#this was the first CD my dad ever bought for me

[joemamadotcoma]

My dad and eddie are pretty similar, like both grew up metal heads and in a trailer park. I’m pretty sure my dad and eddie are supposed to be the same age. As much as I love those fics where steve and eddies kids all share some mixture of love for each of their interests both metal and sports. But I need a fic where at least one of their kids hates “old man music” and loves one direction, 5sos, or og justin beiber. Eddie is forced to like this kinda music because what is he gonna do be a bad dad? No but if his kid calls his music taste one more time he might just lose his silly little mind. Steve finds it hilarious, until the kid makes fun of his music taste and tells him he’s basic. And then as his smart ass kid grows up and matures they grow an appreciation for old man music and the culture that grows from it, and even though eddie has grown to love his kid’s trash music taste (even going as far to appreciate some band called rainbow kitten surprise) he is glad he can enjoy his metal bands and even steves basic music taste with their kid.

[wilwheaton]

I have a small part in the 1987 television movie (failed pilot) version of The Man Who Fell To Earth. Lewis Smith played the titular character. Beverly D'Angelo played my mom, his love interest. (Fun Star Trek connection: Bob Picardo is also in it).

My character was a Troubled Youth, which I gotta tell you was not a stretch for me at all. I was deeply, deeply hurting at the time we made it. I was struggling not to suffocate on all the emotional and financial burdens my mom put on my shoulders, and fully aware of just how much my dad hated and resented me. You need a kid who doesn't want to be an actor, whose eyes can't hide the pain? I'm your guy.

Anyway, one of the scenes I was in took place in a record store, where Troubled Youth steals some albums, before he is chased by the cops and saved by the Man Who Fell To Earth, who uses a glowing crystal to save his life from ... some scratches on his face.

We filmed the interior of the record store at Sunset and La Brea, in what I think was a Warehouse, and at the end of the day, I was allowed to buy some records at a modest discount.

I was deep into my metal years, on my way from my punk years to my New Wave years, so I only bought metal albums. I know I bought more than I needed or could carry (I was making a point that I was allowed to spend my own money, mom), but the only ones I can clearly remember are:

Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind

Judas Priest - Turbo and Defenders of the Faith

W.A.S.P - The Last Command

(I know this was in March of 1987, because Turbo had just come out.)

Of those, Piece of Mind is the only one I never really stopped listening to, even through all the different it's-not-a-phase phases. I still listen to it, today.

Ever since I became an Adult with a Fancy Adult Record Player And All That Bullshit, I have kept my records in two places: stuff I want right now, and stuff I keep in the library because of Reasons.

Generally, records move in one direction toward the library, even if it takes years to happen. I just don't accumulate albums like I once did, because I'm Old and set in my ways.

Earlier today, I decided that I wanted to listen to an album while I cleaned up the kitchen, and because I wanted to make my life more interesting, I opened the library cabinet for the first time in at least five years.

There was the very same W.A.S.P album from that day in March, 1987. I don't have any of the others -- I looked -- but The Last Command was right there.

Before I really knew what I was doing, I put it on the Fancy Adult Record Player and dropped the needle.

I watched four decades of dust build up with a satisfying crackle, and there was something magical and beautiful about hearing all the skips and the scratches, realizing I remembered them from before.

The title track was just as great as I remembered it. It struck all the same chords in me that it did in the late nineteen hundreds. The rest of the first side was ... um. It just didn't connect with me, and for the few moments I spent trying to find a connection, I don't think it ever really did. I would remember.

But I did remember how much I loved making those mix tapes, and what a big part of them that song was. I did remember how empowering it felt to not just spend my own money that I earned doing work I didn't want to do, but to spend it on music my parents hated, right under their noses. I did remember how impressed Robby Lee was, when I showed him my extensive heavy metal album collection.

Remembering all of that, in one of those cinematic flashes of rapid cut visuals and sped up sounds, told me why I kept this record, while I gradually sold or replaced the other records I bought that day with CDs, then mp3s, then lossless digital files, before finally coming all the way back to records, where I started.

I didn't listen to the second side. I didn't need to. I took it off the Fancy Adult Record Player, and put it back into the library, next to the George Carlin records.

[junehart]

when my mom was a teenager, she used to listen to cyndi lauper's time after time with her sister. she played it for my dad on their first date, put the CD in his shitty car and sang along. she accidentally left it there, but she bought a new one so he could keep it. years after their divorce, my mom sings time after time as a lullaby to help me sleep. i still hear it in her voice easier than i can remember the actual recording. and when my relationship with her was at its worst, my dad played the CD she gave him all those years ago on his little stereo. sometimes people stop loving each other. but i don't think the love ever really leaves.

[ketaks]

This has been stuck in my head since your Vinny music post so I'm making it your problem too:

Rourke and Milo doing covers of "The Sound of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair" in their music style i described in the other post.

thank you for my first ask, Hal! ♡

hey, I would listen to it! coincidentally, thanks to my dad’s influence, Simon & Garfunkel were among the first artists I loved as a child. their greatest hits album was my favorite relaxation soundtrack, and I gained some early serious appreciation for songwriting from them. Simon’s Graceland was also the first CD my dad ever bought and the first he handed down to me. so honestly getting to associate them with Atlantis now is more cool than anything else, hehe

[jonnywaistcoat]

Hello! I know you don’t generally answer MAG questions, since it’s done with and you have the Q&As to stand on their own, but I have just the one highly specific question that’s been haunting me for three years now so I figure it can’t hurt to at least ask w the knowledge that this is an unlikely avenue to receive answers!

Anyway— in MAG - 07, The Piper, was the description of the eponymous piper as a figure of War inspired in any way by the last book in the Anne of Green Gables series (Rilla of Ingleside) or was it a different source/its own separate invention? I read it as a kid and grew up thinking that the Piper from Walter Blythe’s poem in that book was like a known Thing TM/metaphor/symbolic character/whatever you want to call it of WWI, and listening to the statement only confirmed that, until I tried to actually explain/source it to a friend of mine, and the poem, the MAG episode, an American propaganda poster for war gardens, and a fair bit of info about actual bagpipers in the trenches so! It’s just been driving me wild as to whether that’s a coincidence or not ever since then! Thank you so much for your time and works, I’ve yet to meet one I haven’t enjoyed, and I hope you’re having a good day!

I've never actually read any Anne of Green Gables, I'm afraid. The original seed of The Piper actually comes from Uriah Heep's song "The Fires of Hell" off the album Sea of Light. As a young teen my music taste was shaped (as many are) by my dad's CD collection, and so I got very into 70s prog - Uriah Heep's 30th anniversary concert was actually one of my first live music gigs. Now, Sea of Light was one of their albums that my did didn't own (understandable, as it's pretty mid in terms of their discography), so I bought myself a copy. It was one of my first CDs and I listened to it a lot, and for some reason "Fires of Hell" lodged in my brain. It's sort of a prog rock rendition of a WW1 soldiers letter home, and one of the verses talks about "hearing the pipers song". In retrospect it's not a particularly great song, but that image never left me, and after about ten years of percolation and reading more about the great war, it finally found expression in Magnus.

[born-to-lose]

Shameless + Stevie Rachelle & Cherie Currie concert

Here's the long-awaited concert report from Saturday!

When I came inside after doors opened, I went straight to the Tuff merch table where Stevie was sitting and checking his phone. He apologized for not noticing us and my friend said she had recently posted her cover of I Hate Kissing You Goodbye and he had commented on it saying she should come meet him at the merch table. He remembered and he asked where we're from and how old we are. When we told him our ages, he said he could be our dad and we were just laughing as if at our last concert together, we both hadn't had a thing with the 60 year old band members 💀

He asked if we wanted to wait with taking photos until he would be wearing his stage outfit with leather pants and we did. I bought a MORC 2024 lanyard along with a purple patch and some CDs. He asked for my name so he could sign them. When I was struggling to open the wrapping, he suggested signing the booklets, letting them dry and bringing me the CDs personally while we went in front of the stage—what a service!

Early on in the set, Stevie introduced us as his new friends and fist bumped us during every other song. He asked us directly if we were having a good time and said they were going to play some of our favorite Tuff songs. For one song, he left the stage to Shameless and they played Blitzkrieg Bop with the guitarist Dennis on lead vocals. Stevie was standing between me and my friend and we were jumping up and down with one hand on his shoulder and the other in the air.

The closing song was Talk Dirty to Me by Poison and I was very enthusiastically singing along. Their drummer Markus gave me one of his drumsticks with the Shameless logo and his signature on it (first time for me!).

We went back to the merch table and he hugged us, asking if we liked the show and if they had played our favorites. I said yeah but pointed out they didn't play Tied to the Bells. He explained that since their sets are one half Tuff songs and one half Shameless songs, they have to decide what to play (he probably knew the girls would be going feral if they had added that to the setlist). I bought the What Comes Around Goes Around shirt and vinyl and he signed that one too. We chatted a bit longer and he brought out two vinyls of Fist First, saying he's giving us them for free because we've been so supportive 😭❤️

Well, we were hanging out in the back with him since doors opened until shortly before Shameless went on stage and then we came back between their and Cherie Currie's set and afterwards we came back again for a while and continued talking outside and in the corridor.

When he gave me the vinyl, he said Tied to the Bells is on it lol. We thanked him over and over again because that was the sweetest thing ever and I totally didn't expect that! Then we had photos taken together as a group and separately.

Around 3 a.m., when Stevie was loading stuff into the van, he stopped by and briefly chatted with us again. We asked if he's leaving and he said he's gonna get some sleep, but he hoped we had a great time and he'll see us soon. He thanked us for coming and hugged us goodbye.

While Cherie Currie and the band (which were the Shameless guys) were playing, Alexx the bassist threw a guitar pick in my direction and I caught it (also the first time for me!). Of course, her closing song was Cherry Bomb and everyone who wasn't even coming for her was singing along now.

Back at the merch table, I noticed Alexx sitting there, so I approached him to ask if he could sign the Shaneless CD I had bought earlier, which he did. We also had a group photo taken with him, but during the first take, he squeezed me so tightly I was in a weird position and couldn't move, so I looked like a gremlin. The second try looked much better and he asked us to tag him when we post the picture so he can share it.

And now for my musician crush of the month: The guitarist Danny kept eye contact with me throughout most of the show. He did those winking, open mouth, sticking his tongue out, wide eyes things and was chewing bubblegum in a weirdly hot way. Especially during suggestive songs, he looked in my direction and uh... I decided I want him.

During Cherie's set, he animated me to sing along, pointing at me and singing into his mic though I didn't know the lyrics to that one 😭 At the end, he threw a guitar pick at me and after I found it on the floor, I put it in my wallet along with Alexx'.

I went outside and asked Danny if he would like to sign my Shameless CD and his response was a bit cheeky and he went to get a sharpie. He asked if I'm aware he didn't play on that album, I asked on which he did play and he laughed and said, "None of them, I'm Cherie's guitarist but the one from Shameless couldn't do this tour so I stepped in." I told him to sign it anyway because I saw him playing with them tonight. I asked for a photo and he pretty much grabbed me by the waist.

I complimented his playing style and we talked about what picks he uses and for which songs he uses which type of pick. Some other guests wanted pictures with him too, so I photographed them and while one guy was already posing next to him, Danny was still talking and I took a photo because his face was funny. He was so startled because he wasn't ready and I took a proper one.

At some point, he left and while they started to pack their things, I asked if he's staying a bit longer and grinned and he was like, "I hope so!"

Outside, I noticed I had lost his pick and was trying to build up the courage to ask him for another one because it must have fallen out of my wallet. Right when I was turning around to ask, he walked past me and gave me his pick, saying with a wink, "Saved that one extra for you" and I blew him a kiss as he walked inside smirking over his shoulder.

When he ran around loading the rest of their equipment into the van, I went outside again and he asked if I'm waiting for him and I was like yeah. I asked if he's leaving already and he said the guys wanted to go to the hotel to sleep already. I asked if he had time for a round of shots and he agreed, so we went back inside and shared a tiny seat by the bar drinking Jägermeister. I asked him about any upcoming shows near here, but he said he'll be playing more in the Munich area where he lives, but I should try to stop by if possible.

After we had our shots, he thanked me and hugged me and although I usually don't like a Southern Bavarian accent, his sounded so cute 😭 He hugged me again right before he left and when he got in the van, he turned around and waved at me 🥺

Then it was time for frustration drinking and I sent him a friend request on Facebook, which he accepted in the morning and so did Stevie 😌

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

About 11 years ago, my good friend and roommate came with me to my parents’ house. I went over there because the next day, my dad and I were doing a six-hour road trip to see a music gig. My roommate came because I think it made sense for something else he was doing the next day. Or something. I’m not sure, but I do know he’d never met my parents before, though he’d known me quite well for several years.

At one point during the evening, my friend and I were hanging out in my childhood bedroom, and my dad came in. It was February, so my dad launched into this whole speech, explaining that he’d made sure to put extra blankets and coats and mitts in the car, so we’ll have stuff to keep us warm when (relevant to know he said “when” and not “if”, and he said it with no signs that he was joking) the car gets stuck in the snow and the heat’s not working. He then explained that he’d bought a paper map for when our phones run out of charge or lose data signal and we need to navigate. And he’d printed out the tickets for when our phones aren’t working when we get there, in the unlikely event that we do get there. And then he listed all the other emergency supplies he’d put in the car, food and flashlights and all that, for when we get stuck in the snow and are stranded. And then he said he made sure to pack CDs by the musician we were supposed to see, so when we do get stuck and have to miss the concert, we can still listen to those.

My father explained all this, and honestly I hardly noticed that it might be odd, since it’s such a regular conversation between him and I. But the moment my father left the room, my friend turned to me and said, “That explains so much about you. I’ve known you for years, and I’ve just seen everything about you explained in one minute.” (For the record, my dad and I got to the gig with no problem and had a great time there.)

That’s a memory from when I was 22 years old. On a completely unrelated note, when I saw today that some people had had flights canceled due to a global IT issue, my first thought was, “Yeah, obviously. Obviously.” I didn’t even think that sarcastically, I sincerely felt that it was obvious. The entire time, for the past year, when I’ve been doing wild things like booking dinner reservations in a small town in the Scottish Highlands at 7:30 PM on August 2, as though I really am convinced that I’m going to actually be there at that time on that day, like I’m so sure that all these different things will come together to make that happen – my flights and my trains and all this stuff going exactly right, and it turning out that I didn’t forget some crucial element of trip booking that would stop this from ever getting off the ground, plus no averse weather that grounds the flights, no major geopolitical events that make travel unsafe, no war or pandemic or climate disaster or personal illness or fanily emergency or collapse of civilization as we know it – the idea of all those things going right just seems so ludicrously unlikely. Obviously at least one of those problems is going to come into play and stop my trip from happening. I mean, I go through most days assuming we're probably close to at least one of those things happening, so there's no point in planning much into the future. So what a stupid thing, to book dinner reservations as though I expect to actually end up in this village at that exact time on that exact day.

That was my first thought when I saw the IT outage today. Oh, okay, that’s it. That’s the reason it won’t happen. Global shutdown of all computers, meaning air travel collapses a week before I was supposed to fly. Sure, whatever. I knew it would be something.

Obviously this current IT outage is not actually going to ground flights that are a week from now, which is when I'm meant to go. I'm just saying, my friend was right to believe that my dad's attitude toward travel explains a lot about me.

[pearl-kite]

I have been TAGGED (by the wonderful @evilbunnyking thank you muah <3) to share 5 songs I really like, so! Let's Get to It (〜￣▽￣)〜

Ultimate favorite #1: Under Pressure by Queen. Do I need to link it? Y'all know it.

You know how sometimes it's hard to pin down a favorite something-or-other? Not song, this is hands-down my favorite. Ever. Always. I was a full-ass adult in my 20s before I realized that when it says Queen and David Bowie it meant David Bowie is actually singing in it I was ASHAMED how i I even whaaaat Fun fact: the CD I grew up with that had this on it has a slightly different edit than the regular one, so any time I hear it on spotify or the radio I go a little crazy because it's off.

The rest are going under a cut because I'm linking in youtube videos so you don't have to go anywhere or interrupt any current playlist you've got going <3

#2 Currently on Repeat: Can't stop listening to Matt Maeson's Problems

I don't regularly use the repeat button, actually, I'll just hit back at the end as many times as I feel like, but I've done it, I've put this on actual repeat. I've also been alternating a bit with his Sanctified as well, idk what it is but both of them are an infection right now.

#3 A long-term favorite: Paranoid by Sfven

Found it ages ago and it really jived with Gale; if it shuffles through I'll give it a good listen or four. Not sure why the video looks like it was made in the early 90s. Honestly a little off-putting to me but the audio is what matters, okay.

#4 A LONG-long-term favorite: Jewel's Amen

Oh man. I fucking love this song. Top 5 probably. My dad had this CD and I kind of made it mine. Then lost it. So I bought a replacement. And lost that one. And third time's the charm I still have the replacement's replacement. I think. Somewhere. She ended up being the first concert I went to, a small little acoustic one in the local Shriners' center.

But just. The feel of it, the imagery, I still want to draw something for it that really connects with me for it but it's just uakygfkfausdgf I can't :C

#5 (Sort of) Local Plug: I Hope You Know by Supaman ft. Ashley Hall

Supaman regularly visits the first school I worked at, and so many of the students there look up to him for good reason. He's a good guy, he fancy danced at the Macy's Parade, and he makes music that relies heavily on blending rap with traditional instruments and vocals. If I remember correctly, some of his videos show him dancing, if you're interested. I like this one in particular because Hall's vocals are so pleasant, I love multilingual songs, and they sampled a western meadowlark and you cannot go wrong with western meadowlark noises. I hadn't actually seen this video version before and it's very sweet 🥺

Honorable mention musicians/groups that I don't see mentioned often but deer lord this kind of got out of hand already: Run River North Forrest Day Isador Magic Bronson The Hush Sound

Do NOT under any circumstance assume there's a theme or common element across any of these.

I suppose I'm supposed to tag people, so hmmmmm @glassbearclock @taelonsamada @andr0leda @inedibleobject @fooltofancy @elemenepee And uhhhhh anyone else. I have some new mutuals and I am not brave enough to be the first person to tag in this relationship, and I also don't want to just tag EVERYONE so there are still people to pass it along to, so if you don't see your name here pretend it is (if you want)

[crying-in-converse]

olivia rodrigo holds a special place in my heart. she was the first artist that i discovered on my own and liked. i waited for deja vu to be release. i waited for good 4 u to be released. and when sour came out me and @henrythepug went to target to get the cd and i didnt have a cd played yet so we sat in my dads car for thirty mins when we got home to listen to it. then i bought a purple cd player to match her sour album. i loved every song with my heart and soul and watched every music video right when it came out. she was the first music that was ever my music. and that opened up a whole world of loving so many different artists and discovering music i like and i can go on and on about how special she is to me. 💜

[psychicequalizer]

how many tapes do you own? and which are your favorites?

so this ask has been sitting for a hot minute bc i keep forgetting to count them. but i counted today and i have around 100! my mom actually found 3 new ones for me in an antique mall today, and even though i won't have them until friday, i already know they're gonna be some of my favs. i'll make you a list of my top 10 (ok it turned into 11 sue me):

young man's blues - rock city angels (this band is so very special to me. this is the only tape i've ever ordered online)

law of the order - shark island (found this one new, still shrink wrapped from 1989, in a record store bin for $5)

back to mystery city - hanoi rocks (gift from ryan @lonelyplanetfag and one of my coolest tapes imo)

sign in please - autograph (from my mom, not on spotify, been looking for it. i have it on vinyl but it skips)

hooked - great white (from my mom, but i have it on CD too)

fair warning - van halen (this one is particularly special bc it's a hand me down from my dad—the last tape he (ostensibly) had left after all of his were stolen in 1988. it was in the center console of his truck when the box of tapes he kept in the passenger seat was stolen. i have the CD too, which i stole was gifted from my mom)

faster pussycat - faster pussycat (one of my favorite albums of all time, have it on CD too)

keel - keel (when i bought this, the album wasn't on spotify and i was so fucking excited to find it)

dokken - under lock and key (gift from ryan, my favorite dokken album)

gnr lies - guns n' roses (oddly, my only gnr tape. also a gift from ryan.)

back in black - ac/dc (this belonged to my dad in high school. i found it, worn out to the point that most of the lettering on the tape itself is gone, without a case on my grandparents' basement floor. the only way i even knew what it was and didn't toss it was that i vaguely recognized some very faint words that i thought said "hells bells." i didn't have a player at the time, so i took it home and kept it. when i got my boombox, it was the first tape i played, and it was, in fact, back in black. it plays perfectly. my dad remembers losing it his junior year and never saw it again until last summer. needless to say he let me keep it!)

overall, i have some really cool shit and hope to acquire more. i also have a steelheart cassette single, but it didn't make the top 11. and, i have a shitload of classic country too, and classic rock shit like lynyrd skynyrd and traffic. i also have a tape from a current shoegaze band that one of my friends from radio gave me. i can take pics of my whole collection for you if you wanna see!

[goldtowhite]

solana "solar" flores // character study

basic information:

FULL NAME: solana maria flores

NICKNAME(S): solar, sol

AGE: 27

DATE OF BIRTH: january 1st, 1997

PLACE OF BIRTH: salinas, california

GENDER: cisfemale

PRONOUNS: she/her

ORIENTATION: bisexual

LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: english, spanish

NEIGHBOURHOOD: sierra vista estates

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: she lives by herself!

family ties:

MOTHER: violetta marie reyes flores

FATHER: miguel diego flores

SIBLINGS: a little sister, a full ten years younger than her

SPOUSE / PARTNER: none

CHILDREN: none

PETS: one dog, a great dane named nelvin

occupational information:

OCCUPATION: solo artist

SKILLSET OR SPECIALISATION (IF APPLICABLE): singer, dancer

answer only if your character is a musician:

NAME OF THEIR ACT: she goes by the name solar as a performer

SO THEY PLAY INSTRUMENTS? IF SO WHAT?: she can play piano and is attempting to learn guitar

ARTIST INFLUENCES: ariana grande, hwasa, kehlani

CURRENT MONTHLY SPOTIFY/APPLE MUSIC LISTENS ON AVERAGE: 75M

physical appearance:

FACE CLAIM: becky g

HAIR COLOR: dark brown

EYE COLOR: brown

HEIGHT: 5'1"

BUILD: curvy, toned

TATTOOS: she has two of becky's tattoos, the dragonfly on her side, and the familia on her wrist

PIERCINGS: just a bunch of ear piercings

CLOTHING STYLE: what always matters most to her is that her hair and makeup is done no matter what. very glamorous style, loves a good crop top, loves form fitting clothes.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS: she's teeny tiny short.

personality:

MBTI: ESTJ

ELEMENT: earth

WESTERN ZODIAC: capricorn

CHINESE ZODIAC: ox

POSITIVE TRAITS: ambitious, vibrant, expressive

NEGATIVE TRAITS: bossy, materialistic, vain

HOBBIES: travel, cooking, foodie type behaviors in general, swimming

wanted connections:

CONNECTION TYPE: give me a toxic on and off relationship please. i'd love this to be another uber famous person, like they keep writing albums about each other, they've broken up messily in the public eye multiple times, when they come back together half the fanbase cheers and half groans but knows they're gonna get good sad music out of it. down to cook for this.

CONNECTION TYPE: someone who works for solana who kind of picks away at her outer layers and understands her on a personal level.

PART TWO: QUESTIONNAIRE. 

IF YOUR MUSE IS A MUSICIAN:

start at the beginning, who are you and why are you important? i'm solana flores, known as solar to most, and why i'm important isn't really something i can answer. you'd have to ask the people who decided i was.

how long have you been making music? since i was a little girl. my dad plays guitar and he would play around the house, would do it to entertain us when the lights went out because he and mama couldn't make the bills that much, and i just started singing along with it.

how would you describe the kind of music you make? it's a really healthy mix of songs you'd want to have sex to, and songs you'd blast with the windows down going 90 mph on an empty highway.

who are some of your biggest musical influences? oh the list is endless. selena, of course, a legend and an icon. beyonce! lots of lesser known mexican artists i grew up listening to with my parents.

what is the first record you ever bought? it was an n*sync cd, if i'm being honest.

what has working in the music industry meant to you thus far in your career? the life i've built for myself is something i would've never dreamed. my parents never have to lift a finger again, though they do anyway because they worry about my little sister getting too spoiled, and for good reason. they already have one spoiled child, they don't need another.

what are some stand out moments from your career so far? my first sold out show, even though the venues were pretty small. my first stadium tour. my first meet and greet.

how would you describe your style of performance? what makes your shows worth seeing? my style of performance is to make sure that you'd never dare look anywhere but the stage, in case you missed anything. i'm worth seeing because i'm real, and good at what i do, and make it known.

what are you still hoping to achieve in your career? you'd think reaching the top would be where it ends, but there are some awards i haven't won yet that i'd like to. really all that's missing from my shelf at home is a grammy.

what’s next for you? well that's a secret.

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #24: The Doors

Like every other wishing-he-were-cool Southern California white boy born in the mid-to-late 70's, I had a big Doors phase in 1990. In the year leading up to Oliver Stone's ridiculously silly, TV flinging, film I spent 10 rich months in the following fashion:

First, I copied a friend's father's double CD Door's Greatest Hits collection (the one with Jim Morrison's fabulous pecks on the cover). I was discovering music after comic books and I memorized every glorious moment.

Next, I tracked down the band's four easily accessible full albums via another friend's Costco (or was it still called Price Club at that point?) Nice Price 4 Pack and memorized all of that too, even though I found parts of Waiting For The Sun dull and much of LA Woman sorta gross.

Then, I decided that Not To Touch The Earth was actually their best song and that anyone who only knew the band's greatest hits was a poser.

Next, I enjoyed listening to my father's tall tales about how The Doors had once lived on the strand in Manhattan Beach (my hometown) and were often practicing in their garage when my dad passed by. He also claimed that Morrison had worked for him for one single day as a house painter (my father's trade) but that Jim had been too nuts to keep on the payroll. At other points in my dad's joyful imagination Charles Manson and Ginger Baker had also been on past crews; his lies, which were specifically designed to entertain us, led us to mock and roll our eyes at him when he sincerely claimed that one of his past painters, Robbie Rodgers, actually had gone on to be a relatively successful musician. But then dad scored us tickets and we went to see the dude's Reggae/slasher band, War Called Peace, open for Yellowman; it was totally nuts, and Robbie told us that my dad had changed his life.

After that, I learned of the existence of The Soft Parade and swore to myself that I'd never listen to it. My heroes, horrifyingly, had once SOLD OUT!

Next, I watched Apocalypse Now over and over, daydreaming of the day I'd get my own hands on The End's master tapes and undercover even more of Morrison's Oedipal ranting.

(All the while I had no idea what Oedipal actually meant.)

Throughout it all, I feverishly followed Robert Hilburn's updates in the LA Times on the back and forth on set about whether or not Val Kilmore would sing or lip sync in the upcoming film.

Shortly thereafter, I shook my fist in fury when Billy Idol dared to cover LA Woman. The poser!

That drove me to the library, where I got Riders on the Storm, Jim Densmore's Morrison bio. I read it feverishly, taking mental notes on how I too would one day successfully avoid the draft by demonstrating Morrison-level savvy madness.

Midway through Densmore's self-aggrandizing tome, I bought a copy of Wilderness, Morrison's slim and posthumous published poetry collection, and carried it around with me together with my copy of the Tao Te Ching, convinced that they were the two true holy books. Anyone who thought otherwise I recognized as a poser.

All the while, I spent a lot of time thinking about how Ray Manzarek doubled as the band's bass player and pianist all at the same time on one keyboard. I viewed him as Einstein with a chainsaw.

Somewhere along the way, I sought out an ancient tape copy of a disco sounding album the band made after Jim's death and noted that no one in the band had made meaningful music ever since. And so I grew slightly concerned that maybe my heroes were secretly lame.

But I still stood in line for opening night of the film and smugly mocked everyone else in line with me as a poser. Clearly, none of them knew the secret lyric, edited out, after She Gets! on Break on Through...

And I thought the movie was pretty cool!

Then I proceeded to grow sick of the whole thing - the band and everything about them was suddenly far too mainstream for my superior tastes - and I decided anyone who liked The Doors on any level was a poser. Lou Reed and Bob Dylan were all that mattered.

Then a cool older kid played me Peace Frog and I realized I'd missed a whole album (damn Costco!). So I decided The Doors were cool again for about 15 minutes.

Then, 10 months after the whole thing had started, I moved on for good.

But that's not entirely true. Years and year later, I sang my kids to sleep with The Spy and The Crystal Ship; and I can still can almost recite Morrison's poem about some dude burning leaves. Now that I summon it from the internet and read it again I still think it's pretty great:

A man rakes leaves into

a heap in his yard, a pile,

& leans on his rake &

burns them utterly.

The fragrance fills the forest

children pause & heed the

smell, which will become

nostalgia in several years

But now, I have to ask, how does one even go about listening to The Doors with any objectivity 33 years after they became the world's biggest band for a moment and 50 years after Morrison's death? I mean there's a 15 year old hipster in the high school where I teach who still wears a t-shirt with Morrison on it. I don't know if objectivity can be achieved.

But I'm giving it a shot right now as I write this.

My copy of their debut, self-titled, album is an original print supposedly, and the vinyl sure sounds like it's creeping up on its 60th birthday. Crackling thunder, seemingly borrowed from Riders on the Storm, buzzels and pops throughout. But the whole record sounds great that way, like it too was taken from the Ancient Gallery and WALKED ON DOWN THE HALL!

Fair reader, here's what I think: if I try hard and strip back all the nonsense I know about poor Jim and the band, then I'm left with what is elemental music.

Sure there's some silly stuff to be found: Morrison's lyric "specialize in having fun" from Take It As It Comes is, and always has been, embarrassing, along with basically all the lyrics to Light My Fire. And I don't really know that the organ's drunk circus vibe in Alabama Song holds up.

But listen to Manzarek spill every coin in the band's copious wallet on Take It As It Comes; remember just how cool the wandering guitar intro still is on The End, not to mention the slapping, rippling, pick me up 3/4 of the way through that wandering track; appreciate just how unhinged Morrison's screaming holler is on Back Door Man; ride on the perfect Crystal Ship. And for god's sake, just sit back and listen to Light My Fire.

What if we simply thought of The Doors alongside their actual peers from 66-71: Love, Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead? What if we slowed down and remembered that the band did everything they did in under 5 years? What if we remembered, at the same time, just how much Stephen Stills still sucks? And what if we set aside for good just how damn magnetic poor Jim was? What if we just listened to The Doors?

I encourage you to give it a shot. Drop the needle on The Doors debut once a season; ride the King's Highway west; catch all the weird scenes in the goldmine. You too will wish The Doors practiced in a garage down your street.

-------------

Update! After posting this, my famous brother sent me this photo of Morrison. He's actually in Manhattan Beach!

I think my father, who, come to think of it, looked a hell of a lot like Morrison at that point, is just outside the frame, striding away after firing his ass. Rest in peace Jim.

[evildilf2]

What's the first cd/album/whatever you bought or sought out for yourself instead of having it given / provided to you

Oohhhh that’s a good one, I’m actually not sure… I’ve had a lot of my CD collection since was in high school, I’d ask for musical theatre sound tracks for Christmas or for my dad to snag me an ABBA cd from goodwill every now and then- I started building a collection so I had something to listen to while my phone was taken away (which happened pretty frequently lol). A lot of my collection is hand me downs from when my mom moved out of state, or snagged from my dad’s collection when he’s not looking.

If I had to guess the first one I ever bought for myself was proooobably a “Best of The Smiths” compilation album. At the beginning of my adult life The Smiths were my favorite band, they were my introduction into appreciating post-punk and alternative 80s music.

[bandcampsnoop]

12/19/23.

Today is the 9th anniversary of this blog. There are over 2600 posts to peruse. Better get cracking.

I think I first heard Frog (New York, New York) on November 11, 2023. I immediately bought the CD and posted. Their S/T CD from 2013 suddenly was one of my favorite releases of all time. Every single song is stunning. Apparently, Frog has been building a following over the past several years. I don't think Dan (now joined by his brother Steve) Bateman ever stopped making music, they've just been receiving more attention. I mean, Pitchfork reviewed "Grog" in early December. They mentioned that David Berman (Silver Jews) was a huge fan and even wrote Dan a letter.

"Grog" is the newest release via Audio Antihero. And while this collection of songs didn't hit me as quickly as their S/T, I have no doubt this will be a favorite soon. Pavement and The Flaming Lips are still clear touchstones. This batch of songs are more traditional in length.

One thing I appreciate about Frog is that they're not shy about letting us into their family lives. Look at that young kid holding the CD - the pride in holding onto Dad's talent. So cool.

[philcollinsenjoyer]

this is the first cd i ever owned my dad bought it for me when i was 4 and ibplayed it so much it got confiscated that very evening

[anmechokola]

Music asks:

20, 23, 24, 29 & 30!!💜

Thank you!!! 💜💜

20: A song that has many meanings to you

Daniel, by Elton John

(There is some Family History involving this song, so listening to it is always kind of bittersweet and reminds me of my family)

23: A song that you think everybody should listen to

Working, Drunk or Hungover, by Astral Yeehaw

("Your dad gave you magic and mine gave me bipolar" lives in my head rent free)

24: A song by a band you wish were still together

Thirty-three, by The Smashing Pumpkins

(I don't necessarily wish they were still together because I've heard the singer was a nightmare to work with, but I miss the vibes the music had, you know?)

29: A song that you remember from your childhood

Re-Hash, by Gorillaz

(Their first album was also the first CD I ever bought with my own money)

Or, if anyone wants to try some Brazilian music:

O Descobrimento do Brasil, by Legião Urbana

(It's one of the most famous Brazilian rock bands of the 80s and early 90s, my older siblings listened to them a lot and I kind of inherited the taste)

30: A song that reminds you of yourself

One, by Sleeping at Last

(When I was in my personality quiz phase, I remember reading about enneagrams and then finding out that Sleeping at Last had made songs for all nine types, and this one kind of stuck with me. Guess which type I am lol)