To get things started, my favorite CDs in 1995:
- Barenaked Ladies, "Maybe You Should Drive" -- Heard them live on WYEP in high school and thought they were hilarious -- you've gotta love the Canadian "sorry"; favorite tracks: "Jane", "You Will Be Waiting" and "Little Tiny Song"
- Better Than Ezra, "Deluxe" -- Very vivid associations with "This Time of Year" and that autumn, both doing homework in the dorm and walking around campus
- Blue Traveler, "Four" -- I adored "Just Wait" and "The Mountains Win Again"
- Dave Matthews Band, "Under the Table and Dreaming" -- especially "Satelite" and "Lover Lay Down," which I associate with Pensacola Beach, for some reason
- Jump, Little Children, "Licorice Tea Demos" -- I think I've covered this
- REM, "Green," "Document" and "Automatic For the People" -- I'm pretty sure they still would have been in rotation given I saw them in concert the day after graduation
- They Might Be Giants, "John Henry" and "Flood" -- Knew Rambling Speech and I would be friends when I heard "Flood" start up in the room next door
- Weezer, "Weezer" -- I taped this from my roommate shortly after arriving on campus and always had it on in the car; loved "The Sweater Song"
Probably not a comprehensive list. Sadly short on female singers, though they featured more prominantly in high school and later college -- Tori Amos, 10,000 Maniacs and Natalie Merchant, Fiona Apple, Sarah McLaughlin, Jewel. At least this list isn't embarassing like a junior high list would be -- I'll 'fess up to Boyz II Men since a. admitted to Paula Abdul!
Later addendum:
As I got in my car to drive to Spanish class, I remembered another frequently listened-to group: Rusted Root, "When I Woke." I also heard them on WYEP -- a hippie, world music band from western Pennsylvania? -- and taped it off someone in college. Perhaps Smitty, since I recall him exuberantly saying, "Simians, away!" I listened to this a lot in the car, though really, it makes no sense for me. The music doesn't match anything else I ever listened to, and I'd stick out like a giant, preppy thumb at a concert. But it's so much fun to listen to, even if I have no idea what the lead singer is saying!
Welcome to my odditorium, a collection of curiosities made up of snippets about my life and occasional machinations on deeper subjects.
14 comments:
Okay. You're on. Now I am mining my cds and thinking back to that wayward freshman year of mine, the step into the bigger world outside... look for my post later today or tomorrow. :)
Wow, college music. I didn't really listen to much music before college. I mean, I didn't even recognize the senior song when I graduated high school. It was that bad. But I picked up a good bit in college. You, Tyler, and Smitty influenced a lot of what I listened to then. There's a lot on your list that I definitely recognized and remember.
Tiffany and I were even talking about TMBG yesterday. She was trying to remember "the song about Istanbul from Animaniacs" because she wanted to play it for her students. I'm pretty sure that the song is on the Flood CD.
For us old folks it is slightly harder to remeber back that far. When I was a freshman I think that in general I was listening to slightly less of The Cure and slightly more of R.E.M. I did get Vic Chesnutt's first album "Little" in 1990, and I certainly listened to that a whole lot. The Go-Betweens were still hot favourites. "Red Hot and Blue" came out that year, and I think Ayzair can confirm that that was listened too a good deal. I think she remebers David Byrne's version of "Don't Fence Me In" in particular. Nick Cave also had a lot of play time that was to some extent appreciated through the wall. Of these I think Vic Chesnutt and The Go-Betweens are the only ones that get regularly played now.
I do rememeber looking at Mom's yearbook from School of the Ozarks and there was a big two page spread about Peter, Paul and Mary coming to campus.
---Amanda Dunce
"I want to ride through the wide open country that I love -- Don't fence me in!" Ah, to be 13 and so proud of actually liking my sister's music! That would have been about the time I was jealous that you got to camp out for tickets to the "Green" tour -- and then learning the "Stand" dance from you. Be warned, I'm soon going to ramble on about how I wanted to be my big sister.
And scanime, indeed, "Constantinople" is on "Flood," as is "Particle Man," though weren't they done by Tiny Toons?
My freshman year was 1987 so my memories may be a little vaguer than I prefer. I listened to a lot of skate punk and hardcore (and moving to Chicago for university gave me all sorts of options that weren't available in this general area). Also loads and loads of local bands as I went to far too many shows as a beginning university student. I also got a healthy dose of underground (pre-"indie") rock, ska and punk through WNUR, the university radion station. Still at it, I see: www.wnur.org
I was also still listening to older stuff by U2, REM and the Violent Femmes (and was perhaps going on and on about how their current stuff wasn't good anymore in an extremely tiresome manner). And the Smiths and the Cure who I hadn't gotten tired of yet (my wife will no doubt be very disappointed to learn that eventually I did).
I hadn't yet caught on to Ministry, KMFDM, Skinny Puppy, Foetus and their ilk but that was coming in the very near future (although most of it was short-lived).
Oops, ^^^ up there I left something out of my first parenthetical comment (I use far too many of them!).
It should have read:
"(and moving to Chicago for university gave me all sorts of options that weren't available in this genre in my hometown)"
Skate punk, eh? The mandolin and Western shirts had me fooled, though that may explain the shorts ...
Okay. I made my too long list to peruse at your leisure. :)
By the way, I'm pretty sure it was on Animaniacs (how I love Animaniacs... and it comes on cable still!). Do you have No! for Abbey?
Okay, I specifically remember Plucky Duck and Hamton Pig singing "Istanbul." Maybe Animaniacs did their own version, or maybe there was series crossover, like a cameo appearance. And I remember Plucky gettings squished by the various kinds of men in "Particle Man."
I know it was Tiny Toons. Tiffany thinks it was Animaniacs. I'm trying to convince that if there's one thing I know, it's cartoons. :)
wow... let's see.
my freshman year i still listened to Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Allman Bros., Grateful Dead, Steely Dan, and a smattering of other classic rock bands i had listened to through high school.
i was also quickly transitioning into Brit rock/pop, which included a constant dose of Oasis's first two albums ("Definately Maybe" and "What's the Story Morning Glory?"), Radiohead ("The Bends" and "Pablo Honey"), Depeche Mode's "Ultra," The Cure's "Wild Mood Swings," Portishead's "Dummy," Garbage's self-titled album, among others.
finally, i listened to some north american "alternative" rock, which included Our Lady Peace ("Naveed") and Stabbing Westward ("Whither, Blister, Burn & Peel"), etc.
Okay, okay... I stand corrected. I found a cool site: http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/34863-Istanbul_Not_Constantinople.html
that confirms that yes, Plucky Duck did indeed perform TMBG's "Istanbul (not Constantinople)." Interestingly, I guess it was a cartoon short and not officially "Tiny Toons." Ahh well. I will now eat crow. Or duck, I suppose. :)
Hmm. If I recall correctly, I came to college having acquired a CD player a scant three months earlier. I think I owned six CDs when I arrived on campus. I'm pretty sure they were all classical music. I don't think I started buying "regular" CDs until sophomore year.
But my "Best of 1995" mix CD has lots of great songs on it I remember playing in Tyler's or your room, or in Harcombe. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something is still one of my favorite songs.
Yes, definitely were friends instantly with They Might Be Giants-
And how could you forget "Dead Puppies aren't much fun" from Dr. Demento? I was really into amusing music at the time. Along with the musicals that remain constant. I think I had gone to Lilithfair that summer before and fell in love with Jewel and a few other gals.
Angela's addition of that song about the burrow owls was pretty sweet too.
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