There is an interesting interview with Ted Leo over at Pitchfork where he identifies and discusses his favourite records, or at least the records that left an indelible mark, at each five-year interval of his life.
At the risk of writing a completely derivative blog post, I’d like to share my own list of 5-10-15-20-25-30 records.
5
Squeeze – Argybargy
My dad tells an interesting story about my love for this record. When I was a little boy first encountering the wonderful world of music, I picked up this record and never stopped spinning it. In fact, I played it so often (on my Fisher Price record player, no less) that I literally wore it out.
Years later (two months ago, to be exact) I picked up this record again on vinyl and have been playing it regularly since. I’m not sure if it’s the nostalgia motivating me or that it’s simply a terrific pop record; I suspect a little of both.
What I love the most is the fact I realize how much this record captures my musical tastes and, therefore, appreciate how formative it really was all those years ago.
10
Young MC – Stone Cold Rhymin’
There’s nothing quite like the experience of encountering rap/hip hop music for the first time when you’re a white bread kid from the white bread Canadian suburbs. When I first heard Young MC on the radio it was mind-blowing to me (consider that prior to this I was listening almost entirely to music my mum and dad played). I was so excited after hearing “Bust A Move” that I asked for Stone Cold Rhymin’ for my birthday – and got it.
Years later I find it amusing I didn’t realize that Young MC and his sanitized rap/hip hop was a drop in the bucket compared to contemporaries like Public Enemy. Still, for a time, I thought I was damn cool because I listened to it.
Interestingly enough, because of my enjoyment of this tape, I went to the mall with my mum once and bought Maestro Fresh Wes’s Symphony in Effect on cassette, ostensibly to further establish my credentials as a rap music fan. Unfortunately, after tearing open the packaging and putting it in the tape deck of my mum’s car, I was mortified to hear the gratuitous swearing and sexually explicit lyrics. My mum banned the tape from the car and my brief flirtation with rap/hip hop ended forever.
15
Lagwagon – Hoss
When I entered my teenage years – and junior high school – I discovered punk rock. While my more musically erudite cousin implored me to plumb the depths of punk rock’s roots (The Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Germs, Dead Kennedys, etc.) I put that on hold for a few years and embraced the burgeoning so-cal skate punk scene instead.
One of the more influential skate punk bands in the 1990s was Lagwagon. I owned every single one of their albums and played them all constantly throughout my teenage years, but Hoss was definitely the one that captured my attention most around the age of 15. The first time I saw Lagwagon live they were touring in support of Hoss. Incidentally, this album was the last with the original, classic lineup.
20
The Clash – London Calling
By the age of 20, I had finally translated my love of so-cal skate punk into an appreciation for the foundations of punk. When I first started listening to The Clash I was surprised how much the music resonated. I had a preconceived notion that earlier contributions to punk rock were either too sloppy and basic (like the Sex Pistols) or too hardcore (like Black Flag or Minor Threat).
With The Clash, I finally realized what had originally inspired all of the melodic punk bands I loved. For me, The Clash also opened my ears to the Buzzcocks, X, Germs, Minutemen, The Replacements, Hüsker Dü and Dead Kennedys – and I finally understood, properly, where punk rock came from and what it is all about.
Also important, for me, is that The Clash’s politically sophisticated lyrics were an impetus for my own inchoate political ideals. By fully embracing The Clash as I transitioned from my teenage years to adulthood, I took the first steps towards truly appreciating music not only for its composition but for its potential social and political significance.
25
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Tyranny of Distance
Although I first heard this record when I was 22, this album is without a doubt the soundtrack to my mid-2os. Ted Leo was everything to me as a musician and I spread the gospel far-and-wide, as any of my friends in Ontario will attest to. (Incidentally, the song “Dial Up” – my favourite on the album – remains a point of contention between me and one of my best friends, who became a big Ted Leo fan after I introduced him to his albums.)
I think what I love(d) most about Ted is how similarly his music reflects the maturation of my own tastes. Ted is clearly influenced by and still finds inspiration in punk rock but his knack for clever hooks and sweet melodies are a testament to the influences of new wave, mod, pop and indie rock; his thoughtful and sophisticated songwriting a signifier of a conscientious and critical intellect. Alienation, empathy, love, anger, distrust, uncertainty, friendship, discontent, frustration, joy, beauty, powerlessness, the ceaseless quest for efficacy – all of these themes are part-and-parcel of Ted Leo’s repertoire.
Most importantly, I like to think that Ted Leo’s music encompasses much of what I have learned from and loved about music.
30
Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted
I listened to Pavement a bit during the band’s halcyon days but I must admit to never being much more than a dabbler. Throughout the 90s I held dear to my self-description as a punk rocker. Although I enjoyed bands like Pavement and the Pixies, borne of and flourishing in a post-punk world, I could never fully assimilate them into my catalogue of favourites.
Thanks in large part to Ted Leo (mentioned above) finally breaking my self-imposed musical shackles in my mid-20s, I found myself more willing to wholeheartedly embrace bands outside my punk rock comfort zone. As a result, records like Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted were played with increasing regularity.
Now that I’m about to turn 30, I feel like I’m able to appreciate and love Pavement for everything that put them just beyond my comfort zone in my teenage years. Put another way, I finally ‘get’ what Pavement was and is all about and can now enjoy everything that made me listen with some trepidation back then.
Nice story and article. It’s quite a challenge to find one particular album that stands out for me for those intervals… as evidenced by my recent/ongoing attempt to create a musical autobiography, which I think is somewhere around 4+ hours now. I’ll give it some thought (what else am I going to do, work?) and see what I can come up with as it seems like an interesting exercise. I have a feeling that a number of my selections would inspire a certain degree of looking down though.
About Dial Up. I wouldn’t say that I have any intense dislike of the tune per se. In fact, over time, I have grown to think that it’s “ok”… at least not necessarily skippable anymore. You see, my constant haranguing about that tune is more about what it represents – which is a year or two of lost Ted Leo time that I could have had as a part of my life. You had sent me that tune (along with Parallel or Together if I recall) as a Ted Leo exemplar back in like 2002-2003 or so as an attempt to get me into him… and it/they just didn’t stick. Not the catchiest tunes for the un-Ted-initiated, wouldn’t you agree? Oh, if only you had sent Timorous Me or My Vien Ilin instead (which I later discovered, circa Shake the Sheets, and was hooked on instantly), I would have been in on the ground floor! Nonetheless, for the introduction generally, I still owe a debt of gratitude.
I dunno man, I still can’t wrap my head around what you’re saying about “Dial Up”.
I’ll freely admit that what you say certainly applies to “Parallel or Together”. It’s probably not the best song to use as introduction to TL. However, I continue to think that “Dial Up” captures the essence of TL. More importantly, it’s still his best song.
Ok, here it is. A number of these will throw you into a rage, but that’s ok.
0-5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Hole. You see, despite encouraging my sister and I to play music, etc, I have very little recall of my folks actually listening to music of their own accord that wasnt some boring ass classical shit on the cbc. But I do remember listening to the soundtrack/aka audio version of this a lot on vinyl, no less, back in the day. In fact, I suggested that my sister be named Maximilian. For whatever reason, my folks disagreed.
5-10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967%E2%80%931970. Although as per the above, my folks didnt seem to listen to much of their own music (hence my avoidance of the “dad rock effect” perhaps?), I was left more or less to my own devices. However, they did have a bunch of old vinyl lying around and a (what appeared to me to be a) decent (though you would probably recoil in horror) sound system back in the day. To me, this was my first own musical “discovery”. I listened the sweet F out of this album, even if it was essentially a greatest hits package. I don’t know if my folks just weren’t cool enough to get in on the ground floor when the Beatles were in their prime and got stuck with the greatest hits in an attempt to be “hep” or what. Sure, people my “age” were busy spinning Thriller, and I have a few recollections of that as well, but I never had any allusions to being cool.
5-15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysteria_%28Def_Leppard_album%29 This is where things get kind of murky because this is a tough age range (though not as bad as 15-20). However, the extent to which this album dominated the station wagon tape deck years of 10-13 probably outweighs any of the lame suburban Maple Ridge kid gangsta rap and initial forays into Seattle era flannel grunge and Tom Petty that took over come 14-15. I received Hysteria and a ghetto blaster (remember those?) for Xmas on or about my 10th-11th birthday and never looked back. I think the tape eventually ate itself. RIP.
15-20. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall This is perhaps the hardest one to pin down as these were arguably my formative musical years and saw an ass load of transition and unconventional and decidedly uncool shit sit side beside the occasional trendy britpop superstar. But in terms of frequency, this is perhaps the only album that I’ve listened to more times front to back than Cold Roses (a Ryan Adams album, see below). Themes of alienation/isolation, sexual angst and substance use/abuse couldnt be more familiar to this age bracket could they? Particularly when they are sprinkled with rippingly tasteful guitar work courtesy of David Gilmour. I have hope that one day you’ll look past your prejudices and get into this shit because you’re missing out and that’s a straight up Certified Fact. You and your Dial Up, psshh.
20-25. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_Luther_College If the foregoing entries havent done it already, this is certain to throw you into a rage. Well, F you, Hoss. This one came in for me late in the game, probably circa 23. Lots of transition during this age range as well, but I picked this one because it had an incredible and indelible influence on how I see and play the guitar. I had previously been pretty dismissive of the capabilities of an acoustic guitar to this point, but this thing opened up a new horizon of rhythm and melody that I didnt know could exist in wood alone… and there’s just some god damned good tunes on display. I’ve barely touched an electric guitar since, in fact.
25-30. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Roses tied with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shake_the_Sheets. Yeah, I know the “tie” is a cop-out, but it can’t be avoided here. I went full on preteen girl listening to Justin Timberlake repeat with STS in 2004-2005. Such a stellar combination of melody, energy and message, it invigorated the spirit of a man who had started to become prematurely crusted over. And I still love the shit out of that album. But Cold Roses will forever be associated with the summer of 2005, where I got paid a crap load of dough to do sweet FA, aside from writing the odd exam, and split my time between Kingston, The Best Place on Earth and a week or so in Trauma where I had a moustache and slept on the floor in the middle of our apartment b/c we didnt have any furniture. And it brought enough soul to keep the one I had going (the soul, not the stache) when it all went to hell in the fall of 2005 and with its whisky soaked sensibilities had the spirit to hold mine aloft while I hit the 401 to Kingston in need of respite from Trauma.
30-32. I’ve thought about this one for a while but really, I can’t come up with anything. I’ll get back to you in a few years. And if I’ve gone down the path of where my kids (if applicable) have no option or encouragement but to listen to the Black Hole instead of any of the above, I’ll hopefully have a shotgun and back yard that you can put me out of my misery in. But then again, I guess I turned out ok.
“awaiting moderation”, wtf?
Weird. I think it might have required my approval because you posted links.
Highly recommend pavement’s ‘wowee zowie’.
Yeah, Wowee Zowee is fantastic, too. In fact, I love all of the albums up to and including Terror Twilight. I’ve always loved Slanted and Enchanted most though.