(Me in 1989)
Every year around the time of my birthday - which happens six days from when the show airs - I play a lot of my favorite music from the year of my birthday, which was 1968. I do this each year & have made my way to 1989, when I was 21. There was a lot of music I loved from that year so it's been very, very hard for me to pick. I'm not even sure if all the stuff I chose for tonight will be my favorite. But I have two hours to share music I loved from back then - almost all of which I was actually listening to at the time - & those two hours are from midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in town - that's KBOO - online at kboo dot fm.
That's gotten out of the way so you don't have to read me rambling on a little bit more about me in 1989. You can skip all this.
Yesterday I mentioned that I feel like in 1989 my relationship with music changed. Up until that point, it would not be an exaggeration to say that music was the most important thing in my life. It was certainly a part of the many creative things I absorbed, including literature & comics, but it was the most immediate & certainly the thread that connected lots of my relationships. My friend Russell, for example, was never quite as interested in comics or sci-fi as I was, but we could always talk about music.
That's gotten out of the way so you don't have to read me rambling on a little bit more about me in 1989. You can skip all this.
Yesterday I mentioned that I feel like in 1989 my relationship with music changed. Up until that point, it would not be an exaggeration to say that music was the most important thing in my life. It was certainly a part of the many creative things I absorbed, including literature & comics, but it was the most immediate & certainly the thread that connected lots of my relationships. My friend Russell, for example, was never quite as interested in comics or sci-fi as I was, but we could always talk about music.
Once I was in a relationship - even if the one I was in for most of 1989 was one-sided & something of a sham - it seemed to me I was somehow involved in a creative process myself. I was never a musician, & though I wanted to perhaps one day be a writer, I knew deep inside that I didn't have the talent or skills. I think I also knew that I was too lazy to work hard enough to develop whatever artistic capabilities I might have been able to nurture. Certainly suddenly finding myself in a relationship gave me a sense of being involved in creation - in a way, playing pretend.
In this way I didn't rely on music as much. I still wanted to listen to it, & I still wanted to share it, & I still felt it was something I needed in my life. Just - not as much.
Two things happened to also affect how I interacted with music. One was obvious - I was with another person most of the time, so when I listened to music, I wasn't alone. Up until that point my relationship with music was entirely personal. Now I deferred to her when it came to listening to things. At least once in our relationship I took her to a concert I really want to see, & she hated the musician. She said, "Why would you take me to this?" & basically made me leave. In 1989, one of my favorite musicians, Elvis Costello, released a new record. I remember being very excited about buying it & bringing it home. But she didn't like Elvis Costello & didn't want me to listen to the record around her.
Being alone that summer was probably very good for me to catch up on records I wasn't allowed to listen to on my own! But the second thing that happened was that a couple of releases I was really looking forward to were deeply disappointing to me. These were from bands I greatly admired. I don't want to call them out now but if you look at "best of 1989" lists & you cross-check it with what I play tonight, you will noticed some glaring exceptions. Eventually I listened to & came to appreciate some of the songs on the records but I never truly came to love them as I had loved their previous releases. So too I listened to some releases just out of loyalty more than enjoyment. I have never been able to entirely reject an artist even after long periods of disappointment.
When I thought about my life in 1989, I didn't think I'd find much music I liked back then. When I took the time to look over releases of the year, I found something like 150 records & singles. & that's just in the rock/indie rock/postpunk/indiepop categories. I haven't yet looked into hip hop or electronica or jazz. It means that tonight's show will just be a snapshot - 25 or so songs out of a possible 150. I have decided though not to revisit 1989 later in this year. I will do it during sub shows when I have the chance.
Anyway. I have to go now & decide how I will put this show together. I hope we share some of the same loves of the year!
Two things happened to also affect how I interacted with music. One was obvious - I was with another person most of the time, so when I listened to music, I wasn't alone. Up until that point my relationship with music was entirely personal. Now I deferred to her when it came to listening to things. At least once in our relationship I took her to a concert I really want to see, & she hated the musician. She said, "Why would you take me to this?" & basically made me leave. In 1989, one of my favorite musicians, Elvis Costello, released a new record. I remember being very excited about buying it & bringing it home. But she didn't like Elvis Costello & didn't want me to listen to the record around her.
Being alone that summer was probably very good for me to catch up on records I wasn't allowed to listen to on my own! But the second thing that happened was that a couple of releases I was really looking forward to were deeply disappointing to me. These were from bands I greatly admired. I don't want to call them out now but if you look at "best of 1989" lists & you cross-check it with what I play tonight, you will noticed some glaring exceptions. Eventually I listened to & came to appreciate some of the songs on the records but I never truly came to love them as I had loved their previous releases. So too I listened to some releases just out of loyalty more than enjoyment. I have never been able to entirely reject an artist even after long periods of disappointment.
When I thought about my life in 1989, I didn't think I'd find much music I liked back then. When I took the time to look over releases of the year, I found something like 150 records & singles. & that's just in the rock/indie rock/postpunk/indiepop categories. I haven't yet looked into hip hop or electronica or jazz. It means that tonight's show will just be a snapshot - 25 or so songs out of a possible 150. I have decided though not to revisit 1989 later in this year. I will do it during sub shows when I have the chance.
Anyway. I have to go now & decide how I will put this show together. I hope we share some of the same loves of the year!
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