Off the Beaten Path
I think Josh and Jeremy hit upon a good topic to discuss – how or what lead us to liking more than what we were being fed by the radio.
I don’t remember exactly what started me in the new direction, but Alex and Rebekah played a big part. They weren’t listening to anything that wasn’t already being played on the radio, but one day they made a couple purchases based on someone’s recommendation. I don’t know who that was, but I’d have to thank them as well. The newly acquired albums were Where You Been by Dinosaur Jr., and Juandice by Lucy’s Fur Coat.
Juandice immediately became their album of the moment, and with good reason. They hailed from San Diego (I think), but they played a hard, southern-style rock that was a lot of fun. Alex and Rebekah hadn’t even touched Where You Been so I decided to borrow it. Man, I’ll never forget the moment I first listened to it. The very first chord hit me like a freight train. Then there was his voice. The deep, nasally depression that was J Mascis.
Then there were the Smashing Pumpkins. That was due to Alex and Rebekah, and hearing “Disarm” on the radio. I’ve listened to Siamese Dream probably more times than any other album I’ve ever owned. I’d put that one on repeat before going to bed. I did that many a night.
Another song that hit me hard the first time I heard it was “Stars” by Hum. That one I heard on the radio. Hum took me many places.
I can go on and on, but those were the big ones.
2 comments:
I like that everyone's relating how they got their start. I remember you telling me this story a while ago, but it's still great to hear. And much needed too. Now, our readers can understand our motives behind following the underground music scene. I didn't get into J. Mascis until some time after Dinosaur Jr. broke up, but you were the one to introduce me to them. And I think Where You Been was the album you started me off on.
I had no idea that Alex and Rebekah (and the radio) introduced you to the Pumpkins though, I always thought it was the other way around.
This topic is so interesting though because we all get a clue into what made us walk down this path. Oftentimes it's a very similar story to our own. Alex and Rebekah introduced you to Dinosaur Jr., and years later you introduced it to me.
Having been seriously into the Smashing Pumpkins online community since late 95, and keeping in touch with many of the people involved, that was a band that got a lot of people into music, and many of them seem to have dug deeper. People were inspired to pursue music, yes, but also writing, art, and other forms of expressions after finding themselves in that music.
That is why you can never write off the significance of some of the mainstream bands. When they get out there and start influence-dropping, people listen, they dig, and they eventually find the underground.
Smashing Pumpkins were unique in this regard in that they had such a wide variety of influences. Depending on who they were talking to they might reference psychadelia, 70's AOR, 70's heavy metal, 80's new wave, goth bands, Cheap Trick, anything, really. They sent a lot of people in lot of different directions.
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