. Influential. Sure. That could mean a lot of things.
#1: Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A.
MIne? Coverless. My one and only bootleg cassette in fifth grade. Doin' cool stuff w/ TJ Jones. He would become, at the end of that school year, the friend of mine who loved music the most, and it would be something to hear!
But here, my own rock tape. Wow. He taped that off over at his house. I picked that over Black Sabbath. I was a socially awkward idiot, lol T J told me maybe I should not go around excitedly telling about getting home to "my Bruce." Though he was glad I was looking forward to my first rock album. Remember what big deal contraband rock music was back, children of Fundamentalism?
Anthemic title track, same time, one of many dark tales you find laced within. It meant so much to me. I don't know if I was ever made anything related to music that hit me harder, but it brings to mind some of the talented folks like Jamison and Bali and the one mixtape from that girl...
But this one. Boy! Forbidden to indulge in Top 40 radio, especially music that sounded "rock" but including that dance music, I was trapped in a world instead of TV themes and jingles and those hit song collection advertisements, and endless Southern Gospel Church Music.
Squire Parsons almost made this list, on account of how much his personal appearance, especially one time, at my church, meant to me: he was the first singer for which I was a true fan. At six.
But I only remember, at best, two songs from the tape his roadie gave me.
Five years later, I was primed to rock out with The Boss. Each song...if I stayed up late for anything, if I went to bed early for anything, it was figuring out which ones of those songs I'd listen to first, was I going to stay awake and play the whole thing? Always, keeping it just quiet enough off in my own bedroom, a happy innovation. My sister, down the hallway on the other end of the trailer, was feverishly taping her own library of radio hits soon afterwards. Slippery When Wet was her Rock Tape #1. She fought hard against Mom and Dad and the church for her right to rock out. It shouldn't have been so hard. Our culture, then.
#2: Elton John, Greatest Hits
or, Captain Fantastic
See, Greatest Hits was the one LP even more important to me than Born In The U.S.A. This Made-in-England tunesmith had this weird commercial- familiarity? Respectability? Homogeneity, that made him, in his Tom Wolfe suit by his piano, unthreatening enough for yours truly to get him in the house without a scowling command against Rock Music. "Your Song" and "Honky Cat," you know. "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road" didn't even have a fornicatin' beat. Or maybe life was keeping them too busy for my parents to fret over much over their thirteen year-old's yen for some love song writer who dressed in truly crazy outfits.
My favorite, "Rocket Man." The song that pulled me over the line to save up my money and get the cassette, "Bennie and the Jets." "That's him, too!" I said. I'd been hearing these songs over the years, including our 45 rpm 7" single "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart"- which came into my life at 5. And didn't I see him with crocodiles on the Muppets?
So, no, he was not really cool when I found him. But what songs. What a voice. Life.
The following summer, I got the LP I'll include here, because it was created to have an album identity. Greatest Hits went to no. 1, but that was because Elton was selling 2% of the entire world's records, I shit thee not. But Capt. Fantastic. Not only the name of our cat, but the record representing Bernie and Elton at their meridian as creators along that meteoric rise from the days shown in Cap's lyrics, to the absolute top of the world's entertainment.
This record was his response to being the Greatest Hits guy. It debuted at #1- the first LP ever to do so.
(Don't think I missed out on the Beatles, but since I only had the blue and red collections, I saved their spot for an actual meaningful album.)
We are actually going chronolgically, here, from my perspective as a listener.
#3: Def Leppard, Hysteria
Originally missed from the list!
Happy times, friends- some of my 1st times really out "on the loose"! And crushing on ..Angie Melton on the marching band bus. When I came back to Hysteria as a guitar player- w/ my own Angie to sing- rock on!
This is really about my first band camp. Free of adult supervision for one of the first times, I got to ride with the older guys. Allen Kirby may have been the first one to play some of 'Hysteria' for me. Steve McKinney, who took me and the gang for snacks at the convenient store before that year's band practice, may encourage his niece to slow down at the tracks, but Steve abused those shocks greatly, playing this, one of his first two tapes!
Mutt Lange's production triumph. Steve's riff-driven songs, Joe's one-of-a-kind delivery, great backing vox, Phil's lead guitar, Savage to play bass & be Ang's crush and Rick Allen's Comeback of Rock drumming- evoke the best part of being 13 again.
#4: U 2, Achtung! Baby
Modernized the way I heard rock music. Captures being 17 so cooly. I'm on the cusp of adulthood, my friends, great company.
I had an interesting Friend Zone with some very pretty, individualistic, intelligent young women, too.
Not enough idea what to do with my gifts, budding interests though. Not enough of my friends ready to form a band. At least, thanks to Governor's Honors Program the summer before, I was unlikely to close my eyes too soon to look for something besides my father's footsteps. He wouldn't have minded, but he seemed to believe I was meant to do...who knows what. He'd never met anyone else like me. But he would drive me hundreds of miles to Valdosta for a chance to spend six weeks with six hundred other intelligence-afflicted kids they feel will be a decent enough fit to socialize. I came back thinking I might really be something, after all, but man, still playing around, trying to find a love interest, or a set of interesting potentials to feed.
But the soap opera of my senior year is not complete with Achtung! Baby.
I know that's the laziest summary, but I have other things to do, put it on.
#5 : 'Live Rust' came into my life through my 1st college roomie's collection! Pearl Jam's 'Ten' and Matthew Sweet's 'Girlfriend' were my constant companions that semester, but Young arguably was the main influence for them both! Between 19 & 23, his LP's became the backbone of my soundtrack. We even saw him in Atlanta. My 1st guitar? The dealer demoed "Needle & the Damage Done" on her, like he'd read my heart.
Cortez The Killer. That's the jam.
But the duo of Hey Hey My My and My My Hey Hey are awesome. By Like A Hurricane, you are devastated! It's that way live, too, or it was in '97.
I love a whole lot of Neil's songs. Even "A Lotta Love." If you ever made deafening garage rock, this is a record to hear. But then, the acoustic side a of this double LP is as clear and nuanced a solo performance as Neil had on tape, commercially, then. Timeless choices. It was the perfect double record to put on, back in the gas-wasting days when you drove til you were kinda lost, just looking to find, or taking in the countryside beauty and the rush of the road.
But better yet. Pull out a guitar and play along!
I sense themes grouping my remaining posts on this subject. We'll pick up 6 and 7 next: Bowie and Prince.
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