This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is simply too large a concept to be neatly contained within a mere three-hour weekly time slot. Hence these occasional fake TIRnRR playlists, detailing shows we're never really going to do...but could.
OUR STORY SO FAR: Previous fake TIRnRR playlists have presented approximations of some of the music that occupied my headspace at various points in my life: when I was in high school (1973-1977), the summer before I went to college (June-August 1977), when I lived in the dorms (1977-1980), when I was home for summer breaks (summers of '78 and '79), when I lived in my first apartment (1980-1982, with a BA in my hand and a song in my heart), and when I lived in my second apartment (1982-1987). Let's finish off this series with a look back at the soundtrack in my third apartment, 1987-1989.
In 1987, my wife Brenda and I moved from Buffalo to Syracuse. The Buffalo experience had not gone as well as it could have, though I do retain some fond memories and a great affection for the area. But I mostly failed in Buffalo. I needed a fresh start, and my best chance at that was in the 315 area code. I had grown up (to the extent I ever grew up) in Syracuse's northern suburbs; my job in Buffalo granted my request to be transferred to its North Syracuse store, so I found an apartment in the city of Syracuse and set my misfit shoulder to the wheel.
I started making a little bit more money. Not a lot more money--let's not get crazy--but enough to ease the financial struggle an eensy little bit. There was still an emotional malaise to navigate, but I did my best to proceed, façade first.
Most of the previous playlists in this series of retrospective snapshots have only included records or cassettes I owned at the time. In 1987-1989, my parameters for owning music expanded. I had cable, which meant I had MTV, and I used my recently-purchased Hitachi VCR to record music videos. Those were part of my soundtrack. I also had my first stereo cassette deck and a library card, so LPs borrowed from the Liverpool Public Library fed and filled my DIY mix tapes.
And, in (I think) late '87, I bought a Pioneer CD player. Initially, I just borrowed CDs from the library; my eventual first CD purchases were Like This by the dB's and Past Masters Volume Two by the Beatles. The Pioneer was soon replaced by a Marantz six-disc CD changer I won at work, a prize for being the only one paying sufficient attention to correctly answer a question when we were all quizzed at the end of a training session.
Wait. Me, being responsible and attentive at work? I guess there's a first time for everything.
Throughout my life, even when I was a little kid, I have always listened to music that was both old and new. Of all the playlists in this particular series of personal time capsules, today's exercise is the one with the highest percentage of then-contemporary sounds. There's still a lot of older material, some of it freshly acquired at the time, but there's even more drawn from the late '80s. A fresh start requires discovery.
I had a lot to discover.
By the end of '88, Brenda and I were sick of apartment life. Our neighbor was crazy, and potentially violent; he carved YOU DIE!! on the wooden landing outside our door. Maybe he was just kidding around? Fun-loving guy, our neighbor. We started looking for a house in the suburbs that spawned me. We moved into our new home in early '89. We've lived here ever since.
I won't attempt to cobble together imaginary playlists recreating my soundtrack for life at stately Cafarelli Manor 1989-present. Hell, you can hear that for real every week on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, sharing space with selections from Dana's own soundtrack.
But the sounds that built us remain with us. Always. Here's one more listen to the music that helped my self-construction when I was still paying rent.
Screw the crazy neighbor. Turn this the fuck UP.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl--y'know, the real one--airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.
Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
https://carlcafarelli.blogspot.com/
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