4.11.06

The Return of the Four Play! - Volume 8

There's a window of about 8 to 10 years in a guy's life where music plays a crucial role... usually. Right about half-way through high school you gravitate towards a particular personal style, and with it comes the soundtrack of your youth. You could've been one of those turtlenecked choads, writing sub-par poetry in a leather bound blank book who cut your teeth on Philip Glass; or an maybe you were an unfortunate soul with hessian hair and an affinity for the bong stylings of Sabbath or Zeppelin.

Perhaps you were one of the stinky hippie types that caught the tail end of the Grateful Dead and are still wearing tie-dye t-shirts and doing "'shrooms, dude." Almost everyone else moves on... shelves the Twisted Sister records, gets a job they hate barely enough, weds and spends the afternoon raking leaves and fixing the washing machine.

Once in a while you dust off the turntable or CD player and hark back to simpler times: before the squabbles with the spouse and dinners at the in-laws -- where you could take the fifteen bucks in your pocket and buy the new album by 38-Special rather than a 48-pack if Luvs or Huggies. You'll find that you outgrew most of your music collection, but there is always a small handful of albums that are both timeless and nostalgic. Yeah, Venom and Morbid Saint might suck ass to listen to now on the way to work, but for some reason you could still listen to Megadeth.

Me? Out of the muck that was the mid-80s there are several albums and artists that I can still listen to. Some of it still speaks to me as an adult, but nothing makes me feel like a kid more than the Descendents.

Their playful lyrics, catchy choruses & rudimentary harmonies take me back to a time when all I had to worry about was meeting girls - all I had to do was hang out with friends and all I owed was one months' rent in a sh*tty college apartment.

Drummer Bill Stevenson and vocalist Milo Aukerman are two of the most talented songwriters ever to fly under the radar. They helped us recover from sh*tty girlfriends and made us daydream about meeting the next. They included tracks full of their own farts (gotta love a band that appreciates toilet humor). Their songs melted away the miles on road-trips with as we sang along at the top of our lungs - a tradition that I've maintained with the O-Dog, who can sing all of "Clean Sheets."

Enjoy... but I ask: What takes you back?

Bikeage
Silly Girl
Cheer
Clean Sheets

15 comments:

keda said...

good stuff... i think the lets might well like bikeage best!

and as for my cooking... you've nevr tried my steak and beer pie! i dare you not to change your mind ;)

Anonymous said...

Will have to listen to some of your stuff. . . I grew up among Manilow people, and feel I'll never really catch up.

Unknown said...

I think I like Clean Sheets best.

What takes me back are The Pretenders, Boston, Berlin and the Thompson Twins, as embarrassing as some of that is to admit.

I wasn't familiar with The Descendents, though. Thanks for introducing me!

Prego said...

Nothing embarrassing about the Pretenders. Yes. The sentence ends there. ;)

Anonymous said...

I never heard of them. I grew up in the 60s....so where do I start. Most all the old songs they are using to sell cars now take me back. With the right song I can remember specific memories of what I was doing at the time. TIME has come today....I was riding through the Andrew Tunnel in Boston. I don't like to listen to clssic rock now...I like newer stuff. Is the 80s considered classic? Should we ask michele?

utenzi said...

I've not heard of The Descendants, Prego. I'm enough older that a lot of the bands of the mid-80s escaped my notice. I got out of highschool in the late 70s so by the early 80s I was working one of those lousy jobs you refer to.

Just last night I was thinking about a song from my highschool days but it was a silly one. Junkfood Junkie. LOL

Michele sent me over, Prego.

srp said...

Michele sent me.
Now I feel really, really old. I don't recognize any of these groups.

~A~ said...

Love the The Descendants. Sommery is my favorite. I think Rob stole it from me.

When I've had it around here I blast Suburban Home outside to annoy the squirrel feeding old crazies.

the beige one said...

I honestly don't think this period has ever come to an end for me, however bands that take me back:

Fishbone, Devo, Grandmaster Flash, Howard Jones...God, there are probably a ton more...

sage said...

maybe technology did me a favor when albums and 8 tracks were rendered obsolete and I got rid of all that stuff I listened to back in the 70s, but every once in a while, I change from NPR to Classic Rock and wonder whatever happened to that album.

Anonymous said...

Dead Kennedys... Black Flag/Rollins Band... Laibach... Foetus... Kraftwerk... Test Dept... Tuxedomoon... Laurie Anderson...

and, um... Led Zeppelin and Philip Glass.

I never tried to write poetry or owned a bong (of my own, anyway), but I did have some hessian hair for awhile - I'll admit that.

Carrie said...

Great post!

I go back to hair bands. Gosh most of them suck but it is funny when I can remember every word to Def Leppard.

Unknown said...

So, Stephen, you owned a bong belonging to someone else? How does THAT work exactly?!? :)

I forgot to mention Prince and Kool & the Gang. They, too, take me back. And the Police.

At least I've got The Pretenders to save me from complete embarrassment.

Anonymous said...

Uh... I don't recall...

tiff said...

Squeeze, Oingo Boingo, The Pretenders, The Police.

Yep - they're pretty much good for a living room mosh session.