ipodshuffle

Faith No More 'We Care a Lot' (1985)

Volume 7 of The First Time Ever I Heard That Song: 15 songs that made an impact

I was a struggling boho kid writing cheap record reviews for ROCKPOOL, one of two (with CMJ) alternative trade mags in the pre-historic pre-Alternative days. My editor gave me a copy of 'We Care a Lot' which, at least in my recollection, was the first rap-rock record to make any kind of impact. These guys clearly found their groove channeling the early-80's Cali snottiness of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, but part of their genius (such as it was) was to slow it down enough so that their ranting turned more into rapping. Throw in those Big Dumb rock and funk Riffs, and you've got a perfect formula for air guitar in every after-school suburban bedroom.

I don’t remember much about what I said in the review but I think the gist was 'I don’t really like this but I think my 16 year old brother would fuckin love it' - not that I actually had a 16 year old brother, but the point was there. Apparently KROQ felt the same way, and a genre was born.

New Order: "Blue Monday" (1982)

Volume 6 of The First Time Ever I Heard That Song: 15 songs that made an impact

OK, been meaning to write this one for a while, and then I heard the track at *a Subway* today ("at a Subway," not "in the Subway") and I realized that I might as well get this down.

NYC in the early eighties was kind of wierd and great, with many collisions among all the various subcultures. Having hit town as a college radio geek / semi-arty punk I dabbled with a few groups of friends, including East Village bohos, clubbers, lefties and intellectuals and more. Somehow along the way I managed to find a job in the record biz - an indy label with a long history was doing a lot in the dance world and wanted to get into 'that new wave music' and somehow figured I'd bring the right attitude. And getting thrown into the confluence of the club and punk movements was pretty cool, especially when 'Blue Monday' took over the city and brought all those various groups together.

Anyway is there any point in 2004 to saying that "Blue Monday" was a revelation? It celebrated the technology, it had the coolest fucking die-cut 12" sleeve with no words, and it even got a respectable amount of airplay on 'KTU. But these days any discussion of the record suffers the same problem as 'Blitzkrieg Bop' - the sound was so influential and widely imitated that it's hard to hear now how revolutionary it was at the time. But still - put it on and hear that double-kick drum, and you're right back at Danceteria or the Garage...

Julian Cope: "Las Vegas Basement" (1991 I think)

Volume 5 of The First Time Ever I Heard That Song: 15 songs that made an impact

Flew into LA one spring night for an independent label conference. Got the rental car and headed up to the hotel, tuning out of habit to KCRW. It was probably 9pm by this point, midnight to me after working then flying across country. So this song comes on which perfectly fit my slightly tired, late-night driving mood - I can still remember it pretty well, though I had no idea who it was and didn't ID it till years later. Slightly moody, solo guy-with-guitar, my first thought was that it was Vic Chestnutt - but they played a Vic song next and I realized that my mystery singer's voice wasn't so distinctive. But the song definitely was, pretty hypnotic with a straightforward downward progression, and one line I still remember, (though I don't think it was a key lyric) 'I was born to entertain, so here I go.'

Wasn't until years later that I googled that phrase to discover that it was the aforementioned Julian Cope song, from the (now out of print) Peggy Suicide album - which I probably should have figured out at the time, but somehow it passed me by. But in some ways, the not knowing what the song was for so long added to the enjoyment...

The first time Jay heard Run-DMC

Apparently I'm not the only one thinking about when I first heard certain songs.

hiphopmusic.com

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: "The Message" (1982)

Volume 4 of The First Time Ever I Heard That Song: 15 songs that made an impact

Got out of college, moved to NYC. Spent a fair part of that summer trudging around Manhattan chasing apartments that were listed in the Village Voice. But the real value of the Voice was the music section, which seemed at the time to be the bible of music criticism for what was Cool and Worth Hearing. So when they had an article about "The Message" and how it was going to Change Everything That Was Important in Music (or whatever - I'm just assuming here) I had to hear it immediately. Not having found a job yet I had a) no money and b) plenty of time, so the best option was to spend an afternoon flipping between WRKS and WBLS (and maybe KTU as well - can't remember if they were on the hip-hop tip yet) to find it. As it turned out I think it only took an hour, maybe less, for the song to come up - it was one of those songs that happen every summer in New York, taking the city by storm and seemingly everywhere all of a sudden - and I knew I immediately that it was That Song. Obviously things have come a long way since then - both in hip-hop and the streets of NY (at least some neighborhoods) but this one is of course still as powerful and direct as ever.

Bryan Ferry - "Love Me Madly Again" (1979)

Volume 3 of The First Time Ever I Heard That Song: 15 songs that made an impact

Sophomore year of college (I think); doing my college radio show. With the whole studio's music library at my disposal I was getting deeper into lots of bands, with Roxy Music and all the off-shoots at the top of the pile. Anyway that day I had pulled IN YOUR MIND off the shelves; and as the previous song was playing I did a quick needle-drop audition of the album to pick a track to play next. Maybe it was the supple string section; maybe the undeniable groove; or maybe it was just the 7-1/2 minute length, but I went with 'Love Me Madly Again.' After a couple minutes a friend who was listening called up (of course we all listened to each other's shows - somebody had to!) and said 'what's this you're playing? It's amazing!'

Roxy's early work was a true revelation, wierd and wonderful and totally of the moment. Some of Ferry's solo work could well have been Roxy recordings of the time; a lot of it was cheesy-but-right; but this album and also the slightly later THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE were just collections of great straight-ahead rock. This was, of course, before Ferry became Mr. Romantic Yuppie Crooner with later Roxy as his vehicle of love... But hey I still go to the reunion shows when they come around!

Ramones: "Blitzkrieg Bop" (1977)

Volume 2 of The First Time Ever I Heard That Song: 15 songs that made an impact

Or at least I think it was '77. It's all explained here, which I wrote the week Joey R died. I guess this was my first pass at online music / life commentary - it started out as just an e-mail of reminiscences to friends, but then got a little big and unwieldy so I decided to post it instead. It still rings true.

Mott the Hoople: “All the Young Dudes” (1972)

Volume 1 of The First Time Ever I Heard That Song: 15 songs that made an impact

Summer 1972, I'm a kid visiting relatives in England. “All The Young Dudes” comes on the radio and basically jumps out at me; my older brother starts telling me about this glam thing going on, and who this David Bowie at the center of it is… When I'm back home I go straight to the record store to pick up ALL THE YOUNG DUDES - and from there it was a short jump to ZIGGY STARDUST and then TRANSFORMER (which Dave of course also produced), and it was off to the races.

So anyway, welcome to this new feature. This list won’t necessarily be “the greatest songs” or “the most meaningful songs” – but I figure if I can still remember and describe the first time I heard a song, up to 30 years later, it must have made an impact on me, and presumably others.