Listomania! - 1992

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have been having trouble with my damn speakers and it's pretty hard to write a music blog without listening to the songs one wishes to blather on about. The problem has been fixed and so I intend to try to catch up.

1992 was the year when I settled in at the Loeb warehouse and started making some new friends and became more comfortable working there. It was back-breaking work, but there were enough good people and laughs to get me through the day. I met some fantastic co-workers, such as Mark Peesker, Scott Coupland, Flipster, Dunny & Tunny, and became close buddies with one Dave Elmore. I met Dave in 1991, but we became good friends in 1992. Speaking of our first meeting, I was picking orders and needed someone to pull a skid of mason jars down from the top shelf for me. The boss sent Dave over to do it as he was driving a forklift that night. There were large and small skids in the warehouse and different forklifts for each. Dave came over on a short-forked machine and proceeded to try to pull down a skid which was for a large-forked machine. The skid of mason jars toppled over and crashed all over the floor and in between the racks. As I was the new guy, Dave suggested I stand on the forks and he would lift me up and I could pull the spilled boxes out from the racks. There was only 1 kinda huge problem: I am deathly afraid of heights. Oh, wait, 2 problems: It is totally against safety regulations to have someone stand on the forks and lift them 30 feet in the air. It turned out it was a bigger job than Dave had thought, so he got me another skid of jars down and said he'd clean up himself. It wasn't until much later that I told him of my fear of heights and we have laughed about that incident many times since, both of us cracking up at the sight of me shitting myself as he raised me in the air on those forks. Dave is a great guy, giving and quite sensitive, who would agree with me if I said he is his own worst enemy at times, but he and I remain friends to this day.

The other big development of '92 was Martina going and getting a dog. Arden the dachshund was named after Shakespeare's forest and she was Martina's pride and joy. I didn't know, yet, that I was a dog person, but Arden, or Marv as I called her, was a funny, neurotic little dog who thought she was #2 in the pecking order, just a bit behind Martina and well above me. I have lots of stories about her that would take too long to type, but she was our first doggie and introduced me to the joys, and headaches, of dog ownership. Here's the music that Arden and I listened to in 1992:

10. Somebody To Shove - Soul Asylum

These guys formed in 1983 in Minneapolis, coming out of the same scene as Husker Du and The Replacements. They had a much harder-edged punk sound at first, but by 1992, they had morphed into a band with great chops, led by singer-guitarist Dave Pirner, who had a great knack of writing catchy tunes like this one. Taken from their biggest record, Grave Dancers Union, this is still punk rock, but with a melody that sticks in your head all day long. It is urgent and loud and fast, with the guitars charging along at breakneck speed. This album was a big favourite in our house and got played endlessly, as it featured lots of great songs, including Martina's fave, Black Gold. Pirner said he used "shove" instead of "love" because "that (love) has already been done." This is a fine slab of rock 'n' roll! "I'm waiting by the phone, waiting for you to call me up and tell me I'm not alone." You're never alone when you're schizophrenic.....

9. Creep - Radiohead

This song was the world's introduction to the wonders of Radiohead. I read about them in the NME and took the bus down to Dr. Disc to buy the CD single on import. While taking the bus back home from downtown, we had stopped at the stop sign at Pall Mall and Wellington. I looked out the window of the bus and saw a guy in a green pickup truck with a big smile on his face. My first thought was to wonder why he was so happy, when I noticed that he had no pants on. I then found out why he was so happy when I saw what his right hand was doing. Remember, I had just bought a song that contained the lines "I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo." Everyone on the bus was startled as he drove off and then myself and another guy started cracking up laughing. That is still one of the strangest and funniest things I've ever seen in my life. Anyway, this song is from their debut album, Pablo Honey. It bounces along on the bass line, with Thom Yorke and his gorgeously expressive voice lilting on top. I love it when the guitar threatens to kick in just before the crunch of the chorus. "I want you to notice, when I'm not around. You're so fuckin' special, I wish I was special." The guy in the truck wanted us to notice too.....

8. It's A Shame About Ray - The Lemonheads

I had never heard of these Bostonians until this, their 5th album. Led by the famously drugged-up Evan Dando, this title tune is built around a fantastically simple acoustic guitar strum and a beautiful melody. The lyrics are quite touching and wistful and easy to sing along with. I'm always reminded of a guy named Rudy who was the cleaner at the Loeb warehouse. He and I struck up a friendship over music and pot-smoking, which were my 2 favourite pastimes back then. He used to come over and play guitar while I hacked away on the bass and sang, and this was one of our staple tunes. He was also a very heavy drinker who would not leave until the last drop of booze was gone. A friend, Dan Crandles, had a party one night that we all went to. Rudy got just wasted on Irish whiskey and started going on about how he should have brought his guitar. He then said he was going to drive home and get it. I told him he was too drunk, but Rudy wouldn't let a little thing like that stop him. I thought that he would get picked up by the cops and that would be the last of him, but about 1/2 hour later, there was a pounding at the front door. I opened it and there stood Rudy, proud as a peacock and holding his guitar. He came in and sat beside me on the couch. He asked what song he should play and wanted me to sing it. I suggested this one and he launched into it, playing like a seasoned pro, while I warbled the lyric. What surprised me was that everyone stopped talking and listened to us and clapped loudly when we were done. Rudy then went outside and threw up in the driveway and headed for the bedroom, where he passed out face-down until morning. The guy was a champ! He's one of those people about whom one wonders from time to time - did he end up in jail? is he still alive? "I've never been too good with names, but I remember faces." You know, old what's-his-face.....

7. These Are Days - 10,000 Maniacs

This album, Our Time In Eden, was the band's last record with singer Natalie Merchant. It is a true song of hope which makes me feel lucky to be alive whenever I play it. The melody is great, the band can really play, and Merchant tops it all with a heartfelt vocal. It was a big family fave back then as well, often sung and played at get-togethers at Martina's Mom and Dad's house. Martina, Shannon, her friend Annette and I went to see them at Canada's Wonderland that summer and they were great. We had been sitting in the parking lot before the show, listening to tunes and smoking a ton of pot. When we came out of the show, we heard someone's car stereo just blasting away. I mentioned that it sounded like somebody was having a good time. Much to my horror, it was only when we got closer that I realized it was our vehicle with the tunes blasting out. We had all got out and locked the doors, with the keys inside and the stereo blaring! We were in the park for about 5 hours! We had to get a park security guy to come and open the locked door and I think I was a shade of scarlet never seen before or since. "These are the days you might fill with laughter until you break." Yes indeed....

6. Kosmos - Paul Weller

Weller had taken a couple of years off after disbanding the Style Council in 1989. He returned with his self-titled first solo record in '92. This song ends the album off just perfectly. During his hiatus from the music biz, he had been listening to a lot of Curtis Mayfield records and the results can be heard here. It is soulful and jazzy in that Mayfield way, with a great wah-wah guitar part and jazzy flute solos. He had left behind the political lyrics and gone for a more personal bent here, questioning life in general and his place in the grand scheme of things. His wife, Dee C. Lee, adds some great "flying high" backing vocals and I love the false ending that fades out and then back in again. All in all, it is a very powerful re-entry into music for Weller. "Take a ride into the soon, be the first one on the moon." Umm...ever hear of Neil Armstrong?

5. Fait Accompli - Curve

Taken from their debut album, Doppelganger, this song is the bomb on the dancefloor. It defies labelling, but I would say it is Gothic, druggy, shoegaze dance music. The music is swirling and noisy, with lots of synths and machine-treated guitars buzzing around. The real draw here though is the seductive vocals by Toni Halliday. Yes guys, she looks as good as she sounds, all black eyeliner and sex appeal. I bought this album on our trip to Montreal, along with the first Lush album. This is an early forerunner of the Dream Pop movement of the 2000s. "'I've come to crush your bones, I've come to make you feel old, I've come to mess with your head, Cos it'll make you feel good." You do make me feel old - this was almost 20 years ago......

4. Leave Them All Behind - Ride

This song is a gigantic tour de force. It begins with almost Who-like keyboards and then the song crashes in with a kick-ass drum beat and monstrous bass riff. The guitars come in riddled with psychedelia, riding that bass riff like a surfer in Malibu, then take off on a solo that leaves you breathless. The drum rolls all through the song are to die for. I would give my left arm to sit behind the kit and play like this just once! This song is so atmospheric and the sound is gorgeous. The vocals are typical of the shoegaze genre, a bit muffled and buried, but still quite effective. This is from Ride's 2nd album, Going Blank Again, and it is much louder than the 1st record. Just a blindingly great tune! "I don't care about the colours. I don't care about the light. I don't care about the truth." You can't handle the truth.....

3. Would? - Alice In Chains

This song first appeared on the "Singles" soundtrack and then was tacked on to the end of the band's 2nd album, Dirt, when the soundtrack was so successful. I love the growling bass lick that starts this off, with the drums coming in with their off-kilter tom-toms and big snare sound. This is written in a minor key, giving the tune an air of hopelessness and despair. These guys were big into the heroin thing and this song is full of that drugs' side effects of gloom and angst. The guitars just roar on the chorus and the ill-fated Layne Staley has a big, full-throated metal howl to put the dark words across. Jerry Cantrell could write heavy tunes like this with huge hooks in them. This is a classic in my books and by far their best song. "Into the flood again, same old trip it was back then." And the monkey on my back, won't stop laughing.....

2. Helpless - Sugar

After releasing 2 records under his own name, Bob Mould decided to go back to his roots and form a power trio. The album Copper Blue was the result and it is maybe the best record he was ever involved with. Now, that's saying a lot since he was a member of the seminal punk band Husker Du and his solo work has generally been top-notch, but this album is one of those that can be played all the way through without skipping a single track. This song is so catchy and melodic, but still has the bracing punk attack of guitars and machine-gun drums. Mould sings it with gusto in his Midwestern accent and hopelessness has never sounded so good! "I wish that I could help you, but you seem less than helpless." There is a town in north Ontario.....

1. My Morning Song - The Black Crowes

This is their best song from their best album. They are still a great band, but the Crowes hit their peak with The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion way back in '92 in my opinion. Marc Ford plays a mean slide guitar and they were never as good without him. This is so bluesey, just so balls-out, enveloping the listener with such a force that one feels moved with the Spirit after just one listen. Chris Robinson is at his Rod-with-Faces best here, just so soulful, like a southern preacher come to save us all. The band is just so killer and the addition of the gospel-tinged backing vocals put the cherry right on top. This song can be played anytime in our house, and we will all stop what we're doing and let ourselves be taken away by its feel and sound. One of the all-time all-timers for sure! "If your rhythm ever falls out of time, you can bring it to me and I will make it alright." For those who ask what Kate Hudson saw in him, give this a listen....