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...
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