There are some things you will always remember... This is a
totally off the top of my head list of past great moments in music from a
personal perspective. These are "jaw-dropping" musical memories and more that are burned
into my brain, probably forever. I thought this might be a good way to
jumpstart this blog into this new year. Here they are, in chronological
order, along with some helpful links (it really is amazing what you can find on
the internet...). It turns out there's quite a few U2 moments on my list.
They've been a big part of my musical life, even though I'm mad at them
now (again). I get mad at them every few years. [Side story: I was
all "good" with U2 again after their last excellent 2009 album, No
Line On The Horizon, and the 360 Tour despite its over the top staging.
But then they had to go and re-release Achtung Baby. I was
so excited that they were releasing the demos and rough versions, but when I
saw that these tracks were only available in an "Uber Deluxe" box set
with vinyl singles, vinyl albums, Bono's "fly sunglasses", and all
kinds of other stuff, at a list price of $450:
(still available on Amazon!!), well, they were on
my shit list again: this was taking advantage of hardcore fans in the worst
way. Maybe I'll like them again, someday.
Maybe I’ll buy the Uber box too, we’ll see…]
Here's the list:
1.
Meet The Beatles (at home c. 1972) - I can still vividly
remember in the early 70's, the needle dropping on dad's Garrard turntable,
running through the Marantz stereo in our small semi-attached brick house in
NJ, and running around the dining room table to the sound of side 1, track 1,
"I Want To Hold Your Hand" and right into "I Saw Her Standing
There". My younger brother would
follow along riding around the dining room table on his Big Wheels. It
wasn't really dancing, it was just running amok. But it was rock and roll
running. It was more like hysteria - Beatlemania, to be exact: although
it was a little after the fact, I didn't know any better. I still have
that actual album. It's in pretty good condition, somewhat worn, yet
priceless to me.
2.The Knack Live at the Savoy (December 4, 1981) - Of
course the first jaw-dropping moment was hearing "My Sharona"
on the radio. Everyone was kind of like "What!!?!?!"
Of course a few million other people had that reaction. If you
check out this excellent documentary of the Knack on DVD, it
turns out, there really was a Sharona, who had a very long term relationship
with Doug Fieger. Here she is then and now:
In the documentary, you
get the whole backstory, including drummer Bruce Gary showing how he invented
the unmistakeable My Sharona drumbeat on his drumkit based on surf rock
drumming stuff he was into. Wow. Buzzkill: Doug is sadly now dead. So's the drummer. Ugh. But this show, this moment
in Knack history just before they evaporated from the airwaves was my first
rock concert ever (unless you count seeing Chuck Berry [drunk?] live at an
outdoor concert at Vernon Valley a few years before that). The Knack were
everything to me. I had played "Get The Knack" about a million
times by this point on my crappy black plastic turntable in the basement, and
had learned every drum lick on the album. The Knack were on their way
downhill at this point, but I didn't care - I went with mom and dad and brother
(on my 15th birthday!) to this tiny little nightclub in NY, with tables and a
food/beverage minimum and we were RIGHT THERE! Of course, the Knack was
awesome live: to see “Let Me Out” and all the rest live and in person was
miraculous. The critics didn't think much of their performance that night...
3."Sunday Bloody
Sunday" on the Radio (c. 1983) There I was, innocently
listening to good old WNEW-FM when Scott Muni came on and said he had something
new and great to play. OK, what now, another new Journey song?
Nope. It was U2. This kind of was coming out of absolutely nowhere
for a kid who was listening to hard rock and heavy metal and Beatles.
Punk was some kind of weird thing that a few kids listened to with weird
clothes and hair, but you couldn't hear it on "normal" radio I could
find anyway. Post-punk was pretty much unknown. U2 was, just blow
you out of the water different. I mean, come on: Thriller and Flashdance
were at the top of the charts and here comes this in your face 3 piece guitar,
bass and drums, driving, urgent, danceable music, with guitar patterns and
echos you’ve never heard or imagined in your life, with this amazing singer
wailing at the top of his lungs about people getting slaughtered in Northern
Ireland. It seemed like everything changed with that record. With
hindsight, maybe not. But it sure felt like it at the time.
4.Hearing The Cure for the
First Time (c. 1986) I was in a record store somewhere and was
jarred by hearing "Killing an Arab" being played in the store.
It was off of the Cure's compilation album, Standing on a Beach. I
was amazed to see that it was a compilation - they had already had a whole
career, but I was first just hearing about them?! It was weird, direct,
different, and commanded your attention. Those tight rat-a-tat-tat drum
beats were simple but urgent. The weird old man on the album cover.
A sampling of a discography I knew nothing about. I had to have it,
on vinyl...
5.U2 at Amnesty (June 15, 1986) After a long amazing summer day of music outdoors at Giants
Stadium, U2 finally took the stage and complete command of the audience.
They did a very unexpected set, with Bono swaggering out onto stage with
his Jim Morrison-esque brown suede fringed jacket to open up with a very somber
and intense "MLK". But again, the highlight were the covers,
including an amazing acoustic version of the Beatles "Help" and an
over-the-top acid rock / punk rock / no-holds-barred version of Dylan's
"Maggie's Farm" mashed up with Lennon's "Cold Turkey".
This performance still gives me chills.
6.Joshua Tree In The Dorm
(March 9, 1987) – On the release date of the album, the
local station up at college played the album through from beginning to end,
starting early in the morning. Some guy
down the hall had set up his stereo with the speakers playing out the door and
down the hallway and I remember kind of sleepily walking out of my room and waking up to
the dreamy sounds of “With Or Without You” echoing down the dorm floor. Everyone was wandering out of their rooms to
hear it, jaws kind of hanging open, speechless, as the song builds and builds
to its amazing climax. Rock music, it
seemed, had just risen to a whole other level, again.
7.U2 Play "Stand By
Me" (May 9, 1987) - I saw this show in Hartford with my
(future) wife and a bunch of college friends, about 20th row center floor
seats, standing on the seats. The lights were up and John Lennon's
awesome cover of "Stand By Me" was on the PA: everyone was singing
along and getting pumped up for the show to start. And then after a bit, we started hearing guitar kind of playing along and
U2 just walked right out on stage and started playing along with the music, which
eventually was faded out as they picked up the song. It was like being in
the basement watching the best cover band in the universe jam along to a
record. The crowd went nuts... and as soon as the song ended, the lights went down, and the
band went right into the epic "Pride"... The full setlist for that night is here, chock full of fragments of cover songs from the Rolling
Stones, the Doors, etc. The other highlight of the evening was the
band's (partial) cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" -
too bad U2 never formally recorded and released that one - it was epic.
The whole show was a religious experience of sorts, with everyone singing
"40" at the end, well after the band's exit from the stage, and out
into the parking lot...
That's it for now folks. Next time, this post will continue with:
8.Hearing Pavement At Tower
Records
9. Motorhead Live in Staten
Island (1999)
10. First Guided By Voices
Concert
11. Half of the Beatles at
Radio City (2010)
12. Matador at 21 in Vegas
(2010)
13. Flaming Lips Live at Terminal
5
14. PiL Live at Terminal 5
15. BoriS
