A funny thing happened in 1994. In June of that year I graduated high school (that's not the funny part) and in September of the same year got hired as a DJ at a campus bar (that's the funny part). It's funny because I had no previous experience in 'spinnin' and had no idea what it was that college kids listened to or wanted to hear (it never ceases to amaze me how far one can get on charm alone!) So, like any good fraud, I had to quickly bring myself up to speed on what was considered 'cool' in music in the mid-90's.
No problem, right? I could go with classic 'college music' mainstays such as early REM, U2, Siouxsie Sioux, etc. (essentially new wave spin offs), or punk favorites like Bad Religion, Offspring, and Rancid, or the mainstream radio stuff like Beck, Counting Crows and (lord help us) Ace of Base. So that's what I did - a little from column A, a little from column B, and a little of column C. And, in truth, it could have gone a lot worse - you're never going to go wrong playing that kind of thing for drunk 20 year olds (well, the punk and radio friendly stuff anyway - no 20 year old I know, then or now, knows who the hell Siouxsie Sioux is).
But, then a fascinating thing started to happen - a self education of sorts. As I began to grow tired of the normal Violent Femmes, Green Day, Snoop Dogg type fare, I started to discover a whole host of vaguely related bands with really crazy, and really cool songs. Many I had heard of, but had never before the inclination or opportunity to get into. In hindsight, I have to consider this period as my own personal birth of cool (we'll perhaps get into Miles Davis in a later post, btw - baby steps).
I suppose all of our 'cool' quotients rise exponentially when we first go to college, move out of our parents basements, discover binge drinking and the generally associated morning-after regret. It's a rite of passage I guess, and music isn't everybody's conduit - but it was for me. The songs on the following playlist will always remind me of just how 'cool' I was when I was eighteen.
The Replacements - Left of the Dial
The Pixies - Dig For Fire
Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI
Archers of Loaf - Harnessed in Slums
Pavement - Spit On A Stranger
Teenage Fanclub - Alcoholiday
Built To Spill - Big Dipper
Modest Mouse - Trailer Trash
Beastie Boys - So What'cha Want
Nirvana - All Apologies
The Breeders - Cannonball
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Sebadoh - Skull
Sonic Youth - Sugar Kane
Weezer - Say It Ain't So
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3 comments:
Is this a preview of the playlist for the fabled DJ night?!
that's right... and don't forget the Ace of Base!!!
Ace of Base... I love it! I think this is something that I can support. :P
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