Last year, I started trying to remember and imagine what I would have named as my all-time 100 favorite tracks at various times when I was a teen and young adult. The result was a six-part series trying to recreate lists of the songs I liked better than any other songs while I was supposedly in the process of maturing: 1976-1982, from high school student to college graduate and a couple of years thereafter. Pop music was and remains an integral part of my life story; I'm sure that's likewise true of many reading this. That means all of the records I loved aren't merely the soundtrack of my autobiography, but active components of who I am, where I've been, and what I've done.
Years ago, my daughter Meghan told me that music is the heartbeat of the universe. I'm 59 now. I'm still listening to that heartbeat. I'll listen until the sound no longer reaches my ears. I'll probably keep trying to listen even then, turning to the eternal AM radio station that plays within my head. Music is life. Life is music. Cue the guitars. Cue the joy. I can feel the heartbeat. You can, too.
I WAS 16 (GOING ON 17)
By the age of 16, a boy starts to become a man, while often still remaining a boy for quite some time thereafter (decades thereafter in my case). For boys and girls alike, this age can also be a period of transition for one's taste in music. It was for me, anyway.
I was born on January 17th of 1960, so I was 16 for most of 1976. And it was indeed the start of a metamorphosis in the music I liked most, as I began to broaden my pure pop scope beyond then-recent Top 40 and the stuff I remembered from earlier years into attempts at deeper discovery. My interest would expand dramatically in 1977, and stumble toward a more clearly-defined understanding of the music that moved me in 1978. Ultimately, my music is just...well, my music.
Yeah Yeah Yeah. When I was 16, The Beatles still dominated my view of the top of the pops; that needle's never really moved much, and it likely never will. I liked oldies. I liked Top 40 AM radio, but I was starting to feel increasingly estranged from much of what I heard on Syracuse's WOLF-AM, particularly the early disco (or perhaps proto-disco) and mellower sounds. I was not yet listening to much, if any, FM radio; by the end of '76, WOUR-FM was my radio station.
So this is an attempt to create a list of what I might have thought were The Greatest Records Ever Made when I was 16 going on 17 in late 1976. I was in the fall semester of my senior year in high school, and there were a whole lot of changes lurking just around the bend. December would bring my first rock concert. Christmas break would usher in...well, that's a tale for next time. All day and all of the night.
An attempt like this cannot possibly succeed; more than four decades after the fact, there's just no way I can recall with precise accuracy what music I thought was the bee's knees (that was popular slang in '76, right?). I can't say for certain which then-obsessions Carl '76 would have declared an all-time classic, nor which that awkward teen just happened to dig a lot in the moment, but wouldn't have proclaimed as Beatles-caliber. I'm positive that I've cruelly forgotten about some records I considered absolutely essential at the time. But I think it's a decent approximation, and a fair portrait of my soundtrack in 1976.
In the fall of 1976, I had my first job (though it would last less than a month). I was growing closer to a friend's younger sister, and we'd eventually start having lengthy telephone conversations every night. In the popular parlance of '76, I had begun to party. I was writing more and more. We'll come back soon to examine how the soundtrack changed and/or remained the same one year later.
Alice's Restaurant Massacree Arlo Guthrie
Baby Blue Badfinger
Ballroom Blitz Sweet
Bell Bottom Blues Derek & the Dominoes
Born To Be Wild Steppenwolf
Both Sides Now Judy Collins
Come And Get It Badfinger
Come Together The Beatles
Changes David Bowie
Day After Day Badfinger
A Day In The Life The Beatles
Different Drum The Stone Poneys
Dizzy Tommy Roe
Do Ya Electric Light Orchestra
Don't Fear The Reaper Blue Oyster Cult
Eight Miles High The Byrds
Every Little Thing The Beatles
Feelin' Stronger Every Day Chicago
Fire The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
Get Off Of My Cloud The Rolling Stones
Glad All Over The Dave Clark Five
Go All The Way The Raspberries
Go Now! The Moody Blues
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Elton John
Gudbuy T' Jane Slade
Happy Together The Turtles
Help! The Beatles
Helter Skelter The Beatles
Hey Jude The Beatles
Highway Star Deep Purple
Homeward Bound Simon & Garfunkel
House Of The Rising Sun The Animals
Hush Deep Purple
I Am A Rock Simon & Garfunkel
I Am The Walrus The Beatles
I Can See Clearly Now Johnny Nash
I Think We're Alone Now Tommy James & the Shondells
I Wanna Be With You The Raspberries
I'm Into Something Good Herman's Hermits
I'm Looking Through You The Beatles
(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone The Monkees
If I Fell The Beatles
It Won't Be Long The Beatles
It's My Life The Animals
Jet Paul McCartney & Wings
Johnny B. Goode Chuck Berry
Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) Melanie
Layla Derek & the Dominoes
Let It Be The Beatles
Let's Spend The Night Together The Rolling Stones
Like A Rolling Stone Bob Dylan
Lola The Kinks
The Long And Winding Road The Beatles
Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress The Hollies
Long Long Time Linda Ronstadt
Love Hurts Nazareth
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds The Beatles
Magic Man Heart
More Than A Feeling Boston
Midnight Confessions The Grass Roots
My Little Town Simon & Garfunkel
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye Steam
New York Mining Disaster 1941 The Bee Gees
The Night Before The Beatles
No Matter What Badfinger
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) The Beatles
Nowhere Man The Beatles
Peace Of Mind Boston
Pleasant Valley Sunday The Monkees
Revolution The Beatles
Ride Captain Ride Blues Image
Rock And Roll Love Letter The Bay City Rollers
Ruby Tuesday The Rolling Stones
Runaround Sue Dion
Runaway Del Shannon
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting Elton John
School's Out Alice Cooper
She Said She Said The Beatles
She'd Rather Be with Me The Turtles
Slow Down The Beatles
Smoke On The Water Deep Purple
The Sounds Of Silence Simon & Garfunkel
The Story In Your Eyes The Moody Blues
Summer In The City The Lovin' Spoonful
Tangled Up In Blue Bob Dylan
The Tears Of A Clown Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Temptation Eyes The Grass Roots
Thick As A Brick Jethro Tull
Twist And Shout The Beatles
Uneasy Rider The Charlie Daniels Band
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place The Animals
When Will I Be Loved Linda Ronstadt
White Rabbit Jefferson Airplane
Why Can't We Be Friends War
Yesterday The Beatles
You Don't Own Me Lesley Gore
You're No Good Linda Ronstadt
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away The Beatles
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling The Righteous Brothers
Zor And Zam The Monkees
WHEN I WAS 17
In retrospect, I realize that my path through 1977 was paved with dominoes, each falling in its proper place. The path began in December of 1976, when I saw my first rock concert: KISS with Uriah Heep at the Onondaga County War Memorial. It wound its way through Christmas gifts that deepened my appreciation of the mid '60s British Invasion, through increased attention to freer-form FM radio as I left AM Top 40 (partially) behind, through a tabloid rock rag that introduced me to something called punk rock, and a friend in high school who intensified my appreciation of The Monkees. Each domino fell with its own melodious thud. I turned 17 in January. I would graduate from high school in June, and begin college in late August. 1977. The dominoes never knew what hit them.
My Christmas gifts in 1976 included a pair of double-LP sets, The Best Of The Animals and The History Of British Rock, Vol. 2. I was already a fan of The Animals, so the former just reaffirmed preexisting obsessions; the latter made me a fan of The Kinks. I've told that story elsewhere; for now, suffice it to say that I quickly went from being a kid who loved The Kinks' single "Lola" into a full-on dedicated follower of well-respected men. The set included "All Day And All Of The Night," my sister pointed me toward "You Really Got Me," and WOUR-FM gave me "Tired Of Waiting For You" and "No More Looking Back" (and more!).
WOUR was a key contributor to my burgeoning rockin' pop interests. The station introduced me to The Rubinoos, Graham Parker, Greg Kihn, and Nick Lowe, and it had a simply amazing Friday night oldies show. WOUR sponsored the free local distribution of Phonograph Record Magazine, which hooked me on the notion of punk rock well before I actually heard any punk rock. Finally, OUR did play my first punk record in the summer of '77, with a spin of a brand-new single called "God Save The Queen" by The Sex Pistols. I was instantly fascinated. It's not music, I wrote, but it's exciting--I like it! My understanding of the parameters of what was or wasn't music would soon evolve, and the newly-mapped boundaries would most certainly include The Sex Pistols.
My LP acquisitions began to grow at a more rapid pace: sometimes new, more often used from the flea market and used record stores in North Syracuse and in Cleveland Heights, where my sister lived. My sister gave me KISS' Rock And Roll Over album as a graduation gift, and three girls I knew combined resources to get me The Beatles' White Album; I also got Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band somewhere in this period. Linda, one of the girls who had chipped in for my copy of The White Album, also let me borrow her copies of some old Monkees albums, including Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones. Ltd. and Head; I'd never heard either of those albums before, and both of 'em just blew my mind. I was already a Monkees fan, but Head and Pisces shifted that into freakin' overdrive.
Off to college at Brockport in the fall, where campus radio station WBSU-AM offered more opportunity to hear the acts I'd read about in Phonograph Record Magazine, including Blondie and The Ramones. I tried to immerse myself in music, old and new. My girlfriend hated most of it. The majority of my college peers hated all of it. Every word they uttered against The Ramones made me dig in my heels, and deepened my growing disdain for The Eagles and The Grateful Dead, my confidence that I was the only one who knew what music was right for me. Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine. By the time I got to Thanksgiving break, I had expanded my mental library of favored sounds in less than one year's time. Everything would just explode after that, from the moment I first heard my new 45 of The Ramones' "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker." You can read that story here; when we return, we'll resume this narrative in late '77 through late '78. No future for me? Oh, I'd say there was, man. I'd say there was.
After The Gold Rush Neil Young
All Day And All Of The Night The Kinks
Any Way You Want It The Dave Clark Five
Baby Blue Badfinger
Ballroom Blitz Sweet
Beat On The Brat The Ramones
Blinded By The Light Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Both Sides Now Judy Collins
Bottle Of Wine The Fireballs
Calling Dr. Love KISS
Carrie Anne The Hollies
Carry On Wayward Son Kansas
Catch Us If You Can The Dave Clark Five
Cherry Bomb The Runaways
Cry Baby Cry The Beatles
Daddy's Song The Monkees
Daily Nightly The Monkees
Day After Day Badfinger
A Day In The Life The Beatles
Do You Love Me The Dave Clark Five
Don't Be Taken In The Dave Clark Five
The Door Into Summer The Monkees
Ecstasy The Raspberries
Eight Miles High The Byrds
Elevation Television
Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me And My Monkey) The Beatles
Gary Gilmore's Eyes The Adverts
Get Off Of My Cloud The Rolling Stones
Getting Better The Beatles
Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' Crazy Elephant
Glad All Over The Dave Clark Five
Gloria Patti Smith
Go All The Way The Raspberries
Go Your Own Way Fleetwood Mac
God Save The Queen The Sex Pistols
Gold Dust Woman Fleetwood Mac
Good Lovin' The Young Rascals
Having A Wild Weekend The Dave Clark Five
Heart Full Of Soul The Yardbirds
How Can I Be Sure The Young Rascals
I Can't Control Myself The Troggs
I Can't Explain The Who
I Never Thought It Peculiar The Monkees
I Wanna Be With You The Raspberries
I Want You (She's So Heavy) The Beatles
I'm Down The Beatles
I'm Telling You Now Freddie & the Dreamers
If I Needed Someone The Beatles
Isn't It Time The Babys
It Won't Be Long The Beatles
It's My Life The Animals
Judy In Disguise John Fred & his Playboy Band
Jukebox Music The Kinks
Jumpin' Jack Flash The Rolling Stones
Kicks Paul Revere & the Raiders
Knowing Me, Knowing You ABBA
The Last Time The Rolling Stones
Lazy Sunday The Small Faces
Laugh, Laugh The Beau Brummels
Let Me! Paul Revere & the Raiders
Lies The Knickerbockers
Lola The Kinks
Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress The Hollies
Love Is A Rose Linda Ronstadt
Love Is Only Sleeping The Monkees
Maybe I'm Amazed Paul McCartney
Mr. Soul Buffalo Springfield
Mother's Little Helper The Rolling Stones
Needles And Pins The Searchers
The Night Before The Beatles
No Matter What Badfinger
No More Looking Back The Kinks
No Reply The Beatles
Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue The Ramones
On Broadway The Dave Clark Five
Peace Of Mind Boston
Porpoise Song (Theme From Head) The Monkees
Rebel Rebel The Bay City Rollers
Rock And Roll Is Dead The Rubinoos
Rock And Roll Love Letter The Bay City Rollers
She Is Still A Mystery The Lovin' Spoonful
She's Not There The Zombies
So It Goes Nick Lowe
So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star The Byrds
Stop, Stop, Stop The Hollies
Summer In The City The Lovin' Spoonful
Thank You, Girl The Beatles
This Ain't The Summer Of Love Blue Oyster Cult
Tired Of Waiting For You The Kinks
We Are The Champions Queen
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place The Animals
We Will Rock You Queen
What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round The Monkees
White Rabbit Jefferson Airplane
Will You Love Me Tomorrow The Shirelles
Words The Monkees
Wouldn't It Be Nice The Rubinoos
X-Offender Blondie
You Really Got Me The Kinks
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away The Beatles
18 (And I Like It!)
Explosion.
No other single word could describe my rockin' pop world at the end of 1977 through the early fall of 1978. It was an explosion of discovery, building on what I'd learned over the previous year and sending it all up in a rocket to the stars. Or a rocket to Russia--whichever came first.
There were three main precipitating incidents that contributed to this combustion. Over Thanksgiving break in 1977, I heard The Ramones' "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" for the first time, and its immediate and prevailing effects upon me were positively seismic. In January of 1978, not long after my 18th birthday, I saw my first rock 'n' roll club show, performed with irresistible intensity by a local Syracuse group called The Flashcubes. Shortly thereafter, a rock magazine called Bomp! taught me that the music I loved the most was called power pop, a description that linked The Kinks and The Raspberries to The Ramones and The Flashcubes. I've written about each of these elsewhere--"Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," my first Flashcubes show, and the power pop issue of Bomp!--so we'll press on without repeating those stories here. We need only pause long enough to reiterate that those three events share equal footing with seeing The Beatles in A Hard Day's Night at the drive-in in 1964 and reading about punk rock in Phonograph Record Magazine in 1977 as the key flashpoints in my life as a rockin' pop fan. (The Monkees TV series was also important, but its effect was spread out over the years rather than tethered to a specific single moment in time.)
That Christmas break '77-'78 also brought my first attempt at rock journalism: "Groovin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)," an emeritus contribution to my high school literary magazine The NorthCaster. That piece's title reminds me of something similar I've used recently. "Groovin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)" was published in the spring of '78, and it ranted dutifully and insistently about the virtues of punk rock, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Rubinoos, Blondie, and KISS, expressed indifference toward Talking Heads, disappointment in Richard Hell & the VoidOids, and outright hostility toward The Eagles. At a club show the following summer, I ran into a former classmate who berated me for digging punk rock and dissing Hotel California. You know you've succeeded as a writer when you discover you pissed someone off.
Music wasn't the only thing in my life. No, really. I had a girlfriend at college, and it wasn't her fault that we had so little in common. It certainly wasn't her fault that I wound up in the arms of a different girl. I really wish I had been more mature at 17 and 18. I burned bridges with both girls; there was another girl back home, a girl I cared about, and I scorched the innocent earth between us. Yay, me. As 17 became 18, it became clear that I was no longer getting along with my roommate at school, in much the same way that Hatfields don't get along with McCoys.
So yeah, the music's a happier memory. I saw Elvis Costello & the Attractions at college with one of my ex-girlfriends. I saw The Ramones and The Runaways. I saw The Kinks. In the summer of '78, I saw Herman's Hermits (sans Peter Noone) at a club show (where the above-mentioned guy from my high school expressed his disagreement with my published pro-punk stance), and I saw The Flashcubes every chance I had. I got a part-time job at Sears, and that put money in my pocket, cash for records and beer. I bought both, in abundance. I listened to oldies at The Tip-A-Few on James Street in Eastwood. I gave shelter to an AWOL Marine buddy and a teenaged runaway (at different times). I played my LPs and 45s. I was living loud.
And I wanted another girlfriend. I was determined that, given another chance, I could be a better boyfriend than I had been in my previous attempts.
Back to Brockport for the fall semester of my sophomore year in '78. In October, I bought myself a copy of The Jam's This Is The Modern World album, and went back to my dorm to play it at extremely high volume. The girl in the next room objected, and pounded on our mutual wall to get me to shuddup awready. Grumble.
The girl's name was Brenda. That's still her name. We would meet shortly after that, on October 19th, 1978. The story will resume there next time. For now, turn it up! These were my all-time favorite songs when I was 18.
Alison Elvis Costello
All Around The World The Jam
All Day And All Of The Night The Kinks
Any Way You Want It The Dave Clark Five [NOTE: I also played KISS' version a lot]
Baby Blue Badfinger
Babysitter The Ramones
Beat On The Brat The Ramones
Because The Night Patti Smith Group
Blitzkrieg Bop The Ramones
Calling Dr. Love KISS
Catch Us If You Can The Dave Clark Five
Celluloid Heroes The Kinks
Christi Girl The Flashcubes
Christine Sixteen KISS
Citadel The Rolling Stones
Couldn't I Just Tell You Todd Rundgren
Daily Nightly The Monkees
Detroit Rock City KISS
Do Anything You Wanna Do Eddie & the Hot Rods
Do You Love Me The Dave Clark Five
Do You Wanna Dance The Ramones
Eight Miles High The Byrds
Every Little Thing The Beatles
The First Cut Is The Deepest Cat Stevens
Five O'Clock World The Vogues
Friday On My Mind The Easybeats
Go All The Way The Raspberries
God Save The Queen The Sex Pistols
Good Lovin' The Young Rascals
Got No Mind The Flashcubes
Heart Full Of Soul The Yardbirds
Heart Of The City Nick Lowe
Hey Deanie Shaun Cassidy
I Can't Explain The Who
I Fought The Law The Bobby Fuller Four
I Need To Know Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
I Need You (For Someone) The Jam
I Wanna Be With You The Raspberries
I'm Down The Beatles
In The City The Jam
It Hurts To Be In Love Gene Pitney
It's My Life The Animals
Joanne Michael Nesmith & the First National Band
Juke Box Music The Kinks
Just What I Needed The Cars
The Kids Are Alright The Who
La-La-La Lies The Who
The Last Time The Rolling Stones
Laugh, Laugh The Beau Brunmmels
Less Than Zero Elvis Costello
Let Me! Paul Revere & the Raiders
Let Me Be The Turtles
Lies The Knickerbockers
Listen To Her Heart Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Little White Lies The Romantics
Lola The Kinks
London's Burning The Clash
Love Is Only Sleeping The Monkees
The Modern World The Jam
Move It On Over George Thorogood & the Destroyers
My Girl The Temptations
A Must To Avoid Herman's Hermits
No Feelings The Sex Pistols
No More Looking Back The Kinks
No Reply The Beatles
Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue The Ramones
Oh Boy Buddy Holly
Ouch! The Rutles
Porpoise Song (Theme From Head) The Monkees
Pretty Vacant The Sex Pistols
Pushin' Too Hard The Seeds
Ready Steady Go Generation X
Rich Kids The Rich Kids
Rock And Roll Love Letter The Bay City Rollers
Rockaway Beach The Ramones
School Days The Runaways
Shattered The Rolling Stones
She Is Still A Mystery The Lovin' Spoonful
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker The Ramones
Sloop John B The Beach Boys
So It Goes Nick Lowe
Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White The Standells
Suffragette City David Bowie
Take Me For What It's Worth The Searchers
Tear Me Apart Suzi Quatro
Tell Me What You See The Beatles
Thank You, Girl The Beatles
Then She Kissed Me KISS
Till The End Of The Day The Kinks
Tired Of Waiting For You The Kinks
Wasted The Runaways
Watching The Detectives Elvis Costello
Waterloo Sunset The Kinks
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place The Animals
When You Find Out The Nerves
Where Have All The Good Times Gone The Kinks
Words The Monkees
X-Offender Blondie
You Really Got Me The Kinks
Your Generation Generation X
NOTE: If The Flashcubes had released more than just the "Christi Girl" 45 in this time frame, there woulda been a lot more 'Cubes tracks on this Hot 100. Live Flashcubes fave raves included "Face To Face" (my first favorite Flashcubes song), "On The Run," "Student Rape," "Social Mobility," and many more.
Hey 19!
The modern world.
Although one can believe in a love at first sight (and I'm certain that it happens all the time), it didn't happen that way for Brenda and me. We had been in a small class together in the fall of '77, but neither of us made much impression on the other. That changed in October of 1978. We met, for real. We fell in love. We've been together in good times and in bad times ever since then.
After the tumult of early courtship, and the uncertainty of whether this new relationship would survive past Christmas break, we reunited in Syracuse on January 17th, my 19th birthday, when she gave me a copy of the Armed Forces LP by Elvis Costello & the Attractions. Clearly, this was a heart I should hold on to.
1979 held so much disappointment and heartache. Brenda got sick, and needed to go back home to Staten Island for treatment; she missed a couple of weeks of school that spring, and I was out of my mind with worry. But she got through it, healthier than before. My favorite band The Flashcubes broke up that summer (though, technically, they stuck around another year, but without one of the founding members). One of my best friends from high school divorced herself from our crowd; another divorced himself from life itself, putting a gun to his head on July 1st. These are stories I've told many times; they still hurt with each re-telling.
So maybe I'm just stupid when I look back on 1979 with such fondness. In spite of everything, it was my best year. Love and music. Friendship. A full-time job in the summer. Weekends spent with Brenda, who'd taken an apartment in Brockport, allowing us to trade off who would hop a Greyhound to visit the other each Friday. Hearts growing stronger together. And my senior year in college beckoning in the fall. The modern world. I could get used to that.
Accidents Will Happen Elvis Costello & the Attractions
All Around The World The Jam
All Day And All Of The Night The Kinks
All Kindsa Girls The Real Kids
Any Way You Want It The Dave Clark Five
Babysitter The Ramones
Because The Night The Patti Smith Group
Blitzkrieg Bop The Ramones
Capital Radio The Clash
Carbona Not Glue The Ramones
Catch Us If You Can The Dave Clark Five
Christi Girl The Flashcubes
Complete Control The Clash
Cool Metro David Johansen
Couldn't I Just Tell You Todd Rundgren
Crying Waiting Hoping The Beatles
Daily Nightly The Monkees
Death Of A Clown The Kinks
Do Anything You Wanna Do Eddie & the Hot Rods
Do You Love Me The Dave Clark Five
Do You Wanna Dance The Ramones
Don't Come Close The Ramones
Don't Put Me On The Flamin' Groovies
Every Little Thing The Beatles
Follow Me Artful Dodger
Frenchette David Johansen
Friday On My Mind The Easybeats
Get Off Of My Cloud The Rolling Stones
Go All The Way The Raspberries
God Save The Queen The Sex Pistols
Heart Full Of Soul The Yardbirds
Hey Deanie Shaun Cassidy
Hong Kong Garden Siouxsie & the Banshees
I Can't Explain The Who
I Just Want To Have Something To Do The Ramones
I Need To Know Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
I Need You (For Someone) The Jam
I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones
I Wanna Be With You The Raspberries
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend The Rubinoos
I Want You Around The Ramones
I Want You To Want Me Cheap Trick
(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear Blondie
I'm Down The Beatles
I'm On Fire The Dwight Twilley Band
I'm The Man Joe Jackson
In The City The Jam
Is She Really Going Out With Him? Joe Jackson
It's My Life The Animals
It's Over Artful Dodger
Juke Box Music The Kinks
Laugh, Laugh The Beau Brummels
Let's Face It 999
Let's Swing The Romantics
Liar, Liar The Castaways
Lies The Knickerbockers
Little Girl Lies Blondie
Little White Lies The Romantics
London's Burning The Clash
Love Is Only Sleeping The Monkees
The Kids Are Alright The Who
Making Time The Creation
The Modern World The Jam
A Must To Avoid Herman's Hermits
No Matter What Badfinger
No More Looking Back The Kinks
One More Time Joe Jackson
Personality Crisis The New York Dolls
Porpoise Song (Theme From Head) The Monkees
Pretty Vacant The Sex Pistols
Public Image Public Image Ltd.
Ready Steady Go Generation X
Revolution The Beatles
Roadrunner The Greg Kihn Band
Rock And Roll The Runaways
Rock And Roll Is Dead The Rubinoos
Rock 'n' Roll High School The Ramones
Rockaway Beach The Ramones
Roxanne The Police
Shake Some Action The Flamin' Groovies
Shattered The Rolling Stones
She Don't Know Why I'm Here The Last
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker The Ramones
Starry Eyes The Records
Strange Town The Jam
Sunday Girl Blondie
Surrender Cheap Trick
Take A Chance The Most
Teenage Alcoholic The Ohms
Thank You, Girl The Beatles
Tommy Gun The Clash
Wait Till Next Week The Flashcubes
Walking Out On Love Paul Collins
Watching The Detectives Elvis Costello
Waterloo Sunset The Kinks
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Wouldn't You Like It The Bay City Rollers
X-Offender Blondie
You Really Got Me The Kinks
You're Gonna Miss Me The 13th Floor Elevators
I Hit 20 (And 20 Hits Back)
I was never a particularly good student, but nor was I ever in much danger of failing outright. Science was a mystery to me. I was adequate at math, albeit barely adequate. I was pretty good with history and social studies, and potentially very good with anything that involved a-readin' and a-writin'. I skipped fifth grade because I was reading at a high school level. I discovered that I could write; with practice, I developed an ability to write well. I entered college at 17, enrolled in a program designed to earn a four-year degree in three years, and walked away from academia in the spring of 1980, a BA in English in my hand and a punk rock song in my heart. I was 20 years old. I wasn't quite ready for prime time, but prime time awaited nonetheless.
My senior year at Brockport was pretty good. I got along with my roommate, and we shared some similar tastes in music. My girlfriend Brenda lived directly downstairs from my seventh-floor dorm suite. A combination of boys from my floor and girls from her floor formed a broomball team, and that was a righteous good time. There were parties, there was rock 'n' roll, camaraderie, and even a day trip to Letchworth State Park, culminating in an impromptu slumber party. Overall, it was probably the closest thing to a contented period in my academic career.
But still, I was anxious for it to be over. I just didn't want to be in school anymore. I grabbed my diploma in May, briefly (very briefly) toyed with the idea of grad school, and moved on. Brenda still had another year to go; we wanted to remain together, so we got an apartment in the village. Needing money for my share of the rent, I took the job that was available: working part-time at McDonald's in Rochester, a twenty-minute bus ride away. I lost that job when I saw a tied-up garbage bag full of what I presumed to be garbage, and tossed it into the trash compactor; the bag contained several pairs of the owner's expensive shoes, which had been dropped off for him at the store. Oops. Luckily, as summer ended, the McDonald's back in my college town was hiring, and a full-time fast-food paycheck was mine for the taking. Success! Meager success, but it meant money for rent, groceries, beer, and records. I would remain an employee of McDonald's of Brockport for two years.
So here's an approximation of my top-of-the-pops soundtrack from the start of my senior year in the fall of 1979 through the start of my residency at McDonald's of Brockport in late August of 1980. It was a more difficult list to simulate than the previous entries, but I think I captured the broad strokes of my musical world at the time, a portrait of the blogger as a young about-to-be man. We'll return with one more list, compressing fall of 1980 through August of 1982 into one big WHOOOOSH! There will be noise. And please, just ignore that garbage bag full of shoes. It's for your own good, man. Trust me.
Accidents Never Happen Blondie
All Around The World The Jam
All Kindsa Girls The Real Kids
American Girl Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Any Way You Want It The Dave Clark Five
Baby Blue Badfinger
Babysitter The Ramones
The Ballad Of John & Yoko The Beatles
Blitzkrieg Bop The Ramones
Capital Radio The Clash
Carbona Not Glue The Ramones
Catch Us If You Can The Dave Clark Five
Chinese Rocks The Heartbreakers
Clampdown The Clash
Complete Control The Clash
Coming Up Paul McCartney
Cool Metro David Johansen
Couldn't I Just Tell You Todd Rundgren
Crazy Little Thing Called Love Queen
Damaged Goods Gang Of Four
Death Of A Clown The Kinks
Do Anything You Wanna Do Eddie & the Hot Rods
Do You Love Me The Dave Clark Five
Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? The Ramones
Don't Wait Up For Me The Beat
The Door Into Summer The Monkees
Dream Police Cheap Trick
Dreaming Blondie
Even The Losers Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Every Little Thing The Beatles
Follow Me Artful Dodger
Fortune Teller The Rolling Stones
Frenchette David Johansen
Get Off Of MyCloud The Rolling Stones
Girls David Johansen
Go All The Way The Raspberries
God Save The Queen The Sex Pistols
Good Girls Don't The Knack
Government Center The Modern Lovers
A Hard Day's Night The Beatles
Heart Full Of Soul The Yardbirds
Help! The Beatles
I Just Want To Have Something To Do The Ramones
I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones
I Wanna Be With You The Raspberries
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend The Rubinoos
I Want You To Want Me Cheap Trick
If I Needed Someone The Beatles
I'm Bored Iggy Pop
I'm Down The Beatles
I'm Straight The Modern Lovers
I'm The Man Joe Jackson
It's My Life The Animals
It's The Same Old Song The Four Tops
Laugh Laugh The Beau Brummels
Let's Go The Cars
Lies The Knickerbockers
Love Is Only Sleeping The Monkees
No Matter What Badfinger
No Reply The Beatles
One Track Mind The Heartbreakers
Personality Crisis The New York Dolls
Pleasant Valley Sunday The Monkees
Pop Muzik M
Porpoise Song (Theme From Head) The Monkees
Pretty Vacant The Sex Pistols
Public Image Public Image Ltd.
Refugee Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Revenge The Scruffs
Revolution The Beatles
Rock 'n' Roll High School The Ramones
Rock And Roll Girl The Beat
Rockaway Beach The Ramones
Rockerfeller The Most
Roxanne The Police
School Days The Runaways
Shake Some Action The Flamin' Groovies
Shattered The Rolling Stones
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker The Ramones
Sleazy The Village People
So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star? The Patti Smith Group
Starry Eyes The Records
Stop Your Sobbing The Pretenders
Strange Town The Jam
Sunday Girl Blondie
Superman (Main Title Theme) The London Symphony Orchestra
Surrender Cheap Trick
Take A Chance The Most
Teenage Alcoholic The Ohms
Teenage Kicks The Undertones
The Ties That Bind Bruce Springsteen
Tomorrow Night Shoes
Walking Out On Love Paul Collins
Waterloo Sunset The Kinks
What I Like About You The Romantics
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding Elvis Costello & the Attractions
When I Look In Your Eyes The Romantics
Wouldn't You Like It The Bay City Rollers
You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory Johnny Thunders
You Really Got Me The Kinks
NO TIME TO BE 21/THIS YEAR I'LL BE 22
It was the only time in my life that I preferred The Rolling Stones to The Beatles.
Why? Damned if I know. It wasn't like I suddenly relinquished my life-long love of your John, your Paul, your George, and your Ringo. Nonetheless, for a very brief period there in the early '80s, I did listen to the Stones a bit more often than I listened to The Beatles. But it was okay. I listened to The Beatles, too. I listened to a lot of stuff, and I couldn't get enough of it all. Turn it up!
Most of my music at the time was on record or radio. I didn't have wheels--I wouldn't get my license until just before my 21st birthday in January 1981, and I wouldn't get a car until 1983, well after we shuffled off to Buffalo--and there just wasn't a lot of live music that I cared about in Brockport. Southern rock? Pass, thanks. There were exceptions: a terrific young Rochester band called The Insiders occasionally played at Priority One in Brockport, and we would never miss a chance to see them; a college classmate named Ken Goffman had a Stooges-influenced band called The Party Dogs, and we caught another young band--I've long since forgotten their name--at Priority One precisely once, and I was struck and delighted by their decision to include a Rick James song within their repertoire of oldies and new wave covers. We accompanied friends to a couple of shows in Rochester (the mighty Blotto and ex-Herman's Hermits frontman Peter Noone's new wave combo The Tremblers). Some other friends were fans of a competent (though, I felt, boring) Buffalo-area cover band called Breakout, and we tagged along to see Breakout a few times, too; my best memory of Breakout was a show around Christmas time, when one of the members took the stage in a Santa suit to belt out a cover of AC/DC's "Highway To Hell," retitled "Sleigh Ride To Hell"--coal for everybody! I also made a few trips back home to Syracuse, and tried to catch Screen Test and 1.4.5. there if schedules aligned.
So: without a steady source of live music, records and radio had to see me through. I read Trouser Press and Creem with religious devotion. I listened to Brockport's campus station WBSU, Rochester's WCMF (which played my two-for-Tuesday request for The Ramones!), a Sunday night alternative rock show called Power Rock on Buffalo's 97 Rock, and, best of all, WUWU out of East Aurora, The Rock Of Western New York, the most quirky and adventurous commercial FM station I ever heard.
I was a regular at Brockport's Main Street Records, where new LPs were cheap, and cutout and used LPs were even cheaper. I stretched my budget to include this bounty, new and old. From Main Street, from friends, from radio, from magazines, I cast my net wide. LPs. 45s. Cassettes. Flexi-discs. Record label budget samplers! Roxy Music. Love. The Motown Story. Nikki & the Corvettes. The Modern Lovers. The Lords Of The New Church. Invictas A Go Go. Ear Piercing Punk, which turned out to be a collection of obscure '60s garage sides. The Fast. The Doors. The Last. Former Playboy playmate Bebe Buell. Monkeemania. Deface The Music. Raw Power. Loaded. Squeezing Out Sparks. Love's Melodies. Wanna Buy A Bridge? The Nylon Curtain. Gary Numan. Vincebus Eruptum. Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart. Devo Live. The Temptations. The Holy Sisters Of The Gaga Dada. Elvis Presley. Little Richard. Wild Honey/Friends. KISS. Phil Seymour. Give 'Em Enough Rope. Black Market Clash. London Calling. Double Fantasy. The Grass Roots. Great Buildings. Panorama. Donna Summer. The Music Explosion. The Chesterfield Kings. Romeo Void. Are You Experienced? Dillinger. The Penetrators. Curtis Seals. The dB's. The Laughing Dogs.
And more. Always more.
Something drew me to the Stones, especially to Keith Richards' bad-boy junkie image, which dovetailed with my grungy guitar-hero worship of Johnny Thunders. I can barely stand to listen to "Start Me Up" nowadays, but I loved it then. I also discovered The Velvet Underground, but my favorite albums were likely Setting Sons and Sound Affects by The Jam, LPs over which I obsessed with great joy and fulfillment.
The music flowed together: the 152 songs below (152 because I couldn't narrow the number down any further), the dozens referenced above, the unnumbered rockin' pop treasures my mind can't conjure in the moment. The J. Geils Band. Stevie Wonder. The Adverts. The Joe Perry Project. Nina Hagen. Pat Benatar. Paul Revere & the Raiders. The Pretenders. My friend's copy of James Brown's Live At The Apollo. Psychedelic Furs. U2. Kim Wilde. The Hollies. XTC. OMD. More Beatles! All of it. All of it mixed with life, and love, and work, and sorrow, with harmony, with discord, with worries, with dreams, with pennies pinched, with splurges justified, ends met, fears kept at bay. With arguments. With strife. With beer and junk food, comic books and video games, paperbacks and almost every movie that played at The Strand on Main Street. With depression. With hope. With any goddamned thing that had a speaker and some way to push the volume. With saying goodbye to some things, and to some people, and holding fast to others. My favorite song, "Let Go" by Dirty Looks, summed it up:
If you wanna find out what you're really made of
Go, let go, and all you gotta do is
Let go
Let go
Let go
All you gotta do is
Let go
Let go
Let GO! GO! GO! GO!
By the end of the summer of '82, Brenda was done with the gap year in her studies, ready to commence graduate work at the University of Buffalo. Would I come with her? Decisions were made. A rocky road was crossed. We remain together to this day.
It's been said that college life--especially dorm life--is like an extended childhood. Moving into an apartment with your significant other may or may not be considered adulthood, but it's a step in that direction. Or at least it should be. We took our steps. We took our missteps, too. We kept going.
Our story continued in Buffalo, a tale chronicled elsewhere in a memoir I call The Road To GOLDMINE. The road winds on. The road. That's what the music's for, man. Whether we're walking, riding, driving, or crawling, the music is made for the road ahead.
3rd Generation Nation The Dead Boys
867-5309/Jenny Tommy Tutone
All's Quiet On The Eastern Front The Ramones
Another Girl, Another Planet The Only Ones
Any Way You Want It The Dave Clark Five
Anytime Screen Test
Apologies The Pointed Sticks
Baby Let's Twist The Dictators
Babylon The New York Dolls
Babysitter The Ramones
Bad Reputation Joan Jett
Better Things The Kinks
Blitzkrieg Bop The Ramones
The Break-Up Song (They Don't Write 'Em) The Greg Kihn Band
C30, C60, C90, Go! Bow Wow Wow
Can't You Hear Me Knocking The Rolling Stones
Carbona Not Glue The Ramones
Catch Us If You Can The Dave Clark Five
Chinese Rocks The Heartbreakers
Crazy Little Thing Called Love Queen
Cynical Girl Marshall Crenshaw
Dancing With Myself Gen X
Dearest Buddy Holly
Death Of A Clown The Kinks
Do The Freddie Freddie & the Dreamers
Do You Wanna Dance The Ramones
Do You Wanna Touch Me Joan Jett
Doing Alright With The Boys Gary Glitter
Empty Heart The Rolling Stones
The Eton Rifles The Jam
Ever Fallen In Love The Buzzcocks
Evil Hearted You The Yardbirds
Femme Fatale The Velvet Underground
Flowers In The City David Johansen & Robin Johnson
Fortune Teller The Rolling Stones
Frenchette David Johansen
Get Off Of My Cloud The Rolling Stones
Get Over You The Undertones
Girls Talk Dave Edmunds
Gloria Them
God Save The Queen The Sex Pistols
Gudbuy T' Jane Slade
Happy The Rolling Stones
Heading Out To The Highway Judas Priest
Hearts In Her Eyes The Records
Hearts Will Be Broken The Records
Help! The Beatles
Heroin The Velvet Underground
History Never Repeats Split Enz
I Fought The Law The Bobby Fuller Four
I Got You Split Enz
I Know What I Want Cheap Trick
I Love Rock And Roll [original import single version] Joan Jett
I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones
I Wanna Be Your Dog The Stooges
I Wanna Be Your Man The Rolling Stones
I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight The Tremblers
I'll Be Your Mirror The Velvet Underground
In The Congo The Bongos
The Israelites Desmond Dekker
It's Cold Outside Stiv Bators
It's My Life The Animals
It's The Same Old Song The Four Tops
It's Going To Happen! The Undertones
It's Too Late The New York Dolls
In The Nighttime The Romantics
Instant Karma! John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Johnny B. Goode Chuck Berry
Jump Boys The Undertones
Jumpin' Jack Flash The Rolling Stones
Leave Me Alone The Insiders
Let Go Dirty Looks
Let It Go Def Leppard
Let's Groove 1.4.5.
Let's See The Sun The Fleshtones
Lies The Knickerbockers
Love Is Only Sleeping The Monkees
Love To Love The Monkees
Love's Made A Fool Of You Buddy Holly
Mama Weer All Crazee Now Slade
Mind-Bending Cutie Doll The Revillos
National Breakout The Romantics
Nervous Breakdown Eddie Cochran
New Life The Zones
Nothing Really Matters When You're Young Screen Test
Now You Know The Real Kids
Oh My My The Monkees
Oh, Woe Is Me Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Older Women New Math
On My Radio The Selecter
One Track Mind The Heartbreakers
Orgasm Addict The Buzzcocks
Paint Her Face The Records
Panic In Detroit David Bowie
Paint It, Black The Rolling Stones
Porpoise Song (Theme From Head) The Monkees
Pulling Mussels (From The Shell) Squeeze
The Punk Cherry Vanilla
The Punk Meets The Godfather The Who
Queen Of Hearts Juice Newton
Route 66 The Rolling Stones
September Gurls Big Star
Since You Been Gone Cherie & Marie Currie
Shake Some Action The Flamin' Groovies
Shakin' Street The MC5
She Couldn't Say No 1.4.5.
She's A Dog Simply Saucer
She's Got A Big Boyfriend Blotto
She's So Cold The Rolling Stones
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker The Ramones
Slow Death The Dictators
Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White The Standells
Start Me Up The Rolling Stones
Steam Engine 99 The Monkees
Strange Town The Jam
Surfing And Spying The Go-Go's
Sunday Morning The Velvet Underground
Super Freak Rick James
Surrender Cheap Trick
Sweet Little Sixteen Chuck Berry
Sweets For My Sweet The Searchers
Syracuse Summer The Tearjerkers
Tainted Love Soft Cell
Teacher, Teacher Rockpile
The Tears Of A Clown Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Telephoto Lens The Bongos
Tell Me A Story The Natives
Tell That Girl To Shut Up Holly & the Italians
That's Entertainment The Jam
There She Goes Again The Velvet Underground
The Tide Is High Blondie
Tiny Steps Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Tips For Teens Sparks
The Train Kept A-Rollin' The Yardbirds
Tomorrow Night Shoes
Turn The Other Way Around Quincy
Turning Japanese The Vapors
Uncle John's Band The Grateful Dead
Vacation The Go-Go's
Walk--Don't Run The Ventures
Walking Out On Love Paul Collins
Waterloo Sunset The Kinks
We Got The Beat The Go-Go's
We Love You The Rolling Stones
What I Like About You The Romantics
Wild Horses The Rolling Stones
Words The Monkees
Yoda "Weird" Al Yankovic
You Really Got Me The Kinks
You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC
You Still Want Me The Kinks
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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. A digital download version (minus The Smithereens' track) is also available from Futureman Records.
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