THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Quick Takes For O [music edition]

Continuing a look back at my first exposure to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss.

OASIS



In the mid '90s, a coworker named Bob Ketcham was hooked on the first Oasis album, Definitely Maybe, and he shared his enthusiasm with me. Or maybe it was the second album, (What's The Story) Morning Glory? I don't remember, because Oasis just left me cold at the time. My friend Chuck Higbie in Key West also tried to recruit me into the Oasis Army, but I was a resister, I was. The Flashcubes opened a late '90s live show with an ace cover of Oasis' "Rock And Roll Star," and that was a bit of all right, awright. One evening in 2002, my daughter and I were watching Top Of The Pops on BBC America, and I fell in helpless thrall to the then-new Oasis single "The Hindu Times." I didn't even mind when Oasis themselves turned up on a subsequent TOTP, and were introduced as "The greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world!" Nonetheless, my favorite Oasis-related track is "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster," the fab song co-written by Noel Gallagher of Oasis with The Jam's Paul Weller for The Monkees' 2016 album Good Times!

THE O'JAYS 



One of the drawbacks of growing up as a suburban white kid is that I didn't develop any real taste for soul music until I was in my twenties. As an adolescent and teen in the '70s, I liked some of the soul I heard on WOLF-AM and WNDR-AM, but "The Tears Of A Clown" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles was the only soul tune that could rival Badfinger for control of my personal mental radio station. But I heard these other songs by The Isley Brothers and The Four Tops and The Stylistics  and The Temptations, and I wasn't exactly opposed to 'em, either. "Back Stabbers" in 1972 was the first time I remember hearing The O'Jays, and it was fine. "Love Train" in '73 was even better, and 1974's "For The Love Of Money" better still. My rejection of disco music in the mid-to-late '70s fooled me into ignoring The O'Jays' "Use Ta Be My Girl" in '78, even though the song wasn't even remotely disco. In the Spring of 1979, the guys who lived in the other room in my sophomore year college dorm suite had The O'Jays' Live In London album; they liked to play that one a lot, and I developed a greater appreciation for The O'Jays via the live "Wildflower" on that album. 

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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here.