My 12 Most Influencial Songs

A few months ago, I went down to Atlanta for my brother's birthday. We caught a Mike Doughty show and afterwards were talking about each of us posting the 12 Most Influential Songs. I posted mine at Eating Chicken Vindaloo, but alas, TA has not held up his end of the bargain. Perhaps he completely agrees that I have the definitive list here. Either way, enjoy.

The most logical way for me to do this is chronological.

My pre-high school music listening is probably similar to most. All of us listened to the radio. We played stuff that we liked to each other. We kept our ears open to hear what the cooler, older kids were listening to. During this time, I listened to a lot of pop music of the mid-70’s as well as some of the hard rock being passed around: Kiss, Rush, ZZ Top, and Starz. The first step in the right direction came listening to Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s album Not Fragile. The song Not Fragile is the first on this list.

The summer before my freshman year in high school, we moved to NY. My mother took us shopping and sensing our boredom, offered to buy each of us an album of our choosing. In looking through the selection at the PX, I came across the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks. I had seen some of what they were up to on the news, and I showed the album to my mom. She freaked and told me that album was banned in our house. Now I really wanted to hear what this album was all about! A few months later I was at the Cadet Library, and guess which album I found there? I mean, if you were a West Point cadet in 1977, who would think you'd have an interest in the Sex Pistols? Apparently the library's music department head did. I have to say I never became a full fledged punker, more of an affectionado, but within the West Point Skateboard Gang, I listened to more than anyone else, at least among the hand-core skaters. The song that really hooked me on the Sex Pistols was Submission, my second song on this list.

I’m not really a Zappa fan. Many of my high school friends were way more into Zappa than I was. It’s hard now, 30 years later, to describe the disdain rock music fans had for disco. It went beyond the “Disco Sucks” t-shirts that I/we wore. Disco was putrid and anyone who listened to it was the enemy. To this day, I can’t/won’t/don’t dance. Frank Zappa’s Disco Boy from Zoot Allures captures what many of us felt about disco. It is #3 on this list.

We visited friends in South Carolina at some point around my sophomore year. I perused the available music and only recognized 2 artists: Ronnie Montrose and Jimi Hendrix. That’s what I listened to for a week. The Hendrix album was Crash Landing, one of those that was put together after his death that mixed some of his unreleased studio stuff with some later added musicians. It's considered by many to not really be a “true” Hendrix album, although I think it's perfectly good stuff. Further, Hendrix’s dad has banned its distribution in America, but I'm beyond his jurisdiction. Peace in Mississippi, is #4 on my list. It is what inspired me to become a Hendrixologist in the years since, including the Hendrix-Tanktop-Photo-For-My-Senior-Formal stunt.

I’ll never forget this next one either - Rogers brothers bedroom, sophomore year, Running with the Devil, #5 on my list. There had never been anything like that first Van Halen album before. I got laughed at for guessing it was Boston. Still, I was hooked. The music world was never the same.

Believe or not, I did not like the Ramones initially. I had heard their first album and Rocket to Russia and I was unimpressed. When I heard I Wanna Be Sedated, #6 on this list, on the radio, I began to change my mind about them. Sedated – that was a funny thing to want to be. When I heard The KKK Took My Baby Away, I got it. They were funny, silly. They didn’t take themselves seriously. They celebrated being less than stellar. I've been a huge fan since. I saw them 4 times back in the day. Now they're all dead (except the drummers).

In 1983, 2 years after high school, I went on a road trip to see Kingston Steve and Johnny B at Plattsburgh State. After much partying back at Johnny B’s room, I put on a pair of headphones to hear Oingo Boingo’s Who Do You Want To Be Today?, #7 on this list. It was strange. I immediately took the headphones off. Johnny told me to give it a chance. It had horns. It was fast, but it wasn’t rock, but I liked it! I don’t have a lot of ska in my music collection, and I don’t know where my taste for it comes from. I now have most of Oingo Boingo’s work, and I think Danny Elfman is a genius.

I had been a working stiff for a few years when I heard GNR’s Sweet Child of Mine, #8 on the list. Of course it’s phenomenal and I instantly loved it along with the rest of GNR’s classics, but it was bittersweet discovering GNR. I no longer had a network of friends who exchanged music. I no longer was in on the latest bands and the latest releases. I was on this bandwagon kind of late, and it was a benchmark of unhipness to be catching up on the latest so slowly. Also around this time, Pearl Jam was the industry big sellers. I didn’t get their appeal, and I still don’t. I’m not saying they aren’t good. I just never got into them.

When I heard #9, the Cult’s Bad Fun, it gave me hope that the type of music I liked was still being made. The 90’s were a tough time if you liked hard rock/heavy metal. Most new bands were killing themselves trying to copy Nirvana – relax, I like Nirvana – and rap and dance music were king, neither of which interested me much. The Cult is still a favorite today, even if they are a shell of what they once were.

Everclear’s Santa Monica, #10, instantly hooked me. If I had to pick a band's music to be the most representative of what I listen to and appreciate, it would be Everclear, at least their first 4 albums.

#11 on my list is 7 Nation Army by the White Stripes. It was instantly likable, and Jack White is every bit as good as the past greats (Hendrix, Page, Van Halen...) were. I have eagerly soaked up everything he’s done.

By the time I heard Bleed Black, my last song, the third track on AFI’s masterpiece, Sing the Sorrow, I had to know what the hell my stepson was listening to. Usually he had some crap like Slipknot or Korn on, but this was actually good. I'm adding it to the list as evidence that we have entered another golden age of rock.

So there you have it, Mathdude’s musical history in 12 songs. The following are the comments from when I posted this at Eating Chicken Vindaloo.

Jackson said...

McClaren: You should write a song about submission

Johnny and Glenn: I'm on a submarine mission for you baby....

Classic......

Tony Alva said...

"I'm on a submarine mission for you baby...."

God that's fucking funny!

Blogging Gold

I was doing some rearranging in my basement, and lookee what I found: my senior yearbook, aka blogging gold!

For those of you that know that my avatar was my senior formal photo, but were wondering how that looked in the yearbook (I blogged about it in my first posting), here it is. Pampdog is in the upper left corner. You may understand now why so few of the ladies were interested in me as they were busy fighting, for real - fighting, each other over him. God I was* jealous!


So if that's my Senior Formal, what was my Senior Informal, you ask? Here it is here.


OK, maybe blowing up the school was funnier before Columbine and 9/11, but still...how many of you wish you were in your yearbook blowing up the school? And that's the legendary Clem Aidone's window. Speaking of Clem, here's his picture which is sure to send chills down any James I. O'Neill grad's spine!


Here's my brother's junior photo. It's not as spiffy as his senior formal he uses for his avatar on Facebook, but it is badass. You look like a convict bro! Awesome!
Finally, I found this one scanning through real quick. I have done nothing to her picture. This was her own doing - hilarious!More to come in future postings!


*am

Atlanta O'Neill gathering, etc

Hey Ya'll,

I just got an evite from Thomas Wix who was a friend of ours a few years ahead of most of us. Not sure if the evite url will work here but it is:
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=NEFHAUARAJUDVMIVNIRS&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6

Host: Thomas Wix
Location: Atlanta
When: Friday, March 20, 7:30PM
Phone: 770-314-0413

Doubt I'll make it but I know a few of you are in or close to Atlanta. Enjoy.

If anyone is ever in the Portland Oregon area look me up! mark at rootsrealty dot com.

Now let's hear some more about those legendary exploits...

Reminds me of the very 1st night I hung out with some of ya'll after just moving in, we stole a cooler of beer from a tail gating motorhome and got drunk in the woods. This became a regular pastime... and I guess old habits die hard. Cheers.

Veteran's Day Posting

I'm going to take a break from the "We-Were-So-Cool-In-High-School" postings.

You'd think a bunch of former smart-mouthed, (mostly) pot-smoking, slacker, skateboard teenage thugs wouldn't be patriotic, but you'd be wrong. My brother, for instance, is one of the most patriotic people I've met. The common bond to all of us in the West Point Skateboard Gang was that our fathers were in the Army. Most served overseas or in a war. My own dad was badly injured in the Vietnam War.

None of the Skateboard Gang did time in the services, except Huck Tater (I think). For me, it was never an option. Shave my head, sleep with men, tell me what to do 24/7, where do I sign? Nah, no thanks. But that doesn't mean I'm not patriotic. And while, none of us in the Skateboard Gang have been lost in action, I'd like to take a moment to remember those we went to high school who have.

Donnie Tillar was different in many ways from us back in the day. He was clean-cut, popular, and completely confident with himself, even as a freshman (a rarity at James I. O"Neill, trust me on this one). I wish I could write more about him, but I didn't know him. He was a couple of years younger than me, and our circles of friends were completely disjoint. He was killed while serving in the first Gulf War.

CJ Meine was another we went to school with who went into the military. He went to West Point, got married, and served our country until a horrific accident injured him. I can't say I really know much about CJ either. In fact, if I'm being honest, I'd confess I didn't care for CJ much in high school, and I don't think he thought much of us. But that's ok. It doesn't mean I don't admire the sacrifices he made for his country. I do, and I think part of the maturation process is being able to let bygones be bygones. We are all very different people than we were in high school.

If I could write more about Donnie or CJ, I would. I'm asking that you leave a comment about them (you can do it anonymously if you want), or any others that we went to high school with that I've overlooked. In the spirit of Veteran's Day, let's take a moment to remember them and give thanks for their sacrifices, the benefits of which we enjoy every day.

Another Max Q. Peck YouTube Classic

Before you go see this shameless display of goofiness from 25 years ago, I'd just like to add these thoughts.

• Max's DMTV Project (Dumb Music TV) was unscripted for the most part. We turned on Max's camcorder and went with the flow. Max eventually did all the editing. I posted about the Sister Twister video here.
• Yes, those that made this video couldn't stand Kevin Debreaux and Quiet Riot. He was a dick, completely deserving of our scorn and ridicule.
• We were pretty good at ridiculing things because we practiced so much.
• Uh, yeah, we broke into the West Point Movie Theater at midnight or so, filmed for an hour, and got out before anyone caught us. I was a projectionist there (awesome job BTW), and the movie in the background was some forgetable flick with major nudity scenes in the first 15 minutes or so.
• The guitarist, Mitch, is a serious musician in real life and was actually playing the song note for note on the first of two takes. (Me: Dude, we're lipsynching, you don't have to really play it. Him: I know, I just want to be accurate.)
• I am donning a wig for this one. Why? I don't know. My hair was as long as the wig. The wig was definitely goofier.
  

Enjoy!

More Awesome Photos

This was our not-so-awesome sign on our 12 shades of awesome half-pipe (picture from Dave Stewart). Would it have been "cool" or "uncool" to be suspended from the ramp? And how would we have enforced it? Had Clem Adone watch it for us?

The Final 4 of the West Point Pot Smoking Championship.

Doesn't it seem kinda narrow? I remember now all the little beat up spots we had to avoid. I think Huck Tater (2nd from the right) was punking us. He couldn't skate the half-pipe, could he?

Awesome Photo...

Courtesy of Dave Stewart's Facebook page. The only known photo of the Chapel half pipe. That's Dave riding high on the vert (look at that crappy 1/4" plywood transition! How the hell did we do that?). That's Hutch with the red hair of course, and skinny me with my face hidden. Ann McNut's got the girl on the bike right: Cheryl Anderson. Enjoy! Thanks Dave, keep'em coming!